How important is a car seat that fits on pram?

[ihatemycarseat]

When I bought my pram they had a 50% off deal so I went for the bundle that included the car seat. However the moment I saw the car seat (silver cross simplicity plus) I could tell I'm going to hate it! I couldn't return it as it was part of a bundle and they've discontinued the pram now anyway.

Anyway basically I want to get the maxi cosi infant pebble but I don't think it will fit on the pram, how annoying will this be? I know babies shouldn't be in the car seat for long anyway and for really quick trips to the shops I can use the trolly where you can put the car seat on top?

Any advice would be great especially if you have the pebble as I haven't had a chance to see it in person yet! Thanks

[NannyR]

It's very useful if you have older children and you are doing lots of short car journeys like school runs, swimming lessons etc but for a first baby I wouldn't consider it essential, like you say, you should minimise how long they spend in a car seat anyway.

[Clarkey86]

I used it a LOT. Them being asleep and content is super precious time, especially if you just want to get to the shops etc smoothly, and being able to transfer it with a click quickly and easily is really valuable.

[HercwasanEnemyofEducation]

Depends on your lifestyle.

[Kottbullar]

I bought adaptors but barely used the car seat on the pram, it was just as easy clipping the carrycot on and they seemed more comfortable stretched out in that.

[brokengate]

Can you get adapters? Yes I use it a lot.

[Toolateplanting]

Barely used ours for first child and not at all for 2nd. But that was mostly because the chassis was rubbish! About the only time it was actually useful was a coach trip to stay with my sister where I wanted the car seat and needed to be able to move everything about myself.
So if u have space and money id keep the bundle car seat to use in that kind of instance and get the car seat you want as well.

[FrenchieMomma]

I use it all the time still at 8 months. Brilliant for keeping baby asleep while doing school runs, nipping into the shops etc. A lot of brands make adapters for maxi cosi car seats to fit the pram, are you sure you can’t get any for yours?

[BlanketyBlanky]

I barely used it with first child and maybe once with second. If we go out in the car it’s for a few hours usually (e.g. day trip to farm, IKEA, visiting friends), so it’s always worth transferring to the bigger seat.

If you need to use a car for the school run, GP, or short trips to the high st, that’s probably where it would come in handy.

[MrsMiddleMother]

Think I used it once with adaptors, much preferred carrycot instead

[flashylamp]

I never had one. I had a fixed car seat and pram with big old carrycot.

[Hersetta427]

Never used it once. Babies should be laying flat in their prams not scrunched up in a car seat.

[Metallicalover]

You can get the adapters for the maxi cosi car seat for silver cross prams. Cost about £15.
It came in handy for nipping quickly in and out of the car.

[MissDolittle15]

I don't know about the maxi cosi pebble specifically, but I did find having a car seat that fit on the pram pretty useful in the early days for nipping to the shops. If you are using an isofix in the car, it's even dreamier. Click clack and you're away!

Gosh, I don't think I've seen the trolleys that take a car seat! I will keep a look out for them. One thing to consider is that those car seats are actually pretty heavy to lug around when the baby is clipped in, even if you are just carrying it to the trolley bay it might be a bit of a pain.

I'm sure other mums have found them a waste of money, but for me I thought it was great.

[Chelyanne]

Not important at all.

We had a stroller for our twins as we had limited boot space. I had to take them both out of their sears to pop in the pram for school runs etc. Use the trolleys with double lay down seats, often had to hunt for those as supermarkets don't tend to have many. They're not supposed to be kept in car seats for long periods anyway and once it becomes routine to take them out you don't really think of it as a faff.

[MissingCoffeeandWine]

Honest answer OP it depends both on your lifestyle and your baby! Mine HATED the car seat, so it wasn’t a benefit at all - she never slept or settled in it (and yes, we tried several versions including maxi cosi and cybex reclining ones!). I found it far easier to transfer her to a ski by where she would settle, or even her pram!

Given that you’ve bought it, infant car seats are easy to swap in and out of the car. May be worth keeping the one that does fit in case - for example, I would have loved to be able to go from car to clothes shop and have the baby not in arms! But it’s not exactly an everyday activity.

