April 16, 2016 2 min read

How long will a baby use a capsule for?

Age, height, or weight?

It's all a bit confusing, lots of people think that babies can only stay in their capsules for six months, we're not really sure where this urban myth originated from, but maybe it has to do with the fact that a lot of people hire capsules, and the hire term is usually six months.

Moving baby on to the next stage car seat can be a bit of a milestone for parents, but we urge parents to keep their baby in the capsule for as long as the baby fits within the safety limits. It is preferable that the baby is supported in the capsule, rather than having lots of room in the next stage car seat, as there will be less room for movement in the event of an accident.

European Capsules

All of the capsules that we sell at Global Baby are certified to the European safety standard, under which the usual size for babies in capsules is 13kg (they call this group 0+). Babies can keep using the capsule as long as they weigh less than 13kg AND their shoulder level is at or below the slot where the shoulder strap comes out of the capsule.

How old is a 13kg child?

It's older than you might think. On the Plunket chart, the 50th percentile is at 13kg around 2.5 years old for girls, and about 2.4 years for boys.

Ministry of Health girls weight/ age chart 1-5 years
Ministry of Health boys weight/ age chart 1-5 years

Can a two year old go in a capsule then?

Probably not, most children will outgrow their capsule in height before they outgrow it in weight, as the shoulder strap slots need to be either just below, at, or just above the child's shoulders. Check the manual for the exact position, as this varies between models (annoying, right?

Do you hire capsules?

No. The user manual for most car seats says not to buy or sell secondhand car seats, or use car seats that you don't know the full history of. We decided that we can't pick and chose which parts of the manual we pay attention to, so we don't do car seat rental.

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