maxi cosi x 2 seats or britax dualfix?

[Sheepoverthemoon]

Mothercare advised buying the britax dualfix 0-4yrs, I had concerns that the car seat didn't come out of the car and is permenatly attached, she dismissed this and said we would save money in the long run.
John lewis recommended maxi cosi a baby car seat and then the 0-4years(but she said its still worth getting the baby one as it has a handle and is cosier and safer for baby). Also both these fit the same isofix.
Can anyone give advice?

It depends whether you want to be able to carry the baby around or use an infant carrier on wheels as a pram. I never bothered with an infant carrier for my first two babies, they just had a birth to 4 years seat that stayed in the car and I didn't find it inconvenient at all.

I did borrow an infant carrier, and base for the car, for my third baby. This was just because I thought it might be easier, in the middle of the chaos that ensues when you have three children, to be able to get the baby ready to go out and settled in her car seat in the house before I began the 20 minute battle to persuade my older two to get their shoes on/wear a coat/leave the soft toy in thd house etc etc!

Agreed - totally personal choice. Yes you will save money buying a combination birth-4 years seat, but you lose the convenience of being able to take the baby seat out of the car.

I did not have one which fit onto a pushchair, but did find it helpful to have the carry handle because it meant if DS was asleep when we got home I could bring him in still asleep and not worry about waking him up or have to sit in the car with him.

Remember that salespeople will have their own agendas ie getting you to spend money. They won't necessarily know what's best for you and your lifestyle.

I'm guessing that the John Lewis seat uses the Familyfix base. IMO this is quite a clever bit of marketing because you think it's useful, but then you're locked into buying a Maxi Cosi seat for Group 1 as well, which might not be the one that you want at that point. Plus, if you plan to have another child, you'll need to buy another base for another seat anyway so you're not really saving any money at all!

Have you given any thought to how long you plan to rear face for? There are movements now which are looking at RF for longer. Some people especially on here will give you the hard sell on RF until four years, I think that as long as reasonably possible is a good aim but I'm not convinced that 4 years offers such increased safety standards when you factor in the chances of being in an accident in the first place. I wouldn't personally want to put a child forward facing before 15 months, preferably 18 months.

Whether you want another baby is also relevant in 0-4 years vs separate infant carrier decision, too.

I think, particularly if this is your first child, you don't want to tie yourself into anything inflexible.

I'd get a maxi cosi with an easy fix base, and keep baby in it until outgrown - unless you have a giant baby this is likely to be 15 months +. The seat is outgrown when baby's head reaches the top of the seat, not when it become too heavy to lift or their legs go over the edge. This way you get maximum value from your infant carrier and at this point you'll be in a great position to know what you need and what your future family might look like (ie how you can pass seats down through potential siblings).

Remember, the dualfix isn't the only ERF seat. It's a great seat, but it's also readily available. There are much cheaper ones around, suitable from after baby has outgrown their group 0 seat.

I have an almost 15 month old ds and got a maxi cosi cabriofix which she is still in (just looking to get a new car seat now). Personally I am so glad we got it, as I used it so much on the pushchair. Waaaay more often than the pram part when she was little and often for quick trips when she was big enough for the pushchair part. Whether you're planning another in the next few years is also something to consider as if so new baby could use it too. You could look at the pebble, as I think you can get the base for that which also fits the two way pearl as a next stage seat. I'm not sure if it's compatible with pushchairs too but I would imagine so. Personally I loved having the cabriofix, it was just so convenient being able to Cary her about in it.