Please recommend!!

[waukesha]

Baby No. 2 is on the way and I'm back to spending hours researching car seats. Please help!

DC1 is currently in an Axkid Move (aged 2). I'd like to keep them in that until they're 4.

Ideally I'd love to find a car seat that will last DC2 up to 18 months so that they can move straight into the Axkid when DS1 comes out of it.

I don't want to spend a fortune as this is our last baby but safety is priority 1. Not fussed about anything 360 spin as I'd only ever rear face. We have a big car so size not a huge concern.

Ideally I'd like ISOFIX and also a brand that will fit onto silver cross / maxi cosi pram adapters for ease of walking in and out of soft play etc.

Can anyone recommend a seat based on the above??

Thanks in advance!

Most car seats either go up to about the year or are up to 4 years.
For example a maxi Cozi pebble is roughly 1 year, but the Joie 360 is up to 4.
18 months on a maxi Cozi pebble would only work if you had a small short baby, as it’s down to length.

If sounds like the Joie could work for you but not need to move out of it at 18 months.

The Maxi Cosi Cabriofix iSize offers a great fit for newborns. It's a budget friendly seat, too. Make sure it's the iSize as the older version doesn't offer great newborn support.

Whether it'll last you to 18 months or not, I'm not sure. It'll depend on your baby's centiles, but if baby does reach 13kg prior to that, you can pick up Joie 18kg seats to bridge the gap which are inexpensive compared with ERF seats.

I forgot to say, most seats that say they are from newborn upwards do not offer a good fit for newborns (such as the Joie seats) so I'd definitely go for an infant carrier and weigh up your options after that.

Thanks for your help!

My parents have the joie 360 in their car and have always found the spin button difficult to reach and quite fiddly. I've read that the I-size version is better in this regard- do you have experience of this?

The other concern I have with this seat is the fact that it's fixed in the car. I worry about having to carry the baby through car parks etc while wrestling a toddler too . I had envisioned securing the baby in the seat indoors beforehand to make transitions a bit easier!

Thank you so much - I'll go have a look at this seat now!

It's been several years now since I was in the market for an infant seat, but based on what I've learned about car seats since then, you can't go too wrong with an infant seat, as long as it's a reputable brand, a good fit from newborn (preferably with removable inserts) and a decent amount of growing room - ie tall not short shell - you can't go too wrong. As for specific seats maybe bertiebotts will be along to recommend!

Thank you! Yes all the infant seats I'm seeing tend to be up to 1 year and have good safety ratings but then you have the jump to the ones that last up to aged 4 approx and then there is a safety compromise.

I think my best bet might be to just choose a well rated infant seat and then a year down the line weigh up my options - as a pp said.

Ideally just trying to avoid buying an expensive infant seat then a second expensive ERF seat a matter of months later.

Be aware that the cabriofix i-size has a height limit of 75cm so if you want it to last as long as possible, you should probably look at other seats eg Avionaut Cosmo (height limit 87cm).

Thank you! Will have a look.

Does anyone have any comments on the Maxi Cosi Marble i-size? Up to 85cm. ISOFIX and will fit onto my pram. Seems heavy but that doesn't overly concern me.

The weight would really put me off. I had a heavy infant carrier (bought when pregnant with #1 and did not anticipate this being important!) and also big babies so it got really hard to lift/carry the seat with baby in it, really quickly. I reckon a key advantage of an infant carrier (as opposed to a 0-18kg seat) is being able to take it in and out of the car, use it with the travel system, etc.

Also infant carriers are usually pretty versatile in that you can switch them between cars - use them in taxis or friends'/relatives' cars if needed - really easily. However, the Maxi-Cosi marble can only be used with the isofix base it comes with so much less versatile.

Struggling to see why you'd buy it tbh - sorry!

