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Win a Recaro Monza Nova Booster seat worth R5700 (plus a review)

A couple of weeks ago I chatted to you about our road trip to Gariep and how I was a little anxious about the long journey. The amazing people from SproutAbility, Recaro SA and #CarseatFullstop came to our rescue by ensuring a comfortable and safe ride for our girls thanks to RECARO Monza Nova Seatfix.

Our thoughts on the Recaro Monza Nova Seatfix Booster Seat

Win a Recaro Monza Nova Booster seat worth R5700 (+ a review)

Who is RECARO?

A name that has become a benchmark, a synonym for quality, a symbol for value, a mark of trust, and a note for luxury in its purest form. RECARO has been the world’s most renowned seat maker for over 100 years.

The company’s mission statement – 

“we want to be the best, in the development, production and distribution of premium, complete seat systems and specialists when it comes to ergonomics, styling, quality, safety and innovation” 

SproutAbility gave us two Recaro Monza Nova Seatfix seats to use for the trip. What makes these seats so great, you ask? How much time do you have? ;)

‘RECARO Monza Nova Seatfix – safe driving pleasure in sporty design’

First thing to take note of is the fact that these seats can be used in vehicles with or without Isofix mounting points. I think that’s great especially if the seat is used in more than one car. Also, the seat isn’t as heavy as many others I’ve had to move around in the past. My back thanks you RECARO.

The RECARO Monza Nova Seatfix is suitable for children weighing 15 to 36 kgs and secures the child with the car’s own three-point belt.

If you are still unsure about why using only the seat belt to secure your child is not adequate and why a booster seat is a necessity, please listen up…

Seat belts are designed for adults! A properly used booster seat will position the seat belt in the correct places on a growing body. The seat belt should fit solid over the shoulder and chest and low on the hips. An ill-fitting seat belt can cut into your child’s throat, cause serious injuries to internal organs, damage the spine… I think you get the gist.

Recaro Monza Nova Seatfix Booster seat

A big plus of the RECARO Monza Nova Seatfix Booster Seat is the fact that the position of the seat belt over the shoulder can be perfectly placed because of the adjustable headrest. One of our biggest issues with Cara’s old seat was the seat belt that dug into her neck. The Monza Nova headrest has 11 different adjustable positions.

Recaro Monza Nova

One of the coolest features of this seat, is the RECARO Sound System. Yes, you read that right! The seat features integrated loudspeakers (nominal impedance 8 Ohm, nominal load capacity 0.25 W, peak load capacity 0.50 W.) in the headrest which means that your kid can enjoy music, games or a movie on the go. Seriously, it’s so awesome!

Recaro Monza Nova adjustable head rest

The headrest can also be adjusted in depth enabling a safe sleeping position as your child’s head won’t fall forward and leave the protective headrest area.

More fabulous features:

  • The fixed armrest provides extra protection in the hip area in case of a side impact
  • The special side impact protection system ASP (Advanced Side Protection)
  • The unique, passive RECARO Air Circulation System ACS (for optimum air circulation)
  • High-quality coverings: all covers are removable and suitable for machine wash on cold

I truly don’t have anything negative to say about this booster. Cara is so happy with her seat and she hasn’t complained about being strapped in once. Happy Cara = happy mom.

Win a Recaro Monza Nova Booster Seat worth R5700

Do you want a Recaro Monza Nova Seatfix Booster Seat? YES YOU DO! And thanks to SproutAbility and Recaro SA you stand a chance to win the gorgeous grey one shown in the post! Enter via the Rafflecopter below and keep your fingers crossed!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:

  • All entries will be verified.
  • The giveaway is open to SA residents only.
  • Giveaway entrants are not obligated to like any Facebook pages, but it would be appreciated.
  • The Sponsor will send the prize to the winner directly.

