How to move baby if you have a fixed car seat?

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Hi I’m pregnant with first baby. Have bought Joie i360 spin car seat and fitted it yesterday. Very happy with it. I have a bad back so think will be so great. However, it doesn’t leave the car. It’s got me thinking about how best to transfer baby to and from car when we leave hospital/visit friends and family etc. Can anyone recommend a handheld baby carrier that’s not a car seat? I’ve seen this and would welcome thoughts on it: https://www.vertbaudet.co.uk/soft-vertbaudet-carrycot-light-grey.htm?ProductId=703280053&FiltreCouleur=6429

Thanks in advance!

'Snugglebundl' !

For those sort of short trips I’d use a sling, or just carry them. Much easier than another piece of kit that will probably get hardly any use!

Pick them up and carry them?
Sling. Pushchair.

Can you not transfer into a buggy or pram and that would leave your hands free

A well-designed sling is probably best, something that keeps them snuggled in but with their airways well open and close enough for you to kiss the top of their head.

It's really not recommended to leave them in the car seat for any longer than strictly necessary i.e. when they're not actually travelling in a car so I'm pleased to see a parent not choosing a travel system where the baby just stays in their car seat at the shops, supermarket, out on a walk etc. It can be really dangerous for newborns and it's probably not very comfortable for bigger babies!

Also you don't know what kind of baby you'll get yet... some are very happy snoozing away in prams and others - like mine - scream blue murder if they're not in physical contact with their mother 24/7. We had an expensive pushchair/pram system that only ever got used by grandparents in the end as DD wouldn't settle anywhere other than the sling with me. 🤣

I just transferred to the pram or carried if I wasn't going far.

Sling or pram attachment for pushchair. If you have a bad back any kind of car seat like thing will be horrid to carry as the size puts the strain at a horrid angle.

Looking ahead when they start walking get harness reins as holding hands with a short child puts a lot of torque on your back.

I dont think you would get much use out of that. I have the same situation and I just transfer to pram, carrier or hold them if just popping in somewhere

Thank you all! Very helpful. I love mumsnet! Think we’ll be alright then with sling and buggy 👍 I’ve got a newborn insert for the sling so DH can carry baby from hospital to car in that and get going with it straight away! Suppose I can always get a soft Moses basket with handles to take when visiting family if I find I need somewhere to put baby down…though suppose the buggy carrycot may work for this? The Moses basket we have already is a hand me down and very hard and solid wicker so not much good for travel and has no handles, very sturdy for in our house though!

Yes you'll be fine just carrying the baby or using a pushchair :)

The buggy bassinet is perfect for that. You can generally just clip it off and put it on the sofa/floor at the place you're going with baby inside.

Wtf is a handheld baby carrier? Surely you can just carry them with your hands, especially if it’s a quick pop into someone’s house. And that product looks identical to a pram carry cot but without the very useful feature that is the wheels! You could also use a sling if you prefer but maybe not if you have back problems. I had a fixed carseat for DC2 and it was really good. I didn’t miss not being able to take it out of the car at all, which is kind of an unnecessary function when you consider that they should be in a seat for too long when they’re tiny but later they get too heavy. We just lifted DS into the pram whenever we arrived anywhere, no big deal.

Depending on the sort of travel you might do, choose a travel system with a bassinet that's safe for overnight sleeping rather than just naps. The Uppababy Vista we bought (back in 2014) has a velcro panel that you can open to improve ventilation, which is important to prevent SIDS.

We also have the joie ispin and really like it. We just used the pram.

I did the same with my first baby, DH has a dodgy back so was much easier for us than carrying the awkward carrier. DS never slept long anyway so was quite happy to be out his car seat! I just carried him wherever or put in the pram if longer distance.

Thanks everyone. I am of course generally just planning to carry baby back and forth to the car! Much lighter with my bad back than dragging a car seat to and from. I was just worried this would be frowned upon when leaving hospital (you always see people with the baby in the car seat!) or a bit restricting when visiting people (again people always arrive with baby in the car seat and then that’s a little place to put them down if needed). Sounds like our buggy carrycot will work perfectly at other people’s houses though. First time mum and I am really just trying to cover ever eventuality!

I just carried my babies out - no-one said anything.. Buggered if I'm going to try to lug an entire car-seat with baby in it, having to hold my arm slightly raised so it doesn't whack my legs, then wrestle it into the car when I can just carry the baby..

Sometimes at hospital they will have the rule that you're not supposed to carry baby in your arms. You can in that case just wheel the hospital cot to the entrance and abandon it there, or ask for a wheelchair and you can be wheeled out by your partner with baby on your lap. Or ask partner to bring pram up and use that. It's not prison, they can't stop you from leaving :)

Yes DH brought the pram up when I had DS. The hospital had basement carpark so I don’t think the cot would have been an option in our case. The staff didn’t say anything re a car seat but this was central London so I think a lot of people didn’t drive.