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Original poster

Lie flat car seat ?

23 replies

tryagain20 · 22/11/2019 20:58

Hello ladies,

I heard that it's best to get a lie flat car seat when they're newborn. Does anyone actually follow this advice ? I remember my SIL a couple of years ago and hers were just in their normal car seats for ages, even as newborns.

I think the max time is 30 minutes in a normal car seat when they're really small right ?

Ours will be in the car a fair bit, so perhaps we need to get a lie flat seat ?

Does anyone have any advice on this ?

Thank you !

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RolytheRhino · 22/11/2019 21:04

I think the max time is 30 minutes in a normal car seat when they're really small right ?

Right.

Ours will be in the car a fair bit, so perhaps we need to get a lie flat seat ?

Yes, if you're intending to keep the baby in it for longer than half an hour (though in travel systems, most people regularly exceed that).

When I researched this, I found that generally speaking a lot of the lie-flat ones don't lie flat while actually in the car and those that do are less safe in the event of an actual accident. I'm not sure if this is still true though.

Bol87 · 22/11/2019 22:04

Hmm.. are lie flat car seats fairly new?! I’ve never heard of them before!

I thought the rule was two hours & a break in car seats? We travelled at 8 weeks and stopped every two hours of our 5 hour journey.. you also see tiny babies being pushed round the shops in their car seats on wheels all the time? I had a carrycot on my pram but a lot of people don’t!

inwood · 22/11/2019 22:05

Never seen a lie flat car seat. They're bucket style babies you just have to factor in breaks in driving

Celebelly · 22/11/2019 22:08

@BertieBotts might have some good advice. She's very knowledgeable on car seats.

There are two kinds of lie-flat seats: ones that take up two seats in the back seat and sort of go sideways, and ones that look just like normal car seats but have a handle or something that clicks backwards to make the base lie flat (obviously these take up a bit more space in terms of legroom than standard carriers). In this latter category, there are some that only lie flat when out of the car too.

We have a Kiddy Evoluna, which is in the second category and can lie flat in the car, but I believe Kiddy have gone bust so I'm not sure if you can still get their seats. It's a great seat and I'd definitely recommend it if it wasn't for that slight issue!

Selfsettling3 · 22/11/2019 22:08

Research a few years ago showed Young babies in car seats suffered reduced oxygen levels. The 30 min limit is to prevent babies from dying rather than the 2 hour rule post 6 weeks which is about spinal problems.

OlderthenYoungerNow · 22/11/2019 22:11

Can't you just stop every 30 mins and have a break? That's what I did for the first few weeks. Not ideal but meant I found breastfeed too

zaffa · 22/11/2019 22:13

I had these concerns and got a lie flat car seat. It's a Jane one and takes up two seats in the car. Baby hasn't arrived yet and so I haven't had a chance to try it out, but it is like a carry cot really that straps in with seat belts. There is a harness strap in the seat to strap baby in. My only concern that I suddenly had the other day is what happens if the journey is bumpy - a normal infant car seat is so padded the baby is pretty wedged in really but the lie flat one the baby doesn't have anything holding their head in position.

I'd be curious on others views of this, as I am seriously tempted to get a second car seat to bring baby home in ....

Celebelly · 22/11/2019 22:17

I've just checked and you can still buy the Evoluna, although I'm not sure what happens if you need manufacturer support. It's a really great seat, scores very highly for safety and has been very comfortable for my DD. It is very heavy though and with a 95th centile baby, I struggle now she's 9mo to lift it in and out so I don't tend to take it out of the car now. But when she was smaller we used it on pram all the time as well as for 3-hour journeys and it was well worth the money for us (it isn't cheap). She's still in it now.

bluebluezoo · 22/11/2019 22:20

I had these concerns and got a lie flat car seat. It's a Jane one and takes up two seats in the car

I had this one and it was amazing. Especially as you could clip it on and off the buggy so if the baby was asleep you could drive, wander round the shops, and drive home without having to wake them every 30 mins to take them out the seat.

We also had family a distance away so fab for driving overnight.

I hate baby car seats that they are bent and crushed in- as pp said it compresses the lungs as well as the spine.

Having said that this was 16 years ago, i don’t know if there’s been any subsequent research in the meantime re. Safety.

stucknoue · 22/11/2019 22:34

The don't keep them in for extended periods is new advice, people used them all day in the house when mine were small. No idea why advice has changed. Lie flat doesn't sound as safe

Celebelly · 22/11/2019 22:38

I can't speak for other lie flat seats, but ours is one of the top-rated infant carriers for safety by the ADAC and other testers.

Original poster

tryagain20 · 22/11/2019 22:58

Thanks for everyone's replies.

