Icandy car seat debate…

[Tasha0412]

So; we’ve decided to get the icandy peach pram, which doesn’t come with a car seat. The cybex cloud z fits onto the pram but is £240 and only lasts until 18mnths old but can be taken in and out of the car. However, there is another cybex car seat that is £299 and lasts until 4yrs old but is fixed into the car…

So my question is..what one would you go for? Did you use the car seat on the pram often so is it worth having that option or not? Just not sure I can justify £600 on car seats over a 4yr period!

Thanks! xx

You can get cheaper seats both for the next stage and for the pram stage. The cybex car seat adapters fit loads of brands:

Joie (except Juva)
Maxi Cosi
Cybex
Nuna
Avionaut
Besafe
Britax Babysafe i-size 3 or i-sense, and anything newer (the older models need Britax specific adapters).
Recaro

Unless stated otherwise all the models from that brand fit. A few others might as well but those are the ones that I know for sure use those adapters.

If you're after extended rear facing for the second stage then you may want to look at the Swedish style seats anyway, Axkid or Britax (max way/max way plus) which are still about £200-300, but they last from approx 1 year up to 6/7 years so a bit better than 3-4 years.

IMO, the rotation on the Cloud seat is a bit of a gimmick, because you don't really need the rotation on an infant car seat as you take it in and out of the car every time. It's useful for the second stage one if you go for the modular seat that fits onto the same car base. But that does bring your base out of the running if you have a second baby and wanted to use the Cloud seat again.

The recline is also not quite flat enough to replace a carrycot, it's not flat enough to be considered safe for unsupervised sleep, although it does go flatter than a normal car seat.

Bear in mind the base is also an extra £200, so it's £440 for the Cloud Z with the base which is a lot of money in my opinion. It's a lovely seat but considering you only use it for about a year I always think it's bonkers! If you get the Sirona Z which is the next-stage seat that fits onto the same base that's another £299 (so just as expensive as the standalone version!)

Unfortunately car seats are very much front loaded in price as in you pay £££ for the smaller size ones that are suitable for younger babies because they just grow so fast when they're tiny (and need that much more protection). Once they're about 4 or 5 you can swap to a high backed booster which costs about £60-100 and it will last them until they are about 10 or 12! It's the first one or two seats which are expensive.

I will do another post about the birth to 4 years ones because this got a bit long

So the first thing to know about 0-4 years seats is that they are based on an average sized child, the ages are just a guide. So you can end up in the situation where you've bought a seat up to age 4, but your child is not old enough to move to the next stage seat when they grow out of it (or you might just feel that at 4 they are not yet ready for a seat with adult belt) and you need to buy a bigger one covering the same stage. That is not always a problem if you have a second baby that moves into this seat and you can get one for up to 6/7 years for your first child.

On the other hand if your child isn't overly tall, but you plan to hand seats down to another baby anyway that can be a bit annoying if your 3 year old is still using the 0-4 years seat but you need another for the new baby. Whereas if you had an infant carrier + 0-4 seat you can wait until your eldest has finished using it before passing it down.

You will also want to research how well the seat you're looking at suits newborn babies. Sometimes the inserts are lacking and the 5 point harness is too big and the recline angle is not sufficient. Cybex Sirona S is not great at this. Joie spin seats are OK and Besafe ones. Others I don't know. But regardless of the seat, it's a good idea to get it fitted in your car as a trial and see what the angle is. Many cars have sloping seats in the back and that causes a problem with isofix rear facing seats as the slope counteracts the recline setting. 45 degrees is the maximum tilt a newborn can handle, 40 is preferable. As for the inserts and harness, the best thing is to try it out with a newborn sized doll - some specialists have these to demo with, but not all. Or you can try to google for reviews and see what pictures people have put online.