poppet

We bought our UK car seat with us for the flight (best thing ever as she slept most of the way and we didn't have to move her onto our lap every time the seat belt sign went on which you have to do if you opt for a sky cot) but ended up buying another one as I'm not good with knowing that I'm doing something illegal (especially everytime I see a police car!!).

Our UK car seat was a Britax Eclipse and when we were looking for a new seat to meet the required Aus standard we found that there are almost identical seats over here but they just have a different 'opening' in the plastic moulding at the top of the back of the seat to accommodate the additional harness needed to secure the seat to the 'anchor point' (you will learn all about anchor points!).

The annoying thing was that these seats are even made by Britax but they trade as some other name - I can't remember the name now but the Britax trademark was also on the boxes and reference to their website. We spent hours looking at the back of our UK seat working out whether we could attach one of the required harnesses but you can't. It was most frustrating.

In the end we bought a car seat that will last for her current size and the next size up so we won't have to buy another seat for some time.

As I understand (and I have read this in the NSW RTA Road Users Handbook but may not be interpreting it correctly as words such as 'must' and 'should' are open to misinterpretation) it is only a legal requirement to have your child "restrained in a suitable, approved child restraint that is properly fastened, adjusted and anchored" if they are under 12 months. So once they are a year old they can legally travel in a car as long as they wear a seatbelt?!? I know that when we first arrived and used a few taxis we ended up with taxis turning up without a child seat as they had asked us how old she was (14 months then) and apparently there is no legal requirement for a child seat in a taxi once the child is over 12 months (so we were told and this also seems to match the Road Users Handbook). Would be interested if anyone can confirm what the legal position actually is (although I wouldn't put my child in a car in an adult seat belt at 18 months old).

I don't think this is just an Australian thing though as I believe this to be the case in the UK also - although I think I read that there are plans to change the law so that children over 12 months 'must' also be in a suitable child restraint.

IMO I think the restraint system in use (anchor point) is a good thing as it does make the seat more secure and provides a backup should the seat belt fail, BUT some of the actual seats look like they would provide considerably less protection for the child in an accident (some of the seats for newborns look like plastic boxes without much padding!). I am not an expert on these matters though.....

frogboy

What about booster seats for older kids and the back rest that attaches to them, the seat belt only goes over them anyway - are these ok?

cheers

BAY

Well I took our UK car seat to Australia on our validation trip. Used it on the plane, in the taxis in Oz and in the hire car in Oz. No problem

I certainly wasn't going to fork out extra for hiring a car seat with the hire car and it avoided the hassle of finding a taxi with one. The taxi drivers had no problem with using the UK car seat.

For a kid 12 months to 3 years I'd definitely recommend it for the plane. Makes the journey a lot more comfortable for them and therefore for you .

My view is if its good enough for UK and meets all European guidelines (as all car seats sold in UK would) then it was good enough for using in OZ. I think Oz police have better things to do than worry about do the car seats meet Oz regs