Newborn car seat recommendation - Overwhelmed by choice!!!

[lubeau14]

Hi,
Would really appreciate some advice/recommendations for a new born car seat. We live in London and do not use the car regularly but the journeys we do take
to see family etc will be long so safety and comfort are key. There seems to be so many on the market! Not influenced by price but just want the best for our set up.
Thank you!

Just look at retailers who sell only a small curated range where it's all edited down for you. John Lewis will have specialised advisors in the high Wycombe shop. Or Smyths Toys have a good baby section. Otherwise Argos you can't go wrong. Halfords might also give you advice in the shop.

We have the Oyster 4 pram which came with a car seat and it’s fantastic. Not sure if you can buy them by themselves but you probably can, worth checking out !!

Join the group extended rear facing car seat safety on Facebook. You will get excellent advice there.

second the John Lewis comment , you can go in to store , probably best to book an appointment for free nursery advice , they’re completely independent and don’t work on any commission.

Maybe Avionaut Sky would be a good choice for you? It lasts a long time (up to about age 6) and it has a very nice newborn insert which gives a good comfortable position for newborns. It stays in the car, but that's not necessarily a problem if you don't use it much anyway - saves it taking up space in the house.

It's one of the safest seats on the market as it has the Swedish plus test pass. You just need to be careful to get the version with the newborn insert (from 40cm) as some versions are sold without newborn insert (from 61cm) or without any infant insert at all (from 76cm).

Or the other fixed type seat I'd recommend for comfort and longevity is Besafe izi Twist (or Turn) B - this is a rotating seat from birth to around age 4. Again, it needs to be the "B" version in order to get the newborn insert. Worth mentioning because it's on offer at the moment for £350 where it would usually be £450 which I think is a lot. "Twist" is the plus tested, rear facing only version whereas "Turn" can be used forward facing after the child is 88cm tall - which is about 2 years old - although can also remain rear facing up to the 105cm limit of the seat (around age 4).

I would probably steer clear of infant carrier type seats which are used with a base if you don't use the car much, as these are a lot of money and it seems like a waste if you'll only use it a handful of times. The only caveat to this is that if you ever get taxis, lifts, or plan to travel abroad before LO is about 2, it can be incredibly helpful to have an infant carrier which can double up as a seat for your pram - Cybex Cloud G is a good option for this, or Avionaut Cosmo. Both of them last a long time (up to 87cm which is approx 18-24 months) and they can be fitted into the car with a seatbelt, which is just as safe as fitting with an isofix base. They also have well designed comfortable inserts for longer trips.

If you’re going to get an infant carrier type, I’d also say think about which toddler seat you want as the base of the infant carrier is often used again on the toddler seat