August 2021 Babies - From Santa to Solids, Hohoho!

[PurplePansy05]

Here we go again!

I'd do another delightful intro, alas I've lost count which thread this is now and we all know our LO's names anyway 😁

So instead I will just say, Merry First Christmas together to you and your LOs! 🎄❤🎁

May the sleep regression pass as soon as they see Santa later this week...

...May they love weaning and may our kitchens survive...

...May 2022 be full of blessings for them and for us ❤❤❤

Oldcomers and newcomers welcome, as always! 🥰

@Smurf123 Isaac is exactly the same sleep wise so I really do feel for you having to go back to work so early as well. I also tried the formula before bed but he wasn’t having any of it and is refusing the bottle again. It’s so exhausting. How old is your DD again? Sorry I’m terrible remembering birthdays at the best of times 😂 and that really sucks about covid, hoping you all stay symptom free and manage to get home.

@BertieBotts sorry to hear about Frances rule as well. It’s all a farce isn’t it. I’m sorry to be a pain and ask but I’ve still not purchased a car seat yet (he’s still in the carrier) and I’m racking my brains trying to make sense of it all. Could you recommend a good seat (preferably swivel but not entirely essential) with good safety rating with a budget of £200? Maybe £250 at a push? Thank you in advance!

@Ready2020 similar here, Rohan will scream if he is tired in the car rather than fall asleep. But if we take him out and swing him in the car seat, he settles and eventually falls asleep. It is a good workout but worth it for me!
We did a 2hr trip today he was OK awake but then stopped to swing him to sleep and then continue the journey!
We also stayed at a hotel last night, the travel cot was literally a piece of plywood with a sheet on it! Luckily my mom took theirs so he wasn't lying on wood!?
Be prepared if you are going to a hotel is my lesson!

@Magik01 I'm sure Bertie will recommend something good, but just to say if you're considering swivel seats you'd be looking at buying a base as well as the seat and the price of both is unlikely to be within that budget. Unless you already have a base in which case you'd need to stick to the compatible seat(s)?

We're going away in June to a place we've visited before when I was pregnant so I know the beds set up and I think I'll co-sleep with DS. I can't face taking the travel cot, pram, Ddog and everything for Leo and for us, and we have a big car. The amount of logistics and stuff needed for such a little person blows my mind! xx

@Magik01 it's so hard with the sleep isn't it! She has just turned 5 months on Christmas Eve there.

She's just asleep in the cot now and I'm torn between reading my book and going to sleep. I know sleep would be the wiser option 🙈
Have you looked at the joie360 as a car seat? I love it and I think the safety rating is pretty good. While the seat itself is heavy the isofix makes it quick and easy to install or change cars too if you ever need to. Ds is just about outgrowing now at almost 4. He's still within the weight but he's on the 95th centile for height and his head is just about at the limit I think.

The joie 360 spin is currently on offer in smyths at £180 in their baby sale just in case anyone is interested

I was also going to suggest the Joie iSpin. We've been using it since birth. I think it was something like £240 so the £180 Smyths price is really good

There are 2 Joie spin seats, the 360.and the i-size 360. The standard seat is around £200 and the i-size which is the new safety standard is around £300. We bought an i-size last year for our little girl, she's alrind 50-65% height and weight and looks like she'll easily get to 4+ in the seat so were planning on buying another soon for Alasdair. We live in a flat so at the moment having him in the carrier seat is easier but he's getting pretty heavy to lug in the seat now up three flights of stairs.

Do you need to move seats now? I had been planning to put together a little guide for you all but I wasn't expecting people to be looking at the next seat yet, I was aiming for more like Jan/Feb. If you wait until around 8/9 months you'll have more options. Wait until the baby seat is completely outgrown and you'll have more options still.

We have the Joie 360 Spin, it's OK. It's really great for the price, but there are some downsides to it, the inserts are quite bulky and confusing, which means most people end up taking them out too early (the i-Spin has slightly improved inserts). It doesn't have an anti-rebound bar to stabilise it, so it is quite rattly/wobbly in some cars which isn't a safety issue but can look really alarming as well as sounding annoying. It's been fine for us in 3/4 cars we've tried it in but in that one it was quite bad! The leg room for rear facing is pretty small. So it's fine to rear face until about 2 years old and after that, you need to either be really dedicated to the cause of rear facing otherwise most people end up turning their child around. Forward facing in a spin seat is not ideal because they are pushed higher and further towards the front of the car. Also I wasn't happy with the safety rating of it FF so I moved him to another FF seat.

Longevity wise DS2 would still fit into it by height, it's one of the taller seat shells on the market, but I weighed him the other day and he's 17.7kg, so it would be time for him to move out if he was still in it. He is only 3 years 4 months and I don't want him in just a seatbelt yet.

(There are actually six variations of the Joie spin seat now BTW, just to be extra confusing!)

Most swivel seats come with the base attached. The separate bases are generally only for those modular seats. It's a bit of a con as it seems to be suggested at the time that you're saving money by not needing to buy another base later, but that's a bit of a white lie as you normally don't need to!

