2 Car Seats? Yes or No

[LJC1991]

Hi All,

Hope you're keeping sane in the current situation.
I just wanted to ask if having a car seat each between me and my partner is necessary? I'm not due until September but given how pricey they are I want to be prepared.
We both drive and have a car each so is it easier to have a car seat each or is it manageable with just 1 being swapped between cars? We're going to get a travel system so that will have 1 and an isofix base.
TIA

No. Especially the travel system seats - they are designed to be able to attach to the pram and be carried so are easy to take in and out of the car.

I wouldnt bother, especially with an infant car seat as they dont last that long and can easily be moved between cars. Maybe when the baby is older and you have a bigger isofix car seat it might be worthwhile.

We found it easier to move th driver than to move the car seat. If DH needed to take the baby somewhere he just used my car with the car seat in.

Not at all necessary. Just get one that is easy to pop in and out

We had an infant carrier with isofix base in the car we used most when at the baby stage. Then used it with the seatbelt in the other car. Now mine are older they have seats in both cars as we share drop offs and pick ups.

We used the baby carrier at first and only had the one, but the next seat we did buy one for each car, we bought a joie spin 360 for mine which can be used from birth to approx 4.....we used it from when my eldest was 10 months old.

By doing this it meant he still fit in his baby carrier for a while (until about 13mths) and allowed us to space out buying the next seat for my DH's car, which was another seat that could be used from birth until 4ish, a hauck varioguard.

We are using both seats still for our second child (2.5 years between our 2) and have only just moved our eldest to a high back booster, so we did end up moving seats occasionally, but it was better than buying another 2 expensive seats that would only be used for a year or 2.

Decent car seats don't have to be pricey and pricey car seats aren't necessarily the safest.

Personally I'd spend the money on a decent safe car seat and get a pram second hand - a car seat is a safety device and a pram is a fashion accessory.

First car seats are easy to swap between cars.

Remember that a first car seat will last ages too - they can be used until the upper weight limit (usually 13kg) or their head breaches the top. DS was in his till 18 months and he outgrew in height well before weight as he's still under 13kg.
I might consider two for the next stage up, but again there are ones like the Axkid Minikid that take five minutes to swap between car (just get a set of tethers for each car as that's the fiddly bit).

You will be fine with just one infant car seat because you can easily move it between cars. If you are getting one with an isofix base you might want to get a base for each car. It's quite an expense though and if your seat can also be fitted with a seat belt, the isofix base is not strictly necessary (just makes it quicker and easier to get the seat in and out).

When you buy the next seat up (Group 1 or Group 1-2) you will need a seat for each car as they are bigger and heavier and are supposed to be left in the car.

For specific seat recommendations try your local specialist retailer (see link) and/or the FB group Car Seat Advice UK.
www.carseatadvice-uk.com/specialist-retailers.html

Thanks everyone

We have one seat and two isofix bases - makes things easier as the base just stays in the car.

We had one in each car but my car was the family car so we had the travel system one in here but we got a second hand one for my boyfriend's car which may be used once a week.

@Jfoz22 my bfs is a 5 door and mine is only a 3 so I think changing 1 seat between the 2 might be a faff. I'll be using his on maternity though so 2 seats probably isn't worth it.

We had two bases for our first one, when DD was tiny we tended to take her out of the car in the seat anyway.

The we had a 360 style one - we didn't have two, it would have been useful as it was a bastard to move but it was too expensive.

Now she's bigger and the seats are cheaper/last longer we do have one for each car.

I think things may have moved on since then though - some seats do the detachable carrier AND the 360 thing - and last longer from birth. I would consider having two if I had one of those.

We have 2 isofix bases and 1 seat. The isofix is a pain to fit in some cars, my husbands being one, so we felt this was worth it. The isofix can also be used with the next seat up which is what we will probably do, and if we have a second child we can have an isofix per child without spending any more. Definitely don’t think 2 baby seats is necessary though, they’re very light and easy to move.

When each of our dc were in the infant carrier we just used 1 seat as it was carried in & out of the house with the baby in it so it didn’t matter which car we were going to. However we did have a base unit in each car that it clipped on to.

When they outgrew the infant seat and we’re in ones that were fixed in the car we got one for each car. Sometimes I’d do nursery drop off in my car & DH would pick up in his etc so it was easier.

1 seat & 2 isofix bases strikes me as most obvious here. That’s what we have (not that we needed to bother so far, 6 week old had been in the car twice!). You could do seatbelts in one car but I just feel safer with isofix as I know I can’t do it wrong (so long as the base is fitted correctly of course).

Pop baby in the seat in the house and into which ever car you are using! And then I clip the seat to bring into the house or onto your pram!

*unclip the seat