Car seats

[Mama_Prawn]

Hi ladies for those who has been a mom, I’m starting to look at pram, car seats, travel system etc. There are some articles online now recommending lie-flat car seat or carrycot that can be used in a car. They said safer for newborns to be lying flat especially for long journeys. Do you have any views? What did you buy?

Also what travel system do you recommend? There are so many on the market and with the lockdown and not able to go shopping, I’m really nervous of buying them online. Thanks ladies!

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We just bought a silvercross wayfarer Chelsea and it came with a car seat and was fine. Never heard of a lie flat one. Are you in the UK? If you have a long journey you aren’t meant to stop every couple of hours anyway. We did long journeys to see family which is normally 5 hours but would stop every 2 for 1/2 hour to an hour

[Lydialego123]

Hiya we have the cybex cloud z car seat which is lie flat...but not while in the car, you can only use it in this way while on the pram. This car seat came in a bundle with the Ocarro pram and other bits from mamas and papas. We did a personal shop with them for most our baby stuff and made good savings through their scheme and they price match. I think they are doing zoom appointments at the moment so could be worth a try if you look on their website xx

[NE90]

Icandy peach pram worked super well for us and the maxi cosi pebble car seat attached to the pram with adaptors! Absolute life saver. I know babies arent meant to be in their car seat for very long but it's super convenient for popping to shops etc. Once they're over a certain age they'll be able to use the second stage of the pram instead of the car seat or carry cot. I transitioned from the pebble car seat to the joie 360 spin seat which can be used from birth and it's a great seat as it has reclining positions as well! I was gifted an old pram from a family member but had I not been then I was going to buy from ickle bubba...good value for money x

[Vicky-01]

We bought our pushchair and car seat separately but love both. We have the uppababy vista pushchair which is so smooth and looks lovely and we also had the cybex cloud z which is great for when popping into shops etc as it can lay flat.

[Mama_Prawn]

Thank you ladies!! So many options, I’ll start looking at them xx

[HelloSW]

I got the Egg travel system (after lots of shop trips and trying out different brands) inc carrycot as personally I think it’s best to have baby lying flat as advised. They now do an insert for the stroller instead of the carrycot but I’d still get the carrycot. I’ve saved all of mine for baby2 if we decide to. I didn’t get a lie flat car seat as I’m not sure they were even out when I had mine but I would look at them now but we don’t spend a lot of time in the car so again personal choice and circumstance.

I cannot rate the Egg enough, I’ve had various prams since and still prefer the Egg, so glad I saved it! I also have a Yoyo but I wouldn’t use this for a newborn personally x

[triplecats]

I have the isafe pram and car seat, its fantastic, it comes in many colours, I have orange. Its super lightweight, easy to fold, has a lovely big shopping basket underneath that you can zip shut. The car seat is also fantastic. Baby is happy and settled.

baby-travel.uk.com/products...

[Bailey135]

I have the oyster 3 and it works just fine for us. These new lie down ones are a brand new thing i think, when we were looking they didn’t exist!

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It certainly isn't the simpliest of things to sort, we are in the process of doing exactly the same! I would agree with Lydialego123 that booking a 'virtual' personal shop with mamas and papas is definitely worthwhile (and easy to do), make sure you have some questions ready though as they will need some guidance as to you wishlist/requirements (rural/city/lifestyle etc) and be ready to take notes so that you can look back at the website later. The Ocarro system seems a really good all rounder and goes with lots of different car seat options, we planned to get this one, (look out for decent second hand ones there are a few about) but my sister is now able to pass down her bugaboo! I would also recommend you google mamas and papas car seats, pushchairs and adaptors compatability xls sheet, that way you'll see exactly what pram systems can work with what car seats... be warned not all work with all (even with adaptors)!!! Also, another pdf thats worthwhile looking at is off the maxi cosi website called the 'base and car seat compatiability overview'. The main reason for this is you can see easily which base will fit the baby (0+) and then the toddler (1) car seats thus only needing to buy one base.

Double check with your midwife but i think its now recommended that a baby for the first 6 months doesn't stay in a car seat for longer than 45/50 mins at a time.

just a side note, If you are wanting a swivel seat from birth then the only one available (detachable from the isofix base) is the Cybex Cloud Z.

Hope the above helps and good luck!

[Baypony]

Hey Mama Prawn 👋 We brought a joie i line i size which lies flat, which is really useful however they are not good in small cars as there isn’t enough room for the sear to lie flat. I would not recommend an isofix carry cot as I don’t think they are as safe as a seat. I brought an oyster pushchair with carry cot from a friend and it’s great. We were able to leave the seat in the car and just take baby in and out of it which was preferable as I had a c section and could not lift the car seat anyway! You need to try and go somewhere that you can lift the car seats as they are heavy and bulky and you might be surprised at how difficult they are to carry.

My car seat cost £149.99 in a sale ( we had already tried it in the car before mothercare closed) and the pram was £60 bargain from a friend.

[Popbee]

Another vote for Oyster 3! We got it not long before lockdown so actually went to shop to try few. Took carrycot as well but car seat was compatible with maxi cosy pebble. My first choice, after reading online description, was mamas and papas occaro but it was very difficult to fold even for shop assistant so I scrapped that idea immediately. Another thought to keep in mind. If you go on eBay and see a pram second hand selling for good price( higher than you would think)that means that first the pram must be good to last and secondly there is a second hand market for it so you could sell later if not needed.

Hope this helps x