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?

Baby Expo...

Last Sunday, we went to the Pregnancy, Babies and Children's Expo at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (Jeff's Shed) in the city. We parked at Crown for $6, which was cheaper and easier than taking the train in to Spencer Street. We also got free tickets online, basically by signing up to be spam-emailed by them and their affiliates for the rest of our lives.

Anyway, we went with one thing in mind - prams. I had in mind what pram I wanted but I wanted to see if anything else jumped out at me.

We wound up putting a deposit down on the Joolz Day Earth pram in lobster red.

Joolz Day Earth pram, lobster red, $1499 AUD

OK, this pram is insanely expensive, but most of them are. The reasons why I liked this pram over others was because it has leather handlebars (more comfortable and also more durable than the black foam-type ones most prams have which, a lady in the shop when we looked about a month ago pointed out, have a tendency to wear out and split apart), and also because of the height - when the pram is in chair mode, it sits at table height (perfect when at a cafe/restaurant), and when in cot mode, it is nice and high, so not much bending or hunching over requited which saves the poor back, especially as the baby gets heavier. Also, it is nice to be closer to eye level with your baby when you're walking around! I also like grey (but the grey in the Day Studio which was $100 more for quilted handlebars which wasn't worth it, the grey in the Day Earth wasn't as nice a grey), so red it was (I have been keen on a red pram for as long as I've been thinking about prams) - as I told several people, red goes faster!

Me with the Joolz Day Earth in lobster red at the expo!

This pram moves really smoothly and looks really good. The only downside is the small basket underneath the pram, but the plus to that is that it is a fully-enclosed basket as opposed to most prams which have a giant, wide open basket which any distracted parent could have stuff swiped out of, or stuff could bounce out of.

We decided to put a deposit on the pram (picking up in January) because they were having $450 of extras included as an expo special - the nursery bag, the sleeping bag/foot muff (the cover that zips over the front of the pram to keep the baby warm in colder months, and the XL shopping bag. I added a cup holder ($25 from $30) to my order, but I will be requesting a couple of extras as potential birth/baby shower gifts for people who ask for suggestions - I want the Summer seat, the UV cover, and possibly the comfort cover down the track.

We also had a great time at the ErgoBaby stall, as my husband is super keen for what we have (somewhat wrongly) calling the 'baby strap on'. The girls at the stall looked great in lovely orange dresses and were super friendly without being pushy in demonstrating how the ErgoBaby carrier works.

Modelling the baby carrier!

The stall had dummy babies filled with sand to the weight of a newborn (it felt more like a 2-3 month old weight though). Derek was all too happy to try the carrier on and was very impressed with how much the weight of the baby was eliminated as the carrier sits around your hips. Although he is trying on the new 360 model (four positions, front of parent/forward facing baby, front of parent/parent facing baby, back of parent piggy back style, and hip of parent), we wound up purchasing the Original Earth Baby Carrier (which has three positions, all except the front of parent/forward facing baby) as we didn't see it as being worth an extra $80 for one position - the carrier was also on special at the expo. We also got a newborn insert which allows the carrier to be used from birth. I can see this carrier come in really handy when we travel.

ErgoBaby Original Earth baby carrier, black, RRP $143 AUD (plus newborn insert, RRP $35.00 AUD, not pictured)

We got the carrier for just over $100 plus the newborn insert at the expo, so was a good deal. I am keen to give it a go in the real world down the track.

There was sooooooo much on display at the expo - stuff you wouldn't know what the purpose of is, stuff you know you won't need, and stuff I didn't want to look at yet (like car seats - I need to go to a shop and make sure it fits in my small car), as well as stuff I couldn't buy yet because I don't know the gender of the baby (3 weeks to go!).

After, we had lunch at the food court in Crown, before heading home for a giant nap.

This weekend is the long weekend with Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday - one of the reasons I love living in Melbourne! Spring Racing is always a fun time of year. I have an afternoon tea at my aunty's house this afternoon, movies Monday afternoon, and Cup Day races watching on TV at my Mum's house on Tuesday. I'd like to go for a swim a couple of times at the local pool if I can manage. I also have mountains of work to do which I really can't continue putting off. I will be working every spare minute this long weekend - lucky Monday is 'work from home' day for us this year, as I really need the time as I've got a bit behind with my work recovering from morning sickness (all day) and being super exhausted (I'm slowly coming out of the fog of exhaustion and have got back on the coffee after a couple of months - let's say Thursday morning at work I came to work completely wired, telling everyone I'd had coffee that morning, and didn't blink for a good two hours, lol).

What are you getting up to this weekend? Are you lucky enough to have Cup Day off?