Realistically how much did your second child sleep in a car seat?

[FizzingWhizzbee123]

With DS we deliberately bought a 0-4 yrs car seat which couldn’t be removed from the car and put on a travel system. I didn’t want him spending excessive amounts of time in the car seat. We used a Snugglebundl to transfer him into a lay flat pram. As it turned out, DS hated the car seat so moving a sleeping baby was rarely an issue.

Now expecting second child and need to buy a new car seat as DS is still using his. I’m tempted to get an infant carrier this time round.

Firstly, I never thought DS fitted will in his 0-4 yrs car seat properly until he was 6+ months, an infant carrier seems safer for a newborn. I also won’t be able to pussyfoot around DC2’s naps like we could with DS. Toddler need to go places and DC2 will need to be lugged around. So this time, I can see the benefits of being able to put a car seat on a stroller frame etc.

I don’t know whether it’s worth forking out for a lie flat car seat? I don’t intend to let baby spend excessive amounts of time in the car seat, but I think I’d be happier if I was able to lie the car seat flat on the stroller frame etc.

But lie flat car seats are more expensive. I’m already reluctant to fork out for an Isofix base, as DC2 will be going into a belted ERF car seat once the infant carrier is outgrown, so the isofix base won’t get much use. However a belted infant carrier would drive me nuts so we will pay out for isofix, but not sure whether the added expense of a lie flat car seat is worth it.

We’re looking at the Joie I-Level.

I suppose it comes down to how much time DC2 is likely to spend in the car seat, as to whether lie flat is worth it or a basic Maxi Cosi will do. It’s hard to judge, as we didn’t have a removable car seat with DS and could change our schedule around him.

When you have more than one child, realistically, how much time did the baby spend in the car seat, particularly outside of the car?

Never.
She would wake up with the movement of me getting the seat out and clicking it on the pram

You need to go one or the other. What's the point in paying for isofix for just the infant carrier stage?

Belted infant carriers take less than 10 seconds to fit into the car. So I'd do that and then belted carseat personally.

Either way, my DC2 slept lots in his infant carrier when out and about no such thing as lie flat ones then. He was fine and still is.

All of them slept a lot in car seats... none of them stayed asleep if we moved them out of car seat, so I left them there so I could get peace doing stuff. I don't know anything about flat car seats. Not sure they existed 12-20 yrs ago.

Fucking hell I just googled. £200 for a carseat that will be used for max 6 months?

Behave!

My youngest had 3 power naps in the car today. She's 6 years old and in a high back booster, she manages to sleep in it just fine.

None of mine slept in car seats outside the car. I always took them out and carried them (sling, baby bjorn, back carrier etc) or put them in a push chair.

Most first stage car seats last until 12 months.

DD2 slept in the car seat on a couple of occasions but I did use it on the buggy for the few times I picked DD1 up from nursery school in the car. Until she was 7 months she hated the pram so if we were going to an indoor attraction I would put the car seat on the buggy and transfer her to the sling when we were inside.

If it helps, we had a belted infant carrier and it was absolutely fine. Took about a minute to fasten/unfasten.

I use the car seat on the pushchair frame more for DC2 than I did DC1. Mainly just popping places as I can't do things around DC2's naps as easily. If I'm going to be a while I will move DC2 into the pram or sling. I don't think a lie flat one would have been worth it. For me it's likely that DC1 will outgrow the 0-4 seat at a similar time to DC2 outgrowing the infant carrier so will move both up at the same time.

I’m expecting to use the infant carrier beyond 6 months. They are designed to go up to 12 months or so, although a lot of people think babies have outgrown them before they really have.

We had a rental car with a belted carrier which we only had to use for one week with DS and it really did drive me loopy. I think I’m ok with paying out for the ISOFIX to save my sanity for a year, with the hope the car seat will be safe and in good condition to be able to sell it with the base once baby moves on. Just can’t decide whether I’ll use the carrier on the stroller frame etc more and regret not having a lie flat seat or not.

Having the same dilemma OP. But I think we’re just going to get another Joie Every Stage and lump it. DS usually re-settled after a little while in the sling anyway.

I’m just thinking how annoyed I’ll be if I fork out for a lie flat and get another baby who hates the car seat and spends no time in it anyway 🤣

We had the Cybex cloud q when DD was born and used regularly on the pram. Loved the fact it laid flat so I didn’t need to move her to the carrycot and it was a very comfy seat. She used it until almost 12 months when she got too tall for it and would happily sleep in it

Mine only really slept in the car seat if we were driving someone. I guess it depends on your lifestyle but most of the time we walked places with the baby in the pram.
I think we only really put the car seat on the pram chassis if we were on holiday or something and it meant packing less.

I dk t think the lie flat is worth it.

Think about your day... popping to the shops; baby falls asleep in car, on to the travel system, sweep about the shops then home. How long is that. An hour? If they stay asleep when you shift them from car to wheels and back.

What other instances would you use it for?

I managed to sell my infant seat and isofix base separately. Got about 50% back.

I had a cybex lie flat seat. Used it's all the time on the frame and he slept well, I never left him in it for longer than 2 hours though even if reclined.
I replaced it when he was about 7 months as although he still fit in it he used to get really hot. Swapped for a 360 and he seemed a lot more comfortable and didn't get as hot.

