Car seat recommendations

I’m definitely not an expert but thinking of getting the Besafe Go Beyond. It has lay-flat feature so good for baby’s airway/lungs and top rated ‘very good’ safety score. That’s what I’m thinking today but I’ll prob read more and change my mind 100 times before I buy one!

I did.. but over 2 years ago so my research might be out of date 🤣 the ‘safest’ options we looked at were Cybex, Maxi Cosi and Nuna. Blew my mind how many different types of car seats there are! I was really set on Nuna, but turned out it wouldn’t have worked for us because it was one that required an isofix base, and we needed something we could easily move between cars. Time restrictions for newborns are pretty much the same for all car seats (30 mins-2 hrs) - think about your lifestyle: do you want one you can fit on a travel system/buggy? Do you want a reclining one, where baby can stay in a bit longer? Do you want one that will last you longer?
We evantually went for the Cybex Cloud Z (think it’s called Cloud T now), cos it could be fitted with a seat belt, reclined and would fit on both our main pram and our folding travel buggy - only lasted 18 months though.
Hope this helps 😊

I've just been having a conversation with chatgpt helping me compare car seats and I think I've changed my mind on the Emerald 360 pro 🤣 I asked it why would I chose a car seat that only lasts 4 years versus the 12 years that the Emerald does and it raised some valid points about keeping the car seat clean for that length of time and that you could 'hand down' a up to 4 year car seat to future children. I'm now leaning towards the Joie ispin 360

I'd say for the new born stage always opt for an actual baby/infant carrier. This is only because baby's head is better supported in these whilst they are still very small.
We had the Joie ispin 360 and moved our son into that at about 9-10 months.
Consider your thoughts on ERF. Rear facing for longest is statistically safest and if this is important to you then the ispin may not be suitable because it will only rear face to a max of 17kg I think (don't quote me on that exact figure). Then you have to spin them to forward face.
When our son was approaching the limit I researched and went for the Britax Romer Max Safe Pro which is rear facing only and suitable from 3 months to 7 years (or 36kg to be more accurate). It really is SO confusing and if I knew then I'd would have skipped the ispin. It's a good seat but didn't last long enough for us personally.

Whatever you choose remember the age limits are always a manufacturer estimate and it's really height and weight limits that matter.

Super helpful thank you. So I need to check again and compare which car seats have the longest use rear facing from a length/weight point of view. Out of interest which car seat did you use before you moved your son to the Joie ispin 360 at 9-10 months? This is my first child and to be fair I'll be wanting my second child within the next 2-3 years so I might be better getting a car seat for birth they'll grow out of quite quickly to free it up for child 2. Lots to think about 🤯

Personally, we went for a britax romer as everything pointed to extended rear facing being safest. They were slightly expensive but also last until they're old enough for a high back booster and can be used from birth. However, we do have another one that came with our pram that we'll use for baby brother. Its such a minefield tho! X

I got the red kite 360 that also grows with the baby. £135

I would really recommend joining the bump to booster car seat safety page on Facebook, completely non judgmental and really great advice. There are lots of reasons where the multistage seats aren’t recommended.

Personally think infant seats are a big waste terrible for the environment , we will be going for the avionaut sky with new born insert, Swedish tested & not too big and bulky like a lot of ERF seats and had no problem with first baby with position etc. it is fixed so can’t do isofix/swivel but great seat IMO easy to get baby in and out of & should get to age 4 comfortably with weight limit. Maxi cosi one looks great and personally wouldn’t be put off about keeping it clean etc easily stripped and machine washed I’m sure!x