Between car seats - lie flat, spin or pram seat compatible

[antx]

Hi I'm a FTM and between car seats and have been considering the following functions

• rotating base / swivel function
• lay flat / reclining
• compatible with pram

I'm between the following:
Maxi Coxi Marble (has the reclining function but is not compatible with my pram nor rotates, within budget but is heavier at 5.7kg)

Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus (compatible with pram but does not recline or rotate, within budget and is around 4.5kg)

Cybex Cloud Z (has all the functions but is very expensive so the extra functions would need to be worth it, is around 4.8kg)

Any advice on any of these car seats or these functions is welcome. From what I've gathered, rotation isn't really necessary until older stages so I'm not prioritising it. Reclining I have heard is good for leaving them to sleep after you've taken the seat out the car, but really how often would this be used? I have also heard pram compatibility is good but really not that used, what is your experience?

I have the Cybex Aton 5 - came as part of a travel system bundle and is compatible with pram with car seat adaptors.

Not sure of the weight but it is on the heavy side! It is an ok car seat, but DD is on the 98th centile and will outgrow it soon.

The seat is advertised as being appropriate for babies up to 18 months old (13kg) but DD is only 7 months and already 10! So already looking for a new seat which is annoying.

Personally I would go for something that is safe and "does the job" rather than spending hundreds just incase you end up having to buy another one quite soon like me!

Out of the ones you've listed I would go for the maxi cosi pebble simply due to the weight and the fact that it is compatible with pram.

I had the cloud Q (predecessor to the z) and loved it. My DD fitted comfortably in it until she was around 20 months old at which point she got too tall (she’s now 3 and only just hit the 13kg weight limit). The Q didn’t swivel but the lie flat bit was brilliant. You still have to be careful about leaving them in it for too long as it’s not completely flat but it was perfect for if she fell asleep on our way home as I could take her indoors and lay her out, or if we were out and it was on the buggy when she fell asleep.

We had the pebble plus and it lasted until DS was 15 months old so definitely got our money's worth! I looked at lie flat ones but I don't think they're necessary - DS often fell asleep easily in this one when we were driving and often stayed asleep if I took the car seat out the car for short periods of time (although sleeping in it when neo driving isn't recommended).
It was very handy being able to put it on the pram when I was on my own and wanted to nip into a shop or somewhere quickly rather than pack and faff with the basinet. Definitely don't need rotation at this age - we just out DS in the seat indoors then carried him to the car in it. However, now he is a toddler rotation is great!

I just wanted to comment that some of the car seats which rotate will last from birth until about 4, where as most of the infant seats you can put on a car seat only last until around 13-15 months comparing on the basis of price isn’t a very fair comparison.

The ability to rotate the seat is really useful, but not until they are about 1. The question you should probably ask is whether you think having either the lie flat function or the ability to put the seat on the pushchair is worth paying the price of an extra car seat for (none of these will last from birth to 4 so you’d be buying another seat when they’re 1 where as something like the joie spin 360 although expensive will last from birth until 4).

Also worth considering if you will carry them in an infant seat. We live in a third floor flat and carry baby to and from car in the infant seat. We only used it a couple of times on the pram. The pram lives in the car boot. When she got heavy to carry this way we swopped to a spin seat which will do til 4.

I put the car seat on the pram ALL the time with my first, so that's the feature I would prioritise 100% (she absolutely hated the carry cot, plus it was so handy for popping in and out of shops if she was asleep).

The next seat up we bought was a spin one. No point having a spin one if it's an infant carrier (if that's even a thing?) because you can take the seat out of the car to put them in. Very useful once you're using a fixed seat with a wriggly toddler though!

Didn't even consider lay flat seats so can't comment on those.

Should also say we have a seat that lies flat in the car too, because we do lots of longish 5-7 hour journeys, a d if baby sleeps you don't need to keep stopping to get out of the car seat. It takes up most of the back seat and it's heavy and awkward to get in and out of the car. But it cuts hours off long journeys and we're about to use it with baby no 2 for a long trip to family. It can go on the pram but we don't have the matching wheels as we bought it from a friend after her baby outgrew it.

DEFINITELY compatible with pushchair!!!

Lie flat? Isn't that a special feature for tiny premies? I wouldn't want any chair that transformed, tbh. Best it be a proper one piece. For baby I had the Cybex Aton something. Good for the first year.