Car seats for newborns

[PipPipPip]

I'm 29 weeks pregnant and need to buy a travel system ASAP.

However, I'm a bit confused about the car seat element - especially when it comes to the law.

Q1. A friend of mine raves about her travel system, which allows her to clip the bassinet into the car (and clip the baby into the bassinet). This means the baby is lying flat while driving. It is new and an expensive brand, but is it legal to have a kid lying down?

Q2. If I'm going with a normal upright car seat, should it be front or back facing?

Q3. Is the MaxiCosi Cabrio easy to use, reliable etc? Can it be used front facing or back facing?

Q4. If it is just the baby and I, does it travel in the front or back? What's the deal with airbags?

I would love all advice!!

I realise this may be better suited to the 'products' forum, but I was hoping to get a quicker response from the pregnant chicks :)

Not sure about the bassinet, I've always used a rear facing carseat in the backseat. I used a Gracco base and clipped car seat into it. It meant that after the initial installation there was no faffing about re seatbelts, just the car seat straps. If carseat is in passenger seat, passenger airbags need to be professionally disabled. I know from my antenatal thread that a few posters have had problems with garages doing this, something to do with warranty validations

Hi,
There is a lie flat car seat called the 'safe sleeper' by britax, and it's legal :) and can be used with the compatable pram/pushchai. There is a 3 and 4 wheel version and can also be a rear/forward facing when your bubs is bigger.

Newborn carseats have to (I believe) be rear facing until baby is 6 months as when you brake their head/neck will be less likely to jolt.

Never actually purchased to maxicosi cabrio but we were advised it is suitable for newborn and rear facing.

You can have your baby with you in the front or back but you do need to switch off the passenger airbag. On some newer cars you can do this yourself, mine is '08 grande punto and it only take about 10seconds!!
When ds2 was born I used to travel with him in front with me but I struggled to see the left wing mirror so started leaving him in the which was easier all round - no faffing with straps!!

Hope this helps x

Thanks so much wiggles and cherry!

Hi
I have the maxicosi cabrio. It is rear facing and can be used with or without the isofix base depending on your car. What you need to do, is go on to the Maxicosi website and somewhere on there you can enter your car make and model and it will show you which seats in the car can be used with the baby seat. I cant put the cabrio on my front seat because the passenger airbag cant be deactivated...but this is quite unusual and is in conflict with what the car manufacturer has told me...I still need to check that out. I bought mine on ebay and they all semm to be around £30-35

Hi there and congratulations!

We've got the maxicosi cabriofix, which is one of the safest on the market. There's an isofix base which stays in the car, so that the carseat then snaps into it in a second. Alternatively you can just use a seatbelt to fix it in if you move it to another car or don't have isofix points in your car.

All newborn (group 0) carseats are rearfacing as it is much safer for their heads/necks in a collision. They move up to the next group when they are about 9kg; the next group 1 can be either forward or rearfacing.

We've been delighted with the cabriofix and almost all my NCT group have the same model.

You can read reviews etc online on here and Which? The key point with any seat is that it's fitted properly.

Oh and if you want to fit your carseat directly onto a travel system chassis, you will need to check that your brand fits as it's nor universal

HTH

New borns MUST be rear facing.
I have read the which reviews on a Britax Bassinet/car seat they are apparently fairly good and yes legal as long as it is one that straps the baby in and is made for car use not all are.

You can get larger fixed car seats that go rear facing for little babies and forward facing later on, I have recently started using one of those.

I initially used the Maxi Cosi Cabrio and it is easy to fit and with the in car base which you strap into the car and just clip the car seat on and off it is even easier and very safe comes out the best in Which reports.

I have done A LOT of research into this so know a lot about it.

There is a lot of bad press about lie-flat car seats and much of this is due to a Which car seat review from 10 years ago which looked at an older model of lie-flat car seats and gave them a poor safety rating. However, the new models available in Britain are all super safe and as good as any other car seat on the market- for lie-flat or sitting- despite what big name chains like Mothercare will tell you (I was shocked the dearth of their knowledge on lie-flat car seats and put in an official compliant). The great thing about having a lie-flat car seat is that your baby can breathe optimally as studies have shown newborns, particularly small ones, are prone to ?oxygen de-saturations? in regular rear facing car seats as their chin can slouch down to their chest. Also, traditional car seats hold baby in a scrunched up position that?s not great for their hip and spine development so they can?t stay in it for more than 2 hours at a time. We have family over the UK so will do a lot of driving with our newborn so really wanted baby to be able to sleep safely and comfortably in the car for as long as possible.

