car sear confusion

[Sailawaygirl]

Hi - i looking for some wonderful mumsnet wisdom and experience of car seats
DC1 is expected in October. We live rurally and have two cars.
Do people get two fixed cars seats? or two bases for each car and one baby carrier?

I like the idea of a baby carrier because the pram we are getting isnt the smallest as we need a nice chunky off road pram but i do worry about how hard it is to strap in a new born into a fixed car seat and have to keep waking them up. Although i know they shouldn't spend too long in baby carrier anyway (im thinking quickly going to village shop, driving to see a friend and can then put them in mosses)

Or did people get one car seat and then a second after DC arrives for second car when you know what works for you a bit better?

Id also prefer one that has longer age range - but read mixed reviews?
So far looked at Avionaut Pixle pro, Avionaut sky, maxi cosi. britax and cybex seem expensive.

It would great to hear what worked for you in a similar situation?

We just have the one base and one car seat - the reason being that we're both insured to drive both cars, so whoever has DD has the car with the car seat. If there was ever a problem with the car with the car seat in, we'd switch it over.

We had to take each other of our insurance this year as it went up massive because DH hit a dear and lost his no claims. And I need business use which is expensive. Adding him to my insurance used to make it cheaper until the dear situation and he has had a risk a very budget insurance and he can't drive other cars on it.

I would definitely get an infant carrier first. Couple of reasons, firstly when they fall asleep in the car seat it's easier to lift them out in the car seat and they can carry on snoozing for a bit.

You can also then make a more informed choice on the next stage seat once you know their weight/height and how small/big they are for their age. I.e if you keep them rear facing whether an 15/18kg one would be ok or if you need extended.

You could do one base and also learn how to do it with a seat belt. It's no less safe when done correctly, isofix bases just take away a bit of potential for human error.

@Lockdownmummy that's helpful thank you.
I've been looking today and probably over researched this morning and got very confused! But if I know I'm just looking for a carrier seat it will narrow it down. The sales person in john lewis made me feel very bad for not wanting the most expensive maxi cost that lies flat ect ..

Most people like to have an infant carrier. It sounds like you'd prefer one, from what you've said.

Cybex have some more basic models which are cheaper. Their top end flashy full-featured models are expensive, but the basic models are safe and easy to use. You will be heavily marketed all the expensive sets around the £450 mark, but there is nothing wrong with spending £100ish on the car seat and £100-150 on the base (if you even want a base). There are even cheaper sets available if you do not need it to be compatible with your pushchair - Hauck and Graco have budget infant seats.

The majority of infant carriers you can fit them both with the base or without the base, so you could always get a base for the car that you use most often, and then seatbelt fit it in the other car.

We had a base in both cars and then one Maxi Cosi pebble.

Once outgrown we went for a Joie 360 .

An infant carrier is the safest option initially.

When you have a baby in the autumn/winter, it's also nice to be able to strap them into the seat and then cosy them up with blankets over the top, while you're still in your nice warm house and then you can leave them sat in the seat (most of them rock back and forth) while you get your own coat, bags, shoes on etc. You can't put babies in bulky, outdoor winter clothing into car seats because the straps won't go tight enough to be safe over that clothing. So you have to use a blanket over the straps, and that can be a pain in snow/rain/wind trying to get them into a fixed seat in just indoor clothing.

What I would do now though in hindsight is buy one pebble and base and then put a Joie 360 in the other car. It can be used from newborn and goes up to age 4.

We had an infant carrier that went in secured with the seat belts. That saved the base dilemma. It was very quick and easy to do.

We got an infant carrier that slotted onto an isofix base so we were confident it was securely fitted. Hardly ever took it out of the car though. Any time we stopped DC was out of the seat and into pram or sling. Sometimes he'd wake up, sometimes not. The couple of times I tried to get him out still in seat he woke up anyway. Never bothered trying with DC2.

With two cars I would get two bases and a seat that fits on them for the occasions you are swapping between cars. Wouldn't worry about getting seat out otherwise.

