Car seats - help!

[EllaSW]

Is it necessary to go for one that meets the Swedish plus car test? We are deciding between the Maxi Cosi Pebble (which does not meet the Swedish test) and the Axxkid or another seat that does meet the higher standard. We were advised by John Lewis that you can only have a newborn in the Axxkid for 30 minutes but that doesn’t apply to other car seats but having researched this I’m not sure that’s right as my understanding is that you shouldn’t have a newborn in car seats for more than 30 minutes generally. advice welcome

Yes newborns shouldn’t be in any car seats longer than 30 mins (ish don’t panic about a little longer)
Which Axkid are you looking at? Babies are best to be in a bucket seat for the first year and then move into an extended rear facing seat that will last them till 5-6. There aren’t any seats I know of that will do newborn to 6 well.

The avionaut sky does newborn to about five (it has a shorter shell than other seats) so there are some. John Lewis give crap advice, as do Halfords, so don't rely on what they say. It's thirty mins in any car seat for newborns.

Yep 30mins for new borns in any car seat. Reason was a study showed if they are that more C shape there necks flop forward it restricts oxygen levels. Hence it’s always best to have them in a pram that’s completely flat when out shopping rather than leaving babies in a car seat.

I would look at the maxi cosi mica or Cybex Sirona T. I would also look at the ADAC score. A worked tried to sell me the maxicosi emerald I think but I wasn’t impressed with the satisfactory score.

If I was buying an infant seat now I would get an avionaut pixel pro. It given such an amazing position for a small baby and is super light so easy to carry to the car.

Im the same. I had a Cybex Cloud T but would get an Avionaut Pixel Pro if I could go back.

Op, its not necessary to have a Swedish Plus Test seat of course but if you are looking to Extend Read Face they do offer some of the best seats to maximise rear facing to age 5+. Its important to me so we have just purchased the Axkid One 3 for our 16 month old.

Id recommend an infant carrier and then upgrade their seat to a fixed seat once they are older (1+) as then you have a better idea of their centiles which will let you pick the right seat based on child's height and weight. Some good deals on Black Friday this year so you could see what comes up next year (assuming baby is currently in utero or very young)

No infant carriers have been Swedish Plus Tested due to the seat type. Swedish Plus Test can only be done on seats that rear face so if they spin and can also forward face then they are not Plus Tested.

Thanks all. We’re not too fussed about getting one that will last until e.g. age 5 as have accepted that we’ll probably need to buy another. Mainly keen to get something that is as safe as possible and appropriate for a newborn who we know will be small. Sounds like the Avionaut Pixel Pro is worth looking at.

Plus test is irrelevant for infant carriers because it is only done on seats which go up to 105cm or 125cm (approx 4 or 6 years). It doesn't mean an infant carrier is less safe.

Avionaut Pixel or Cosmo are lovely seats and vv good for smaller newborns. In general infant carriers are much better for newborns than multi-mode seats.

The 30 min rule is technically no longer a thing, it used to be 30 mins up to 4 weeks, 2 hours thereafter (for one stretch in the car seat without taking a break) but now they just say keep babies in car seats for as short as possible, it's necessary when you're in the car, but they shouldn't be used all the time as a seat or on the pram.

My advice - use common sense, be sensible with it. The shape and angle of a car seat is necessary for crash protection, but makes it difficult for babies to correct their position if their oxygen saturation begins to drop (which they can and will naturally do when lying flat). If you put your own chin on your chest, you'll see how it's hard to breathe like that.

Oxygen saturation is unlikely to drop especially quickly, unless your baby is very young or was premature, and even in these cases up to 30 mins in non-ideal position is OK. For older babies they tend to be OK for longer, and if you take them out of the seat even for just a minute or two it sort of "resets" the timer because their oxygen saturations will return to normal from them moving.

Don't use the car seat as a planned sleep location and don't use it as a seat within the house, but if they happen to fall asleep in the car, or you're going to pop in and out of a couple of shops, it makes sense IMO to use the seat on the buggy, or bring the seat inside and let them finish a nap in it, as long as they haven't already been in it for hours.

We had a Pixel Pro for DC2 and I’d also definitely recommend it, so light to carry as well. Then into an Axkid when outgrown. DC1 has just gone into a high backed booster after being rear facing until 6.