Newborn car seats

[Clarkey34]

Hi all, FTM and first post, I'm after some advice, please.
When I first went travel system shopping, I'd decided I wanted the cybex T car seat & spin base.
We then went elsewhere and decided against a spin base, due to several factors:- Price of next size up seat, fact 1 car is only 3 doors etc
I thought I was 100% decided on just a normal seat.
We've now been back to the original shop and now I'm torn again.
The bundle (travel system) includes the maxi cosi cabriofix I-size car seat with standard isofix base, but you can upgrade to either the Cybex T or the maxi cosi Pebble 360 /Pebble 360 pro.
All of the seats fit in both cars.
1)We wouldn't really be travelling more than 1hour in one go
2)We'd use the carrycot on the buggy mainly, rather than the car seat, but handy to have just in case.

Does it just come down to personal preference? Does more expensive definitely mean safer? Or am I just being a marketers dream customer 🤣

Any helpful tips/experiences of any of the 3 options is welcome.

I have definitely spent more time on this, over thinking and researching, than I should of done. Husband has checked out already 🤣

Thanks in advance.

I find a spin car seat much easier to get the baby in and out of - especially in a small car. And especially when they get a bit bigger and start struggling against you 🙈

I’m having my second baby soon and have got the Cybex Z (can’t remember what the difference is to the T). I like that it lies nearly flat so if the baby falls asleep in the car you can bring the seat inside and leave the baby asleep in it lying flat (with supervision of course). That’s my plan anyway.

If you are going to attach it to the pram try to get the lightest one as you’ll be lifting it from the car to the pram with the baby in. They’re surprisingly heavy.

Between the seats you've listed there are no huge differences in safety. You can definitely spend much less on a car seat than the cost of the premium ones and still get something good.

I don't think the spin is necessary on the infant carrier stage, especially if you have a three door car. It seems to me there's no point going for the Maxi Cosi Pebble 360 Pro as you're paying extra for a slide out base that you won't be able to use. Honestly I'd use the saving to buy an extra base so you don't have to keep moving one in and out of the 3 door car. I think this will be much more useful than any of the other features.

You can still bring the baby into the house in their seat asleep if you don't have a lie-flat seat. It probably is nicer to be able to lie them back a bit more, but all infant car seats are reclined to a certain degree anyway. The "lie-flat" car seats do not lie as flat as a carrycot.

You should be aware of guidance that the maximum recommended stretch in the seat is 30 mins up to 4 weeks old, and 2 hours after this. (And obviously, it's not like a switch flips at 4 weeks old, it's just a rule of thumb). So if they have been in the seat for an hour or so then you get home, you can let them sleep for an hour, but after this take them out. IME not a problem at all.

One downside of the Cabriofix i-size is that it only lasts up to 75cm rather than the Cybex being 87cm. If you/DH are tall or if you're likely to have a long baby this could be annoying as it might only last until about 6 months. However, it lasts an average sized baby up to about 9-10 months. 87cm OTOH is about the size of a two year old, though most people will stop using the infant carrier before age 2.

If you like the idea of a cheaper (but still safe) car seat but want a longer lasting one, you could look at whether you can get Cybex Aton B2 - this is a similar price to Maxi Cosi Cabriofix. I think the inserts/baby position is nicer in the Maxi Cosi, though.

Thank you so much for all the advice and help. We decided to go with the cabriofix car seat. Time will tell if it was the right decision. Thanks again.