The Best Newborn Car Seats in the UK
Car seat safety is a top priority for every parent. Thankfully, there’s an abundance of choices when it comes to locating the best newborn car seat for your little one.
With a cozy baby-hugg insert and enhanced side impact protection, the Cybex Cloud T is the most comfortable car seat for newborns in the UK. It also features a single-handed recline setting and no less than 12 headrest positions that adjust to the growing body of your child.
1. Cybex Cloud T
The Cybex Cloud T is the premium car seat that includes everything you need to take your newborn to their first journey right up until they reach their toddler years. It’s the newest update to the legendary Cybex Cloud line and features innovative reclining technology that gives your child a comfortable lie-flat position inside the car and when used alongside a pushchair in the context of the travel system. It is also an ISOFIX vehicle seat, meaning that it can easily be attached to your car by using the base supplied. It can even be rotated to help to get your child into and out of the seat.
The car seat itself is made of top-quality materials. It comes in a variety of trendy colors that include Moon Black, Lava Grey, Beach Blue Plus and Seashell Beige Plus. It is a stylish and elegant option that works seamlessly with the Cybex T range of prams. It also comes with the Newborn Inlay, which is specifically designed for premature and newborn infants. This helps maintain an upright position, which reduces the chance that their heads may move forward during sleep, which can cause breathing issues. This can be removed when your child is at 60 centimeters in height.
The car seat is an excellent choice for safety, as it scored a dazzling 1.7 in crash tests conducted by ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutsche Automobil-Club e.V.). The Cloud T i-Size features LSP (Linear Side-impact Protection) to safeguard your baby from being thrown around in the seat in the event of an accident and the innovative Flexi-Fix harness system that expands when your child grows, ensuring they are always in a secure fit.
If you’re planning to use the car seat as part of a travel system that includes a Cybex pushchair, the innovative 180deg rotation ensures that getting your baby in and out is easy. No more awkward reaching or twisting. The car seat is also able to be fully reclined to provide extra comfort during long car rides. The price is slightly higher than other car seats of this age but the features it offers including the recline feature and superior safety features makes it worth the investment.
2. Maxi-Cosi Pebble Plus
Maxi-Cosi’s Pebble Plus is among the best newborn car seats around. It’s a comfortable seat for babies and simple to use. It is suitable for babies from birth. It is compatible with the Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix or EasyFix base, or your car seat belt system. The car seat is compatible with most pushchairs including the Maxi-Cosi range, Quinny, iCandy and Bugaboo (using adapters). It comes with the Baby-Hugg infant headrest to ensure a better fit, positioning for laying and side impact protection.
The Pebble Plus is a Group 0+ car seat, which means it can be used for babies ranging from birth until 12 months old (45cm to 75cm). It’s in line with the new iSize regulations that require children to stay in the rear of the car for longer. It’s compatible with the 2way Family base which allows you to switch between rear and forward facing on the same vehicle and has a handy rotation feature.
It’s still a very comfortable seat, but the latest version has a few improvements. It now has a much-improved baby-hugg inlay which is extremely comfortable and looks great. The shoulder straps are cushioned and the headrest is able to be moved up or down as your baby grows. You can remove it at any point, when you do not want to use it again.
It’s heavier than some of the other infant carseats, at 4.5kg, but that should not be a problem when your baby is using it most of the time. It comes with a handle to make it easier to carry and is light enough to lift to and from taxis or rideshare vehicles.
It’s also a stylish seat and you can select from a wide range of patterns and colours to match your car. It’s not the cheapest infant car seat, but it’s still very reasonable and well worth the extra cost for your baby. It can be difficult to adjust the height and length however once you’ve mastered the art of it, it’s a breeze. You can adjust the straps by pulling downwards on the back panel pressing two buttons simultaneously.
3. Joie Calmi
Joie Calmi is the perfect baby car seat for your newborn. It’s easy to use and cradles baby like a cot. This dual-use carrycot and car seat is R129-certified, which means it’s built to last with a tough air-conditioned shell and soft padding to protect your little one. It has a three-point safety harness that can be adjusted with just a single pull, and softly cushioned covers. It also features lateral positioning, which helps keep your baby’s face in the safest possible position in the event of impact.
The base of this seat is compatible with Joie Aeria and Finiti strollers, so you can easily pop it on and off the frame. It’s easy to move even when your baby is asleep, because of the adjustable handle bars. If you’re planning to create a travel system, then the iBase Encore adapters permit you to pair Calmi with Maxi-Cosi or Britax pushchair as well.
Joie has improved the design of its earlier i-Spin 360, which earned a high test score in Which?’s crash tests as well as an A+ rating from ADAC. The model we tested has a lock to prevent the seat from rotating too fast, ensuring that your child is rear-facing for as long as it is possible. It also has a huge sun canopy that’s water repellent and provides 50+ UV protection and features a mesh peekaboo windows that lets you check in without disturbing your child.
If you’re shopping for a car seat online, ensure you select a retailer which offers free UK mainland delivery on all purchases and returns within 35 days. John Lewis offers a wide variety of car seats for newborns from top brands like Maxi-Cosi, Silver Cross and Cybex. Click and collect is free to your local branch (or Sainsbury’s if you are close to it). On all purchases, you can also earn Nectar points. Argos is another good choice for a broad selection of car seats, with prices starting at PS55. They’ll also ship your order free of charge, offer same-day in-store collection and free returns at any Argos store or participating Sainsbury’s branch.
4. Silver Cross Motion All Size 360
Silver Cross Motion is a new all-in-one vehicle seat from the trusted British brand that is renowned for its premium pushchairs and prams. Jasper the tester was a fan of it. He said it was “the most stylish of the bunch and my baby seemed to be the most comfortable on long drives.”
This fully rotating R129 compliant car seat is suitable for infants all the way to 12 years old. It was awarded the ADAC 2022 autumn test’s award for the most effective child, baby and toddler car seat. It’s also been tested above and beyond regulations to ensure that your child is safe during every trip.
For infants, it comes with an adjustable and cozy padding made of soft bamboo fabrics that’s super comfortable and breathable. It’s also antibacterial. The body insert and head support can be removed as your child grows. You can also alter the position of the headrest and recline to suit.
A unique feature is the built-in ‘green light’ that signals that the car seat is properly secured and ready to use and is a great choice for new parents who aren’t sure with the proper way to install and fit car seats. It also comes with a convenient stowable strap that can be used either in a forward-facing or rear-facing position.
It’s also permanent, so you won’t have to wake your baby to get them out of the car for longer trips. However, it’s not travel system-compatible like the Joie iSpin 360 iSize or Britax Romer Dualfix Plus Nania Race i-Size Car Seat – Spiderman (you must purchase an additional travel bag for this).
The disadvantage of permanently fixed car seats like the Axkid One i-size is that they aren’t as easy to carry around when you have to move them between cars. If you decide to purchase a separate travel bag choose one that is sturdy and able to stand up to the wear and tear of regular use. It’s worth paying a bit more for a bag that can last for as long as the car seat of your child.
