Announcing the  Winners from the Melbourne Baby & Toddler Show

Congratulations to
o Lara from Box Hill for winning $100 Hire Gift Card
o Jason from Sunshine for 10 restraint fittings
o And everyone else will receive a free installation of their child restraint

The Expo is always a great way to meet and greet new customers and catch up with existing customers. Must have seen about 10 customers who where using their travel systems at the show – personally get a little buzz from seeing our stickers on equipment around the place
So some of my takeaways’ from the expo

New parents – the look of OMG – what do we need to buy for our precious baby – what is essential and what is no so essential. Sometimes I feel sorry for them; so much choice is got to be as bad as no choice – which is worst!

My advice – stick to the essentials pre birth – pram, cot/bassinet, child restraint these are super critical – the rest can really wait until the baby is born and you have some more clarity about what you need and don’t need – also you might receive stuff as gifts so it takes away the angst of telling people that you already have it…. I know it hard but sometimes is just better to wait

At our stand at Hire for Baby and also the Volvo Stand presentations provided by Carmine Russo our Franchisor about child restraints the most common comments/ questions were… With some of our responses
- Capsule vs. rear facing restraint?
o Create for those initial months – as you don have to take the child out from the capsule – particularly great if the baby is asleep
o In cooler months – you can fit the child in the capsule indoors and carry the car – saves on unwrapping a warm baby
o Keeps a sleeping baby sleeping – don’t have to lift to take out of the child restraint – but not for long periods of time
o Avoids too much over handling of a baby from car to pram
o Can be incorporated into so many prams to make a travel system
o Not worth buying – because of their short life span – 6-7 months then you still need to buy another
- When to move to rear facing
o Minimum legal age is 6months but the longer you can keep rear facing the better
o Rear facing is safer
- Can I fit 3 restraints in our car or do we need to buy a new car!
o Its about finding the right combination of car seats for the ages required
o In most circumstances by simply swapping over restraints you can actually get this is work – cheaper option than buying a car
- Which capsule goes with each pram
o The market has transformed so much in the past 4 years – the most adaptable capsule/infant carrier appears to maxi cosi and unity – but you will need adaptors – our branch owners are pretty good at finding out which capsule goes with each pram
- Are the capsules clean?
o Each time the capsule is returned its stripped and inspected and washed – we sanitise all our products and they must meet our stringent conditions before they can be rehired
- Do you know if they have been in an accident?
o We inspect our restraints on return and as its illegal to use an restraint that has been in accident customers must also advise us – its a condition of hire
- How long can they stay in the capsule?
o As long as they fit in the capsule – depending on which capsule they have it might be by age or by weight – then they can move to rear facing car seat if under 6 months or forward facing if older than 6months

Our recommendation to customers regarding capsules/infant carriers vs child is start with a capsule and then move to other restraints once the child outgrows the capsule – remember keep your baby rear facing as long as possible after the 6 months

Why do I actually need a Glider Chair / Breast Feeding Chair?
Big Question that many mums to be ask?

Should I spend $300 + on a Glider chair?

The answer is yes and no

If you are going to use the glider chair more than 6months then it probably worth the investment but its hard to tell in the first couple of weeks… so this is where hiring makes sense because …

• You can hire it for 1 month to 6 months and decide where or not you really will use it long term – you can talk to our branches about our “Hire to Buy” program. Hire to Buy program allows you to try it first and decide down the track…
• Simply hire for 1,3 or 6months and simply return it at the end of the hire, that way you have not invested over $300 for something that you don’t need long term

Benefits of using a Glider chair:

• Reduces back aches due to poor position
• You dont’t get sore arms from wooden arm rests or arms rests without enough padding.
• Glider chairs are desgined to reduce sore arms from arms rests that are too high or not wide enough
• Reduce sore necks  from lack of head/neck support whilst in a breast feeding position.
• Easy to  get in and out of.
• Avoid fabric damage on lounge chairs stained from breast feeding / spilt milk
• Provides you some 1:1 time when breast feeding
• Provides comfortable seating for those late nights early morning feeds – when baby is still not wanting to sleep at all hours of the night.
• Gliding  motion encourages sleep – rocking motion encourages motion sickness in babies.
• Because they are designed to be breastfed in, they allow you to use many of the different breastfeeding positions comfortably.

