Finding a Car Seat...

For some reason, the whole idea of purchasing a car seat was really daunting to me, more so than a pram (which seems to sell themselves as mini-cars, talking about 'chassis'-this and 'interior'-that. I think it's because I'm totally hopeless with cars (ie. the mechanics) and just don't want to know how they work, that when it was time to look for a car seat, some part of my brain was triggered to tune out and get overwhelmed.

Anyway, I tried to keep the process simple. Car seats are surprisingly cheap (I was expecting them to cost around as much as a pram), but I wanted to knock out anything below about $250 as it seemed too basic and maybe not as safe if it's that cheap, even though I know every seat on the market has to meet safety standards. I read a few blogs and forums and reviews online and narrowed it down to two similar seats - any more than this and I would just tune out again.

We were looking between the Safe N Sound Meridian ($399 AUD at Baby Bunting) and the Maxi Cosi Hera ISOGO ($429 AUD on sale at Baby Bunting). Of course I pronounced it 'cozzie' like a swimming costume, and was told it was pronounced like 'cozy'. All this stupid infant-style spelling everywhere!

In the end we chose the Maxi Cosi Hera ISOGO:

Maxi Cosi Hera ISOGO, 'moonlight', $429 AUD (RRP $529 AUD), Baby Bunting

We chose the Maxi Cosi over the Safe N Sound Meridian for the following reasons:

• Looked a bit nicer.
• Fit fine in our small car (Mazda 2), although the front passenger seat will have to come forward a little while this seat is in the rear-facing position.
• Plenty of neck support, which was more comfortable and felt more padded but firm than the Safe N Sound which felt harder and more plastic.
• Moisture-wicking fabric - I am trying to get everything in a cooling, moisture wicking fabric, as it gets so hot here in Summer, and since both of us don't do well in the heat, we are assuming we are going to have a sweaty baby too.
• ISOFIX installation - this is apparently a simple way to correctly install the seat, which was approved in Australia in September 2014 but has been able to be used in the US and Europe for around 10 years now. My car has ISOFIX points, so basically you just clip your ISOFIX clips into the points in the car, tighten the belts from red to green, and when they indicate green you're good to go. Sounded much simpler than the old lap sash and fiddling around in your boot option of past. In Australia, you still have to use a top tether strap by law however it is not required in other countries.

As for Baby Bunting itself? The service was nice, albeit a little slow to arrive (I had to find someone to help me after being told at the door there were plenty of people down by the car seats to help me). The lady was happy for us to ensure the seat fit in our car, and pickup of the seat was ready and waiting when we left the store. My only complaint was they weren't running their air conditioning which was immediately noticeable on a 35 degree morning in Melbourne in a huge shop. The lady serving us was really hot, as were we, and I don't think it's a great idea to not be running air con in a shop full of pregnant women. It was basically suggested to us by our server that the owner was too tight to run the air con!!

What baby purchases overwhelm you? What are you most looking forward to shopping for when you have a baby?