Baby on Board – Page 2 – Little Gulliver

Hiring Baby car seats in Sydney

Mary said: 18 September 2010 9:07 PM

Our daughter is flying from England in November with her 7 month old son. She requires a baby safety seat for the day she arrives in Sydney, and the same again when she leaves three weeks later. She has family members at each of her other destinations who can have baby seats fitted in their cars when she arrives, but Sydney is the the problem, because it will be for such a short time. Is it possible to hire one for one or two days at a time? She will be using private transport so doesn’t need to hire a taxi. I realise that that car will have to be fitted out to take a baby seat. It will difficult enough travelling with a baby without having to carry her own baby seat, as well.

Donna @ Little Gulliver said: 20 September 2010 2:33 PM

Hello Mary,

That sounds great. I’m surmising you’re based in Australia and no doubt you’re a bit excited about seeing your Grandson (and his mum)!

Since you’ve mentioned private transport, hiring a car + seat is out. But, yes, absolutely you can hire just a seat for a day or 2 at a time. (Of course individual places may have a minimum number of days hire, so you may have to pay for some extra unused days). There are a number of businesses that hire baby equipment. You could also hire other things, like port-a-cots, strollers and the like.

I’ve listed a couple below that rent baby equipment in Sydney;

http://www.hireforbaby.com/

http://www.phdrentals.com.au/hire-baby-products.html

And a couple of Directory’s can be found here;

Kidspot’s Sydney Baby Hire Directory

Bubhub Nursery Eqipment Hire NSW

I’m sorry I can’t personally recommend any in particular, although I have used ‘Hire for Baby’ a couple of times. (It is a franchise business though and I have not used it in the Sydney region).

As your Grandson is around 7 months, the hire company will advise which car seat option will suit him – based on his weight. Baby capsules are most likely out and it will depend on whether he would suit a rear facing car seat or face forward. At his age, rear facing is likely to be the best option. Just check his weight before you make any calls.

Other things to consider when hiring the seat is delivery and installation. Depending on circumstances, they are likely to visit the house with the car and install a day or so before the baby arrives and pick it up the day after he leaves. It will also help if you can tell them the make and model of the car when booking. (I’m not sure why, but I’ve been asked this before)!

Also, with the private car, just make sure it is baby ready. It should already have at least 1 vehicle anchor point (to attach the car seat). Newer cars have these already. Otherwise, you can easily get 1 from a baby store or even a department store. Again, the baby hire organisation you use may be able to help on this.

I absolutely agree that your daughter need not bother about bringing her own seat. Apart from actually having to bother with it, I think they are better off staying in your car – where you know where it’s been. The other thing is legislation. I am uncertain as to whether UK car seats would even be approved for use in Australia and may not be worth the worry.

Here is a couple of recent posts which you may find helpful;

http://www.littlegulliver.com.au/blog/flying-with-babies/

http://www.littlegulliver.com.au/blog/choosing-an-aeroplane-seat/

Let me know if there are other things you’re wondering about that I haven’t mentioned. Also, Little Gulliver’s Baby category is here, in case you need any ideas.

Best of luck with the planning and I hope you get lots of cuddles!

Regards,

Donna

My Packing Disaster

I’d never thought much about packing before we had kids, it was just something to get done and often the night before a trip. Since all of our married-with-no-kids clothes were sitting in the wardrobe, all clean and ironed, there was really no challenge! Then, there was the novelty factor with baby # 1. I’d enjoy packing his ‘good’ clothes and marvel at how cute they looked in the suitcase with our things. Ahh baby makes 3. Things started to go pear shaped when baby # 2 came along though. And when did I start packing for my husband?

Our first major family trip for 4 involved multiple flights across the country. The trip was great, but the lead up to it was quite a disaster. I wanted to use up a flight $ credit for a holiday we’d cancelled (career changes, home renovation delays and unexpected baby on the way). Our cancellation policy was NO REFUND, but we could still use the $ value of the flights within 12 months of the original departure date – for 1 trip only. I found a small loophole though, it was still deemed to be the same trip, no matter how many stopovers we had before heading home. So, it was decided we would travel to an interstate Baptism, stay with family in the Hunter Valley and then head off to far north Queensland for a beach holiday. I arranged connecting flights in-between to save driving and hire cars. Sound fabulous?

