Am I missing something with travel systems?

[PrayingandHoping]

Everywhere I look is pushing travel systems.... highlighting that the car seat can be lifted out the car and slot straight into the buggy.

Am I missing something? Aren't we now told that it is not a good thing for small babies to spend time in sitting positions/ car seats as they can pose a dangerous risk to a child's breathing?

Yeah I never really got it, I have a bugaboo and never bought the car seat adapters.

It can be useful if your quickly nipping out the car, school drop off or nipping in the shop for a pint of milk for example but apart from that it's not really useful. With both my children once they were around 3 months I bought fixed car seats for the car and the carry one was used as a spare.

But aren't those first few months the most dangerous when they absolutely shouldn't be in a car seat position long? Guidelines I read said only up to 30 minutes for the first 4 weeks?

I get it's convenient.... but if it's not safe??

It's 2.5 hrs max including travel time in one go recommended 30 min max before 4 weeks.
They are useful for doing the shopping if baby is still asleep in the car seat. You will do pretty much anything to keep them asleep and car journeys usually send them to sleep!
I tend to use the bassinet more if I know I'm going to be longer than 30 minutes anyway but quite often they work out cheaper. I got a 3 in 1 (bassinet, car seat and buggy) for £500 it would have cost me over £850 to buy it all separately.

Sometimes it is really useful, eg when they've just got to sleep when you arrive at the supermarket and you only need 5 things so you can grab them without waking the baby.
Or as a useful, portable, place to put them down eg at my dentist there is a steep narrow staircase so not a chance the buggy will fit up (it isn't a big one) but you can carry the car seat up, leaving the folded pushchair in the waiting room. Then leave them clipped in rather than plonking the baby straight on the floor. But you can't park near the dentist so carrying it from the carpark/home is impossible by the time they're massive wriggly 6month old lumps.

It's so so useful to be able to pop the car seat on the base, much less faff for short trips to local shops etc. We didn't use the car much, so once DD was past the first few weeks I didn't worry about the amount of time she was in it, as it was only once or twice a week, and never for hours at a time. Also, there are mythical babies who will stay asleep the whole time, which would be magical. Never happened for us, but if you got lucky...

Also you can get a lie flat car seat where there is no time limit at all which can go onto certain buggies.

But tbh we bought a sling at 2 weeks and still use it more than the buggy A year later...

They're very useful if you don't have a car! If you're taking taxis they're necessary. And they're just really handy if your baby falls asleep in the car (like most babies do). You can then transport them seamlessly into the house or wherever you're going without waking them up, before putting them in their cot etc.

Maybe it's because I live in the country so I know there is no shop or anything really I could drive to, pop in, and drive home within half an hour 😂 I know it wouldn't be useful for me in my situation and be able to stick to the guidelines lol

I found it a waste of money but I'm short and the car seat made the pram very top heavy. For me, taking baby outbid the car seat and putting them in a sling was the easiest option.

I loved mine and I did use it frequently enough to recommend it. Not when she was tiny baby. Fab when ur just say going in to a shop and won't be long. No use getting the full pram out and switching baby over to then switch back to car seat.

She was also in that car seat till almost 1 so there were numerous times when she had fallen asleep in the car and I didn't want to wake her so would take her it the seat and put it on the pram frame. As they get bigger lifting that car seat though with them in it is very heavy.

We don't have a car but it was really handy to clip the car seat to the pram frame when we were doing a long journey by train and the last bit by car. I had to take the car seat but couldn't carry it.

The car seat I have / travel system. Reclines in 3 different positions. So baby isn't in seated position all tthe time.

I've used a fixed car seat from birth and tbh there is no need for the portable seat to clip on.

It's just as easy to take them out and out in the carry cot even when they're asleep.

Yeah I’m with you OP, 3 dc and we never used the car seat on the pram.

Jumping on to ask for recommendations. I don't live in the UK and don't have a car so I need one of these. Could anyone who had/has one of the reclining ones which are safe from birth recommend a brand /model please?

I've never understood them either. I had a travel system but that was because I liked the pram and the way it folded so it fit in the boot easily. We never clipped the car seat onto the pram though.

A lot of parents have no clue about the 30min rule for the first 4 weeks. They just do whatever is convenient for them. In my opinion the extra effort it takes to transfer a baby out of a car seat and into a lie flat pram / carry cot is worth it.

I have a joie i-level car seat and a joi le chrome dlx travel system

I have the kiddy luno fix lie flat seat so time in car seat was never an issue however I can probably count the times we used it on the pushchair on one hand. I never found it that convenient. Might be because I don't drive so would only use car about once a week anyway and dd was used to her carrycot

I didn’t use it for the first 6 weeks as I didn’t drive until then anyway. But after that I found it really helpful for popping to places quickly, like supermarket or doctors etc. But I’m in a city centre and can drive places quickly and get errands done while baby is napping.

My DD was born beginning of February 2018 (2 dayd before it started snowing) I had bought a cheap 2nd hand travel system that was compatible with the car seat we had, and I was so glad of it. I didn't use it much, but it was really useful in bad weather, also useful if you are running errands and little one is sleeping as you can keep popping them in and out of the pushchair/car without disturbing.

I think the biggest concern for length of time in car seat is of baby is still napping when you get home and you plonk the car seat down in the hall and leave them napping. I always made sure I could observe my DD of she was asleep in her car seat for any length of time.

I bought the cybex mios travel system which allows you to use the cybex lie-flat car seat and to be honest have found this much more useful than lugging the bassinet around. I can pop the seat out of the isofix base, onto the pram and recline it all without waking her up so don't have to worry about the time limit. Plus it comes in lots of nice colours and patterns if you're bothered about that sort of thing, I went for the birds of paradise print and get loads of comments on it when we're out and about. The only consideration is that it's quite heavy if you're going to be lifting it up and down steps for example. It's also got tiny wheels which is great if you have to fit it into a mini but not so good if you do lots of walking over rough terrain.

If I was doing it all again I don't think I'd bother with the bassinet and save myself a couple of hundred pounds!

You can buy carseats now that when you put them on the pram you can lie them flat! Much better x