New Laws = Car Seats and Cars

I dont know how many you faced the challenges I did when these new car seat laws came into place. With a almost 7 year old, a 2 year old and a newborn, we faced the glorious task of trying to find car seats that would fit in the back seat of our car!
After looking, looking, window shopping, looking and some more looking (about a months worht of looking in total) we finally made the decision... Mothers Choice seat for Miss M, Cushion booster for Miss E and the maxi rider for Master F. These were the smallest and safest options.  However.... This came with issues within itself!  Miss E was left with next to no room, and with Miss M would soon be turned around in her seat which would leave NO room!
So we have recently had to succumb to buying a new car, which was also a struggle to find one that all 3 children would fit in to the back of nicely! And the more we looked, the more we realised how small vehicles seem to have become, and how big all our 'accessories' have become!
To fit all our essentials into a car, we needed a truck! (you know how it is, 3 kids, car seats, pram, nappy bag, and in our casea lot of the time porta-cot!. Not to mention room for travelling which we do regularly!)
So truck we got! On a smaller scale of course! Toyota Prado was our truck of choice, and I have rapidly been converted into a truck lover!!!
All 3 kids AND seats in the back, HEAPS of leg room (great for stashing those extra bits into), and I can fot the pram and a bike in the back!!!!!!
And so many awesome features!! (some uneccesary ones as well, but still very cool to own! - seriously, who has sat there and wished they had headlight washers???) 
But I do love my reversing camera!!!! Reversing has never been my strong point but this makes it so easy! I love it!
For those of you that need to make changes with the new restraint laws, take a look at the mothers choice car seats for smaller children - they make a range suitable for smaller cars. They dont compromise on 'child' room, just have less bulk on the outer. And I really couldnt go past the Maxi Rider for the bigger kids, it has all the safety features to last them a lifetime!
And if you need to upgrade your car - take a tape measure and measure the back seat so you have some comparison from your old car, but remember to bear in mind the shape of the seats - some are moulded which means less room once you put seats in!

Here are some great sites where you can find my purchases, plus a few other goodies!!

http://www.toyota.com.au/

http://www.target.com.au/

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