Car seat minefield - advice please

[Fourfoot]

I am expecting my first baby. My car is a 3 door Vauxhall Corsa, I am looking at getting a rotating car seat for her but the reviews on these are very sketchy. Has anyone got any experience of either getting a baby into the back of a 3 door car or using the roating seats in a small car? TIA.

Hey! I've just got the Cybex which rotates. It's also got fantastic above EU safety standards. Hope that helps!

Hiya. I have had my nieces and nephews in the back of my old 3 door car in a newborn seat. I can't see that there would be a point in the rotating seats in a 3 door as they rotate so it's easier to get them out of the door which a 3 door doesn't have if that makes sense? Now I'm expecting I upgraded to a 5 door (needed to get a newer car anyway, but was a good time!)

I'd join car seat advice uk on Facebook and ask there. My preference would be an infant carrier and an isofix base so you can put baby in the seat before hand then just pop it onto the base. Spinning seats are brilliant but I wouldn't want to put a tiny baby in one.

I have a rotating seat. The whole point of it is so that when you open the door to the back seat you can rotate the baby to face you directly to undo straps and lift out. I don’t see how this would work in a 3dr car, unless you can find one that rotates 180 degrees to face the front of the car. Mine (cybex) doesn’t do that.

The joie 360 does this but I wouldn't put a newborn in it. From 3 months I'd say its fine

The Joie 360 spins the whole way round and is a decent seat.

Joie also do a fairly inexpensive infant carrier that did well in the crash tests if you wanted an infant carrier for the first 6 months or so.

I've got a 3 door Corsa. We used an isofix Maxi Cosi cabriofix for newborn which was fine to get in and out without a back door. They really are lightweight.

At around 1 year we swapped to a Joie 360 iSize which spins forward facing so we can put him in, then set it rear facing for traveling.

I also agree that there will be little point of the swivel in a 3door corsa. I have a biggish SUV (Alfa Stelvio - roughly Audi Q5 size) and it only just fits behind me on the drivers side. I’m 5’5 so hardly tall. Will need to use behind the passenger side if husband drives (Cybex Cloud z)

I've recently bought the joie 360 for my first baby I'm expecting in August, it does rotate all the way if you switch a button on the base (but obviously you would only drive with them rear facing until they're old enough to face forward). It's also good because it should last until they're about 4 years old, and from what I can see on Which it performed well in safety tests.

DH has a 3 door corsa and has a nuna rebel for DD (2 years old). As others have said I would go with a newborn carrier thing on an isofix base initially and then once they’ve outgrown it switch to a 360 rotating seat 😊