There are 3 lie-flat car seats which meet the UK safety standards for transporting your newborn and these are;
Britax Safe Sleeper
Jane Matrix light
Jane Transporter
The only one of these is patented for use as both a lie-flat for younger/smaller babies or a rear facing for babies up to 15kg is the Jane Matrix light

I have opted for the Jane Matrix light and have this as part of the solo reverse travel system which we got for a bargain price (well under £400 which is good when you consider the cost of the car seat alone).
www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplay0_10751_-1_100340_10001
www.jane.es/en-en#/
www.mothercare.com/Jane-Solo-Reverse-Matrix-Molten/dp/B003UAWZO6?_encoding=UTF8&

I love it because the car seat is the carrycot component of my pram and can also be used as a travel cot when used with a Jane safety mattress. The car seat/ carry cot has 4 incline positions- 2 of which can used in the car. It will see baby through until they are old enough for a size 1 car seat.

I would recommend getting the carseat fitted in your car by an expert. We looked all round the UK (not a single mothercare was officially qualified to fit them despite selling them on their website and offering to have them delivered to store for a fitting) and ended up going to Kiddicare in Peterborough, even though we live in the North West. If you go for a Jane you can find local stockists on this website:
www.johnstonprams.co.uk/stockists/

I know that my information is very biased but I just LOVE the concept of a lie-flat carseat for the benefits they brings to baby and am on a bit of a crusade to promote it as they are under sold in baby shops due to sales staff being out of date with their information. The 2010/11 Jane seats are even better than the ones available 2 years ago plus there is talk of Jane releasing an isofix base for this later this year:
www.babyproductinfo.co.uk/index.cfm?brand=Jane&name=Matrix_Light

The minimum for forward facing is 9kg/20lbs and no earlier than 9 months as babies heads are big and heavy in comparison to the rest of them and can be very dangerous if in an accident and forward facing too soon.

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern- your information is out of date. As I state above there are 3 car seats that meet British safety standards for carrying infants lie-flat. I would postulate that due to the evidence supporting oxygen desatruations in infants, that these are actually safer for baby. In the event of a severe car crash baby is protected by their 5 point harness and a roll cage in the car seat.

How is it out of date I was agreeing with you and mentioned the Britax one as it is the only one I have recently read the Which report on.

And I was going from the safety point of view not the oxygen saturation levels as you are although you are right on that there is also an element of scare mongering there too as yes it is a very real problem but if car seat use is kept to minimal necessary use then it is less of a problem.

I was merely commenting on the reports I have read within the past 3 weeks which was on the Britax one and although it came out well in the Which report it was still the Cabrio with base that got excellent from Which.

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern- I was going from a safety point of view also. The current models of lie-flat car seats protect your abby in a crash just as much as any rear facing seat.

And just to clarify, the Jane matrix light is a size 0+ care seat, hence why it can be used as a rear facing car seat up to 15kg.

Also, the lie-flat position is perfectly safe for babies head and neck stability in the event of a car crash.

We actually advocate the use of lie-flat car seats for premature babies on the NICU where I work- they are some of the most vulnerable babies and they really benefit from being safely cocooned in a lie-flat position whilst in transit.

Yes, most infant car seats are rear facing and generally this is fine for baby- but this is not the only option and to say it is the safest is an out of date comment as lie-flats are equally safe.

The out of date information on this makes me want to speak to mothercare and other stores as a carseat advisor so they are better informed! Even kiddicare didn?t know as much about the product as they should- though they?re care sit fitters were excellent (it was the travel system staff upstairs who were ill informed about Jane products). Maybe I?ll take on this role after returning from Maternity leave.

ps. sadly the Which information on the Jane Matrix light is out of date as it reviews a much earlier model. The Britx reviews are fairly recent.

Last post before I step off my high horse! Here is a helpful video showing the newst asefty tests of the Maytrix light (I which Which would pay heed to them):
www.jane.es/en-en#/catalogo-jane/en-el-automovil/group-0-0p/matrix-light/c-matrix-light/matrix-light/multimedia

My cousin is giving us her Jane lie-flat car seat and I'm pleased as I'm planning to take baby to France fairly early on by ferry and it might be a longish car ride. The oxygen desaturation thing bothered me a bit.

