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Car seats

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Original poster

What do you think of carseats from newborn that don't come out....

18 replies

ButtercupWafflehead · 25/08/2009 20:19

....i.e. ones that don't clip onto your pushchair frame, or whatever.

We are looking at one of these, and wondering how much we would miss having a more portable one.

Birth to 4 years seems like a better (financial) deal than birth to 9 months, and then buy another one up to age 4.

Would appreciate thoughts/experiences!

TIA!

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TheOnlyDailyMaleForMeisDH · 25/08/2009 20:24

Well I had a stage one seat you can take out and one of the big problems is this: babies get heavy quite quickly and the added weight of the seat makes them very unwieldy. Within seven months I could no longer carry either of my children in their seats without using both hands and it being a struggle.

So I would say one which stays in is good -I assume you mean Isofix though - in which case they snap in, snap out so you can take them out (but they don't always have carry handles).

NB bear the following in mind always with car seats: children leak and what with the puke and the poo you will be pulling that seat out at least monthly to clean up

I had a mothercare 3 in 1 transport system with stage one seat and now have a Britax First Class for my 3 year old which turns into a booster seat and lasts to 11, but I would not recommend it. It has a design which ensures that vomit spreads throughout the seat and dribbles through onto the car upholstery. It's also huge.

I have another Britax one which is from birth to 4 and it's fab though, do go see them in somewhere like Halfords though because it's incredibly hard to judge them online.

Littlefish · 25/08/2009 20:25

We had one for dd that didn't come out. The only complete pain was that if she fell asleep in the car, she would wake up as soon as I tried to move her. If I was doing it again, I would have one that came out of the car.

nigglewiggle · 25/08/2009 20:27

No expert, but I don't think it's a good idea having newborns always in carseats (ie the car-to-pushchair ones) they should lie flat and hard carseats can exacerbate flat-head syndrome.

However, it is useful to have a carseat that you can remove if they have fallen asleep and you need to bring them into the house for example. Not sure what the birth to 4 ones are though.

Original poster

ButtercupWafflehead · 25/08/2009 20:30

Hmm... bit of a mixed verdict thus far.

By birth to 4, I mean something like this which you wouldn't want to unclip and put on the special trolley in the supermarket, for example.

OP posts:

OnlyWantsOneDoesntLikeDM · 25/08/2009 20:30

It was very usefull when DD was born to be able to carry her into super markets / house etc when asleep - whilst being kept in a car seat.

TBH I would rather this, and then buy the next one up as my DD who is 2 has nearly grown out of her Maxi Cosi (aimed until they are 4) because she is so tall, so you dont really know what car seat you will require over the next four years.

Original poster

ButtercupWafflehead · 25/08/2009 20:31

Just realised the one I linked to is the very one that TODMFM denounced

OP posts:

OnlyWantsOneDoesntLikeDM · 25/08/2009 20:33

buttercup my sister has that exact car seat and thinks its crap - and I agree, it's big, bulky, really hard to get it to fit properly in some cars because of the sheer size and angle it goes in at.

bitofadramaqueen · 25/08/2009 20:33

I don't think it's important that they clip on to the pushchair at all. We had one that did and never really used it that way. It was just as much as a faff putting DS into the pram as it was trying to move the car seat out of the car and onto the pram without waking him.

However, I would get one that lifts in and out of the car if I was doing it again. I had loads of problems with my back post-birth, and while lifting the car seat when he was young was fine, I found it very difficult to stand and bend forward for more than a minute or so, so trying to tighten car seat straps or put a wriggly baby into a car seat already in the car was agony.

bitofadramaqueen · 25/08/2009 20:34

X-posted. Being able to put the car seat on the supermarket trolley was very handy.

TheOnlyDailyMaleForMeisDH · 25/08/2009 20:34

Actually no, I'm wrong the first class is the one for DS that we love. Mind you, it is a bit odd in it's backward facing position, the baby sort of floats in the middle of this massive seat. It's a good buy though, easy to clean, easy to fit unlike the Fecking nightmare other one....

nigglewiggle · 25/08/2009 20:34

I am not familiar with the carseat you have shown, so perhaps it adapts in some clever way, but I cannot see my 3.5 year old being anywhere near to fitting into that.

thisisyesterday · 25/08/2009 20:37

excellent idea imo.
we had the bebe onfort iseos for ds1 for the precise reasons you state.
unfortunateoly it didn't fit in eithe car rear-facing as the seatbelts were too short.
neither did the britax

so check it'll def fit rear-facing before you buy it.

i ended up with an infacnt carrier as well but it rarely came out o the car

TheOnlyDailyMaleForMeisDH · 25/08/2009 20:43

It's a Britax Trio

IsItMeOr · 25/08/2009 21:22

No experience of the ones that don't come out, but we have used our maxi-cosi cabriofix quite a bit to bring sleeping baby into house and then transfer to cot in dark and quiet of his room.

Have also used it on our bebeconfort loolaup chassis for short journeys when I'm using the car. This has worked quite well for me as it means I can just pop the chassis bit in the boot, rather than the windoo/pushchair bit as well when I'm meeting up with my antenatal group of mums. Then take ds out of the car seat when I've arrived, but is still somewhere to put him down if he wakes up. And you really don't want to be carrying a car seat and baby for very far at all (especially if you end up with a c-section).

The received wisdom seems to be that you shouldn't have a baby in a car seat for more than 2 hours at a time without lying them flat for half an hour, but couldn't find any scientific evidence for this. SIDS risk is to do with letting babies sleep in the car seats without watching them.

I love my maxi cosi and isofix base .

babyOcho · 25/08/2009 21:26

They are especailly good in the cold weather. YOu can put baby in the car seat in the house, cover them with blankets and then take them in the car and when the car warms up remove the blankets.

Means no faffing around with coats.

IsItMeOr · 25/08/2009 21:30

Ooh, yes babyOcho, and especially if you get one of those Morrck baby hoodies, which are so snuggly.

Mind, I also have a coat and buggy snuggle all lined up ready for winter. Am I over-accessorised do you think?

sleepingcat · 25/08/2009 21:35

We had a Britax First Class si for DD, she rear faced until 2yrs in it. Now at 4.5yrs she faces forwards in it happily. DC2 is arriving in a few weeks and we now have another First Class.

When DD was first born we had a car seat that could be taken in and out the car, but it was soooo heavy that we never used it. Within a month we'd moved over to the Britax First Class.

Trips to the supermarket were easy, I'd just lay a blanket in the trolley seat for her. Moving her from the car to the house whilst sleeping took her a while to get used to, but I think it has made her a better sleeper in that she can be moved easily now.

I would recommend getting a birth to 18kg seat!

sazm · 26/08/2009 17:42

depends how much you use the car too?
i use the car lots every day and we are constantly in/out of it,
i found it great having an infant carrier (maxi-cosi) as if it was raining i just put the raincover on it and run into school/playgroup to pick up dc,instead of trying to get the buggy out and lo into it in the rain,
however if you walk most places,and use the car rarely,i would go for one that stays in the car,

good luck x

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