Car seat advice

[Chester6]

Hi, my husband and I are looking for an isofix base car seat that we can use from newborn to approx 4 years but that has the handlebar to be able to carry the newborn and ideally the swivel base. Does anyone know of one that you would recommend? Thank you.

[dementedpixie]

Dont think there is one for that age group.

[concernedforthefuture]

Any car seat that is big enough to accommodate a 4 year old would be way too heavy to carry around with a handle.

Nearly everyone I know who has had a baby and bought a birth-4 car seat has ended up changing their car seat at some point between 0-4. New safety features come out / they change their car / they realise what worked for them with a baby isn't great for a toddler / they have another child etc.

[Spam88]

I'm not sure they exist to be honest. Seats that go up to 4yo are massive things so you wouldn't be able to carry them even if they did have a bar. Swivel seats tend not to be detachable from the base.

The Joie spin 360 is a newborn to 18kg seat with isofix and swivel base. Can't be lifted out of the car though.

You don't really need the swivel when you're using an infant carrier to be honest, you can just unclip the seat and turn it to the side.

[anonymouse]

Take a look at the Cybex cloud z. It's got a swivel base and you can take it out of the car for a travel system. You would need to then purchase the Sirona after 15 months or so though.

I think this is the closest you'd get to swivel base size 0+ though. Like the PP above- I don't think a swivel base for an infant carrier is necessary. Very useful for size 1+ though.

[JC12345]

Might be worth checking out the car seat advice I'm Facebook group. They have lots of useful advice. Be aware that if your child is above the 50th centile they won't get to age for in a seat that rear faces to 18kg and would need something with a higher weight limit (which wouldn't be suitable for newborn). Best to max out infant carrier and see where you need to go from there.

[Chester6]

Thanks all. That's really helpful. It's a minefield 😂x

[BertieBotts]

There are three seat combos which will do exactly what you're saying, but they're not cheap.

Cybex Cloud Z + Sirona Z - about £600 for the lot (£200 each for infant seat, base, and toddler seat)
Recaro Zero 1 Elite - £400 - (Compared to the cost of separate seats, actually, this is OK, but a lot to spend out in one go.)
Recaro Salia Elite - £500

I would also recommend thinking more about whether you really need all of these features in one package. Generally with car seats, if you buy one seat to do several jobs, you compromise somewhere - safety (thankfully not with these models, they are all very well rated) or convenience or practicality or something. They all sound like useful features when you're sitting there expecting your firstborn, but much like the all-singing, all-dancing pram that you ditch as soon as the baby can sit up for something you can fold up and sling in the car boot, you might later look back and realise something else would have been more practical.

Just off the top of my head, the Cloud Z is very heavy, and the Zero 1 is very high up so can be tricky to get into the car. I don't know anything about the Salia but it's a similar design to the Zero 1.

Important question: Do you think it's likely you'll want to have another child within about 3 years of the first? Have a think about what seats you would need for two children of various age gaps.

Important question 2: What are your thoughts on extended rear facing/what seat do you imagine your child will go into after they outgrow this one? It can sometimes help narrow things down if you start with an imaginary 6 year old and work back a year at a time until you get to newborn. I can explain more if you like :)