A purpose designed and built breast feeding glider chair provides the right environment for breastfeeding and bottle feeding

So without the financial risk – call us to provide you with locations within our network who hire a diverse range of glider chairs

There has never been a better time to hire a best breast feeding glider chairs on the market in Australia!

My experience at a restraint fitting day

Written by Rebecca Waugh, Hire for Baby Dubbo branch

The Dubbo branch has had the privilege of performing the restraint checks for 4 restraint fitting mornings for Dubbo City Council through the “Seat Belt Saturday” initiative.

This has been a wonderful opportunity for the parents/carers in the area to have their child’s car seats checked for free by a Professional Restraint Fitter.  Also to be able to have any questions they have answered.  Some of the most common questions asked were:

1. Q.    When can the car seat be turned to forward-facing
   1. Rear facing is the safest position for the infant to be travelling as it

offers extra support for the still developing neck and spine.  In Australia, the infant needs to be in a rear facing child restraint for the first 6 months.  However, you do need to still comply with the weight/height restrictions for the particular restraint being used.

Q.  Where is the safest position in the vehicle for the car seat

A.  Statistically the rear centre is the safest position.  However, this may

not be the most practical.  You need to consider if the room required for the car seat will impact the drivers seat position.  Also, if you physically can reach into the centre of the rear seat to place the capsule or child into the restraint.  Other point to consider is if there are any other passengers (adult and child) using the rear seat.

Some of the common problems we encountered were that the harness straps were below the child’s shoulders.  Also the fitting was too loose, which was easily corrected by use of a gated buckle.

After checking the restraints I always explain to the parents/carers that there are checks they need to regularly make to ensure the safety of their child:

1. Is the seat belt buckle connected?
2. Does the car seat ‘travel’ with the vehicle
3. Any twist or slack in harness?
4. Any slack in the upper tether strap?
5. Is the child the right weight and height for the restraint?
6. Is the harness above the child’s shoulders?

Why choosing the right baby equipment Hirer is important…

Just received this feedback from a customer, 26.11.2012
I just wanted to commend Cathy from your Perth Airport service. 2 weeks ago, I travelled to Perth with a very young baby as a naive and nervous first time mother.
I spoke with Cathy on the phone prior to the trip to organise to hire a pram. She was wonderful and filled me with confidence. Nothing was too hard, despite the short notice I gave her. But I was really impressed when I finally met her to pick the pram up. The pram was in amazing condition – it looked like it had never been used. Cathy also took a peek in our car, as she was curious about what car seat the car company had given us. To her (and then our) horror, the baby capsule, which we had noted was fairly cruddy looking, was incredibly far out of AS compliance and in no way road worthy. Cathy even showed me the manufacture date – the capsule was in excess of 15 years old! Cathy said she could not in good conscience let us use the seat, and hired us a capsule (that again looked brand new), FOR FREE. She also took the issue up with the hirer (as she knew it was inconvenient for us), made sure they were aware of their obligations and she destroyed the capsule so it could not be hired to anyone else.
I was so impressed that Cathy put the safety of our child above all else, and the level of attention to detail and service she provided was extraordinarily high. Cathy, and your organisation, should be commended for your fantastic service and to its concern about safety and standards across the entire industry. I will recommend you to all of my friends and acquaintances, and use you again myself in the future. Our heartfelt thanks, Elisabeth from Victoria

What this feedback highlights is that before you hire baby equipment ask yourself these simple questions…
• Does the equipment meet Australian Standards?
• Is the hirer fully insured for their products, just in case something happens?
• What is their policy regarding equipment cleaning and condition of the equipment?
• If something goes wrong, where can I escalate the issue and concerns too?
Unfortunately, in our industry (baby equipment hiring and restraint installations), it is too easy to set up a business without any training or compliance.
Some horror stories we hear include:
- Hirers hiring out extra mattresses and linen with portable cots – this is illegal, does not meet Australian Standards and is a major safety issue.
- Age of stock is not monitored.
- Child restraints are not compliant with Australian Standards – missing stickers and missing instruction books.
- No ongoing training and support for installations of child restraints – At Hire for Baby each Franchise owner and their staff that fit restraints are annually audited and training is a major part of our business.
At Hire for Baby, your child’s safety is our number one priority. We have policies and procedures in place and the branch owners are trained and supported by suppliers and Head office. The support and ongoing training is part of our ethos to keep up to date with changes in equipment standards and safety issues. Life is not perfect but if something does go wrong then we have processes in place that can remedy the issue.
Our Mission at Hire for Baby is:
Hire for Baby – Mission Statement
‘The needs of our clients come first’.
Hire for Baby strives to:
1. Provide prompt, caring customer service.
2. Provide safe, clean equipment in good working order.
3. Provide a valuable service at a competitive price.
4. Keep up to date with all aspects of equipment and car safety.
5. Make it easy for our clients to do business with us.

