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Hunting down a deal on Cybex Cloud T

21 replies

Sunnykitten · 15/12/2023 18:21

Hello,

I decided on a Cybex Cloud T car seat for my first baby coming in Feb. I know it's a new model, but hopes for a bit of a discount in BF sales - no such luck though. Is it likely that a new model will go on sale for Boxing Day or a January sale?If not, what is the best way - I saw natural baby shower website has a 10% discount for first time purchases - is this the best I am likely to find?

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BertieBotts · 15/12/2023 20:18

Or if you wanted to look at the Britax Babysafe 5Z instead, the base for this is on the Boots offer which is very good at the moment. The seat itself is not sold by them though. Britax seem to have an error on their site displaying it for £150 but when you put it into cart it reverts to the usual £249.

NumberSixtyTwo · 15/12/2023 20:22

Check the weight - I have a Z2 and have hated it as it's so heavy. Thought I was being weak until I picked up a friend's carrier as a favour and realised they're not all this bad!

Lavender2021 · 15/12/2023 20:26

Another person saying how heavy the cybex is. I had the cybex cloud Z and never took it out of the car as such a heavy seat to carry about.
The Avionaut pixel pro is a highly rated seat in car seat groups. Really light to carry and a great position for babies - better than the cybex seats.

Sunnykitten · 15/12/2023 22:10

I'm keen on a spin seat, as we have a 3 door Mini and need that for access. That limits choices quite a lot. I decided against Maxi Cosi 360 Pebble due to the not great ADAC score.

I've been debating between T and Z2 and it's felt like the lie flat feature means we could go on a slightly longer outing in the car, taking the pram frame and car seat and not worry about the baby being in a car seat for too long. I saw Halfords has Z2 for £189, that's vs £229 for T elsewhere (and the same base), feels like £40 difference might be worth it for that. Though ideally I'd find a deal on Cloud T and get it somewhat cheaper! :)

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Lavender2021 · 16/12/2023 08:47

The cloud Z seat doesn't spin forward only to the side unless they have changed the design.
Also it isn't fully lie flat so has the same rules as a normal car seat unless they have made it flatter.

Lavender2021 · 16/12/2023 08:51

With your airbag off infant seats are easy on the front seat. I know not all cars you can turn it off so it might not be a option.

lucya66 · 16/12/2023 08:56

One thing you could do to save money is get the base second hand. They have some on fb market place. I know the car seat itself cannot be second hand, but this is one way to save money.

we got ours all in a travel system so was heavily discounted.

Lavender2021 · 16/12/2023 08:57

If your going to be putting it in the back of a three door car I personally would be looking for lightweight seat and a base that had a release button at the front of the base near the passenger seat.
I think the spin buttons are still on each side of the t base which will be a pain in a 3 door car.

Lavender2021 · 16/12/2023 08:58

lucya66 · 16/12/2023 08:56

One thing you could do to save money is get the base second hand. They have some on fb market place. I know the car seat itself cannot be second hand, but this is one way to save money.

we got ours all in a travel system so was heavily discounted.

The base is just as important as the seat not to buy second hand. It's the things that keeps your seat in the car at the end of the day.

BertieBotts · 16/12/2023 17:29

The only part of the ADAC score that was bad for the Maxi Cosi Pebble 360 was the "pollutants" bit and it was some tiny bit of chemical in the airbag warning label. They have since changed the way they make it anyway. So I would have no concerns about that seat in terms of safety.

TBH you can ignore the pollutants bit on the ADAC test anyway because they use different covers for the seats in Europe where those tests are done vs the UK because of flammability laws for furniture - infant car seats are classed as furniture under this law because they are part of a pram. That's why Which? uses all the crash test, usability parts of the ADAC test but they don't include the part for pollutants.

With a three door car you probably actually won't want a spin seat for the infant stage. In fact because they are so reclined at this stage, you will likely find that you can't spin the seat to face the middle of the car, because the back of the seat will bump against the wall (where the door would be) and it won't turn.

Having a base is very helpful in a three door as it is awkward to lean over/around and do the seatbelt. You can just get the baby in and out of the seat in the house, though, or pick the seat up, place it onto the front seat to get baby in and out if you don't want to use the car seat on the pram.

I agree that you definitely want to check where the position of any buttons etc are on the base, preferably in your specific car.

If you're thinking about the toddler stage and future proofing, then the Cybex will be no good anyway, because you can't operate the spin function on this seat easily in a three door. You have to push up under the seat below the child's feet and this is totally impossible to reach. You would be OK with the Britax Babysafe 5Z2 though as the toddler seat for this one is Britax Dualfix 5Z and the button to spin that one is near the front of the seat. Nuna Base Next is also OK but I would say those two are probably the only current modular spinning sets with a reasonably placed button for 3-door cars.

Again, you would want to double check that the whole system (including toddler seat!) fits in your car and you can actually spin it in the preferred direction. You often cannot return car seats so please do check this before you buy!

Another option to think about is to just buy a cheaper base and infant car seat (various models available from Cybex, Britax, Maxi Cosi and others) without spin function, and then get a spin seat just for the toddler stage with an accessible button, such as Maxi Cosi Mica, Britax Dualfix Plus, Silver Cross Motion all size etc. This is often a MUCH cheaper option overall compared to buying the modular sets - the set with rotating base, infant and toddler seats tends to cost in the region of about £750, whereas a non-spinning infant car seat + base set costs about £180-250 depending on model, and the spin seats that you just buy on their own (no separate base) cost about £250-300.

Agree that infant seat belt fitted on front passenger seat also another good option (and cheaper, as no base) if you can disable the airbag. You can get belt fitted rear facing toddler seats suitable for use in the front seat for later.