Safe travels!

xoxo

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Planning our road trip and why it left me in a panic #CarseatFullstop

This year’s Spring school holiday was going to be extra special. We were going to spend 3 days in Gariep for a family reunion. I was going to see family that I haven’t seen in 30 years! The reunion was of family on my dad’s side. I think we were 43 people in total (if everybody could make it, I think we would have been over 70!) and it was decided that Gariep would be a nice central point as the family is scattered all over the country. There was quite a build-up to this holiday and everyone was so excited. But I was anxious.

Planning our road trip and why it left me in a panic #CarseatFullstop

Road trip Orange River Free State Pretty Please Charlie

The thought of the road trip to and from Gariep left me in a panic. The main reason was the fact that a family we know recently went through the most devastating thing that could ever happen to a parent… they lost their kids. I still get this nauseating pain in the pit of my stomach every time I think about it. This poor family was in a horrific car accident and both the kids passed away. The little girl was the same age as Cara and her cousin. My heart goes out to the mom and dad. How do you ever recover from something like this? I can’t even fathom the pain and heartache. Please note that I don’t know the details of the accident! But their pain and loss spurred me to take action to make 100% sure that our girls would be as safe as possible on our trip.

Cara and her cousin both have car seats. We know how important it is to have them strapped in. We hardly ever drive very far with the girls so we were content with what we were using. But 9 hours at a time? That’s a different story. The problem with Cara’s seat was the fact that the seat belt didn’t fit properly over her shoulder and it would dig into her neck. We also realised that Mieke’s seat would not be suitable for this long trip. What now? I was having nightmares about a trip that was supposed to be an amazing experience. That’s when I reached out to #CarseatFullstop for advice.

I knew #CarseatFullstop would be the right people to talk to. I told Mandy (the AMAZING woman behind the cause) about my concerns and our needs and I pitched my idea about an article around this. They then pitched to Sproutability who was proud to get involved.

The moment I heard that we would be able to use Recaro Monza Nova seats for this trip, it felt like a HUGE weight was lifted. And I could finally get excited about our family reunion!

I wasn’t the only one! Cara couldn’t believe her eyes when she first saw this gorgeous pink seat!

Recaro Monza Nova 2 Seatfix Pretty Please Charlie

My brother-in-law organised a mini bus for us to use for the trip and the RECARO Monza Nova 2 Seatfix booster seats were a perfect fit. The minibus had seats with Isofix and without. In case you don’t know what Isofix means (like i did!)… “ISOFIX is the international standard for attachment points for child safety seats in passenger cars. The system has other regional names including LATCH (“Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children”) in the United States and UAS (“Universal Anchorage System”) or Canfix in Canada.” Thanks Wikipedia. The RECARO Monza Nova Seatfix booster seats has integrated Seatfix arms which can be anchored securely and easily to isofix mounting points but the seats can also be used in cars without isofix. Huge plus point I think (especially if you often have to move seats from one vehicle to another).

Recaro Monza Nova

The headrests have 11 different positions which meant that we could adjust them to perfectly suit each girl. This also meant that the seat belt could be perfectly positioned to sit solid over the shoulder and chest. We had no complaints (okay minimal complaints) about the seat belt and the resulting let’s-try-to-slip-the-belt-under-the-arm-without-mom-seeing scenario. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

Another awesome feature is that the headrest is depth-adjustable! This enables a safe and comfy sleeping position so sleeping beauty’s head doesn’t fall forward and leave the protective headrest area. The girls were able to take many naps during the trip which made it a lot easier on them (and on us!).

Recaro Monza Nova 2 #CarSeatFullStop

Another super cool feature kept the girls entertained and happy… there are speakers in the head rest!! So Cara’s tablet kept her busy whilst Mieke fell asleep to the sounds of Taylor Swift’s Welcome to New York.

Our girls were so happy during the trip. Nine hours is a long time, but they were so good. It really helped that they were so comfortable in their chairs. But most importantly, they were safe!!! That made me feel so much more at ease.

A HUGE thank you to SproutAbility, Recaro SA and #CarseatFullstop.

And we had a wonderful holiday! Just a shame it was so short. We stayed at the Gariep Forever Resort and it was absolutely lovely!

Gariep Forever Resort Pretty Please Charlie

xoxo