Ok, so now I know – packing for multiple trips in different climates with 2 adults, a toddler and a baby is a pain. I, in fact, can’t do some things no matter how simple they may seem and yes, everything has changed since the kids came along. Apart from the travelling accessories, we needed; Baptism clothes and a gift, farm clothes and beach clothes. There were some unexpected annoyances too;
1. Shoes – too many to take, but what would we REALLY need (good shoes, heels, runners, gum boots, sandals, slippers, croc’s)?
2. Nappies and snacks. They take up more space than you’d think.
3. Presents – kind relatives showered our kids with gifts during the 1st stopover (all of which I now had to fit in the suitcase). I thought of posting some things home and probably should have.
4. Because it was our baby daughter’s 1st time meeting many of our family, I thought all the gorgeous baby girl gear was a necessity. She had so many cute outfits I couldn’t decide what she would need and I packed way too much for her.
5. Then of course my ‘dressy’ church Baptism-appropriate dress could not accommodate breastfeeding (without ripping off an arm or hiking up my skirt). It was awkward. When I look back now I wonder why I didn’t just race out and grab myself some new clothes…then I remember – no time and no inclination!

I left the final pack too late – with a slow burn that somehow led up to the night before our early flight. Nothing fit in the suitcase, the kids got sick and I couldn’t get them to sleep. I wondered why I was bothering at all. In the end, I wore the same clothes and shoes most of the trip. In a last minute (tired) effort to get the suitcase closed – I took out most of my things.

The good news is I’m fine with packing now. I think sometimes when you’re busy or tired it manifests itself into something. With me, it was packing for this trip. I think it was my way of telling myself I was a bit over everything. Even the thought of a holiday seemed exhausting! I’ve learned though, that with any family travel, we can’t expect everything to go smoothly. I love the expression “plan for the worst, expect the best”. On another note, my eldest son (now aged 4) has just asked me “why are there no pockets in underpants?” So I guess I’d better give that some thought now!

CBS report – Safety for Lap Held Children

CBS Morning Show on airline safety for lap held kids on airplanes.

When you’re watching this – remember it is a US report. Lap held children in the USA are completely unrestrained. Infants on Australian aircraft are by law required to be held in a lap belt which is attached to the parents seat belt. The report they refer to is by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The CARES harness is suitable for children from 10 – 20 kilos and up to a metre tall.

Flying With Babies

Flying with Babies

Flying With Babies

Booking a Bassinet
Check with your airline if you can book a bassinet. This may not be possible though, as not all airlines or planes have them. Also, there are a limited number of them available, so book early if a bassinet is really important to you.

Each bassinet is quite different from each other and have different features. The one pictured here has straps to hold the infant in place, others have a stretchy netting which is pulled over the babies torso.

Also, check the weight limits of bassinets with your airline. They vary. When planning future travel, the Child and Maternal Health graphs are handy at estimating your child’s likely weight at a certain age

Lap restraints
Under 2 years, your baby is considered a “lap child”. In Australia this means the child is to be seated on your lap and a lap restraint is given to you for use by the airline. To use you must adjust your own seat belt and loop the babies belt through, then fasten and loop around your baby. Some airlines will let you purchase a seat for a child under 2 years at a reduced rate.

The lap belt provided by our airlines is not used in many overseas countries, where car seats and more recently the use of CARES is more common. Local authorities don’t see that a carseat provides adequate protection for a child on a plane, as the car seat cannot be bolted onto the seat as in cars.

How to Help Babies Unblock their Ears?
Babies cannot intentionally pop their ears, but popping may occur if they are sucking on a bottle or pacifier. Feed your baby during the flight, and do not allow him or her to sleep during descent. Children are especially vulnerable to blockages because their Eustachian tubes are narrower than in adults.

Reference; The American Academy of Otolaryngology
http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/earsAltitude.cfm

A word on Baby B’Air
Some consider, in an emergency situation that this restraint is no more ‘safe’ than the restraint already provided by our airlines. Don’t be confused by o/s blogs that talk about this product, as US airlines do not provide the lap restraint we have in Australia. Also, the Baby B’Air is NOT able to be used during take-off and landing.

CASA article
‘Flight Safety Australia, September-October 2013’ Page 16.
https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_assets/main/lib100217/fsa_sept_oct_2013_single_page.pdf