You won't get a base for the Cloud T second hand, it's too new. There are risks to buying second hand as said. It's not as big of a risk with bases but you would lose out on the chance to try in the car so a bit risky in that sense. Plus when buying a modular system it's a pain if you get stuck with an older model and then can't buy the upgrade anywhere because it's no longer sold.

Porridgeislife · 16/12/2023 17:39

We have ended up with an annoyingly obsolete Cloud Z and base which was only purchased early 22. They’ve since brought out 3 new models! I would second BertieBotts advice on a separate infant and toddler seat. We have gone for a Be Safe Izi Twist toddler seat instead of trying to persevere with our Cloud Z base.

Sunnykitten · 16/12/2023 17:41

Hmm, I tried the Base T in the car and it fit pretty well, but I think I'll go back and try the whole thing to make sure it turns (Lavender2021, Cloud T spins 180 degrees so it turns around fully). If there is no space for it to turn around completely, then I'll be back to drawing board and will look at the models you suggest BertieBotts!

I'm not really considering setting up the car seat in the front, as we are likely to go places with both hubby and I and Mini back seats are not comfortable for adults.

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Lavender2021 · 16/12/2023 18:31

Sunnykitten · 16/12/2023 17:41

Hmm, I tried the Base T in the car and it fit pretty well, but I think I'll go back and try the whole thing to make sure it turns (Lavender2021, Cloud T spins 180 degrees so it turns around fully). If there is no space for it to turn around completely, then I'll be back to drawing board and will look at the models you suggest BertieBotts!

I'm not really considering setting up the car seat in the front, as we are likely to go places with both hubby and I and Mini back seats are not comfortable for adults.

Edited

It only spin towards the door so all the way to the left or all way to the right with the infant seat attached to stop people using it forward facing. It will spin 360 with the toddler seat - which I wouldn't recommend as we had a terrible fit and better/ safer seats for the money.

I would definitely go and try it all in a shop. See if you can lift it in / out and spin it.

Lavender2021 · 16/12/2023 18:41

Porridgeislife · 16/12/2023 17:39

We have ended up with an annoyingly obsolete Cloud Z and base which was only purchased early 22. They’ve since brought out 3 new models! I would second BertieBotts advice on a separate infant and toddler seat. We have gone for a Be Safe Izi Twist toddler seat instead of trying to persevere with our Cloud Z base.

Yeah we ended buying an Axkid One after headflop problems and fit issues, luckily we only got left with the infant seat in the end after dealing with Cybex.
My daughter also hated the cloud Z car seat so changing at 7 months old was bliss after months of unhappy car rides.

BertieBotts · 16/12/2023 19:01

Spinning 180 degrees means that it only spins to the side - 180 degrees refers to the fact there are two doors and it can spin to face either one. If it can spin to face the front, then it's called a 360 degree spin, as many of the toddler seats are.

Actually this is a good point as with the infant seats they are basically all designed that you can't override the safety feature to stop them being used in the car forward facing.

I think (I am not certain) the Britax one actually might allow this, because I seem to remember someone asking about using it the wrong way around on the base on a rear facing vehicle seat (if that makes sense!)

But yes defo check that the seat will go on the base and spin and check the toddler seat too. I have just checked and the Sirona T which goes with the Cloud T base does have the spin release button on the side so should be accessible from the front.

But, if you are thinking about saving money, it is worth considering whether you want to spend £430 / £450 (depending on colour) on the base and seat now and then another £300 on the toddler seat later, when you could get for example Cybex Sirona Gi i-size, which is £225 for the spin function later, and for now you could get an infant seat + base combo e.g:

No lie flat function, but good safety + position (About £180)
Maxi Cosi Cabriofix i-size
Cybex Aton B2

Recline function (about £240-280)
Maxi Cosi Marble
Joie i-Level + base LX (cheaper than spinning base)

No recline, but a lie-flat function/insert (about £250)
Maxi Cosi Pebble Pro

All of these are compatible with the standard "universal" pram adapters.

Sunnykitten · 16/12/2023 20:11

Ok, super helpful, thank you both! Will do some in-store testing.

Pram-wise I've got a second hand Oyster 3, which seems to have good compatibility with various seats, so hopefully at least that bit should be easy enough.

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Lavender2021 · 16/12/2023 20:13

The back seats being uncomfortable is likely to be a problem as an adult always sits in the back with the child in our car as she asks and when she was small it was easier for entertainment. When on your own they don't have a choice but with two adults we don't use the passenger seat much!

Yellowaveo59 · 16/12/2023 20:19

I have the cloud T seat. DD is now 3 months old. I really like it. We move it between my car and DH car. it is on the heavy side but DD always looks cosy and is happy to be in the seat.

The only thing I don’t like is it attached to the pram. It seems to wobble about. I have the mamas and papas xt2 flip. But that’s a pram / connector issue rather than the car seat.

Sunnykitten · 17/12/2023 21:37

Update from shop visit. We tried Cloud T base and seat, both on driver and passenger side in the back. We did find that the Mini is a small car and the front seat had to be fully moved forward to get the car seat into the back - then it got in fine! (We even considered whether it might be easier to get the car seat in through the boot). However, not planning on getting a different car for the foreseeable, we will see how it works out when the baby is here and adjust from there.

Spin feature - the seat has a switch where you can restrict the spin only to go 90 degrees to each side or turn around fully. There is enough space in the Mini to turn it fully.

Buttons - the safety indicators and release button are at the front, so well within reach.

The only complication we found was that the seat could not fit behind my 6ft2 husband, so we will probably install the seat behind passenger seat and then switch if I am driving with both of us in the car. This is something unlikely unique to this seat - more the size of the car, so something to work around while we want to keep the Mini.

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BertieBotts · 17/12/2023 22:11

All sounds good :)

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