OK so anyway, 3 big questions for choosing the next seat:

How big/small is your baby compared to average (growth centile line, or if you don't know, most recent weight/length/age)

How long do you want to rear face for? At 4 months you MUST stay rear facing but it's up to you when you turn around. Minimum 9kg/sitting for the weight based seats, minimum 76cm/15 months for the height based seats. Longer is better - a one year old is still pretty vulnerable to crash forces when forward facing. Rear facing is much safer and this is more important the younger the child. It's possible to rear face for the whole toddler seat bit and only move to forward facing when you move to a seatbelt (booster).

Do you need to move the seat between cars/do you have multiple cars you need to buy for?

@BertieBotts Just quickly re the 360 swivel bases, I have the MaxiCosi 360 and I understood this type base was necessary to have the swivel functionality for both the first seat (Pebble 360) and next one up we're planning to buy (Pearl 360)? Is this a con? I know both seats can be used as strapped in but having used swivel now, I love it and alongside good safety it was my main criterium. I genuinely thought buying one base for both seats would be a good investment andso far it's been an excellent set up. Apart from the Joie, all swivel seats like Cybex, Britax etc. cost the same if not more with such bases as the MaxiCosi, they're all around the £400-£450 mark? xx

Pansy, yes, so for the Maxi Cosi options, if you'd bought the normal Pebble then you'd only be able to put the static Pearl seat on that base. You need the 360 base (and therefore the Pebble 360) in order to use the Pearl 360.

It's not a bad investment or anything, I don't mean it like that, I just mean that it can be a bit overwhelming when you're looking to buy the baby seat and I think often people are given the impression that just like infant carriers, the second stage of seats also comes in two parts (seat + base). But in fact the majority of seats for the next stage don't need a base. They either fit with seatbelt and just stay in the car, or the isofix base is attached and doesn't come apart from the seat.

Pricing varies - for spin seats for example you can go for the Joie 360 for £180 (or Graco Turn2Me which is the exact same seat for £150) which is usually cheaper even than the toddler module for those "family" seats. Or you could go for the Besafe izi Turn which is amazing but costs about £400, or Maxi Cosi Axissfix Air which has built in airbags which costs £500. (Of course there are options in between). Compared to these more high end models, it is a saving to buy the modular systems, but if you weren't planning to spend that much on the second seat in the first place, then overall the cost of infant seat + base + toddler seat can sometimes cost more than an infant seat + base (for just that seat) + toddler seat that needs no base.

However all of those spinning infant seats use a modular base so if you want that feature then you're stuck paying more for the base whether you use it for the next stage or not. I don't know the price of the Pearl 360 offhand, but I know for example the Cybex toddler seat that goes on the rotating Cloud base costs about £300 just for that toddler seat module. And for £300 you have the choice of about four different rotating seats (with built in base) or some high end forward facing seats or extended rear facing seats, so I would just say to keep an open mind and don't automatically just go for that compatible seat. Definitely look at it/compare but it might not be the best option for you depending on what you want from the next stage.

If you plan to have another child, also consider what you will do if you have two children in two seats but only one base between them.

The toddler seats if they are base-compatible can't be strapped in using the seatbelt. They can only be used on the base. It's only infant carriers which can do both.

Bertie, the Pearl 360 is £279-£289 (just the seat) so similar to Cybex etc. I automatically assumed I'd buy a second base for the Pebble 360 if we have another DC, but actually this might not be the best option. I never thought about buying a different seat with a built in swivel base but it would save £200...so actually I'd be interested to know what the good ones are too!

Sorry about hijacking the discussion with my MaxiCosi rumblings, I'm glad you've asked questions on here as I'd have never thought to consider buying something else next otherwise! xx

Sorry I just saw you said Cybex/Britax - Cybex Sirona S (with built in base) costs about £220, whereas Cybex Sirona Z (goes on the Cloud base) costs £299. Which I think is a bit

Britax has the older, more basic Dualfix 2R which is about £200, then the i-size Dualfix, which is better, cost between £250-300 depending on version and where you buy it. Looks like the one that goes on their spinning base is £300, so again not really a net saving (although not as crazy as the Cybex pricing).

Cybex are really bigging up their new impact shield + airbag seat which is supposedly as safe as rear facing. It's really impressive actually although they are known for being a bit shady about their claims.

Crossposted :)

I'll try and get a bit of a basic guide up if people want to know but I just thought it would be too early at the moment. But if you want to know what to look out for, what all the different options are etc then I could start it sooner.

Re car seats, we bought the cybex sirona s swivel seat with base attached for dd when she outgrew her Infant car seat. Even though the one she was in was modular we knew we would have another dc so wanted the base for that. Bertie is right, when you have a second child it’s worth thinking about how base and car seat allocation will work.

