I guess it depends on the baby. Ours are not happy being in the car seat once the car stops moving generally and we just carry and cuddle our newborn, have her in the sling or pram. She can lay flat in the pram, so that’s much better for her.
We have a portable car seat but only ever use it in the car - mainly because it’s so heavy! I use the carrier for appointments or when just popping in places, and the pram if we’re going out and about a bit longer. If your pram has the bassinet that comes off that might be handy, but otherwise I tend to hold the baby (or the family does when we visit). You can get those baby cushions, not for unsupervised sleep but if visiting family you could keep one there.
@Caroline @Eva thank you both, this is reassuring. This is what I said too but I ended up really doubting myself and getting upset about it all. I also felt sensitive about the comparing because I do think they leave their babies in the car seat for too long and their parenting is generally different to my preferences. That also feels hard to navigate and I'm worried about causing offence too.
My baby actually prefers to be in a carrier or wrap most of the time. Have you got one? Great for going to appointments, shopping etc. Other than that, the pram would be the next best thing. Like people have said, the car seat shouldn't be used as a means to transport outside of the car x
They should only be in the car seat for 20 to 30 minutes so no don't do that. I have a 0-4 car seat for my car as I can't carry the infant car seats. We have an infant carseat for my husbands car seat and in other people's cars. But the plan is to use the pram when not in car.
Do you have the newborn inlay for this? As standard it isn’t suitable from birth. Even with the inlay you will struggle to get a safe fit as the positioning of the seat is for toddlers not newborn babies. There are far more supportive seats for a newborn that are cheaper. The cloud T would be a better fit for a newborn if you’re keen on cybex and the sirona fits on the same base once baby is a toddler so you can use the same base for 2 seats. Highly recommend joining car seat safety UK x
We have the same situation. Thr car seat doesn’t come out that we went with. We just use the pram for public places. I got a travel like play mat for friends and family houses. They aren’t supposed to be in the car seat for very long anyway xx
I have the infant car seat that you take in and out the car and tbh I don't know what I'd do if I had a car seat that didn't come out the car at this stage (i have 5 week old twins) as like you said its very easy/handy if you just need to pop in somewhere you either carry it or just attach it to the pram, and the infant seats provide a better fit for newborns compared to the car seats that stay in the car even though they say 0-4 years the fit isn't great for little newborns, I wouldn't return it as you will need it eventually, maybe just invest in an infant car seat as well x
@Yasmin yes we have the newborn inlay. I'll have a look at the group. Thanks.
@Lauren completely understand that convenience will be a bigger priority with twins! I'll look into both options.
The baby should only be in the car seat in the car, the limit is 30 mins for newborns building up to 2 hours for older children. Should be in the pram for things like this.