All stage (0 to 12) car seat recommendations please

[corpjones]

Hi everyone

Expecting our first little one and was hoping for some advice on the best all stage car seat to get, I've seen the maxi Cosi emerald which looks pretty good to us but hoping for some real world experiences.

We have brought a used old icandy with bassinet and chair, unfortunately due to the age most newer car seats are not compatible with the pram so we will be keeping this seperste, car seat will just be for the car.

Advice would be appreciated 😀

No car seat is truly 0-12 unfortunately. Baby needs an infant carrier until they are around 9m ish to get a good and safe fit

we have the Silver Cross motion all size which I do really like but we did still use the infant carrier first for both DC. Much easier to carry a sleeping baby out the car in the infant carrier. Also when we had two could get everything ready for the car, youngest in the infant carrier who was then safe whilst taking oldest to the car.

It also depends on how long you want to rear face for. Both my DC are average/below average size so DC1 did rear face till just after 4 in the seat. You wouldn’t be able to do that with taller kids.

So the 0-12 seats don’t really do that well in safety testing because they try to do a bit too much. They’re also outgrown before a safe age to move to a high-back booster for most children.

There are a few truly “from birth” extended rear facing seats - avionaut sky, be safe easy twist b and be safe stretch b (we went with the stretch b), axkid one 3+ (this one is isofix).

the avionaut pixel pro and cosmo infant carriers fit prams with universal/maxicosi adapters if that’s helpful to you with your pram :)

Thank you so much everyone for the replies, did not realize the all stages weren't that great.

Have gone for a newborn carrier which should take us up to 12 months then will get one for the next stage after that 😀

The old iCandy prams have the same universal/multi-brand adapters as they do today which will take any current infant carrier type seat by Maxi Cosi, Cybex, Britax, Joie (not i-Juva), Besafe, Nuna or Avionaut.

If you have adapters already you could always take the pram to a baby shop with the adapters and ask if you can try any of the display models on it.

Personally I reckon the basic ones are usually best value - Cybex Aton B2, Britax Babysafe Core. They last long, good safety rating, comfy and easy to use with the pram compatability. The seats are normally less than £100 and you can get a set with base for less than £200. (The Britax is a bit more but their base is a bit less).

Maxi Cosi Cabriofix i-size is often placed in this category but be aware it has a much smaller height limit at 75cm so might not last the full 12m.

If you wanted a bit more of the comfort/ease of use features you could go for Cybex Cloud G (recline, optional rotation base), or Avionaut Cosmo (extra light, great newborn positioning).

For an all singing all dancing one you could look at Doona (not pram compatible, but comes with its own wheels) or Besafe Go Beyond (the base can also be used for a rotating toddler seat up to 125cm, currently the only such seat on the market, although another should be coming out this summer).

Agree not keen on all stages seats :) You can reasonably combine a couple of stages into one seat, but all stages tends to equal a bit of a compromise in all areas.

If you were looking at fixed seats to stay in the car and last you but also be OK for a newborn, the Joie 360 Spin/i-Spin/i-Pivot is a good budget option, lasts up to ~3-4 years though not the best leg room for extended rear facing and this is trickier to use for a newborn compared with the other options I mention.

Besafe izi Twist (or Turn) - you need "B" version from newborn - is another good one which lasts up to about age 3-4, much nicer in terms of build quality and comfort.

Avionaut Sky or Axkid One (you need + version for newborn) last up to around age 5/6.

Besafe Stretch B could potentially last you to more like age 7.

If you plan on having another child, it is usually worth getting a seat tailored to your child's size/stage as you can hand them down in succession. If you only plan to have one child then it can be economical to combine stages into one seat, but you do sacrifice some practicality and sometimes some safety by doing that.