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Posted by admin in Explore Sydney, General, How to on March 8th, 2019
Going on a family holiday? It is such an exciting time, being able to make memories with your kids and provide them with a fun few days or weeks away from home right? Well yes, the holiday itself will be exciting however as a parent who is about to go on a long drive with a car full of kids you are probably stressing, dreading and thinking why the earth did I decide to do this. Don’t stress too much, there are ways that you can make the car trip that little bit simpler on everyone.
Before piling everyone into the car, make sure that your car seats and boosters are all properly secured into their spots and are restrained. This is the most important step to ensure that everyone is safe and secure throughout the drive. When stopping for rest breaks, check the buckles before putting the kids back in to make sure that their little hands have not been playing around and unplugged anything.
When going on a road trip there is going to be a lot of packing needing to be done. Not only for the actual holiday but there is also things that you need to have packed and in reach or handy locations in the car for during the trip. Try to pack as much of the car as possible the night before to avoid having to pack the morning of the trip when you have little eager children waiting to leave. Try to pack as minimal as possible, especially if you are going to be spending a few days in the car.
The last thing you want is for the kids to be in the back of the car complaining that they are uncomfortable. This is going to make the trip seem WAY longer! Where possible equip them with little blankets and cushions to help them stay comfortable
Keeping the kids occupied throughout the trip will help save the sanity of everyone in the car. Putting together little activity packs for each child will help to keep them occupied and distracted throughout the drive. Colouring in books, reading books, figurines and dvds will help during the drive. Also don’t forget the snacks! Cut up fruit, biscuits, chips and sandwiches are all foods that are relatively low mess foods that should be okay to snack on whilst driving.
Choosing an ideal time to leave will depend on a few different things including; how far you are needing to drive, the age of your kids and the route in which you are taking. Where possible try to leave either late at night or very early in the morning if you are doing a long drive. This means that you may get a couple of hours of your little ones sleeping and will make the trip seem like it is going a lot quicker.
Travelling with kids does not need to be a stressful affair and with these few little tips you just may make it out alive ?
Happy travelling and if you have any other tips that may help feel free to share them!
Posted by admin in Babies 0-6 months, Babies 6 months - 4 years, Explore Sydney, How to, Safety, Travelling with kids on May 24th, 2017
There is lots of solid research both here in Australia and from overseas that shows that unfortunately, the rate of misuse of child car seats is very high.
“A 2010 study of 503 children from newborn to the age of 12 found half of all restraints had errors in how they were used. Some had up to seven errors each, ranging from failing to buckle the child in to slackness in the belts and sashes. Most often parents weren’t aware they had made a mistake.”
http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/errors-in-child-car-seat-use-putting-lives-at-risk-experts-warn-20170518-gw894a.html
When we arrive at a baby shop, instinctively we will gravitate to either a label or logo we recognise, or a colour we like. However choosing the correct product for your child is much more complex than that.
The following information is general and we strongly encourage you to read fully the instruction manual that relates to your particular make and model of child restraint.
Ensure that the seat you are considering is the right size for your child and that it meets Australian Standards and has the Australian Standards logo sticker present.
Contrary to popular belief, Australia’s Standards for car seats are in fact among the toughest in the world ensuring the best possible protection for our children on the road.
In Australia it is illegal to purchase or use a car seat that does not comply with the Australian/New Zealand Standard 1754 – even if you’re visiting. Always look for the certification mark AS/NZS:1754 on the car seat you choose for your child.
Seats are not graded by age of children but by their size. The size of children can vary – two 4 year olds can be entirely different heights and weights so check that your child’s fits within the shoulder height marker label for the specific model of car seat you are considering. Just like when you’re buying jeans – you take your legs with you to ensure the product fits so take your child with you to test the restraint does in fact fit them.
The road laws relating to kids and cars are minimums. We don’t aim for the minimum safety – but for the maximum. So keep your child in their restraint for as long as they still fit in it. When your child reaches 6 months that doesn’t mean its time to turn them forward facing. Just because they turn 3 you don’t put them in size 3 shoes – if the seat still fits – keep using it.
Use their age as a guide only.
