Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Car seat

15 replies

Beccaa123 · 27/01/2025 09:50

What car seats do you recommend?
I am finding it very overwhelming to choose the right one and unsure what to go with!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
DippyDuck19 · 27/01/2025 10:07

Car seats are soo overwhelming.

I have the Cybex cloud T for my 2 week old.

When I was looking for car seats I was torn between this and the maxi cosi pebble pro.

I wanted one that rotates in the car, lies flat and attaches to travel system (bugaboo fox 5).

The Cybex for me was slightly lighter, seemed a little sturdier in the car and liked the green safety mechanism to tell me if the seat is fitted corrected in the car. It also lasts slightly longer than the maxi cosi in terms of weight/height.

So all depends what you want with car seat. Whether you want one that stays in the car or one that is removal, attaches to travel system etc.

If you're in UK, book an appointment with John Lewis or mamas & papas to go through your options. I found this really helpful!

BertieBotts · 27/01/2025 10:17

First of all don't overthink it. There is not that much of a difference between different car seats.

Two questions.

  1. Do you already know what pram you want?
  2. Do you want a carry type seat which lasts ~1 year, can be easily moved around and may be compatible with a pram, or would you prefer something which is fixed in the car and will last several years?
Nellyelephanty · 27/01/2025 10:19

A spinning car seat!!!!

we had cybex i cloud

Beccaa123 · 27/01/2025 10:31

We definitely would like a rotating car seat.
It would be useful if it lasted for a few years.
Pram wise I think we are going with the uppababy vista V3. We don't want the car seat that goes with it as it doesn't rotate.
Sadly not in the UK, so can't do the John Lewis appointment. We do have mamas and papas, but they don't have the same selection available to see in-store.

OP posts:
InTheRainOnATrain · 27/01/2025 10:36

The fixed car seats are often not a good fit for a newborn so I do think you want a baby carrier, plus it gives you the option of taking it out of the car and putting it on the pram frame. Cybex seats are really good in terms of safety and their infant carriers tend to last the longest compared to the other big brands. So if in doubt I don’t think you can go wrong with a Cybex and would look at the Cloud T.

elb1504 · 27/01/2025 10:49

I recommend joining a car seat group on Facebook for great official advice. Seats that advertise from newborn up to 4 do not have good fits for newborns, infant carriers are better. The Avionaut pixel pro is highly rated (just brought this) with a brilliant fit for newborns.

sel2223 · 27/01/2025 11:12

We have a rotating joie which has been ideal for us.
I don't attach it to the pram frame though so can't comment on that. We only use it in the car.

BertieBotts · 27/01/2025 11:44

The fixed ones (which can spin) which last for a few years don't go onto a pram.

You can get some rotating (~12m) car seats which are compatible with the Uppababy - Cybex Cloud T or G, Britax Baby-safe 5Z, Joie i-Level, Nuna Pipa next/Arra next, Besafe Go Beyond, Maxi Cosi Pebble 360.

But - what I would say is that IME, the rotation feature isn't hugely necessary for an infant carrier, which is the type that last around a year. And it tends to add a huge cost on top which IMO isn't worth it.

Rotation is helpful for the toddler stage, when the seat is fixed in place in the car. But for the infant seats, you will usually bring the seat into your house and then it is totally free to move wherever you like. You have enough space and time to put the baby in at your leisure and then you simply carry the seat to the car and strap it in with the seatbelt, or click it into a base. The base is usually fixed into the car using isofix, which are little metal clips - all cars since 2013 have had this and most older cars as well as long as they aren't 20+ years old.

Infant seat bases may have rotation. But unless you think you'll leave the seat in the car 90% of the time, this is not really necessary.

Are you in a European country, BTW? Or somewhere else which uses the EU/ECE norm? Some countries like NZ or the middle east have multiple safety standard approvals so you can also get US-certified seats for example.

So the second thing you'll find is that if you go into a baby equipment type store and get shown seats, is that a lot of the rotating baby seat bases advertise that they also take the next stage up. But in most cases, this is a false economy, because you can just buy the next stage up seat with the rotation isofix base already attached for less money than it costs to buy the rotating base + toddler seat combo. One notable exception is the Besafe Beyond series - that is the only rotating toddler seat which goes up to 125cm (which is about 6/7 years) - all other rotating toddler seats go up to 105cm (which is about 3/4 years). If that's something you want long-term, you'll save money by starting out with that baby seat. But the whole set is very expensive, at least it is in both the UK and Germany, not sure about other countries.

You'll have to look at what's available near you, but personally my preference is a cheaper, basic infant carrier like Britax Baby-safe Core or Cybex Aton and then change to a rotating 0-4 years seat later. Or some people prefer to change to an extended rear facing seat up to approx 7 years.