Most of the people I know opted for a Maxicosi cabriofix and I've not heard any negative comments.

It is not the only option and it is not out of date information the reviews for the Maxi Cosi with base still pip the Britax at least and I have the reports open in another window as we speak.
I do knothe Jane didn't get great reviews but also did know the seat had been changed since then.
And when I said to the OP that babies MUST be rear facing this was in answer to her asking if they gor forward or rear.

You are preaching to the converted here as I have and do spend a lot of time researching my car seat purchases and almost as much time justifying my purchase to other people who don't understand why I spend so much money on car seats (even down to my high back boosters) so honestly i'm on your side here.

I don't even ask the advice of places like Mthercare I do my own research and tell them which one I want (not that I have bought a seat from there for years mind you they are rubbish)

Although I do concede that part of the difference in results between the Britax and Cabrio with base is partly down to human error when fitting.

Posting again but I?m now down of my high-horse- sorry if I offended anyone with previous posts!

The thing with being a mummy is that you want your baby to be as safe as it can be, within the boundaries of what you can afford and what you are practically able to do yourself. Car seats are a more emotive topic than they first appear because no one wants to give the appearance that they are endangering their baby. There are lots of options out there and basically anything that is approved under the British safety regulations ECE R44/04 is safe for baby, providing it has never been in a crash before (hence why it is best to avoid second hand car seats as you can?t be 100% sure of their safety). There are lots of different reviews and lots of different car seats. Just as IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern has had to justify her choice, I have had to justify mine. We mummy?s/ mummy?s to be should never have to justify ourselves. Being a Mum is tricky and there is lots of different options, not all of which will suit each of us. We need to be mindful of the other options available but respectful of everyone?s right to choose what is best for them and their baby

Thanks everyone for chipping in with thoughts, advice, research and links, especially Ineedacleaner and CalaLilly.

I still find it confusing but I'm getting there :)

CalaLilly, just to clarify, is the 'Matrix Light' the name of the car seat/bassinet and the 'Solo Reverse' the name of the base?

Can the 'Matrix Light' clip on to other brands' bases, or must it be used with Jane bases only?

Most of our car trips are under an hour, but we are planning to drive to France this year (a one-off) which is why I'm thinking about lie-flats. If it wasn't for the France trip, I would just go with a MaxiCosi.

Yup, Matrix light is the car seat and solo reverse is the pushchair attachment and pram chassis which I've bought. Sadly, Jane are a bit sneaky and Jane car seats only clip onto Jane travel systems. There are a few different styles to choose from though and you can shop around for good deals- the slaloms seem to be most popular but I really wanted one that could be rear-facing as a carrycot or a pushchair.
www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_904+39_10751_-1_14601_100400_10001_14601

Just my 2p worth, PipPipPip. How old will your baby be when you plan to go to France? Just because mine hated to be laid flat from a very young age. If yours has reflux (which many do) you will often find they are much more comfortable in a more upright position. And especially as they get a little bit older they like to be able to see a bit more and bat things etc, look in mirrors etc. I don't know much about the lie flat option (they weren't around 2.5 years ago when I had DS) but I don't think he would have liked it much. Certainly not past 6 weeks or so. And driving a long way with a screaming baby is not much fun!

OP, we got the lie flat Britax Sleeper for exactly the reason you're considering it. A 12 hour drive would have turned into more like 18, by the time we'd stopped for an hour every 2 to 'air' the baby.

I don't know how the Jane one works, as the combo of Britax sleeper and pushchair was more in our budget, but the Sleeper has hooks on either end of the carry cot, clips that fit on the seat belts in the middle an outside seats. It was easier for us to just leave it in the car.

You'll need to check if your middle seat has a 3 point harness not just a lap belt or else there won't be anything to clip the car seat to.

couple of x posts there.

DD has only just come out of hers at almost 8 months - she's still nowhere near the weight limit, but she's much more mobile so is wiggling around a bit more so the shoulder straps can slip down.

She has a perfect view out of the side window as she's facing it, so gets to see everything going passed. And as she's never known any different she doesn't know that it can be different. We had a toy thing and mirror on the roll cage bar, so she was plenty entertained. She doesn't sleep much in the car like some babies seem to, even now she's rear facing!

past not passed

LadyGoneGaga we're going to France at 2.5 months old. Actually, that isn't a definite plan yet - we're waiting to see how we're all coping and will decide closer to the date. But yeah, potentially going to France quite early on.