Meet our Family Panel
Parent to parent: Road Trip Tips
At Britax, we love to share our daily experiences and stories to guide and help other parents with their questions. Here you will find some tips and advice about "Car rides with your little ones" from our first B-First Convertible Car Seat testers, Family Panel.
| Tita & Andrew | and their newborn son |
| Lisa & Billy | and their newborn daughter and toddler son |
| Amy & Husband | and their 2,5 years old son and 4 years old daughter |
| Dylan & John | and their 2, 6, 8 years old children |
| Bec & Rodney | and their 9 months old child |
How was your experience if you compare the first car ride from the hospital with your first child with the same situation but with your second child?
Lisa & Billy: “Definitely different. My firstborn cried the whole way home. As new parents, my partner and I were freaking out and thought we’d broken him somehow! Of course, he was totally fine and just wanted to be held. With Aisha, she didn’t make a peep. So we also thought we had broken her and I had to make sure she was moving! Haha - can’t win!”
How do you get prepared for a car trip?
Tita & Andrew: “Well, a nappy change goes a long way in ensuring you don't have a smelly, crying baby on your car ride. Once he's changed and dressed funky, we leave him somewhere safe to entertain himself e.g. on his play mat.
Then we always go for the trusty pre prepared bag with all baby essentials (diapers, wipes, change of clothes, beanie, change mats, etc.) and pack this into the car. Next, we hastily grab his latest favourite toy, and a blanket into the pram and pack this into the boot.”
Bec & Rodney: “I usually get the bag of things ready - clothes, nappies, wipes, etc. We have a car plus a van, so we move the car seat from one to the other fairly frequently. So we make sure that is all sorted before we need to go anyway. And I make sure we have some things to keep Kit entertained in the seat while on the journey.”
Interstate trips, how do you get prepared?
Dylan & John: “We took a trip to Sydney for Christmas, and unfortunately had to detour a number of times due to a fast moving bushfire. We ended up being in the car for 14.5 hours from Melbourne to Sydney!!! The kids did really well and Oli who wasn’t even 2 then, did particularly well. I know he is comfortable in his car seat and was particularly happy to have the new seat for this long trip, from a safety and comfort perspective.”
Is your child still in rear-facing mode? Tell us about this decision.
Amy & Husband: “No. He's been forward facing for almost a year. We kept him rear facing as long as possible but he was getting too big and he really wanted to face forward 'like his sister'.”
How do you keep bub entertained during a car ride?
Dylan & John: “We play eye spy, listen to music and on longer trips definitely the iPad and wireless headphones. Also, Maccas stops are allowed in our house on long trips!”
What are the highlights from your B-First that you love the most?
Tita & Andrew: “Carrying Isaiah from hospital to the car for the first time and realising we had forgotten how to operate the car seat. Thankfully, the User guide is housed under the seat in a very easy location to find. Only took a couple of minutes to figure out how to sort it out... a stressful few minutes nonetheless! Lol”
Lisa & Billy: “I’m finding getting her both in and out of the car very easy. Not fiddling around with the seat belts the way I was with our previous car seat. So usability is definitely a stand out. When we first bought our new car we thought it was so big, until the car seats went into it.”
Amy & Husband: “Definitely the self-installation mechanism*. It really works! We also love the seat's durability and comfort level for little people.”
Dylan & John: “The locking mechanism to keep it securely in place, the mechanism to loosen/tighten the straps and the side impact system.”
Bec & Rodney: “The comfy seat (padding), the manual slot so if you get stuck you can refer to the manual quickly, as you know where it is. I don't know how to do the iso fix thing with other car seats - only my husband does. So this seat does actually give me the confidence to install myself without my husband. I also like the things that hold the seat buckles in place while you get the baby sorted. Impossible to do whilst holding a baby, but if you can get that sorted while someone else holds the baby then you’re in good shape for not getting the seat belts twisted.”
*Clicktight Installation System is not a self-installation mechanism but a self-tensioning mechanism.