Newer seats nowadays all have a label on the restraint showing you exactly where the child’s shoulders can be to safely use the seat. Shoulder height markers make it so easy for carers to establish if a child car seat is suitable for their child and when the child needs to have the shoulder straps adjusted or when they are ready to move to the next child car seat.
Shoulder Height Markers, located on the inner side of the seat, prompt parents and carers to ensure their child’s seats, and associated harnesses, are adjusted at the right stages of the child’s growth to maintain optimal safety in the event of an accident.
Your child should remain in a rear facing seat or position until their shoulder is in-line or above the forward facing height marker.
Your child should remain in a forward facing seat until their shoulder height is above the upper shoulder height marker.
Note: There is a slight difference between rear and forward facing and that relates to the dynamics in the event of a collision.
We don’t necessarily believe that you require professional installation of your restraint however there are a lot of belts, buckles and pathways to contend with. Before you begin, ensure you have read the instruction manual for your restraint in full and be confident that you understand how to install your seat. If you are uncertain please don’t hesitate to contact us or a local restraint fitting station for advice.
Unfortunately there is a lack of understanding around the power of collision dynamics and there is an idea in the community that a car seat must be ‘rock solid’ post-fitment to be safe. This is incorrect. The Australian Standard testing procedures that these products are subjected to are stringent and demanding.
The more rigidly a restraint is attached to the vehicle chassis, themore collision force the infant will be subject to. Imagine if you will the catching arm of a cricket player. If it were completely rigid and unmoving it would shatter into pieces – exactly the same with carseats. Even the new rigid ISOFIX seats have a hinge that allow for some up and down movement to counter this possibility.
Overtensioning a restraint when installing it can cause stress damage to both the restraint and/or the vehicle seats unecessarily. A restraint that is fitted correctly does allow for some movement but no more than 2.5 cms from side to side at the belt path end of the restraint. Shaking your restraint around at the top end (where the top tether begins) is not an accurate test of correct fitment and will do nothing but loosen your restraint and perhaps leave the seat requiring refitment.
We have had customers return capsules or carseats and inform us that they didn’t use the top tether because it was annoying or took up too much time to deal with. Please – use the top tether. In an accident it serves as a very important tool to minimise the possibility of your child being injured in the crash.
When you are using the inbuilt harness ensure that the shoulder straps are:
Keeping our list of tips in mind will help you to make a the right choice. If you have any concerns about child car seat use or how to choose please don’t hesitate to contact our Team who are well able to assist you.
Posted by admin in Explore Sydney, General, How to, Safety, Travelling with kids on March 27th, 2016
There’s a lot to consider when you’re looking to find the perfect car for your family. How many people are you likely to be transporting each day? What size pram, bikes etc will need to be stored in your boot? Bigger is not necessarily better, its more about what space is available in the vehicle and if it will configure to suit your family’s needs today, and into the future. In a panic you might be looking at a 7 seater to ferry all your kids and their friends to sport on Saturdays, but a vehicle with a versatile interior with multiple folding seat and access options that are easy to use may be all that is required.
Here’s our checklist to help you find the perfect car for your family:
In car entertainment is quite legal for everyone except the driver (for obvious reasons!). Hearing the words “are we there yet?” on high repeat can turn a lovely Sunday drive into a teeth grinding horror movie. Many kids get bored in the car and need some distraction.
Thankfully these days, the electronica can come on the journey with you. Whether you choose handheld gaming consoles or go all out for the in-car entertainment system, you might get from A to B with barely a noise from the back seat.
Its important that safe headphones are used to avoid distracting the driver and that the children know how to activate/reactive their games or movies themselves so that the driver isn’t required to intervene and take their eyes off the road.
If you’re not a fan of devices in the car, that’s ok. There’s always eye-spy!
Posted by admin in Babies 0-6 months, Explore Sydney, General, How to, Safety, Travelling with kids on March 18th, 2015
Our good friends at Maxi-Cosi were the first infant car seat provider to offer ISOFIX-compatible infant car seats with the launch of its ISOGO range. ISOGO is an ISOFIX compatible system for Maxi-Cosi child restraints.
As experts in child mobility, Maxi-Cosi is an international leader in the production and testing of child restraint products. Maxi-Cosi’s ISOGO is a simple and user friendly latch system that enables parents and care givers to safely connect their Maxi-Cosi child restraints to their vehicle’s ISOFIX lower anchorages in a simple step. With its green and red indicators, the question of whether or not you’ve done it correctly is eliminated giving parents peace of mind that the installation has been done correctly at just a glance of the indicator.
