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?

I’d suggest a MaxiCosi Cabriofix and an Easyfix Isofix base. The Cabriofix is a good first seat and is compatible with most travel systems.

We had the Cabriofix with DC1 but didn’t have a car so used it belted and it was a godsend for putting on the pushchair, eg for longer journeys.

With DC2, we do have our own car but decided to get an Isofix base and I’m really glad we did. Partly because it’s much easier to transfer to the pushchair - I maybe do this once every ten days or so, using the car four days out of ten, but it’s still worth being able to do it, also to carry the seat into the house when we get home and DC2 has fallen asleep in it. But the base is also useful as fiddling with belts is more awkward with more than one seat in the back and this way I just have to belt in DC1 (HBB) and check DC2 is clicked on ok.

Very rarely. Only ever if in the car and moving.

Why don't you buy a regular infant carrier like maxi cosi and get a secondhand isofix base to keep it on

We have a 0-4 Joie 360 and a belted infant carrier. He used the carrier 3 times then I switched as he cried in that one but was much happier in the Joie. He is 4 months and he absolutely does not fit as popped him in for a photo before putting in loft and his head is hanging over the top. He’s not particularly long either.

I think it comes down to the baby. Personally I couldn’t justify that much on something baby may not like it could grow out of in a few month, but that’s just my opinion/finances

My first...slept in the car seat all the time. he would remain asleep if we took it out and put in the house. I would wake him up after 2 hours though

Often. But I always took them out the infant carrier and placed them in the carrycot section of the pram whether they were awake or asleep. I hated seeing babies shoved in a pram in a car seat. I see they have new guidelines regarding time in car seat now, probably stems back from when everyone just used the car seat and never bothers with a proper pram.

I had the same predicament before DC2 but opted for a Nuna Pippa Lite (which doesn't lie flat, but I loved how light it was so I could just carry it at nursery drops etc.) As it happens DC2 could be moved from car seat to pram whilst asleep and I was really pleased I went for that seat instead of a lie flat. I've now moved him (at 12 months) to a Silver Cross Motion which I love too!

I had the maxi cosi infant carrier with isofix and now at 1 year old she's now in the next size up maxi cosi car seat that lasts till she's 4 and it can be rear or forward facing till 4. It uses the same isofix base as the infant carrier as well so didn't need to buy 2 x

There is a new Nuna one which lies flat, Aria I think. I don't know if it's lightweight, though.

Thanks all, really helpful and lots to think about.

One of the reasons I’m still thinking about the I Level is that I can get it for about £180 and it includes the Isofix base, then the lie flat is a bonus. Having looked into Maxi Cosy etc, it seems we’d struggle to buy a seat and Isofix base separately for less than that - although there are some other Joie seats and bases that are cheaper.

I’m loathed to spend too much on an Isofix base as we are planning to move baby into an Axkid Minikid at around 12 months, which is a belted ERF seat up to 25kg.

We used a GB Vaya for our DS, which is the seat I didn’t thinking fitted him well as a newborn, even with the insert. However after a low speed car crash, we replaced the car seat and decided to get the Axkid, which we’re really happy with. We hope DS will be in it for another few years and plan to get baby a matching seat once the infant carrier is outgrown.

My first slept all the time in her car seat and would stay asleep when I moved it to the pushchair or in the house, a base and a travel system were totally essential with her. No2 did not do this at all!

I have got a base in partners car but not in mine due to space, and actually prefer the seat belted as I can swing it round on the seat to unstrap her to lift her into the swing, it’s awkward with the base. I leave the seatbelt done up, put the seat in, sort the strap across the seat then the one behind and away we go.

In that case, you may want to look at modular systems. You're right that not many infant seats + bases are less than £200, but if you're definitely going to need another toddler seat anyway, you could look at a combination like the Axkid Modukid set. You use the infant seat with base, which is about £300 for the set, but then when you upgrade you keep the same base and pay an extra £200 for the toddler part of the seat. It's very similar to the Minikid with the same headrest, leg room and so on but because of the isofix you can recline it on the go a bit like the GB Vaya, and although the Modukid toddler seat won't last as long as the Minikid, it's likely by the time your second child outgrows the Modukid, your eldest will be finished with the Minikid, so the younger one can move into that.

I appreciate it's still £500, but the Joie i-Level plus Minikid would cost you over £500 altogether as well.

There used to be a good deal on the set from this lady but she's not running it now, she is running a package deal/set on the Joie i-Snug and i-Venture, though, which might be worth looking at. The nice thing about the i-Snug is that it's really lightweight.

www.rearfacingtoddlers.com/store/c9/Sale_Items_and_Special_Offers.html

Another modular set I really like is the Avionaut one. The infant seat isn't lie flat exactly but it does give the best positioning for any newborn I've ever seen - I did a trial shift at a car seat shop and a lady came in with a tiny baby in a Joie Gemm, which she hated, and tried out the i-Level, Maxi Cosi Pebble and Avionaut Pixel, and the Pixel was far and away the best. It's also incredibly lightweight, and the toddler seat has passed the plus test (in the RWF only version, anyway). It's not sold directly here but you can get it rebranded as Venicci, the set is Ultralite + IQ base + Aerofix.

Or you could look at Recaro Zero 1 Elite.

I appreciate I may not be able to tempt you away from a second minikid :o

Thanks @BertieBotts, lots to think about there! We’ve got a few months to sort this out so will definitely research some of the other options.

The Recaro Zero 1 Elite doesn’t fit well in our car as the back seat slope and it makes that car seat very upright. I know this because we visited the In Car Safety Centre to buy DS’ car seat and was originally planning on buying the Recaro until they fitted it in our car. So we ended up with the Vaya.

I have read that a downside to the I level is that is really heavy, so a lightweight option sounds good. Will do some more research. You’ve named a few I hadn’t thought about so that’s helpful.

Lie flat are an absolute god send for long journeys, however they are incredibly heavy in comparison to a carry cot attachment for a pram so I would have really struggled had I used it that way. I had a Jane transporter and it was great for car journeys but I didn't buy a Jane pram so couldn't use it as a pram attachment.

I once tried to carry DD in her car seat as I was dropping car off at garage and needed to put her in the car seat in my FIL car (in the rain) and it was very difficult to carry also due to the shape.
I loved mine and think it's amazing but I don't think a conventional one would be easy to keep moving about. Could you try one that starts off as a car seat and then reclines whenever attached to pram?

If you have sloped car seats then an infant seat which can recline in the car (like the i-Level, which can also be modular BTW with another Joie seat, either i-Quest or i-Venture) might be worth a look. Or one with an adjustable base like Joie i-Gemm (better than the Gemm). Britax Babysafe i-size plus flex base is also angle adjustable, but doesn't have a modular toddler seat option, and doesn't go on maxi cosi pram adapters, although many prams take Britax car seat adapters.

There is a baffling amount of choice these days - defo a good idea to try seats out in the car, as you found before.