Hi OP,
The best infant carriers on the market are currently:
Avionaut Pixel Pro
Avionaut Cosmo
Britax BabySafe Core
Britax BabySafe 5z2
All these seats offer a fantastic fit for a newborn and can be belted in without the need for an expensive isofix base. Isofix can also contribute to dangerous head flop in babies due to the angle of the seat, which can be worse in slanted seats in some cars. The Pixel Pro is particularly good for smaller / prem babies.
Be wary about purchasing a seat which offers an age range. Seats are always height or weight based, which obviously varies from one child to the next.
Be cautious about I-size seats with a 75cm height limit. These can be outgrown super early way before they reach the weight limit if you have a tall but slim child.
Seats such as the Joie 360 claim to be birth to 4 years do not offer a safe fit for a newborn. They usually fit around 5/6 months. If you wanted to consider a birth to 25/36kg seat then the Avionaut Sky 2.0 or the BeSafe Stretch B would be good options.
It’s great that you want your children to rear face until 4 years, but do consider longer to 5/6 years if you can as they become more skeletally mature with respect to the bones in their neck. At 6 years you are much more likely to get a safe fit in a HBB with a three point belt, plus your child is more likely to be mature enough not to play with the belt. A good option for you to achieve that for both would be the BeSafe Stretch B (you’d need the B option for the newborn inserts) which your newborn could have from birth. Then you could swap your eldest into this as they reach the limit on the Axkid Move and then finally swap them back when your eldest is ready for a HBB. For reference my tall 6 year old is still rear facing in a BeSafe Stretch and is still very comfortable.

Cybex are the biggest/longest lasting infant carriers, if you want it to last 18 months I'd 100% get a Cybex.

The Cybex Cloud is popular but it doesn't need to be this one as it is quite expensive. Cybex Aton M or Aton S2 - anything with the movable headrest - these are also large seats.

You could measure the Britax Babysafe Core or one of their more premium options too - just go into a baby shop selling both Cybex and another brand, and take a tape measure with you. Britax always used to be on the larger side but I don't know their current models. You want to put the headrest or straps into their highest position, then measure from where the baby's bum would be up to the straps. You can also measure from bum right up to top of the seat as the baby's head is not allowed to poke out of the top. Cybex was the biggest, last time I measured a load of different brands but this was a few years ago now. Avionaut are nice and do have a high limit on paper but I don't think the shell is that long.

Maxi Cosi (almost) all have a height limit of 75cm and are very unlikely to last until 18 months. The Marble isn't that big, despite the higher height limit, and it's annoying to use apparently. Joie i-Level Recline is one to look at that does last a long time though again only has the isofix fitting, not seatbelt.

Whether they are approved to 83/85/87cm etc is mostly irrelevant - 75cm is an issue because this is pretty small, usually before the first birthday. But 83cm is plenty for most children, and the car seat is highly likely to be outgrown by physical size before the height limit is reached when you get to this point, so measure the size of the car seat, not the height limit.

Bear in mind that those pram compatibility lists are always shorter than the compatibility is in reality because the pushchair companies don't test every single possible seat which is released. Cybex, Joie, Avionaut, Maxi Cosi and Britax all use the same adapters so they have the same compatibility.

And likewise ignore whatever age the marketing says - they all say up to 12/15/18 months and it doesn't bear any relationship to the actual size of them. The vast majority of people stop using an infant seat before 12 months old.

The Britax Baby Safe Core is good value at £139.

I rate Britax seats, we have bought several over the years!

Hi, my only recommendation is to stay away from Maxi Cosi. See my other thread on the subject. Seem to have gone massively down hill in service and quality control.

I'd recommend cybex. We have cloud T, much longer lasting than the other infant car seats. Then move into older siblings seat when they outgrow it.

Thank you everyone. We've been away on holiday this past week apologies for not responding to your helpful suggestions! I've accepted the fact that it's unlikely I'll find a safe enough seat which will last until I'm ready for DS1 to come out of his Axkid Move.

So from all your suggestions I've decided to look at either:

Thinking long term and going straight for the Avionaut Sky or the BeSafe Stretch B. (Only put off this because I feel it's handy to be able to lift them out of the car in the seat in the newborn days).

Or just going for an infant carrier and then more than likely buying another Axkid Move or similar for DC2. I've whittled the list down to a couple of Avionaut and Cybex seats and the Britax Baby Safe Core.

We're going to visit our local pramstore who have a huge range of car seats to view in person before deciding.