It’s been awhile since I wrote in here! Been so busy at work, but I think I need to make time to share about this, coz I believe very much in it and of course, coz I finally get to changeeeee Yusuf’s previous infant carrier to a new car seat – he has passed that weight threshold!

So, where do I begin? Firstly, how many of us truly use baby car seats? Yes it’s always a must-have item, gets into our list to get before baby arrives but it’s more than just having it – it’s about your baby’s safety. Just like how we adults get into the car and put on a seatbelt, the baby car seat acts like the seatbelt for babies. This is important to me and that is the biggest reason why we had gone to scout for one even before Yusuf arrived.

My story?

I wanted an infant carrier cum baby car seat that I could use in the car as well as be able to detach it when we get to a destination and assuming Yusuf was fast asleep then. Additionally, I wanted us (Aiman and I) to be independent and not scared to drive alone with Yusuf in the car. That, plus we didn’t want it to be too pricey either coz I know baby car seats have expiry dates. Yes, they do if you did not already know that. So prior to his arrival, we went to scout for a good one amongst the known brands and settles for Joie Gemm Infant Carrier. It was going on a discount at about RM200+ at that time. This + we also bought a base for the car so that we could easily click-in and click-out the seat, no hassle.

Did I like it? I LOVED IT!! It served us so well, up until Yusuf was 15 months old. He’s now 16 months old.

Here’s what I learned throughout the 15 months, that I never knew before:

• It is always safest to have babies in rearward facing for as long as possible
  – Honestly when Yusuf turned 7 months and he was a lot more interactive, I wanted to turn him facing forward in his infant carrier. Naturally I went on to look for a forward facing seat, and had DM-ed Joie Malaysia’s team to seek for advice if I could then switch this infant carrier forward. No, it can’t I was told. I was also advised not to change to a forward facing one as Yusuf still has a long way more to use his Joie Gemm at that time. Joie Gemm can be used up to 13kg and clearly at that time Yusuf was only hovering at less than 7kg.
  – So rear facing seat if you can imagine, with baby’s back facing the front seats is safer in the sense that it is able to support the child’s head, neck and spine in an accident. The fact that the child is leaning on to the seat if a crash happens, allows the seat to absorb the impact. FYI, in a crash, (almost) everything is thrown forward. Of course when I heard this, I was thankful that I had asked!
  
• The infant carrier handle is an extremely important safety feature
  – No, its main job is not to carry the seat when you move about nor is it just for you to hang your baby’s toys on it. It has its significant function when clicked-in onto the base in the car or strapped with a seatbelt. Again in a crash, typically everything is thrown forward. In the same way that a ball bounces back at you when you throw it against the wall, everything will bounce back including your child in the car seat. This is where the handle comes into play! So when it rebounces, the handle’s main function is to protect your baby from being thrown to or squashed into the seat itself.
  

• Isofix base is different from ClickFIT base
  – Both our cars have the Isofix anchorage points. So what is Isofix? It’s basically an anchor built into certain cars where you can easily install the base before attaching the car seat on top. ClickFIT base? It’s also a base, for cars that don’t have Isofix anchorage points. Normally the older cars are without Isofix, so fret not, it can still be installed using the seatbelt. BOTH are equally safe, you will need to just check if the installation is correct, your car has isofix or not, and secondly which base is compatible with your baby’s car seat. I’ve always thought we had bought an Isofix base, until I got it checked and turned out I had been using the clickfit base all along hahahaha! We found out when Yusuf was 12 months old. #firsttimemumproblem
  
• Below are the specs for Joie Gemm, just sharing it here too!

There’s a lot more information here: https://ms.joiebaby.com/cat/carseats/. I truly have learned a lot from the Joie Team, and to think it all started coz I wanted to change Yusuf’s car seat and I had randomly DM-ed them. Bless them for replying! 😊