[HairyHocks]

Rarely used it to be honest. Pram for trips out, car sear into shopping trolley to nip round shops. Easier to lift baby out of car seat into pram than manhandle whole seat.

[HotPenguin]

It depends on your lifestyle, but I never had one. It's not healthy for a baby to be left in a car seat and it's really a bad idea to carry the car seat when you've recently given birth, they are really heavy and awkward. The only benefit is that it allows you to move the baby from car to pram without waking up, but they shouldn't really be doing their sleeping in a car seat anyway.

[Lostmyway86]

I used it alot for both my babies in the first 6 months. Your life is dominated by nap schedules and if you want to get out and about in the car, shopping, walking then it's super handy. Neither of my baby's liked the carry cot so the car seat was used on the pram until they moved up to the 6 monrh pram seat. That's against all guidelines I'm sure but I couldn't have lived without a car seat that fits on the pram. Still use it a bit now with my 7 month old although in a couple of months she'll be too big. I'm gutted!

[otterbaby]

Our car seat couldn't be removed from the car and I never minded at all. If she fell asleep in the car, I could just slip her out and put her back to sleep in the house pretty easily. They aren't supposed to be in car seats for extended periods anyway. Unless you get one of those car seats that can lay flat.

I will say, I had my baby in lockdown in October so wasn't going to the shops that often - that might have changed my perspective, if I was going grocery shopping etc very regularly. But when I did go to the shops, I had her in a sling anyway (less risk of randoms trying to touch her!). And once she got older (she's 7 months now) she loves looking around and wouldn't stay asleep in somewhere like that even if I wanted her to!

[FTEngineerM]

Loved it.

Didn’t need to wake a sleeping baby when nipping to the shops.

Our car seat was 3kg so light and easy to carry around. It’s not just for shopping but think of nipping in the spar, getting out and walking to the cash machine, going in to pay for fuel. Any time where you need to leave the car and you don’t want to leave your baby in it alone the car seat adapters for the pram are ideal.

Taking something back to a shop took seconds and my baby could sleep the whole time.

[user648482729]

I didn’t have one for either of my DC and never missed it; for trips into the supermarket I used the trolleys you can put a car seat on and the rest of the time I preferred to move him into the carry cot as I was conscious that he couldn’t be in the car seat for too long.

[SixDegrees]

I got a pram with the car seat adapters when we were expecting DC1, but I never managed to get the hang of moving the car seat from the pram.

So I used to leave the car seat in the car full time and transfer DC from the car seat to the pram / pushchair. It wasn’t a problem at all for me, as being moved out of the car seat didn’t seem to bother the DC. I guess the pram was more comfy for them.

[ihatemycarseat]

Ooh quite mixed reviews then! I have the car seat adapters but on the silver cross website it just says it fits their car seats not sure if i can buy one that would fit the maxi cosi as they probably want you to spend the extra on their seat.

I think on balance I would find it more annoying to have a car seat I hate than not be able to put it on the pram. First baby so no school runs and I do lots of walking and live near to the shops so hopefully won't need it to much!

Thanks for the advice everyone just gutted I spent the money on it and can't return it that's last time I buy something expensive online without being about to see it first bloody lockdown!

[SillyBry]

I would say that they are “nice to have”, but if you don’t have them, you will absolutely cope!!
I used them on odd times like where I went to baby swimming lessons and you couldn’t take a pram in, but you could take a car seat in... so I’d leave the frame outside and carry the car seat in to keep her in once dressed so I could dress.
But you can put a car seat in any trolley (they fit very well!) to whizz into a shop if you don’t want wake baby for a couple of minutes!
I would also be thinking about what car seat you want next as likelihood is, you’ll need to stick to the same brand as the first (they generally require isofix bases, which are brand specific etc).

[Fiddlersgreen]

Which silver cross pram do you have?
They make adapters to fit their own car seat but for most of their prams they also make adapters that fit the maxi cosi car seats because maxi cosi is such a popular brand that silver cross don’t want people to not buy their prams if they can’t use a maxi cosi