Next car purchase

[Rich B]

There’s plenty of room in an f31, we had a maxicosi pebble, then a maxicosi I size pearl (on the same 2 way base.) But that got demoted to my car and we got a maxicosi I size swivel one with its own base in the f31.

To be honest, go to a decent baby stuff shop and get advice - (theres one near us in Camberley that are great). There’ll be criteria that you didn’t even realise were criteria that change your entire selection process.

Wait til you get onto choosing “travel systems” (push chair/prams)

[Alex_]

Cheers Rich. Yeh, we plan to go to one of those shops with tons of baby seats and prams to choose from.

[McSwede]

I've mainly used Recaro seats from new born to current 6 and a half yr old. On a Monza Nova IS currently. Superb.

The baby one clipped into an isofix base in the back of my E91. It also had brackets to clip to the Baby jogger stroller.

This one is the latest version of what we had.

https://www.recaro-kids.uk/privia-evo.html

#becauseracecarbecauseRecaro

[Alex_]

Cheers mate. Didn't know Recaro did seats for newborn

[McSwede]

Cheers mate. Didn't know Recaro did seats for newborn

I think it's great stuff and very good quality.

[Swervin_Mervin]

One thing to note - keeping baby in a car seat for too long, regularly, can affect their head growing properly. Both our nieces were left in them too long and they both had flat heads at the back.

We didn't go with a system - where you can pop baby seat onto a stroller base - for that very reason. We took him out of the car seat and into the pram. We had a converting silvercross A-frame pram that converted back to a buggy. Did the job brilliantly, took up less space, and cost a fook of a lot less over time as it served until he was about 3 1/2.

For most women though it's a bit like a wedding and they start wanting the most expensive of everything so brace your wallet I think a colleague of mine spent about £1500 on a car seat and pram

[DeskJockey]

They shouldn't be in the car seat for more than two hours at a time until they're about a year old.

[Mito Man]

that explains a lot.

[Simon]

They shouldn't be in the car seat for more than two hours at a time until they're about a year old.

Word.

We have a SilverCross Coast, along with their Simplicity car seat (which I think has been superseded by a newer model now). We like that we can click the car seat into the pram frame with the adapter, but it's not something we do very often. Overall he's only ever in the car seat for 30 minutes or so at a time now if Deb is taking him shopping or whatever.

We're at the point of choosing the next size up now as his legs are a little long for the rear facing seat. Groovy, more expense.

[GG.]

One thing to note - keeping baby in a car seat for too long, regularly, can affect their head growing properly

And more worryingly it apparently lowers their blood oxygen level as they can't fully inflate their lungs.

[Rich B]

For most women though it's a bit like a wedding and they start wanting the most expensive of everything so brace your wallet I think a colleague of mine spent about £1500 on a car seat and pram

yeah, we spent a load on an icandy pram/pushchair thing that to be fair, was excellent for the first 2 years (given it to a mate now as we just use a cheap fold up silver line one), as walking was another way to get him to sleep (used to regularly do 6-7 mile walks pushing him - rain or shine - to get a few hours of quiet.)

There’s a theme to my experiences(!) - he was a rubbish sleeper for the first 6-12months as he had some sort of acid reflux issues which must have been awful, he’s brilliant now thankfully!

[Jimexpl]

One thing to note - keeping baby in a car seat for too long, regularly, can affect their head growing properly

And more worryingly it apparently lowers their blood oxygen level as they can't fully inflate their lungs.

Car seats are heavy. I've never understood wanting to remove them from the car to make a pushchair less wieldy.
Ours never leave the cars, but I do swap sides with the base occasionally to give the leather a break and stop it marking.
Our Maxi Cosi kit is simpler to wash than the Recaro seat (no isofix) that I use in the defender.

There is an overload of advice out there - just pick what suits your needs best. For us, the babyzen YoYo was the best buggy as it can be carried on your shoulder, go in an overhead locker on a plane and fit in minis and sports cars. I reckon ours has been pushed and abused for about 3,000 miles and is still going strong!

[mik]

One thing to note - keeping baby in a car seat for too long, regularly, can affect their head growing properly

And more worryingly it apparently lowers their blood oxygen level as they can't fully inflate their lungs.

My kids are older now, but out of interest - is here any science behind either of these claims? Both sound like shampoo marketing.

[GG.]

Nothing totally definitive but the precautionary principle applies.

https://www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-c ... car-seats/

[McSwede]

One thing to note - keeping baby in a car seat for too long, regularly, can affect their head growing properly

And more worryingly it apparently lowers their blood oxygen level as they can't fully inflate their lungs.

My kids are older now, but out of interest - is here any science behind either of these claims? Both sound like shampoo marketing.

When we lived in Scotland my daughter used to do trips to N.Yorks and back with us once or twice a month with no apparent problems. Consequently, she's always been a good traveller and got used to sleeping in different places with no bother.

[mik]

Nothing totally definitive but the precautionary principle applies.

https://www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-c ... car-seats/

I very nearly stopped reading after Para1 and the DailyFail ref. But I read on.

Yeah - that study tells you very little. Total sample
Size of 40 - I’d guess there is zero chance of proving any statistically valid difference between the two group. Can’t see the data, so apparent group differences may be driven by a couple of outliers in one group? They do note that the indication differs in pre and full term babies, so they are seeing other factors possibly influencing...

Needs a better study before any conclusions can be drawn imho.

[Rich B]

When you’re a new parent you over research everything, because no matter what the product, there will be a study from somewhere that will tell you it will harm your baby. I found it best to make your own decisions.

It seems pretty sensible to not have a baby firmly strapped in one position for half a day at a time, so we agreed an hour or two whilst in the car was ok (otherwise you couldn’t actually go anywhere).

But other things all had horror stories: Bouncers were fine (the issues came from bad parents putting them on worktops), Walkers were great for us (just don’t put them at the top of a stairs), bed cushion things were a life saver (though there’s always some American telling you they’ll get trapped somehow), etc....

[V8Granite]

It’s far better for the child to be comfortable in the car, not too hot, not too many layers and use the 2 finger rule under the straps. It’s not rocket science.

You see a lot wearing coats, a lot able to work through the straps to grab a toy etc.

Plus the biggest thing bro had to tell a friend this (which created lasting friction) but having stuff not secured or strapped down in the boot. The metal folding buggy loose in the boot will smash your kids face in if you have a crash.

We went for easy to clean, secure seats. We have had 1 baby seat, 2 forward facing child seats and they fitted fine. We didn’t like not having straps in their forward facing seat so got seatbelt add one, they work incredibly well and mean when they fall asleep they are not slumped to one side or the other or flopping about.

Plus, Isofox is not always the way, our baby seat was far more secure with a seatbelt due to the shape of the seats (I think it was a pebble ? ) aswel as the isofix for the base.

Dave!

[Alex_]

Cheers all for the advice.