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A trip to the North Coast provided the perfect opportunity to ‘road test’ the new Britax Safe-n-Sound Hi-Liner SG.

What I found fantastic about the Hi-Liner SG is the adjustable headrest, which allows easy height adjustment for this Booster Seat as our daughter grows (and she seems to be growing taller everyday!) So in a way, the booster can grow taller – as our daughter grows taller too.

I asked our pre-schooler to sit in the booster seat at home before fitting the seat in our car. I put the headrest in the lowest position and found her shoulders were only slightly higher than the lower height marker when she sat straight in the seat. This is a great starting point and I can easily adjust the headrest up with one hand as she grows.

I found Safe-n-Sound Hi-Liner SG, easy to fit in our vehicle for our road trip. I secured the booster tether strap to the car’s anchor point for stability. I found the Slideguard Clip was great to guide and safely position her lap-belt in place. Our pre-schooler remarked how comfortable her new seat was to sit in and how she liked the arm rests. It was time to start our road trip.

Other features of the Hi-Liner SG I must mention are the deep side wings, these are EPS foam lined, providing additional protection. The Hi-Liner SG is compatible with the Britax Safe-n-Sound Protecta Plus harness to enhance the safety features of the car seat with additional upper torso support and safety. Both the Hi-Liner SG and Protecta Plus harness have innovative designs.

The selection of colours are cool too – with colours like: Ink Blue, Red, Pink, Grey and (our favourite) Purple Haze. The booster seat cover is removable and Machine Washable.

The dimensions of the Hi-Liner SG Booster are: 455mm (width), 370mm (depth), 695mm (minimum height) and 840mm (maximum height). The adjustable nature of this booster means we will no doubt use this booster with our daughter until she is 8 years old. It has performed well on its first journey and I’m confident it will go the distance on our future journeys. To find out more on the Hi-Liner SG Booster and the full range of Britax car seats visit the Britax website.

My Baby is now big enough to be facing forward in her car seat. To accommodate this new “forward facing” era, I was looking for a car seat with superior safety features, slim design, unbeatable comfort and easy installation. I found these features and more in the Safe-n-Sound Compaq AHR.

After unpacking the Compaq from it’s box, I put the car seat in the forward facing position in my car. I could easily thread the seatbelt through the back of the seat with lots of room for my hands to manouvre and then I secured it to the anchor point. The Compaq AHR was really straightforward for me to install.

I was impressed that I could adjust the harness height from the ‘front’ and ‘back’ of the seat. Being able to adjust from the ‘front’ saves lots of mucking around, threading and unthreading the harness. The harness remains installed the whole time – saving time and improving safety. If you prefer to have your car seat fitted by an authorised restraint fitter, these can be easily found in each state, in NSW check the RMS website.

The AHR stands for ‘Active Head Restraint’ and the Compaq has been designed with deep side wings to shield and contain your child’s head in a side impact. These side wings are EPS foam lined, providing additional protection in a side impact crash.

The slim design is perfect for bigger families and the 15mm less depth, makes this compact child restraint ideal for larger Australian families to accommodate 3 seats across the back seat (plus not have a squashed adult in the front)! The Compaq AHR would be ideal for smaller vehicles too.

This reversible car seat may be used from birth to 4 years old. The rearward facing position is made even more comfortable with a gorgeous baby insert and shoulder pads to provide support for a younger baby. My Big Baby was so comfortable in the Compaq AHR that she fell asleep mid-journey! Oh, it is exhausting being one!

There are even 3 recline positions in forward facing mode to make life even more comfortable for your little one. The fabric is fabulously soft and the Compaq AHR is available in four colours – black, grey, cool berry and blue. I think the side pocket for extra storage is great and I’m pleased the cover is fully machine washable.

The Compaq AHR is well designed with safety, ease of use, comfort and versatility all achieved in a neat compact car seat. To find out more about the Compaq AHR and the full range of Safe-n-Sound car seats visit the Britax website.

Leaving hospital with a newborn is a momentous day for any new parent. The capsule for my Baby’s first car trip needed to be of the highest safety standard, be light-weight and comfortable for my newborn. The Steelcraft Infant Carrier is designed to meet all relevant Australian and New Zealand Safety Standards. At 3.75kg the carrier weighs less than my newborn, making it a realistic option for any new Mum who wants a light-weight high performance carrier. It transported the newest member of our little family home from hospital with ease.