With a staggering 88% of infant car seats not fitted correctly, Australian parents have been desperate for ISOFIX-compatible seats so this range has been very welcomed by our customers.
ISOFIX compatible systems must comply with the Australian/ New Zealand 1754 Standard. Seats that comply must be fitted with rigid or flexible lower attachment connectors as well as top tether straps. The dynamic testing required varies from country to country and therefore a child restraint that is purchased overseas is illegal and any insurance will be null and void in the event of an accident. The Australian/ New Zealand 1754 Standard is known to be the most stringent in the world.
Designed to make fitting an infant car seat sercurely easier, ISOFIX is an international standardised fitting system for attaching infant car seats securely without the need for the vehicle lap sash seatbelt. Most modern cars sold in Australia offer ISOFIX mounting points, but if you’re not sure take a look at the base of your backseat in the gap between the base of the seat and the back of the seat. Generally there will be some writing saying ISOFIX above the mounting points; if in doubt, check with your local mechanic. See image below:
According to Maxi-Cosi, “fitting a Maxi-Cosi ISOGO car seat is easy. Simply click your ISOGO car seat into your car’s ISOFIX lower anchorage points and click the upper tether strap. You can then check the seat is correctly installed by making sure the harness tension colour indicator is green”.
“Our family is always on the go, so it is wonderful to finally have a car seat that?we can fit so quickly and be confident that it is properly fitted and secure,” says mother-of-two and Maxi-Cosi Ambassador, Rebecca Judd.
“Maxi-Cosi ISOGO has taken the guess work out of fitting our kids’ car seats, and we now have greater flexibility should grandparents or friends wish to borrow a car seat for a special day out”.
Maxi-Cosi ISOGO car seats and capsules are available for both hire and purchase on our site.
Posted by admin in Babies 0-6 months, Explore Sydney, Pregnancy, Safety, Travelling with kids on March 15th, 2015
Considering the wide range of baby capsules and carseats available for sale or hire can make it difficult to choose – do you go for a baby capsule or is a carseat a better option?
Although convertible carseats are just as safe as a baby capsule and you get more use out of them we’d suggest that a baby capsule has many benefits over a carseat that are worth considering before you make your final decision. Many parents find baby capsules a practical and easy alternative for the safe transport of their baby for the first 6 months or so.
We see many parents who come in and have a baby seat already installed in their car but have found that taking their baby in and out of the seat when they arrive at their destination often disturbs the baby’s sleep and unsettles them. Having a baby capsule means you can take your sleeping baby straight from the car without having to wake them to move them to the pram.
Of course, the most important reason to choose a baby capsule is to ensure the safety of your baby when travelling in the car. Baby capsules are suitable from newborn until six or twelve months depending on the product and the capsule you choose. They are engineered to cocoon your baby with their high side walls, ensuring your child is secured safely within the capsule using a five point harness that is easy to adjust.
All our capsules for hire carry the Australia and New Zealand Standards AS/NZS 1754 sticker so you can feel confident the capsule meets Australia and New Zealand standards. Likewise, it is also important to make sure your capsule is properly fitted to your vehicle to maximise the safety benefits and minimise the risk of serious injury or death in the event of an accident. That’s why we offer free professional installation with all of our hire baby capsules.
Another major benefit of hiring your baby capsule is the ability to move the capsule in and out of the car while the baby is safely tucked inside. A base is installed into your car that the capsule clicks into, so you can quickly and easily move a sleeping child in and out of the car without disturbing the baby or playing around with straps. Baby capsules are generally quite light and fitted with a handle for easy manoeuvring. You can also hire pram adaptors so that you can drop your hire baby capsule straight onto your pram with just one click giving you a great deal of flexibility and freedom.
This freedom to effortlessly move a sleeping baby is particularly precious in these first months together with your baby. So, here at Rock-A-Bye Baby Hire we have a range of compatible prams and adaptors for hire that our capsules for hire can click into, allowing you to move your sleeping baby from car to pram and back again without disturbing their sleep.
Click here for our baby capsules for hire in Sydney range.