Family Funds Frozen?…warm up to Hire for Baby

A new baby in the house can add financial strain to already stretched family budgets. According to a study conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies back in 1994, a first child was calculated to cost around $3000-$13,000 in the first year alone. That equates to between $4500 and $20000 in today’s terms.

To reduce the overwhelming start up costs, parents are saving money by hiring baby equipment. Anne-Marie Rodd from Hire for Baby observes that “new parents are listening to their friends tell the ‘only used it for a little while’ story and they are acting on that. Hiring makes sense when you are talking about pieces of equipment that babies don’t require for long periods. Baby capsules for the car are outgrown by the age of 6 months; bassinettes by 4 months; expensive swings and entertainment centres are also only used for a few months. These four items alone would cost over $1200 to buy!”

Short term hiring of equipment for visiting relatives or when you travel with your family saves on stress, excess baggage fees and potential damage to your equipment in transit. Clean quality prams, portacots & car seats can be waiting for you upon arrival.

Hiring does make sense particularly in the current economic times.

Hire for Baby has over 75 branches Australia wide, with hiring periods from one day to twelve months. You can find your closest branch at www.hireforbaby.com or call 1300-363-755.

http://babyuniverse.com.au/news/media-releases/family-funds-frozenwarm-up-to-hire-for-baby

July 8, 2009 by babyunivers

COMING HOME

I am 26 weeks pregnant, in the back of an ambulance and I know my baby is going to born much sooner than they should. The fear and panic is paralysing and my mind is getting the best of me. Wanna know what thought finally started the sobbing? The realisation that I had next to nothing ready for my beautiful sweet baby. The last 3 months of pregnancy was when I planned to finally give myself to permission to get excited, shop and nest. I had not wanted to do it any earlier because of the fear of my belly just being too good to be true. My chance of making all things perfect for my baby was gone.

Fast forward 9 weeks… The Paediatricians have quietly given us the nod that we may be able to bring home our healthy but tiny boy next week. You see, when you have a premmie ETA for discharge is the last thing a Doctor will ever commit to.  For 63 days we have lived every waking moment in the hospital. So still nothing is organised and my idea of perfect had changed for ever – after all, I am now a Mum.

Something you might not know, having premmie is expensive!!  What you pay in hospital parking alone could buy you a fleet of Bugaboos. So after all Liam had battled through to survive in this world, my husband gave me the cold fact that I had a BUDGET to work with to get him all that he needed for home. We tentatively headed to a giant baby store on a Saturday, as you could imagine it was an epic failure. We were way too raw to be in the midst of perfect pregnancy/baby land.  I didn’t last long in there.

Getting back to basics, we needed a car capsule – number 1.  Google capsule hire Inverloch. Hello Hire for Baby, have you just answered my prayers?  Is it really that easy?  One phone call later and I am relieved and actually excited we have everything ready for Liam’s homecoming.  I am now an organised Mum who is going to make life calm, safe and easy for my baby the best I can.

My reasons why Hire For Baby is a good fit for Premmie Family

Even though the idea that your premmie is going to grow too big for something seems like it is an absurd thought it is a truth, a Car Capsule with the premmie head support is available to fit all budgets. This is a must as most hospital will not let you leave the special care nursery without using a capsule.

Before having Liam I swore that our baby would never sleep in our room.  Well two things Hire for Baby provided that were essential to my whole house having a good sleep.   One – the beautiful bassinet that fit perfectly in our room and two – the breathing monitor that gave me the extra peace of mind I needed after many times witnessing my baby stop breathing while in the NICU.  These things would have been out of my reach because of price had I not hired. But for a quarter of the retail price I had peace of mind.

The Medela Symphony was only available to hire in my area by the local Hire For Baby branch,  because honestly that is the only local business who cares about breast feeding Mums having the absolute best breast pump to use to save their supply.