The Steelcraft Infant Carrier is packed with design features making it wonderfully comfortable for my newborn girl who is still developing her head and neck strength. The capsule features a snug inner seat pad plus Head Support, Harness Pads and Crotch Buckle Cover.

The base and the capsule are really simple to install in your car – making life easy for new parents with enough going on in their world. The base is well labelled with simple instructions. A belt cover at the rear of the base allows you to feed the seat belt through the holes each side of the base. The base allows for a 3 position base incline for a better car seat fit and even has a well labeled red guide-line on the base to help you with installation. Check the manual in the base for a detailed guide to installation.

The carrier fits into the base in a rearward facing position and hearing the ‘click’ indicates the capsule is engaged. You can simply pull the capsule handle to check it is fully engaged. Clear instructions on the capsule show you how to install the capsule and attach the upper anchorage strap around the carrier to the car’s anchorage point. And you’re all done ready to drive.

The Steelcraft Infant Carrier performs as well fitted into it’s base in the car, as it performs fitted into a compatible stroller. The Steelcraft Infant Carrier isn’t just compatible with the Steelcraft Agile Stroller but with other Britax strollers too! An Infant Carrier Compatibility Chart is available on the Britax website to show compatibility between carriers and their stroller counterparts. I love the concept of a travel system – having a compatible stroller and carrier so you don’t have to wake Baby to transfer her from car to stroller. The Steelcraft Infant Carrier allows a one-handed release for the multi-tasking parent. The ergonomic handle has been designed to allow the capsule to be easily carried on your forearm – another design feature I adore as a busy parent.

The Steelcraft Agile Stroller includes adaptors for travel system use. An indicator panel near the capsule handle changes from ‘red’ to ‘green’ when the capsule is securely fitted onto the stroller. This helpful feature gives a new parent piece of mind that we’re good to ‘Go’ and stroll when the indicator is ‘Green’. The capsule fits in the stroller in a rearward position with your baby facing you. It is reassuring to see Baby’s face while in the stroller and make eye contact when Baby is awake.

Both the Steelcraft Infant Carrier and the Steelcraft Agile Stroller feature generous extendable canopies. Another advantage of the capsule being rearward facing, is the canopy of the capsule and the canopy of the stroller nearly meet in the middle, offering double sun protection for Baby’s precious skin. The sun canopy on the stroller has a removable flap for additional air circulation. A Peek-a-boo window with a quiet magnet closure ensures you can see Baby even with the canopy in use. A canopy pocket allows easy storage and access to items like water bottles and mobile phones. While the shopping basket underneath can carry up to 4kg.

When the stroller isn’t being used with the capsule it is still an awesome vehicle for transporting little ones. The stroller is light-weight at just 7.5kg – yet it can carry from newborn to 22kg! This demonstrates the well engineered and high performance nature of Steelcraft Agile Stroller. The maneuverability of the stroller is fantastic with front lockable swivel wheels. It has handled well on all surfaces, grass and pavement on visits to our local playground. I was able to steer the pram one handed and hold my toddler’s hand with my free hand. The brakes on the rear wheels are linked, so one push on either rear brake will apply the brakes to both wheels. The Steelcraft Agile Stroller has been designed to meet the “Prams and Strollers – Safety Requirements” Australian and New Zealand standard AS/NZS2088.

The standout feature for me of the stroller is the one-lift fold. It is so quick and simple to fold the Steelcraft Agile Stroller with two simple steps. Step 1 – Press the red button on the right side of the stroller and Step 2 – Lift the strap located in the seat. It is that easy to fold this stroller. To unfold the stroller, release the automatic lock and swing open the stroller until you hear the click of the auto frame lock.

While the Agile Travel System is compatible to fit the Infant Carrier, the Stroller and Carrier are sold separately. The Stroller is available in a range of colours, including Black, Red and Forest. The carrier is available in Shell, Red and Forest. I like the neutral tones of my Shell Carrier and Black Stroller. To find out more on the Steelcraft Agile Travel System and the recently launched Agile Plus Travel System, visit the Britax website.