Newborn car seat, planning a long distance trip at 2-3 mo

[Caubabatko]

Hi we're stuck for choice of car seat for our soon-to-come newborn.
We're planning to take the baby to Europe to stay with in-laws at around 2-3 months old, driving 8-10 hours a day so our priorities are:

• Safety
• Comfort when on the move
• Not disturbing baby's sleep when getting in/out of the car
• Traveling with ISO fix but want the flexibility of fitting it with a seat belt

We originally set our minds on the Maxi Cosi 360 series, but reading up on threads here, many people comment on the rotating feature as unnecessary and Maxi Cosi might not be the best. Compared to other brands it doesn't sounds like the safest build (I see Britax recommended for safety).
We own one car and the baby is most likely to stay in ours during the first few years of his/her life.
Also within the same brand, we aren't sure if we should go Group 0+ only good until 15 months or Group 0+/1 up to 4 yo.

Any recommendations based on your experience please?

We had a maxi cosi pebble plus and were very happy with it.

Avionaut Pixel Pro would be great, or you could look at the carrycot type which lie flat - Joie Calmi, Nuna CARI next or Maxi Cosi Jade. They do take up two seats rather than one, though. The Maxi Cosi Jade can be used for overnight sleeping "occasionally", so could double up as a travel cot, the Joie/Nuna don't recommend this. To be honest, I probably would be keen on a proper lie flat if you are planning to do 8-10 hours' driving a day (over multiple days?) at 2-3 months old - is flying definitely not an option? Having them in the car seat for so long during the peak SIDS risk time feels like a bit of a worry to me.

Maxi Cosi have a great safety reputation, close to Britax, especially for their infant carrier seats. I do agree that in general, the rotation feature on infant seats is a bit redundant and makes the seat overpriced.

Group 0+/1 cannot be carried in and out of the car so it doesn't sound like these would be suitable for what you want to do. 15 months is variable and it really depends on the height limit (both numerical and the physical size) of the seat you choose compared to your baby's actual length. The estimate given by the manufacturers vary so much that they are basically meaningless.

The carrycot type seats will generally last up to about 6 months, the 75cm infant seats lasts up to about 9-12 months depending on size of your baby, if your seat has a limit of 80cm+ then it should last over a year, but the exact amount of time is baby and seat dependent. Some will be 13 months, others might be close to two! TBH, most people prefer to move on from the infant seat towards the end of the first year anyway, because babies get more mobile and this translates to wanting to sit up more and look out of the windows, and it becomes less convenient to carry them in the seat once they weigh 9kg+ and their legs are swinging around everywhere. But sometimes there is an advantage to keeping an infant seat for longer e.g. if you often travel by air or take taxis.

The next stage seats are suitable from around 4-6 months, so no issues there whichever you end up buying.

Baby safe pro from Britax was our choice. We did 6-9 hours trips with a young baby - of course with breaks.

The cybex can be installed with a seatbelt or an isofix base and that can lie flat.

I wouldn't personally keep a baby that age in a car seat for longer than 2hrs a day total. Maybe biased as mine hated the car at that age and screamed constantly in the car from about 6 weeks to 5months. They were both very refluxy and vomited all over the car seat a lot- like entire feeds. My dd also had a poosplosion in the car seat every other time she went in it.

So maybe back lots of wipes and towels in an accessible place just in case.

8-10 hours actual driving time or is that incorporating breaks? Baby that age should be depending on what you believe should not be in a car seat for more than 30 minutes to two hours. They are going to be very long days. Can you fly?

Wow, with respect, this is a really big trip to plan 2-3 months postpartum. I would fly if you must go!

If you do insist on driving I would get a carry cot car seat and sit next to them in the back, babies that little really shouldn't be in the car seat for more than is reccomended which isn't long. That journey will take a lifetimes factoring in breaks, feeds, changes. My first would have screamed the whole way there. Hated the car!!

I would honestly wait till babies hear before deciding your plans

be prepared for a lot of stops. Car seats are very isolating and babies are not meant to be in their own for that long. They are used to and need cuddles, warmth, pats, to hear and feel your heartbeat etc.

So be prepared to leave early, stop and carry (mum), feed, cuddle some more and play or walk, then give it another go driving and do it all again.

Thanks everyone for sharing - really uesful information 🙏
We've now bought Britax Romer Baby Safe Pro. As many of you say a long distance trip will be challenging and unpredictable so we're considering flying too, and I believe this model is cabin approved in Europe:) Thanks again!

Came on to recommend the Britax romer! See you've bought it - we flew with it and fixed it into the hire car (seatbelt fixed) and it was great. The travel bags are huge too so we stuffed ours with our coats, shoes and tons of nappies. Have fun (but also recommend flying as per pp)!

Great to hear the experience flying with a Britax Romer - did you have the baby on the lap or buy an extra seat for the carrier?

OP, one option would be for one parent to fly with the baby and the other to drive. DD and I do this as she is not great in the car, and it means we can take as much stuff as we want (although maybe not an issue if staying with family).

I wouldn’t bother having the car seat on the plane - as PP says, get a travel bag and you can fill it with nappies etc, and check it for free. Get a wrap or carrier which baby enjoys, wear baby through the airport and onto the plane. Some cabin crew let me wear DD during take off and landing (obviously still belted in), others insisted on taking it off - not sure what the official rules are.

We put it in the hold, I don't think we could bring it on the plane although I can't remember checking exactly! It's pretty heavy so we just checked it (I think free when travelling with a baby,.worth checking with the airline) and carried the baby on in a baby carrier. It was a short haul flight so fine with him on laps.