In Australia - need to buy a car seat for the flight back, please help!

M

MilkMonster

Registered User
We barely made it to Australia with the 2 kids, neither hubby or I ate or slept the 9hr flight, each of us carrying one of our sons, it was brutal. We took the red-eye that departed at 9pm thinking they would sleep but it didn't work out exactly. My 2yr old couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep deeply and kept crying out of frustration. The worst thing was that our 2yr old could slide out of the seat even with the seat belt on so there was no way to restrain/keep him in the seat besides holding him. haha we're having a great time here but neither hubby or i are looking forward to the flight back!!

i want to buy a car seat here before our flight back (we're in sydney). Is there a baby superstore in the area? A friend told me to buy Britax, are there any other brands of forward facing car seats for a 2 year old that will fit on a Cathay Pacific Plane, and that i can buy here? (The friend who recommended Britax has only used it on Air Canada flights).

Thanks so much in advance for you help!!!
 
Going to presume you are in Sydney.
Try Babies Galore. I'm only familiar with the North Shore branch. So am giving you directions to a Babies Galore in Chatswood. You can take the North Shore Line to Chatswood. It's in the mall next to Westfield. There's usually lots of mums pushing prams around so just ask.

This is the website:

www.babiesgalore.com.au
http://www.babiesgalore.com.au/locations.php

You may be able to even get them to deliver to your hotel if you order online.

Alternatively, in the city, you can simply head to David Jones or Myer - Both have a decent selection.
 
Baby Kingdom is a good place to go. There is one in Bankstown (which might be too far away unless you have a hire car), and one in Alexandria (close to city centre)... If you ask, you can often get a discount on the marked price from them.
http://www.babykingdom.com.au

I'm not sure if you can get britex in OZ, but SafeNSound is one of the best brands out there...
Can you phone cathay and find out the width of their seats? I know they are narrower than most other airlines I have flown.
If you have a measurement, you can ask the shop assistants to look at the measurements for you to see if the carseat fits. I've seen them do this in Baby Kingdom for a lady who had to fit 3 carseats across the back of her car.
You might be able to get away with a booster seat as well... worth going into a store to have a look at the options.

I completely sympathise with your trip over. I had my son crying (and mostly screaming) at least 7 of the 9 hour flight across to HK about a year ago.. admittedly we eventually found out he had a pressurization problem, so we have to give him panadol and sedation on flights now. It is an awful experience to go through... I felt so helpless, exhausted, frustrated and guilty (for making the other passengers endure my sons unrest).
Fingers crossed you have a better flight back!
 
MM --We use Britax First Class and they fit nicely in the CX seats. I don't know if you can find exactly the same model there in Oz, but maybe you can ask the shops if they carry anything with the same dimensions as the Britax First Class.

Product Depth 62 cm
Product Height 45 cm
Product Weight 7.5kg
Product Width 52 cm

Hope you'll have a smooth trip back.
 
Britax is branded 'Safe n Sound' in Australia

you might not find the exact same model as the Britax one but safe n sound have a huge range so using the dimensions above as a guide you should be able to find one that suits.

are you on a day flight back? we recently had the same problem on a night flight from HK to Brisbane. the 7month old was fine and slept all the way but the almost 3 year old just couldn't sleep in those uncomfortable seats. he moaned and cried and slipped out of the belt. finally fell asleep at 3.30am HK time only to be woken for breakfast at 4.30am!! our return leg was much easier on the 3yr old. he could watch movies and play with his cars and all those good things. the 7month old was a shocker but you can't have everything!!
 
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milk - so sorry your flight was such a disaster! If you only want the seat for the flight maybe try one of these instead of an expensive car seat.
http://www.kidsflysafe.com/ you can get them in Australia from:
www.littlegulliver.com.au (Melbourne but sure they will post express post so you get it the next day)

You could use it with a booster which will still be cheaper.

May I also suggest some demazin which you can get from the chemist. It is a cold and antihistamine medication (not as strong as phenergin) which will help settle your 2yo and let him rest during the flight. http://www.demazin.com.au/ I am certianly not recommending this but if you talk to the chemist they will be able to advise.

Enjoy your holiday and all the best for the flight back :)

PS: I have ordered "siblings without rivalry" thanks for the advice.
 
MilkMonster
Do CX still have the airbags on the seatbelt? When I want to Sydney in August last year, we couldn't use the carseat that we had brought on board because the seatbelts had these huge airbags attached to them. I heard from a friend on a CX flight recently that there were no airbags and I suspect that they have been removed because they were really uncomfortable and in the way (even for adults). It might be worth confirming with CX before you buy a carseat. Does anyone here know?
 
Thank you! Thank you! For all your replies!! and for sharing your stories, it's so tough to travel with kids!! I really appreciate you all very much. I didn't get a chance to call Cathay today (we are here until sunday so I have a little time to organize all this) but their website states:

"Due to safety requirements, infant / child car safety seats may not be used on some of our aircraft passenger seats*. This includes :

* New Business Class seats on all aircraft types
* New Economy Class seats on Airbus and B777-300ER aircraft. "

we flew here on the new economy which would mean that even if we had a carseat, we wouldn't have been able to use it...which is ridiculous to me as how can not using a car seat be safer than using one??? On the flight over there were those airbags on the seatbelt which is part of the reason why 2yr old was able to slide out so easily!! It makes it impossible to keep the seatbelt tight or for him to sleep sideways across 2 seats because its so bulky. I was thinking it was only on the bulkhead seats, it would be crazy if all the seats were like that! I think if you get an older plane, then there isn't those airbags and the carseat can be used - thanks for the dimensions!!! but if you get a new plane, then the airbags on on the seatbelts and their new rule states that you can't use the carseat anyway!! I will have to call and find out whether the plane will be a new or old one.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will look into a booster seat but now I am thinking with the airbag on the seat belt, i probably won't be able to strap it anyway. You're right, I think the red-eye was a mistake, we should have flown on a day flight, would have been easier for my 2yr old to play games and read books, watch tv, and for us since we wouldn't have been completely exhausted. Flying home we will be on a day flight so I really hope it will go a little smoother.

We have another 16hr flight back to Toronto next month on Cathay that departs at 2am hk time!!! (when i booked, it was a normal time and they kept changing it, until it was finally confirmed at 2am...) and if I can't use a carseat I guess we will just have to grin and bear it, or drug him up...sigh, not what i want to do but i will keep it in the back on my mind as a last resort option.

These damn airlines!! It's like they don't consider families when they design their new planes!! I'm so annoyed!! Thanks again everyone xx
 
haha just also wanted to say, that i pick a grouchy little baby over a grouchy toddler any day!!! haha well...i guess it would depend on how long the little baby was grouchy for...sigh, kids.
 
i agree completely! flight home with grouchy baby was MUCH more bearable than the flight with a toddler who couldn't sleep.... i laugh now at how easy it is travelling with babies. if only i'd appreciated that first time arpound ;o)
 
Yes, everything about little babies i took for granted!! haha

Ok, so I just called cathay and they said it's ok for me to use the car seat even on the new flights...

do i believe them and go out and buy one tomorrow?

Just wondering but has anyone been on the new cathay flights and sat in economy not in a bulk head seat, and can tell me if there is the airbag on the seat belt still?

Thanks!!
 
Just a quick update for anyone wondering about car seats on cathay flights. even though we called and asked and they told us that it would be OK for us to use the car seat - which we went out and bought, when we got to the airport they wouldn't let us bring it onto the flight. All new Cathay air crafts cannot use the car seat both in business and economy class.
 
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