I have a newborn now and am using the same travel system, I prefer to use the car seat on wheels if I have my toddler with me too as it's easier to manoeuvre than the carrycot or pushchair seat

My youngest spent half her time in a car seat driving the fifteen miles to drop her brother to nursery and back home. Sometimes she had to do the primary school run as well. Then we’d pop into the supermarket on the way home too. No ‘lie flat’ systems just a sort of plastic chair with a folding handle.

I had a travel system before. This time I'm using a pram for walks etc and a car seat on wheels (expensive but gamechanger) for easy transfer for popping out etc. I have a baby carrier if out for a while. I'll sell the pram and get a normal buggy, rather than use a bulky travel system again. Good luck!

Thanks all. We already have a Bugaboo Bee so that’s got the options for interchangeable pram, seat and car seat adaptors.

I can, but don’t, actually drive due to nervousness. So I expect I’ll be using the pushchair and sling a lot during the week, with the car seat mostly being used on weekends when DH can drive, so thinking from that perspective, maybe lie flat wouldn’t get used enough to be worth it. We don’t drive long distances for nursery drop offs or anything, it would only be for optional recreational trips.

I am now having second thoughts about with we could manage with a belted infant carrier. Still think it’d drive me nuts..... but if DH is always there, I could just make him do it 🤣 Maybe it’ll see if there’s a Maxi Cosy which does both and we can get the Isofix base later if it’s too annoying.

I am SO glad we got an Isofix infant carrier. My friend (who didn't drive) was on maternity leave with me at the same time and it was during winter. We'd often go for meals or for coffee. I'd pick her up. I'd click baby out of the isofix in seconds and click him back in. Watching her from the doorway in the rain fiddling around, I thought thank god I bought the base.

The infant carrier lasts until 13kg. This can last many babies until 18 months or more. My friend mentioned above still uses hers at 14 months and her DD is only 10kg.

My son is way above 100th percentile and hit 13kg at 9 months but still, it was worth it for us.

The isofix bases are often on eBay so you could pick up a bargain for the base.

DH has said no to belted, he wants Isofix. Tbf, we have most things we need for baby already from DS. The car seat is the only big buy really need to fork out on, so we can afford an Isofix base if it’s going to make life easier trying to get two kids in and out of the car.

Both mine slept a lot in the car seat. We had an isofix base. But mine both tended to transfer without waking if moved from the seat too. We only used the car seat on the pushchair wheels if unavoidable. I found a sling much easier.

Would definitely go for isofix if you can get the base. Our main car seat is a Joie 360 but I use the infant carrier that came bundled with our pram in my mum’s car. No base so it just belts in, and 9 times out of 10 the leaning over and messing about wakes DS up.

I found the car seat most useful when he was about 4 months old when he wanted to sit up and look around more from the carrycot but wasn’t ready for the pushchair seat. Changed his perspective slightly.

DC2 is about to turn 10 months and I swear he has slept in his car seat for max three hours in the whole time we have used it.

Unlike DS1 who would be carried in to the house soundo, taken out of the car seat and transferred to his crib without waking.

It feels like DS2 hears me push the brakes and that's it, he's up. And shouting. We drove for two hours the other day and he didn't sleep for a second. DS1 who is four and a half slept for most of it.

We had him in his infant carrier until very recently, he has got so heavy that I couldn't physically carry him in and out of the house and lift him in to the car.

Although isofix over belted seat any day. Being able to just click him in as opposed to stretching over, making sure the seatbelt isn't twisted and trying to wrestle the seatbelt around the back of the seat is no contest.

I don't think you need the lie flat feature. It doesn't actually lie them flat enough to completely negate the guidance anyway.

They can be in the car seat up to 30 mins for the first 4 weeks (we sometimes exceeded this) - because by the time you've got the baby in the seat, had the last minute delay, got down the stairs, to the car park, in the car, driven somewhere, parked - you've already exceeded the 30 min timeline and they're asleep. But then again at that age, they don't really have any kind of nap schedule so taking them out to transfer to a pram isn't a huge issue.

But 2 hours is really no problem at all. IME when they are little enough to be in those car seats, you're never exceeding 2 hours at a time with them in it because they want feeding, or changing, or just a cuddle because they're bored/lonely/want to stretch. It's worth bearing in mind if you've arrived home after say a 40 minute drive and they've fallen asleep in the seat - don't let that nap go on indefinitely - or if you're doing a long drive, you should probably make stops fairly regularly. And don't whatever you do use the car seat for them to sleep in overnight.

It is guidance not the law. If you look at the car seats that they did the 30 min study in, they are absolutely ancient and they didn't even put a head support in the seat let alone all the padding, newborn wedges, etc that you have these days. Bear it in mind, but I wouldn't worry about following it religiously, especially if your baby is full term and has no breathing issues and your car seat has something to offset the angle/curve of the seat for newborns.

Almost all of the infant car seats can be belted or base fitted - don't worry about that! The Joie i-Level is one of the rare ones that can only go on the base and can't be belted in separately. As a consequence it is only sold with the base and it's way cheaper than some other seat + base combos.

If you feel your 0-4 year seat wasn't a very good fit for a newborn, do check it isn't the slope of the seats in your car - if that's the case, some infant seats will be unsuitable on the isofix base as they are too upright. Joie i-Gemm with i-Advance base and Britax Babysafe i-size with Flex base both have features which can counteract sloping back seats.