I-Candy Peach stroller - for a newborn

[GashleyCrumbTiny]

We have ordered the i-Candy Peach stroller (only sodding thing that would go in our ridiculous car!!) and a compatible car seat that's suitable for a newborn. I know newborns are not supposed to be the car seat for 'too long' but should ideally be laid flat - but hoping to avoid the extra cost of the pushchair carrycot attachment. The stroller seat thingy lies practically flat, but the user guide and website seem to be a bit contradictory about whether a newborn can go in it - depending on where you look, it says 'suitable from birth' or 'not recommended till 6 months'.

Is it okay to for a newborn to be in the ordinary stroller seat that comes with this pushchair if it's reclined flat? Is it 'not recommended' as in 'we'd like you to stump up for the carrycot' or is it more of a 'you absolutely shouldn't do this'? And does anyone know why? I can't work out what the major difference is between the stroller positioned flat and the carrycot. (We're being gifted a hand-me-down moses basket from someone, so the carrycot wouldn't be serving any other purpose than a lie-flat pushchair option.)

Thoughts, wise women o' Mumsnet?

I think the discrepancy is because of a difference between uk and us. Bucket seats (like the icandy) aren't recommended from birth because of the stress they put on the spine. It's also not recommended to leave the baby in the car seat for longer than 45 minutes as the position can cause a lack of oxygen. I personally wouldn't put a newborn in the icandy seat from birth - you can either use a comfy sling for six months, get a wedge for the seat (don't be recommended by the manufacturer but you can buy them, for example the silver cross surf nest or the mamas and papas sola city wedge) or you could buy a second hand carrycot and buy a new mattress for it (from icandy direct or there are lots of custom mattress makers online). Then you can sell it on when you're done and recoup most of the cost.

The icandy is quite a large pushchair, I'm certain there would be a different one that would fit in your car! What is your car? The easywalker mosey is smaller, or the babyzen yoyo if you want a tiny fold (but isn't parent facing after 6 months).

I have heard of people using a newborn wedge to make it more flat for younger babies.
As it is, I really would not use it with the pushchair seat for a newborn. It's far too angled.
What is it you don't like about the carrycot? Ours was great-it also folds down flat for transport if size is an issue with car.

As others have said, babies need to lie flat because prolonged sitting up impairs their breathing, and their oxygen saturation levels drop. I have read, I think on mumsnet, that this can (rarely) lead to very serious outcomes. I have also read that sitting up is bad for their spines. So, it's more of a "you absolutely shouldn't do this".

Get a carrycot on eBay and, as hufflepuffin says, icandy sell replacement mattresses.

Hmm. Looks like we may have to shell out then. Hopefully second hand won't be too expensive! I-Candy with wheels off was the only thing in Mothercare that would go in the boot of a Nissan Figaro!

We used the carrycot instead of a moses basket downstairs which made it better value as well.

You need the carrycot

However the i candy isn't a small pram at all. Mothercare isn't a great store for prams. If your having to pop wheels off to get it in I think it's way too big and you won't end up keeping long due to hassle

I would say return and get a smaller pram elsewhere that lies flat and it suitable from birth.

Babyzen yoyo plus folds tiny in comparison

It's not a length/width issue with the boot, it's depth (height). Left to right and windscreen to bumper we have a normal amount of space, but it's very flat. I think we'll just look for a cheaper carrycot that will be compatible. Woman in shop did saya lot people don bother with the carrycot do I might ask around a bit more!

Not sure how people manage without. Do they just not go anywhere?!

Well, you can ask around but that's not going to change the proven fact that babies' oxygen levels are lowered in car seats. I don't understand why you would buy an expensive pram but no carrycot.

Sorry, thought I'd clarified - I mean ask around to see how they managed. We bought the only pram that would fit our car, and I posted this to because the advice we were given that lots of people don't bother with carrycots didn't seem to be supported by the manufacturers website. Apologies if that's confused you. It seemed a reasonable question.

Perhaps this is a miscommunication. It sounded like you were looking for other options than a carrycot. The only other reasonable option might be a wedge, but I can't find any in a quick Google search.

But baby does need to lie flat. There isn't a reasonable alternative despite what other fools might do with car seats.

Can see that I maybe didn't articulate it very well! I know of a couple of people who "didn't bother" with the carrycot, and the woman in the shop also made it sound optional. Which is why I ended up posting this, as various websites seemed to suggest that they HAVE to be flat at the newborn stage. So I was wondering how people managed without. But it sounds like the carrycot is the only viable option if you actually intend to leave the house so, hey ho, that's what we'll do.

People manage without as they buy a different pram that is fully lie flat. I candy isn't as the main seat is a bucket shape

No, Artandco, they just had the carseat and the stroller that came with the pushchair - no pram!

The babyzen yoyo is so small that it would probably fit in a footwell (and doesn't need a carrycot). But the icandy is a lovely pram, you'll just have to find somewhere to put the carrycot!

We put DS in the seat of the icandy peach at 3 months, he hated being flat in the carrycot. You definitely couldn't use it from birth. If I had my time again I would get a one piece folding pushchair suitable from birth.

Have you looked at the Mamas and Papas Armadillo flip? It lies flat but folds down to a size which would fit in the back seat of the car (or the footwell).

Did you get the chance to look at the iCandy Raspberry, which is a lie-flat stroller suitable from birth? It's similar to the Bugaboo Bee, so a very urban pushchair and might not be what you're looking for, but you don't need a separate carrycot (though we did buy a newborn cocoon, which is just fabric rather than structured). It also folds pretty small and flat, and is freestanding, useful if you're tight on space.

Oh, and you can use the Raspberry with a Maxi Cosi car seat if you buy the adaptors.

I had the Cybex Cloud Q which is a lie flat car seat and it fits on the peach too. I have a 3 door car so used the belted base in the front seat and lay the car seat flat on the pram. Carrycot came with our pram and we used it often but I have a small boot too