Click here to view our prams for hire in Sydney.
Our travel system (capsule and pram hire) range is here.
Posted by admin in Babies 0-6 months, Explore Sydney, General, Safety on July 8th, 2014
When you’re newly pregnant and considering setting up your nursery, its natural to want to have the best of everything for your baby. But these days, with $2,000+ prams and $1,500 beds, purchasing all this brand new just doesn’t make sense. This is where we step in, enabling families to hire rather than buy their nursery equipment. Our motto is “Why buy when you can hire?” but what does that really mean? What are the average savings on hiring –v- buying? We’ve prepared a comparison table that contrasts the cost of hiring your nursery equipment –v- paying RRP, keeping in mind that these are all items that are only required for a limited period in your nursery.
*All hire costs are based on a 6 month hire except the breastpump in this table which we’ve estimated will be hired for 4 weeks.
All up, a couple who choose to hire just these few nursery items that are really only required for such a limited amount of time in your baby’s early days could save themselves over 80% of the retail cost of the very same items. Its quite a big saving and something to think about when doing your budgeting.
Hiring is also a good way to try products you’re not sure about, before you buy and are then stuck with them sitting collecting dust in the garage or waiting for the day you can get the camera out, take the pictures, then list it all on Ebay and hope you can recoup at least a bit of the outlay.
All of our baby equipment for hire is purchased brand new direct from the manufacturer or importer, every piece is carefully cleaned and safety checked before each hire and is regularly replaced to maintain our exacting standards. You’re not going to lose out on quality just because you hire – we have a large range of premium, luxury baby products from brands such as Leander, Bugaboo, Seed Organics, Baby Jogger, Maxi Cosi, 4Moms and many more.
Every member of our staff is a qualified and accredited Infant Restraint Fitter and we offer complimentary fitting of all hired infant restraints so that you can rest assured that your baby’s safety is our priority. All hire baby capsules come with free professional installation.
Hiring baby equipment is also great for holidays, whether for yourself or for relatives or friends who are coming to visit. It can greatly reduce stress, save you those exorbitant excess baggage fees (without even mentioning the potential for serious damage to your baby equipment when its in transit). Using our Sydney Airport Concierge Service means you can have everything ready and waiting in your hire car by the time you arrive.
Call us today on 9589 4942 for a quote on your nursery needs – we can create a discounted package deal to suit any family or email through your wish list to Danni at jess@rockabyebabyhire.com.au.
Posted by admin in Explore Sydney, General on June 19th, 2014
If you’re coming to Sydney in Winter don’t think you’ll miss out. Sydney has some fantastic Winter festivals and activities to keep you and the kids entertained day and night.
You will need to buy tickets to attend this event, the link is below.
http://thewinterfestival.com.au/
Head to The Rocks every Saturday and Sunday to enjoy a colourful market scene in the area’s quaint cobblestone laneways. The Rocks Market have souveniers, food, drink, wine, artisan art and craft and are held in the historic Rocks District giving you a range of dining choices pre or post market.
The city’s biggest produce market is the Sydney Markets, incorporating the Sydney Growers Market, Sydney Flower Market and Sydney Produce Market which is located at Flemington. With a history that reaches back as far as 1788, these markets have something for everyone, and a family-friendly atmosphere. Close to Sydney Olympic Park, the Sydney Markets at Flemington are easily accessed by bus, train, or car.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a funky inner-city market showcasing Sydney’s artistic side, Glebe Markets, Rozelle Weekend Markets, and Paddington Markets offer handmade jewellery, vintage clothing, second hand books, records, shoes, furniture and more. Open every Saturday, these markets are perfect for anyone with a creative streak.
http://www.sydney.com/things-to-do/fashion-and-shopping/sydney-markets
And while we’re speaking of cheap transport I think its worth mentioning Family Funday Sunday tickets. You can explore Sydney and nearby regions with unlimited travel on buses, trains, ferries and light rail for just $2.50 per person which can be quite a significant saving for a family of 3 or 4. You can go as far as the South Coast or visit the Blue Mountains for the day for just $2.50.
During the event, the main street of Katoomba is closed to motor traffic and open to pedestrian traffic. This allows the whole town to become a performance space. The streets are lined with market stalls and everybody who attends is encouraged to dress in costume and participate!