Car seats from birth to 4

[hippymama89]

Hi Everyone!

I'm pregnant with my first baby and I'm busy researching car seats. I like the idea of one that will last from birth to 4 but I can't seem to find anyone who has actually done that. Has anyone? Which one did you use? Was it comfortable? Help! xx

 

[lau86]

Not sure where you are so I don't know if this will help. We have a joie stages, we didn't use it from birth as I used the car seat we had previously (it clicked onto my pram), but I know it does do from birth till a good age. I like it, it was quite reasonably priced compared to some and seems comfy.

 

[MindUtopia]

These are Stage 0 + 1 car seats. They don't necessarily go to age 4, but up to a certain weight, when your LO reaches that weight limit will depend on how big they are. I have a friend who has one, though I think she didn't get it from birth, but at some point later. But her daughter is pretty big (in the 90th centile range) and is 2.5 now and just about to outgrow the weight range. I know that Maxi-Cosi does a few of these sort of combination car seats (that's what she has). The only things I would think of would be making sure it has the option for extended rear facing until the end of the weight range (whatever that might be). I would want to have the option to stay rear facing in any seat I bought. I would also think about how important it might be to you to have an infant seat you can take in and out of the car. The problem with these sorts of car seats is they are the kind you sort of leave in the car and can't really remove with the baby in them. That's fine for a toddler, but with a baby, I would want to have the option for a infant carrier type car seat that has the handle. They sleep a lot when they're little and you won't necessarily want to be picking them up out of the car seat and waking them up every time you need to go in and out of the car, especially in cold weather or rain or snow. Having the option to have something we could carry in and out of the house, put in a shopping trolley or attach to our pushchair with our daughter still sleeping in it made such a difference. You honestly cannot appreciate how amazing it is to do your food shopping with a peaceful sleeping baby instead of one that's been abruptly woken from a nap. So that would be my only caution and it's the reason we don't have one of these.

 

[hippymama89]

Hi, I should have said I'm in Aberdeen so both answers make perfect sense! Starting to think I might get a small car seat we can lift in and out and then switch to another when they are a little bigger. There is just too much choice these days and reading reviews doesn't really help as there is always someone who hates/loves everything! Thanks for the advice xxx

 

[sunnydee]

I use a convertible carseat. I have a peg perego and used it from leaving the hospital. My baby is 2 months old now and I'm so glad I didn't bother with the infant seat. I lift him in and out when he is asleep and never wakes up. If I'm going shopping I wear a baby carrier and he stays asleep the whole time. I think the infant seats can be very heavy to lift in and out too!

 

[Jenny1702]

We have britax dualfix lovely seat suitable from birth with an insert she has always been comfortable in it. At 17 months she still rear faces and has still got plenty of room would definitely recommend

 

[itsnowmyturn]

A lot of seats that go to 4 recommend using them from 6 months but u can use from birth. Look on the in car safety website and they lost all their seats including extended rearfacing seats which should last until at least 4, some even last till 7 or go into a highback booster.
Also make sure u use a seat that's on an approved fit list for ur car. I joined a fb group called car seat safety and they have a list of what seats fit in which car.

Its worth baring in mind that an infant carrier (the ones most ppl use from birth) last to 13kg, my daughter is 10 months old and only weighs 7.5kg so the only way she will outgrow this one is when her head reaches the top of the seat which is likely to be another 6 months at least so we will get around 18months of use out of the infant carrier so by the time she needs the next seat up I can probably go for a group 1/2/3 seat that will last her until she no longer needs a seat, but she cant use a group 1 until she's 9kg.

Its like a minefield out there but once u get ur head around it it's not so bad

 

[jstarr]

Our cybex one from 10ish months (weight dependent) to 12 as a booster, it's not rear facing though so I suppose it doesn't comply with the new rules of RF till
15 months

 

[Rainbow82]

We have a joie I anchor which is suitable from birth to 3/4 rearfacind depending on when LO reaches the weight and height limit. DS is below 50th and TBH I can see it lasting till he's maybe 3.5. Even though it says from birth I have found because our car seats slope it really wasn't reclined enough from birth but in some cars it would be fine. Being able to lift the car seat in and out wasn't very helpful as after a c-section it was almost impossible and luckily DS slept through any amount of being moved about in those days. It would be far more useful to me now he wakes at the drop of a hat but it's too heavy now lol.
We do really like the ianchor though and DS looks happy in it whenever we have tried it out so could be worth a look if your looking for a seat from birth to beyond 3. It is the only isize seat we found at the time where the base could be belted in as well as using the isofix points.

 

[minties]

My kids both had convertible car seats that went from birth - 18kg. Rear facing to 12 kg. Sophie is still in hers and Thomas outgrew his at 3y and 10m.

 

[w8ing4bean]

We have one, phoebe is about to reach the weight limit at 2 years 4 months lol x