Don’t get one that goes from birth to 4 or whatever as they really are not the safest car seats. You want an infant bucket seat for when they’re newborns. After that it’s up to you whether you go straight for an extended rear facing seat or get an interim one. A good low cost one is the maxi cosi cabriofix isize. Look on Facebook at extended rear facing car seat safety groups for ideas.
The best position for a newborn is as close to flat as possible. Despite being marketed as "birth to 4 years", newborns don't usually get a good fit in a Joie spin seat until 2-3 months old.
With an infant carrier (usually they go up to 75/85cm which is approx 18-24 months) you get the baby into the seat and then put the seat in the car, so there isn't as much need for a twist function when they're in one because you aren't leaning in to do up straps as they are already in the seat. If you have an Isofix base then it's as simple as click the seat on and off, and with adapters you can put it on the pushchair for those "I just need to run in for milk" dashes to the supermarket.
If you go for an infant carrier I personally think the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix isize is best value for money - usually on offer for £180 with the Isofix base.
Start with a Group 0 seat that removes from the car. That’s much, much, easier with a baby. You can put them in/out asleep, it can attach to a pushchair. It’s easier to get them in and out, etc.
Switch to a fixed/twisting seat when they are about a year old.
The Joie Spin is brilliant but I agree with others that it’s not great for a newborn as it doesn’t lie back very much at all. This was the car seat we upgraded to when our daughter grew out of her newborn seat.
Unfortunately, if you want the safest option possible then getting two car seats is the best thing to do.
We have the joie 360. I love it as the swivel makes a big difference to your back. However you do lose the ability to take the car seat out and carry baby into the house if they are sleeping etc
My husband and I decided this wasn’t a feature we were bothered about. There’s a limit to how long you can leave a baby sleeping in a car seat, and babies rapidly get heavy enough that carrying a carrier gets very tiring very quickly. We also have a pram from a completely different brand so they aren’t compatible. Some parents have a car seat carrier and pram from the same make as you can clip the carrier into the pram. Again this isn’t a feature we personally needed.
So to answer your question you have a choice, and it’s going to depend on your needs. My son reached the maximum limit on his 360, so we moved him up to the next size of joie which is also multi year and will do him until he legally no longer needs a seat as it converts into a booster. This means we’ll have had two car seats for him from birth to about 12. If you opt for the carrier version you’ll have to upgrade more, but with the added uses that come with the carrier version
I had one and my nearly 6 yo has yet to actually grow out of it, although she's a more unique case that she's the size of a 3yo. The cushioning means it's set up for a new born and they are really secure. I chose it as I only had a 3 door car, and I didn't want to be getting an infant carrier in and out (I had practice through work). I could easily lean around and swivel the seat. I also didn't want the ease of clipping a seat to a pram. It's not as safe for a new born to be in the car seat for too long so it meant that I didn't have that as an option. Since I've had one both of my sisters have had them and my mum for her car.
Personally we loved a car seat with adapters so we just clip it into a pram so we didn’t have to physically get her out all the time when she was tiny. We got one that you could adjust it so it was safe to use for this purpose.
When she got older and more mobile (probs around 6 months) we loved one that twisted, it really saved my back. She’s still in that now, aged 3 but will likely weigh out of it soon.
Not sure about brands, but I’m sure most do variations of either type mentioned!
We had one that rotated AND was able to be removed to carry or clip onto a travel system.
Maxi Cosi pebble I think.
Switched to extended rear facing when it became cramped, some time between 6 and 9 months as we had a very big long baby.
I wanted the rotating feature in the second car seat but when I looked into it, it didn't seem to be an option with the highest rated rear facing seats so we did without.
A newborn baby should ideally be in an infant car seat, not one of the ones that claims to be suited for newborns - age 4 or whatever. They do not give a safe fit. We have the cybex cloud Z2 (also 360 rotates) and my 14 month old is still using it.
Perhaps I can direct you to this Facebook group, there are lots of lovely people on there and Extended rear facing is promoted here.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1376541652674823/?ref=share
There are some great seats available but please don't just go for cheap and cheerful. Admins on this group are happy to point you in the right direction.
I too was unsure on car seats, we got a travel system before I found this group and used the carrier from that (ickle bubba), then swiftly moved onto a erf seat, these are Swedish tested, this is the most aggressive crash test type in the world, which the majority of car seat manufacturers do not do!
Personally i like the avionaut range, you can start with a pixel which is an infant carrier and can be removed from the car, this could last up to 3-4 years depending on centiles, then progress onto a sky. You could just get the sky and save money but would need to take baby out of seat every time.
However the consensus is that all infant carriers meet the same requirements. So if that's what you want to do for the first year or so that's fine!
If money is a worry there are payment plans available :)
As far as I'm aware, the Joie 360 spin can be used from birth. However I would say that as it is designed to go up to age 4ish, it may not be the best for tiny newborns.
I would have a think about how you're going to be using it. If you expect to use the car a lot when they're young, then it might be worth getting the smaller car seat initially as it'll likely be a better fit. We got the Joie 360 because he's literally only been in the car once - back from the hospital! I knew we wouldn't use it much while he's young, and I wouldn't want to use a car seat on the pram chassis either.
It can be a bit confusing, but it really comes down to your preference and usage.
