I’ve recently discovered a baby equipment and car seat hire company that I wish I’d known about when we moved to Australia with four-year-old-twins and a two-year-old.
This post about moving to Australia with children is sponsored by Hire for Baby and includes affiliate links.
Car seat laws in Australia: Moving to Australia with children of car seat age
Don’t have time to read the whole post and want to sort out car seats for your arrival when you land in Australia? Head straight to Hire for Baby and check out their services.
Did you know you can’t use your UK car seats in Australia as they aren’t legal here? Thankfully, we found this out before we moved, so got rid of ours before we left. We booked a taxi to meet us at the airport in Brisbane and ordered a baby car seat to be waiting in the cab for our daughter. We had two travel boosters in our hand luggage ready for our boys. The taxi driver took one look at the boosters and shook his head. He went into his boot and got out two big car seats for us to use instead.
The new travel boosters that we’d hoped would get us by for a few days for two of our kids weren’t legal in Australia.
The next day, my husband had to collect our hire car and go out to buy three new car seats on his own. We didn’t want to hire seats from the car hire company as we’d had bad experiences before with seats that didn’t feel clean or safe when hiring on holidays plus we knew they wouldn’t install them for us anyway.
We spent most of our first day in Australia apart. He kept calling me regularly to ask questions and sending photos of products for me to research online. It was quite a big nvestment to make while jetlagged!
Once we had our new seats in our hire car, we got on with the rest of the tasks like buying cars, finding a house and looking at schools…
The next problem was that the three car seats we’d bought for the hire car didn’t actually fit in the car we bought. We only realised when we went to pick the car up.
Thankfully the car sales place wanted our sale so much they drove me to a baby shop and bought me a seat configuration that worked so they didn’t lose the sale (crazy given the car was only a second-hand runaround!) but we could easily have made a costly mistake buying our Australian car seats so early without thinking it through properly.
Moving to Australia with children? You might be interested in these inflatable flight pillows to make the flight easier.
Who is Hire for Baby?
Hire for Baby take away the stress of moving to Australia (or travelling to Australia on holiday) with little ones. They hire car seats in Australia right across Australia that are thoroughly cleaned between hires and checked carefully for safety.
The car seats can be installed in your hire vehicle correctly BEFORE you land which takes away the stress of needing to figure out the car seat fixings when you’re exhausted from your long flight.
As Gemma, one of my Facebook group members explains:
‘Just a word of warning if you don’t go through a company like [Hire for Baby] make sure you research how to fit [Australian car seats] whilst in the UK based on the model you’ve booked to hire. When we got to the hire car company we were told there’s your car seat. We’d never seen an Oz car seat before and asked if they can fit it in for us and we were told no, due to insurances it could come back on me and we had to do it ourselves, no instructions with it. In the end one kind lady did point out to us the idea but we didn’t know to this day if it was secured correctly. Just a little heads up.’
Hire for Baby can advise you on the best types of seats for your kids’ ages and heights, offer short and long term hire if you aren’t ready to buy your own seats yet (the longer you hire, the cheaper it is), and they can also install any Australian car seats – no matter where you end up buying them from.
While your belongings are being shipped, they also offer hire of baby and toddler products including travel cots, strollers, breast pumps and toys, meaning you can arrive and have everything you need for your little ones ready to go (without needing to squeeze it all into your travel luggage).
If you have relatives coming over to visit with babies or young children, the hire service is super handy so they don’t need to bring everything with them, or if you are coming over on a recce trip to Australia to explore before making the big move, their services can take so much stress out of the experience.
Scared about the long-haul flight with kids? Get my top tips for flying with young kids here.
Useful facts about essential baby equipment when migrating to Australia with children
The experts at Hire for Baby have answered some of your burning questions about the essential baby equipment you need when moving to Australia with little ones.
What can we bring to Australia in terms of baby equipment?
Most of your items can be used in Australia – your stroller / pram, cot, play equipment. Whilst we have Australian Standards here in Australia, there is no restriction on their use. Your options for these items is to simply ship them over here or, if you decide to sell off your bulky items and save on transportation costs, you’ll find most of the European and American brands are here in Australia!
What can we do while waiting for our shipping container to arrive?
If you’re waiting for your shipment to arrive, we can help make things easier. You can hire your bulky items with us at Hire for Baby, while you wait for your things to arrive.
Our hire dates are flexible, meaning you can extend your hire days as you need to if your shipment gets delayed or takes longer than expected.
Child restraints are tricky! Can you explain the car seat laws in Australia, please?
The tricky items are car child restraints. By law you must use only Australian Standard products for any child restraints in Australia, which basically means that legally you cannot use your overseas car child restraints here.
The other consideration is that they simply don’t fit here – we have a different configuration of seat belt and Isofix.
The laws in Australia for car seats are very simple:
0-6 months – rear facing
6 months to 4 years – rear or forward facing
4-7 years – forward facing child restraint or booster
Please note: your child must meet the height requirements to transition to the next stage of child restraint, so age isn’t the only factor.
For safety reasons, most parents here keep their children rear facing as long as possible and, for older children, keep them in a harnessed child restraint for as long as possible. Manufacturers are now making more extended rear facing models, as well as restraints for taller children.
We’ve produced several blog posts that explain the Australian car seat laws in detail. Check out the Hire for Baby website for more details and reach out if you have any questions.
Baby equipment hire for all circumstances
Here at Hire for Baby we have a thorough understanding of the car seat laws in Australia and we know our products inside out. We can help make this stage of your move smooth and stress-free.
Don’t forget, as well as Australian car seats, Hire for Baby also hire out other baby equipment you might need when you arrive, from travel cots and strollers to breast pumps and high chairs. Don’t spend weeks struggling while waiting for your container to arrive as we can provide everything you need to create a new comfortable home for your little ones the day that you arrive.
Holidaying in Australia while planning your big move? It’s simple – leave it to us!
You can hire your holiday essentials here in Australia, without the hassle of carting your gear across the world. Contact Hire for Baby after you book your flights and accommodation. You don’t need to pack and lug everything to your destination, just rent it here. Let us take care of your car seats, prams, travel cots and more. We can ensure your hire gear is available for you in the rental car when you get off the plane, or it set up in your hotel room.
Hire for Baby can help, no matter where you are landing in Australia. We have an extensive range of high quality and competitively priced baby equipment available from 75 locations around Australia.
With a 97% customer satisfaction rating on Trustpilot, we take care of you and provide reputable brands, and products, that you know and love! Book now to avoid disappointment
Contact Hire for Baby now and let us plan your arrival.
This post was sponsored by Hire for Baby.
Want to make your move with kids easier? Why not ship your bags over with a luggage shipping company rather than juggling at the airport with too much luggage. Read my review of Send My Bag here and claim a 5% discount.