If you're looking for a rotating seat from birth my personal favourite is Besafe izi Turn or izi Twist, make sure to get the "B" version which means it comes with newborn insert. This is especially worth it if your car has sloping back seats. Or the Recaro "elite" ones can be good if you can get those. I don't like the Maxi Cosi Mica seats from birth because the newborn insert is so big and bulky that when it is removed, babies in the in-between stage roughly 3-9 months, tend to look a bit lost in the seat. Britax might be good - I am not sure what the newborn insert is like. Joie i-Spin 360 is OK as well, and a good budget pick but a bit complicated with all the inserts.

You could also look at ERF seats from birth - Axkid One (the "plus" version means from birth) or Besafe Stretch (again "B" version) or Avionaut Sky. Avionaut are based in Poland so are cheaper/more widely available near there. No rotation in these, but worth searching for a local stockist to see if that matters. Sometimes it doesn't.

Beccaa123 · 27/01/2025 13:16

Wow thanks everyone...lots of information.
I am in the middle east, so definitely a few different standards around.
We are trying to go off of the EU safety standards, but the car seats are expensive here!
I guess we don't want a fixed one as we will probably want to use it when we travel back to the UK.
I know we have cybex here, so will take a look at the cloud t

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 27/01/2025 13:35

Cloud G is worth a look if you can find it - it tends to be cheaper than Cloud T but almost the same features.

If you are on FB, CSFTL UK & EU are quite good with the places where they have dual approval like the middle east.

Another idea would be to go with a US seat for the infant stage because you'll usually find they are cheaper. As long as the base has an option to fix with LATCH you can use it in a UK car (with isofix). Then EU spec for the next stage as there are more rotating options and (it's my perception but I might be wrong) the safety tends to be more robust.

You might find it helpful to get a US spec seat for travelling because they can more often be used on a plane. Or if you have family in the UK, get a UK spec seat here and keep it at their place (e.g. Graco Extend R129).

Zeeha · 27/01/2025 15:23

We started with Cybex Cloud Z2 on a rotating base and then later on went for a Cybex Sirona T i-Size Plus which fits on the same base. I think we may have been able to start with the Sirona, however we have a 17 month old and another due soon so they'll both be in use. The Cloud can be used with the base and lifted out easily which is useful when they're little. I would definitely recommend the rotating base for whatever you go for!

toastofthetown · 27/01/2025 16:42

We have the BeSafe Go Beyond (thanks to Bertie giving me great advice on another thread). My baby isn't here yet so have only tried it a few times with a teddy bear and it seemed good when testing, but here's why I bought the seat:

  • Ability to lie flat in the car seat when driving which is a more ergonomic position, but in a collision if the seat is in the base then it returns to 45° angle which is optimal for crash safety
  • The base has a spirit level so angle of the car seat on the isofix base isn't affected by how sloped your car seats are, and it also has the ability to make more legroom for older children in the next stage seat
  • Fits with seatbelt as well as the base
  • Huge hood
  • Good newborn positioning (and there's an extra insert for sale which is even more supportive for premature and smaller babies)
  • Works on most pushchairs (same as Cybex/Maxi Cosi)
  • Next stage car seat is a rotating seat which can be used up to 22kg/125cm which is higher than anything on the market at the moment which is important to us as based on height, we might have a taller child

It is an expensive car seat though - we bought the base, Go Beyond and Beyond 360 in a Black Friday sale so hopefully don't need to spend any more money on car seats before the booster stage, or worst case is we might need want another base for a second child if we don't want to strap in with the car seatbelt every time. And another con is that the infant seat is heavy - though in line with the Cybex Cloud T.

BertieBotts · 27/01/2025 20:26

Zeeha · 27/01/2025 15:23

We started with Cybex Cloud Z2 on a rotating base and then later on went for a Cybex Sirona T i-Size Plus which fits on the same base. I think we may have been able to start with the Sirona, however we have a 17 month old and another due soon so they'll both be in use. The Cloud can be used with the base and lifted out easily which is useful when they're little. I would definitely recommend the rotating base for whatever you go for!

But you'll have to buy another base at £200 if you want the Cloud to have the rotation feature, won't you? Which is why I think they are often a false economy. Or you could swap the 17mo to a seat like Britax Max Safe Pro (for less than the cost of the base!) and use the base again for the baby, moving into the Sirona later on, but then lose the ability to swivel the toddler.

BTW the Z2 and the T are the same, so you can get the T base if you can't find a Z2 base - they renamed it because it was confusing.

Zeeha · 27/01/2025 20:31

@BertieBotts yes we'd have a base on each back seat so both can rotate.

kiana2015 · 27/01/2025 20:33

I got the egg when my DD was newborn as that's what pram I had and it came with the bundle, at 6 months I just fot the mybabie360

New posts on this thread. Refresh page