I’m already thinking about when ds outgrows his and whether dd will be big enough for a high back booster so ds can then have her current car seat. It’s like musical chairs 😂

So bad re the doctor situation! Our dd was diagnosed with nighttime Asthma when she was only 1 and we were given two inhalers for her to use so perhaps it’s a gp lottery. It took several gp visits though. Mother instinct is so strong, it never hurts to get a second or Third opinion. Even at our surgery I know the doctors to avoid now. Some are just awful with children it’s a complete waste of time going to see them

Staying at the in-laws still - came down this morning and DH had already taken DS out (fine, I'm awaiting a pcr test anyway so couldn't have gone) but he didn't even send me a message to let me know where. His parents are disappointed because they thought they were all going out this morning. How hard is it to send a message saying 'popping to xxx'?? It wouldn't even cross my mind not to let him know where I was taking DS if DH was also at home

Just ranting, sorry 😂😂

Wow thanks for all the info everyone. Don’t worry, he’s not at the size to be moved just yet! I think I was thinking maybe there were any in the sales (although I know not likely). To answer your questions @BertieBotts

He’s on the smaller size- 9-25th for weight and between 25-50th for height. Not ready to be moved from the carrier just yet 😅

Rear facing for a good while. Think DS1 was rear facing until around 20 months in the Joie 360 but as you said there wasn’t a lot of leg room and he’s a long legged boy.

It won’t have to be moved from car too car as we have two. At the moment we have the joie 360 in DH car for DS1 (turned 3 in October) and the Britannia eclipse in my car for him. So the question is really we need two seats ideally. Isaac will most probably start using the Joie 360 in DH when the time comes so he needs a bigger seat for DS1, then unsure if I need a bigger seat for DS1 in my car or a new one for Isaac. If that makes any sense! I’m not sure how the eclipse is on safety either 😳 I brought it years ago when I needed a car seat for my car.

Again swivel isn’t a necessity, it’s just to make my life a little easier but not needed if there’s a seat with a great safety rating at a good price.
We can Definatly wait until your ready with your guide, no rush here.

@Smurf123 how did DD sleep last night?

The car seat choices make my head hurt 🤦‍♀️

The eclipse is okay but it's an older/more basic one and obviously only forward facing. It is one of the only seats that can be fitted using a lap belt, but it's best to use the full belt if you have the option to as it has quite a lot of movement when fitted with the lap belt. (It's handy to have around if you ever go on a plane). So if your eldest has room in it, I'd keep the eclipse as his seat and get a new one for the youngest. Assuming you want a cheaper seat for that car, maybe Joie stages if you want to rear face, but if you'll definitely forward face later I prefer Britax first class plus. It's only rear facing up to 13kg but it's better for forward facing than the Joie belt fitted seats are.

Probably keep the 360 for baby and get a bigger one for older sibling in main car. If you have top tether, I love Britax Advansafix. That's what DS2 is in now. But you'd want to check if the harness on it has enough room to expand (and you have enough weight capacity) as we are on the top setting. I don't know how tall he is currently but he's in age 3-4 clothes.

Or you can look at 25kg harness seats or there are 25kg rear facing seats with more leg room if you wanted to look at that.

I'll have a look at the sales over the next couple of days and report back if anything is an amazing price. :)

So it turns out it's easier to see an out of hours doctor than it is to see your own Gp at the moment how ridiculous. Finally got Evelyn's chest listened to last night nd the doctor said it seemed as if she'd got a chest infection but there's nothing they can do really as on its way out. She also has diarrhoea with it which is not fun and lots and lots of sick 🙃

@lucyrp oh no, hope she’s better soon 🤒

Thanks for all your help Bertie, you really are a fountain of knowledge! They should make car seats have a legal requirement of putting their safety rating somewhere when your purchasing! Like the red light system on food but for car seats, would make life for new parents (and parents in general) so much easier.

Hope she’s feeling better soon @lucyrp it’s so horrible when they are poorly.

Did anyone else manage to stay awake until midnight? Happy new year everyone!

We’ve still got him in the cybex cloud z on the base but he’s obsessed with banging his feet off of things just now and when he was in the car seat with little boots on the other day he could barely fit his legs in because his feet were squashed against the back of the seat. I’m thinking we need to start looking for one soon but it was the sirona z we planned to buy because we’ve spent all that money on the base already (my entire family have a base each just about, 3 in total 😂). If the sirona seat isn’t great for taller babies though I don’t know if that might be a waste of time. I might get a second hand sirona z and see how he gets on with it 😕

In other news, we did our first parkrun in the running buggy today. Managed to add 5 minutes onto my slowest ever time 😳 I used to be one of the first women to finish it when I was marathon training and was always so competitive then this morning I was just plodding along miles from the front 😂 Told myself I didn’t mind if I was a bit slower but it was pretty much torture the whole way round! I think partly due to pushing a buggy but more so due to my severe lack of fitness. The whole way I just kept thinking look at those folk! How did I used to be good at this?! 😧 I think running is only good if you’re fit though, hell on earth otherwise. Trying to remind myself I grew a human, took a year off, gained and lost 3 stone and didn’t have a buggy last time I was flying round it 🙈 It will get easier when I get fitter I’m sure but seeing the time when they texted me it made my competitive-self shudder a bit 😂😂

@Magik01 we stayed up til about 12:03 🤣

Happy new year everyone!

Happy new year everyone !!
@lucyrp hope she is feeling better soon!

Has anyone been invited for pcv13 vaccine ? I got a letter through telling me dd is due it but I thought she'd had all her vaccines until a year now