It's a tough one isn't it. Ideally you could just keep them in the car seat and forego the cot attachment on the pram altogether really. This is what I believe mums have been doing for a while now, but it seems advice has changed due to the lowered oxygen level. It just doesn't make sense to me to have to wake the baby up every 30 minutes. What if I go for a drive and then around thd shops ? Would be great to just have one attachment on the pram, but if it's not as safe when it's not in the car- then that's not good either. I don't even know how long newborns sleep for. But say I drive to MIL's house which is about an hour and a half away, I would need to stop three times. Not ideal. Maxi cosi have one that looks like a carry cot car seat- I might get that one for peace of mind.

OP posts:

babybrain77 · 22/11/2019 23:05

We have a cybex cloud z which lies flat, but only when you're not in the car. I read mixed evidence on the safety of babies being flat whilst the car is actually moving. I'd recommend the cybex - it's expensive but felt like a good compromise for us. Top safety credentials in the car but the ability to lie flat when on pushchair wheels. We had an old school pram as well for when DS was really small, so didn't need the carrycot attachment to the travel system with this setup.

OlderthenYoungerNow · 23/11/2019 07:26

It's really only a few weeks that it's 30 mins and we could never keep my daughter asleep moving the car seat to the chassis anyway as she'd wake up with all the movement!

voxnihili · 23/11/2019 07:41

We have the Cybex cloud q (the z wasn't out when DD was born). It was great as could lay it down when attached to the pram, or if she fell asleep in the car and we took the seat out when we got home. I've heard it's not as safe to be flat in the car but it's not something I've researched. We are still using it now and DD is 15 months old.

Alicealicewhothe · 23/11/2019 08:20

We had the same thoughts after reading about the 30 mins and looked at the maxicosi Jade as one set of grandparents live 4 hour drive away. But to be honest I cant see how its looks safe whilst driving as looks like less padding protection in the event of an accident. Plus felt its huge, heavy and bulky. We've gone with the joie I level which you can have as normal car seat but it reclines to an almost flat angle (,in the car and on the pram) but we felt still has the protection a car seat provides. Bonus was it also fitted into the pram we had brought with adaptors whereas the lie flat one is only compatible with the one frame which has bad reviews.

Baby isnt here yet so cant tell you how it's actually going.

When I read further as pp said the 30 mins car seat is for I think up to 5 weeks old and we knew we wouldn't be making the journey that soon. After that it changes to 2 hours in car seat and to be honest we always stop at least once or twice and baby will probably need feeding. So figured it was too much money to buy a lie flat car seat that last until 6 months and probably only use once or twice! The joie Ilevel we got got less than £200 and comes with isofix base.

OlderthenYoungerNow · 23/11/2019 08:24

@stucknoue - advice changes as more research is done about safety so saying that it never used to be the case that it was the advice is pretty meaningless. You followed the advice available at the time - rightly - and people are following the advice available today - also rightly. It's not an attack on how things used to be done when advice changes...

HappyDinosaur · 23/11/2019 08:25

We had a Jane matrix (with crosswalk) that was lie flat whilst newborn, but converts for when older - dd is still using this at 18 months. We thought it was brilliant as we often travelled to family an hour away and stopping so often would have been really tough. She seemed to find it very comfy and always slept well in it and it was useful that it could be attached to the pram chassis. As others have said it did take up two seats of the car when in lie flat position though, it's also fairly heavy.

RolytheRhino · 23/11/2019 08:28

It is a tough one. As with all things baby-related, you need to do the research and choose whatever seems acceptable to you personally. We didn't particularly want to spend £££ on a carseat likely to last only a few short months so we got a cybex aton (free with the pram) for the newborn stage and just didn't travel for more than half an hour in the first few months. We live quite close to most amenities though, so it wasn't really an issue. We didn't use the car seat on the pram until DD could sit up unaided and transferred her to a sling for out and about purposes (she hated the pram).

bluebluezoo · 23/11/2019 18:14

@stucknoue The don't keep them in for extended periods is new advice, people used them all day in the house when mine were small. No idea why advice has changed. Lie flat doesn't sound as safe

What do you class as “new” advice?

I had my eldest 16 years ago and the advice then was not to keep babies in car seats for longer than an hour. I remember asking in John Lewis and mothercare and their sales assistants gave that advice.

I looked into it and the increased risk of SIDS due to lung compression as well as the effects on the spine were well established.

It’s why I bough a lie flat car seat. like I said, common knowledge over 16 years ago so not that new...

itsAlmostXmas · 23/11/2019 21:54

We had the Jane one, fantastic for longer journeys & being able to keep a sleepy baby in it when arriving at shops etc

Rachaelf37 · 23/11/2019 22:17

I have the Joie i level which reclines and us meant to be safe in the lie flat position although its not completely flat

mummaolala · 18/01/2020 18:41

Those of you with the maxicosi Jane can it fit on a bugaboo or only a maxicosi frame?

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