Isofix or not?

[DominoLuna]

Is it still worth it to use isofix if we don't plan on removing the car seat at all? I've read that newborns shouldn't spend too long in a car seat so I don't really know why we would remove it anyway. This is our first baby so I really have no clue.

Are you talking about an infant carrier? You'll sometimes want to take it out if they fall asleep, or to use in a different car. I think the benefit of isofix is that you have certainty that it's fitted correctly, but I've only had belt fitted ones at the newborn stage and didn't find it difficult.

Isofix aren't safer than properly installed non-isofix. It's just easier not to install them wrong!
We have rear facing seats (they are safer than forward facing) fir our 3 and Yr olds that stay permanently in our cars, they are not isofix. (They are axkid moves)

With our first, we forgot to seat belt his car seat in a couple of times 🤦🏻‍♀️. We promptly bought an isofix 😬

Thanks for the replies. Definitely want to get rear facing. I've seen some car seats only go up to 15 months and some going up to 4 years. I've got some researching to do.

Go to a reputable car seat selling shop and have a look at them all. They'll probably have an 'expert' car seat person in there who will have been in all the brands training days. My advice, get the absolute best your money can buy. Car seats are the one baby item I would splurge on.

Look at weight/ height limits rather than ages. Is baby here? Once they are here, you'll know roughly what centile they are on and then how long you'll get (for example a very heavy / tall 2yr old can max out a "4yr old" car seat. Also, the ones that go from birth to 4 / 7yrs sometimes don't have a great fit for baby.

We had an infant carrier that just belted in which lasted until around 14months (maxi cosi pebble 360 but I wouldn't recommend that one actually as I didn't like it). Then a britax max safe pro which has 36kg weight limit or 125cm height limit so should easily last until at least 5yrs old when we'll probably switch her into a high back booster and her little sister will go into the britax. The britax is brilliant.

You could also join Car Seat Safety UK Facebook group. It's a strongly pro rear facing group which has independent car seat retailers as Admins. They have some super infographics in the "featured" posts section on recommended seats.

If you are going to leave the seat in the car at all times, then it can make sense to get one going up to age 4 instead - just be aware that it's not always age 4 exactly, it depends on the size of your LO. Also, not all of the 0-4y car seats fit newborns that well (this might not matter a lot if you have a short drive back from hospital and likely won't be in the car a lot in the first 6 weeks).

I did find it helpful to be able to carry the car seat out of the car when the baby was sleeping. Otherwise you end up waiting in the car for them to wake up, which is no safer than carrying them in the seat. Yes, you shouldn't leave them in a car seat all day every day, but when they are really tiny if you're going in and out of the car a lot, it's nice not to have to disturb them - they don't usually like being moved around and strapped into different things. The other thing is that if your baby will be quite small during winter, it's not safe to put them in the car seat in bulky winter coats, so it is quite handy to be able to get the baby into the car seat and then tuck a blanket on them over the straps to ensure the baby is warm and the straps are snug, especially on a rainy day it's not that nice to be stood by the car faffing around with a car seat.

If you are asking about getting a car seat base - it is a bit annoying to try to use a baby car seat when it's strapped in with the seatbelt, so you'll probably end up unstrapping it to get the baby in/out and then strapping it back in. I didn't have a base with my first baby, and didn't miss it. DH insisted with DC2 and we kept the base set for DC3. It was a bit quicker with the base. Not a huge deal IMO except when it was raining or something. They can be quite expensive so it is one way to save money.

Also if you are already sold on ERF, look at Avionaut Sky, Besafe Stretch B and Axkid One+ or One2+.