Which car seat?!

[Franeth4]

We’ve got to get a car seat and can’t go to look at any or speak to anyone because of lockdown and it seems a complete minefield. We’d decided on the Joie I-gemm as it’s compatible with out Uppababy Vista and not incredibly expensive but I’ve just read a thread saying that it’s terrible for putting baby’s chin on their chest so super dangerous. Does anybody have any advice?

Have a look on the www.facebook.com/groups/CSAUK/?ref=share car seat advice Facebook group. Lots of helpful pointers on there

What's your budget? Axkid minikid is very safe but pricey.

Thanks, that’s really helpful, I’ll have a look.

We don’t really have a specific budget but don’t want to spend megabucks. We want it to be isofix and to be able to have a toddler seat attached to the same base. I can’t seem to find any for less than £200 with base and seat.

Oh god I remember being totally overwhelmed by them all too. Why so many?
We got the maxicosi pebble plus (pfb) but wish i'd just got the cabriofix. Infant carriers are much the same so treat them like a bathroom suite (decent brand, cheapest in the range!). Spend a bit more time looking at the next one up (we have the Axkid Minikid). The isofix was really useful when DD was small but not necessary when they're bigger IMO.

Completely agree with pigs comment!

We had the Joie I-Gemm although not from newborn.

There's not much between the big name brands in infant car seats so generally you can't go too far wrong. Isofix is a nice to have and certainly convenient with an infant carrier but both isofix and belt fitting are equally as safe. Isofix can mean that you don't get such a good fit of the car seat, particularly if your car's back seat is quite sloped. This is because isofix is fixed in place whereas with a belt installation, you can get a better recline and therefore a better fit for a newborn.

I wouldn't limit yourself to choosing one that has a base for a toddler seat. It could be a false economy as the toddler seat might not be the right choice when it comes to that stage. For example, if your baby is tall or heavier than the 50th centile, they could be projected to be heavier than 18kg by 4 years old. In that case, an isofix seat with a weight limit of 18kg isn't a good choice as it will be outgrown early, and a 25kg seat would be a better choice. I appreciate this feels a long way away at the moment!

That’s really fab advice, thank you. Did you find that the I-gemm leaned your baby forwards loads? I don’t see the point in getting one that goes on my buggy if I don’t want bub in there for more than half an hour or so if she’s really chin to chest. What did you use for newborn?

We had a car crash when DS was 5mo so we bought the I gemm to replace our Be Safe Izi Go which we already had from DD. DD had a Joie group 1 seat spare so we bought the I gemm because the Joie isofix was just sitting in the garage. So I don't know what the Joie was like with a newborn as DS was fairly chunky when he went into it but he stayed in it until he was 11mo and then moved into an Axkid Minikid which is a 25kg rear facing seat. I did then give the seat to a friend because we'd only used it for 6 months and I don't recall her having any problems. We both also used them on Vistas!

As far as infant carriers go, you really can't go wrong with most of them whether they're Maxi Cosi, Britax, Joie, Cybex, Be Safe. I think the chin to chest thing is possibly difficult to see until your baby is here!

The only one that can do exactly what you specify is Joie i-Level.

£175 for seat + base and the base takes the i-Quest toddler seat.

However I'd ask you to think ahead as to whether you plan to re-use the baby seat while you still have a toddler in the i-Quest. It's a nice tall seat, so will last an average sized child until around 4-5 years, if they are large for their age: until approximately 3.5 - 4 years old, if they are small for their age, possibly until 5-6 years old, depending on weight.

If you think that's likely, then you'll want to plan ahead to either purchase a larger toddler seat for the older child, possibly a 25kg one from roughly 1-7 years? Or a second base/set of bases for the new baby to use the seat on. Note the i-Level is unusual in that you can't fit it with a seatbelt for the times you're not using the base (most baby car seats you can do this).

It also means you're cutting some options for the second seat off, for example, you might later want to look at swivel seats, or a seat which reclines more, or a seat which gives you more room for the passenger, or one that gives more legroom for the toddler. I'd also generally advise that it's a good idea to have a fitting for the seat (even if you don't actually buy it yet) in your car to see what it's like to use, which is obviously not possible at the moment.