Maxi Cosi also have some less fancy options for less than the top range one. The Cabriofix i-size is cheap, and the Pebble Pro has really well designed padding, babies look so comfy in it. That one is popular too so can often find deals/bundles with a pram. I think the Maxi Cosi seats are really easy to fit with a seatbelt - just really well designed in general.

The reclining ones are a little bit gimmicky - not really worth it unless you're expecting to use on the pushchair a lot, or if you feel really anxious about their breathing position. OTOH if you do feel anxious about that then the reclining seats might not help anyway since technically, the recline is still too steep to be considered "sleep safe" officially.

You should be aware of the fact that car seats are inclined and not flat and not overuse them - but the problem that you're looking to avoid is more when people use the car seat in the car, then on the pram, then back in the car and then bring it in and it's the seat where they keep the baby for the whole day. You don't see this so much now, but it was quite common about 15 years ago when these seats first became available because they were marketed as being multi-purpose and people found them really handy. (And weaning advice was different so people used them as feeding chairs too, not done today).

It's fine to put the baby in the car, drive to a friend/the shops, wander around a bit, take them out for a cuddle/feed/change/play/kick about and then put them back in and drive home, and if they fall asleep, bring them into the house asleep in the seat and let them stay there until they wake up. And for the rest of the day they are being cuddled, they are sleeping in a moses basket, they are on a play mat on the floor etc. It's about having a balance and not keeping them in the very restricted position of the car seat all the time. Which you probably would not do anyway.

Car seats go by weight or height, not age. A heavy/tall 2yr old might be the same size as an "average" 4yr old. But it wouldn't be safe to use the seat beyond the weight/height limit

another consideration could be the BeSafe Stretch B which is suitable from birth to 35kg or approx age 7. it's expensive so perhaps only if for one car. but its relatively easy to install so could be moved.

If you have one infant carrier and share between the cars
if it comes with a base/you would prefer one I would buy one to start as some cars/carriers fit better belted in depending on slant of seats etc I never had a isofix base as to me wasn’t worth the extra money

most infant seats go up to 13kg which for my small child fitted well past 3 (she didn’t use this as was evicted by her brother) but even he was a bigger baby and got to 18 months I think

so I would wait and see what centile they follow as depending on how long you want to rear face may need a 25kg one

@Flippingflamingo that's what I had been thinking but then it feels like I'm am buying double. I think i will get an infant carrier and base to start and get a second car seat in few months when baby is a bit bigger and we know a bit more what our routine will look like.
@BertieBotts reassuring what you feel about the fully reclining ones. I didn't think it was fully needed unless you know your going to do lots of longer car trips. Also very good point about out side layers and fitting into straps!

I am well aware of this. I meant to write appropriately age 4.

A Joie 360 will go to 18kg, which for my son was 4 years 3 months, my daughter 3 years 9 months.

I know what you mean, but you will buy something like the 360 for after 13kg anyway so might as well have it from newborn IF you were going to buy a second base for another car. Will save you the money of the other base!

We only bothered with one on mat leave and I loved the incredibly light Nuna I had-lasted for absolutely ages too as because it was light I could still manage to lift it on and off as she got bigger. Friends with heavier ones gave them up very quickly as they become too hard to lug about but we made it to 15 months easily.

Once I went back to work we needed 2 and opted for 2 fixed spin seats (we have a Britax and a Joie). They have lasted well, DD about to turn 4 and still not outgrown-I think we will get to December.

That's no problem. Not everyone else is aware though! Really I was was highlighting it to the OP who was looking for car seat advise...

When our son was a baby we had an infant carrier and the isofix base, as I naively assumed this was “safer”. Now I realise that the base just removes the potential error when fitting the car seat into the car. Granted it was quick to fit which was helpful if it was raining or snowing (December baby), but I now realise that it was the base that gave our son such terrible head flop because our seats were quite angled (Fabia and Polo).
If we ever had another I’d just get the infant carrier and belt it in.
I’ve heard great things about Avionaut Pixel Pro and Cosmo giving great fits for newborns.
Good luck with your search and congratulations.

Look into extended read facing for after the infant seat and make sure you are clued up on what NOT to dress them in the car seat