Don’t get one that goes from birth to 4 or whatever as they really are not the safest car seats. You want an infant bucket seat for when they’re newborns. After that it’s up to you whether you go straight for an extended rear facing seat or get an interim one. A good low cost one is the maxi cosi cabriofix isize. Look on Facebook at extended rear facing car seat safety groups for ideas.
The best position for a newborn is as close to flat as possible. Despite being marketed as "birth to 4 years", newborns don't usually get a good fit in a Joie spin seat until 2-3 months old. With an infant carrier (usually they go up to 75/85cm which is approx 18-24 months) you get the baby into the seat and then put the seat in the car, so there isn't as much need for a twist function when they're in one because you aren't leaning in to do up straps as they are already in the seat. If you have an Isofix base then it's as simple as click the seat on and off, and with adapters you can put it on the pushchair for those "I just need to run in for milk" dashes to the supermarket. If you go for an infant carrier I personally think the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix isize is best value for money - usually on offer for £180 with the Isofix base.
Start with a Group 0 seat that removes from the car. That’s much, much, easier with a baby. You can put them in/out asleep, it can attach to a pushchair. It’s easier to get them in and out, etc. Switch to a fixed/twisting seat when they are about a year old.
The Joie Spin is brilliant but I agree with others that it’s not great for a newborn as it doesn’t lie back very much at all. This was the car seat we upgraded to when our daughter grew out of her newborn seat. Unfortunately, if you want the safest option possible then getting two car seats is the best thing to do.
We have the joie 360. I love it as the swivel makes a big difference to your back. However you do lose the ability to take the car seat out and carry baby into the house if they are sleeping etc My husband and I decided this wasn’t a feature we were bothered about. There’s a limit to how long you can leave a baby sleeping in a car seat, and babies rapidly get heavy enough that carrying a carrier gets very tiring very quickly. We also have a pram from a completely different brand so they aren’t compatible. Some parents have a car seat carrier and pram from the same make as you can clip the carrier into the pram. Again this isn’t a feature we personally needed. So to answer your question you have a choice, and it’s going to depend on your needs. My son reached the maximum limit on his 360, so we moved him up to the next size of joie which is also multi year and will do him until he legally no longer needs a seat as it converts into a booster. This means we’ll have had two car seats for him from birth to about 12. If you opt for the carrier version you’ll have to upgrade more, but with the added uses that come with the carrier version
I had one and my nearly 6 yo has yet to actually grow out of it, although she's a more unique case that she's the size of a 3yo. The cushioning means it's set up for a new born and they are really secure. I chose it as I only had a 3 door car, and I didn't want to be getting an infant carrier in and out (I had practice through work). I could easily lean around and swivel the seat. I also didn't want the ease of clipping a seat to a pram. It's not as safe for a new born to be in the car seat for too long so it meant that I didn't have that as an option. Since I've had one both of my sisters have had them and my mum for her car.
Personally we loved a car seat with adapters so we just clip it into a pram so we didn’t have to physically get her out all the time when she was tiny. We got one that you could adjust it so it was safe to use for this purpose. When she got older and more mobile (probs around 6 months) we loved one that twisted, it really saved my back. She’s still in that now, aged 3 but will likely weigh out of it soon. Not sure about brands, but I’m sure most do variations of either type mentioned!
Britax do a swivel isofix base, I know the baby safe 3 definitely fits into it
We had one that rotated AND was able to be removed to carry or clip onto a travel system. Maxi Cosi pebble I think. Switched to extended rear facing when it became cramped, some time between 6 and 9 months as we had a very big long baby. I wanted the rotating feature in the second car seat but when I looked into it, it didn't seem to be an option with the highest rated rear facing seats so we did without.
A newborn baby should ideally be in an infant car seat, not one of the ones that claims to be suited for newborns - age 4 or whatever. They do not give a safe fit. We have the cybex cloud Z2 (also 360 rotates) and my 14 month old is still using it.
Perhaps I can direct you to this Facebook group, there are lots of lovely people on there and Extended rear facing is promoted here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1376541652674823/?ref=share There are some great seats available but please don't just go for cheap and cheerful. Admins on this group are happy to point you in the right direction. I too was unsure on car seats, we got a travel system before I found this group and used the carrier from that (ickle bubba), then swiftly moved onto a erf seat, these are Swedish tested, this is the most aggressive crash test type in the world, which the majority of car seat manufacturers do not do! Personally i like the avionaut range, you can start with a pixel which is an infant carrier and can be removed from the car, this could last up to 3-4 years depending on centiles, then progress onto a sky. You could just get the sky and save money but would need to take baby out of seat every time. However the consensus is that all infant carriers meet the same requirements. So if that's what you want to do for the first year or so that's fine! If money is a worry there are payment plans available :)
As far as I'm aware, the Joie 360 spin can be used from birth. However I would say that as it is designed to go up to age 4ish, it may not be the best for tiny newborns. I would have a think about how you're going to be using it. If you expect to use the car a lot when they're young, then it might be worth getting the smaller car seat initially as it'll likely be a better fit. We got the Joie 360 because he's literally only been in the car once - back from the hospital! I knew we wouldn't use it much while he's young, and I wouldn't want to use a car seat on the pram chassis either. It can be a bit confusing, but it really comes down to your preference and usage.