Last but not least when you are dealing with Hire For Baby you can be sure that you are dealing with someone who has the up most sensitivity and respect for what you and your family have been/going through. The notion of treating your customer like an old friend seems comes easy to these operators as the bottom line is they are Mums first and foremost.   Many of which have walked a similar journey as you.

Roughly two years on from that fateful ride in the ambulance, I myself am out delivering a car capsule to a family who are close to bringing home their very own premmie twins. When I got back to my car I was moved to tears.  These tears were made from relief and joy because I now know is that so many of stories of babies born to early have happy endings.

Saturday November 17^th is World Prematurity Day.   Please join Hire For Baby in honouring these amazing babies, parents and the medical community who are fighting for life every day, with the hope that all babies get to come home.

First Steps Program

Have you considered the savings that can be made by hiring your child’s car restraints as opposed to buying?  As a mother of two, I know that we are all carefully watching our budgets.  Setting up a nursery and preparing for baby’s arrival is an expensive exercise.  However, by hiring as opposed to buying their car restraints there are substantial savings to be made.

Let’s look at the first twelve months of your little ones requirements.  For the 0-6 month old your child is required by Australian law to be reverse facing in the car.  Most mums choose a capsule for the first six months of their baby’s life because they do not have to disturb the baby while they are out and about and many models can be paired with a stroller to make a complete travel system.   Once your child is 6 months, or grown out of the capsule, they can be moved to a forward facing restraint with an internal harness.

At 4 years of age your child can now be moved to a booster seat, which they will require until they are seven years of age.  On top of the purchasing of the three restraints you will also be paying a professional restraint fitter to install each car seat and once forward facing to make adjustments to the harness as your child grows.  You will probably need to make 5 – 6 visits in total to the local restraint fitter.

It all adds up over the time your child will need a car restraint.

By using Hire for Baby’s First Steps Program you will save.  Twelve months hire, which includes a capsule and a convertible child restraint, will cover all your child’s needs at a fraction of the cost to buy these restraints.  This program starts from $198 depending on the model of capsule that you choose and includes the installation of the restraints and any adjustments required during the hire period.  It also means that as soon as baby grows out of the capsule you can start using the car seat or if your baby is smaller you can continue using the capsule until they are ready. It’s flexible to the needs of your bub.

After the initial twelve months of hiring you can arrange with your local branch to utilise our Hire to Buy program.  This program allows you to hire a convertible booster seat for six months and then to purchase it out right at the end of the hire period.  This program offers you the flexibility of paying for the restraint over a six months period.

These seats will take your child from approximately one year of age right through until they are seven.  Purchasing one restraint – a convertible booster seat.

Blogg provided by

Kate from Hire for Baby Hornsby

Love too…
Gina Kirkland – Franchisee Murrumba Downs

My Twin Journey, Carter and Kaylea were born early at 31 week, delivered natural, statistically twin are born between 34-36 weeks. Their early arrival meant a long stay in the special care nursery 9 weeks for my guys, which meant I was in the market for an electric hospital grade breast pump for home as my days were spend in the hospital with my babies.

Like any parents I googled breast pump hire, this lead to me to the local Hire for Baby branch assisting me with a commercial breast pump Medela symphony which was the same as the hospital ones excellent pump was a live saver, when I’d get a midnight phone call to saying the hospital had run out of breast milk did I wont to run some down???
Upon visiting the hire for baby branch we realised we could save a lot of money by using this service as you soon learnt both babies liked different things to sooth and sleep in, then also hired 2 capsules for the babies in the car. Up until the babies were born I guess we never really had an understanding on how life was going to be with twins and equipment what do or don’t we do/need. They is NO way I would have managed with reverse face car seats as I haven’t hold you get I have a 15 year old boy and 14 year old girl, which I drive to school every morning and collect at 3pm, so adding that to my day with the twins meant a lot of in and out of the car, Life was streamlined with capsules eg. I would feed the twins at say 6;30am then put then to sleep in the capsule, when the big kids ready for school, we just lifted the twins into the car (they stayed asleep) then repeated at 2;30 in the afternoon.

When we’d been home for a month we had one very unsettled little person, material health centre lady suggested an electric infant swing , $259.00 you have to be kidding don’t even know if my babies will like it !!!! oh maybe the hire for baby lady can help us? Sure can , again saving us money Kaylea loved the swing and we hired for 6 months and saved 1/3 of the money by hiring not buying.

