Infant carriers v 0-4yrs seats for twins

[nh101andhertwinbeans]

I have seen car seats that you can use from newborn to 4 years old. Obviously this seems to me to be much more economical than buying infant carriers that last till 9-12mths and then buying two more car seat for toddler age.

But obviously these 0-4yrs seats stay in the car - you can't carry the babies into the house in the seat (eg if they are sleeping). Also, are they as safe?

I like the idea of having seats that don't move out of the car cos then I know they are always correctly fitted. If i was to have infant carriers I'd want ISOFIX which is £200 as well as £100 each for the seats as well as £150-ish each for the toddler seats.

Infant carriers plus ISOFIX plus toddler seats = £700
newborn-4yrs seats = £300.

So is being able to carry the baby into the house while asleep that important? Is it worth £400? I don't think I'll be going out in the car much anyway as I live in a nice little village with everything close by. I'll only be taking them on longer journeys of an hour or so to my mums etc.

All opinions from multiples mums greatly appreciated!

[3JinglesandnoBells]

Hm, personally I never liked using carseats unless we were travelling in the car. And we had the Britax Firstclass which is a stage 0 and 1, they can be used much longer rearfacing, which is the safest way to travel with a child in a car!
I found that transferring my Baby's from Seat to Pram never was an issue!

[nh101andhertwinbeans]

Jingles, so did you have car seats from birth that stayed in the car? My sister worries that if I don't use infant carriers I will struggle eg when I get home and they are asleep and I want to take them into the house without waking them.

I live in a quiet area with a big front drive and to be honest I would be happy leaving them in the car to sleep as long as it wasn't too hot and I had the front door open so I could see the car.

[3JinglesandnoBells]

yes, I used mainly the in car seat....however, I did borrow a infant carrier, but I didn't really use it much...I used it mainly as a rocker (it was a rockeby one, lol)...and if I used it in teh car for whatever reason, I would keep it in the car anyhow (never had a Travelsystem)

With my 3 it was never an issue that they would wake if they transferred....sometimes they do, but usually only if they were ready to wake up anyway...but I do know that all Kids are different.

[nh101andhertwinbeans]

Thanks, everyone has been saying "you can't manage without infant carriers" but they are people who used infant carriers! It is good to hear from someone who has actually tried the 0-4 seats. I am still undecided, though may start off with the 0-4s and buy infant carriers if I feel I need to.

[ChopsterRoastingOnAnOpenFire]

I think if you don't use the car much you should be fine, but if you are going to be walking most places, are you getting a pram that will fit thru your front door?
Honestly with two of them, you really will not want to be waking them when you get home. I never had the carriers with my singles, and managed fine. Even then though, I did spend a fair bit of time sat on my doorstep with a book when I lived in a flat and couldn't get the baby in!
With the dts I had the powertwin and it really was a lifesaver. They used to fall asleep on the school run and I could carry them up and have my bfast in peace.

I'd personally go for the carriers to be on the safe side and cheaper toddler seats - no way would I spend £700 on car seats. Surely there are cheaper high safety models? I think ours was on sale on kiddicare and cost £70 each for the second stage. We've jsut bought a third stage one that goes up to 12 years for £30 each. So in total we've spent less than £300 i think!

[ChopsterRoastingOnAnOpenFire]

blimey, you were lucky jingles, I can count on ne hand the number of times I sucessfully transfered a sleeping baby!

[nh101andhertwinbeans]

Thanks Chopster - why do you think you were OK without carriers for the singles? Did you just leave them in the car if they were asleep? I take your point absolutely about not waking them! But I'm not sure how much I'll be using the car anyway. How long did your DTs stay in the Powertwin seats? Some say they are no good after about four months?

[ChopsterRoastingOnAnOpenFire]

I think mine were in the carriers until 8 or 9 mnths. Then we got the forward facing seats.

With the older two, I wasn't using the car very much at all, and I had pushchairs that fitted through the door. Or I would sit outside with them. That gets a bit hard with twins, especially if one wakes and the other doesn't.

Thinking about it they mostly woke up once the car stopped anyway, so it wasn't the car seats as such that was the issue. I needed the infant carriers on the pushchair to get them indoors and up three flights of stairs!

[Jojay]

I had a Britax first Class too, and loved it

[nannynz]

I would suggest getting the infant carriers, especially if the babies are small the carriers will fit better for them.

Then when they outgrow them get forward facing, depending on carrier that you get it may last until they are 15 months.

[nannynz]

I would suggest getting the infant carriers, especially if the babies are small the carriers will fit better for them.

Then when they outgrow them get forward facing, depending on carrier that you get it may last until they are 15 months.