12 months goes buy and the same hire for baby lady whom had been so helpful, called to say she was selling the business did I know anyone who would be interested, that person was me, was very happy to pass on my experiences also provide a great service to families and their child or grandparents and there grandchildren. So that same time of buying into the business I was asked to speak at the expectant parents night at my local Multiple birth association , this specking lead to permanent position on the panel of educators of expectant twin families held in Brisbane very second month. Its free to attend and the most valuable experience any twin family can give them self as is practical advice from mum who have left foot prints for others .

We share with expectant twin families, the ups and downs of being a twin parent, routine advise, dealing with premmie babies, and more importantly advise of ways to be savvy and spend their money in the best way possible , which is where hire for baby comes in.
Most popular hire item with twin families…
The Maxi cosi Mico capsules as they function with the city select pram
The Safe n sound UNITY capsule as it functions with the Mountain buggy duet (these two prams are the most popular with twin families currently)
Baby love snap n go as a capsule slim fitting into cars, also light weight to carry.

Medella symphony breast pump is a most hire with premmie babies as they will be in hospital for a time and you at home so this is a most have, other breast pumps simply just cant cope with the 3 hourly use.

Electric infant swings are piece of mind and a must have when dad returns to work I really felt this provided me with an extra pair of hands when at home alone during the day.

A Glider feeding chair was a real luxury for the mums as a gift from parents or husband just a really comfortable place to bond and feed babies once home , these chairs are valued at $399 so hire of $150. For 6 months just give you luxury at an affordable price.

Those families with two story homes, buy on set of change table bath on stand and cot, then hire a second set for down stair, so two of everything is not always required babies can sleep in the same cot of at least 6 month, always check the safe sleeping guide from SIDS.

Also my twin families hire the baby ergo front packs, for hiking , overseas travel and just shopping, with your hands free, dads love to carry one of the babies, again it’s a short term use product and great item to hire.

I gain a great sense of pride being in a position to guide other twins families though a very exciting period of their life, being a twin mum, owning a business which complements this volunteer role I hold with the multiple birth ass. Paying it forward !

Contribution by Gina Kirkland
Hire for Baby Murrumba Downs

InfaSecure latest release

InfaSecure – Caring for the Wellbeing of infants we are Australia’s trusted leaders in Child Retsraints.

Infasecure is proud to announce an Australian first, the 0 to 8 Luxi Crown convertible car seat.

The 0-8 will suit children from premature babies right through to 8 year old* school children.

The easy to use shoulder height markers take the guesswork out of graduating your child to the next mode.

There are also inserts & covers that ensure your child is comfortable.

The 0 to 8 is compliant to the toughest child restraint standard in the world (AS/NZS 1754:2010).

Visit their website: infasecure.com.au

If you need assistance with fitting this restraint – call us at Hire for Baby and we can assist in the following… installation, demonstration of the features and ensuring that you understand how this product works, simply call 1300363755 or visit www.hireforbaby.com to find your local branch

Grandparents love Hire for Baby.

We love this time of year, as families start to plan their Christmas trips to spend Christmas together.

During the year it’s mostly parents travelling around Australia on holidays and special occasions like weddings and special days

But this time to year, it’s the Grandparents that are getting gear to make sure that their Christmas get together are on track

Too early to decide what’s dinner but not too early to arrange baby equipment from Hire for Baby. Our regular customers know to book in early and hire that baby equipment. The usual order always includes Child Restraints, and then the orders change depending on the situation. We have Grandparents now booking for cots and porta cots, strollers and even some play equipment. Grandparents know that Hire for Baby will fit the child restraints for them. For those with “big” families, high Chairs are a must.

Remember that Grandparents tend to have scaled down and don’t have a spare cot or car seat collecting dust in the Shed. They just know its simpler to simply visit their local Hire for Baby Branch and the branch will organise everything.  Grandparents are more and more savvy, they even arrange for the equipment to be delivered to them rather than picking up. Which the Branches are more than happy to do..

With over 75 branches across Australia, we cover most areas.

We love our Grandparent customers as they are the super organised ones that have their bookings sorted well before the rest of us even start. They know the value of booking early and not missing out

So if you have not booked yet, please do so that we can guarantee your stock is available for the dates that you require, call 1300 363 755 or email or simply go on online and book