What kind of car seat...

firstcomeslove2013

Hey again...I feel like I am blowing up the board today...

Talk to me about car seats. What is the best (or the best in your opinion)? How do you feel about bucket seats (the kind you carry) VS just a stationary seat? 

Hayden is due 12/12 and we don't have a car seat...we are starting to freak out as she could come anytime really...HELP! 

2brides

In my opinion the infant seat (bucket) is a MUST. You will be so sad the day you can no longer use it and carry a sleeping baby into the house/store/etc. I don't have recs for actual seats since the last infant seat we bought was 9y ago.

Also, once they go to the next seat (convertible seat) buy a good seat. You will use it for a very long time (ours used them from 6m-6.5y!)

Karlamo

Everyone has their preference like you said.  For us it's Britax.  I'm faithful to the brand which is notorious for their safety features. We bought the Britax B-aigle seat with stroller and about 2 months ago bought the Britax marathon.  Because R is such a big boy we had to change car seats sooner than expected because he was quickly outgrowing his infant seat at 5 months old. 

herbunmyoven

We are team Britax all the way. They get amazing safety ratings and the b-safe fit in our small sedan. We got a really good Black Friday deal on Diapers.com and got the b-safe carseat and the b-agile stroller for about $200. 

I was so snotty about having the bucket carseat, but man it was a lifesaver! Even just being able to get him into the car seat inside in the winter was a huge help. 

When we moved up we got the Chicco NextFit (which could have been our only carseat but we have two cars). So the NextFit went in my car, which M is rarely in until he grew out of the bucket. Then we switched. I believe our total decision on the NextFit was based on size. M hated it when he was tiny, but now I think he likes the extra legroom. 

KH826

So, we have this: https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=18244776&cp=&parentPage=search

I HATE IT!

My wife doesn't hate it as much as I do, but I totally hate it. The car seat is fine. Safety-wise it measures up just fine to other infant car seats. The stroller is a piece of crap in my opinion. I liked it in the store because it was light weight. It is a cheap piece of plastic. It is difficult to maneuver on cobblestones, gravel, grass... it's fine for in the mall, but so far we have gone to an orchard, a pumpkin patch, a few art festivals with brick/cobblestones... it is just a giant pain in the rear. I walk around with stroller envy looking at everyone else's contraption. I seriously wish we bought a Britax. In fact, I was looking at them online last night, and we might get a Britax stroller as a family Christmas present to start using as Will transitions to the convertible car seat.

Now, for the convertible car seat, we have this: https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=32177046&cp=&parentPage=search (in purple) -- My Aunt and Uncle bought it for us when we were pregnant. It is currently in the basement waiting to be used.  

JGY

Team Bucket.

I would have been really unhappy if I couldn't transfer a sleeping kiddo from car to house.  Also, seeing as how we're heading into winter here, it's a lot easier to get them strapped in inside, and then throw a blanket over them than have to dress them for the weather and then undress them in the car (unless you have an attached garage, which you might, in your new fancy schmancy house). 

We had friends willing to lend us their Chicco Keyfit 30 (we are close and knew and trusted every place that seat had been and not been).  As a thank you, we returned it with the addition of a second base.

My only complaints are pretty common across the board for all seats ... the straps get twisted, it's hard to carry, blah blah.  All in all it was a good seat for us.

ATXmommas

Team Britax and bucket here too.

I think an infant car seat is an absolute must. Like a PP said, I hate that we can longer transport our sleeping baby from the car to the house, restaurant, store, etc. We either have to wake him up or take turns sitting in the car with him until he wakes up. You will NOT want to wake a sleeping newborn.

We have the Britax B-safe (infant) and now use the Britax Marathon (convertible). We have the B-Ready stroller, which is huge and heavy, but very durable. We chose the B-ready over the B-agile because it will convert to a double stroller. If I had to do it all over again, though, I might choose the City Mini for a stroller because if it's apparent ease of use.

redrockmama

I'll break the britax trend..we have a baby trend inertia and its been great so far. He's not even close to getting too big for it so that's nice. It's a little heavier than some of the others we looked at, but we liked the safety features and it had a higher weight limit. We got the matching stroller and other than being super bulky when it's folded up, we really like it

mrs&mrsk

we registered for a graco travel system click connect.  this includes the infant seat and 1 base, and the stroller. 

Next, we will move on to the mysize 65 convertible car seat.  seemed priced right and good ratings for the next step(s). 

Although I really, really wanted the 4Ever, we couldnt justify registering for another $300++ item when we could get it in "pieces" for less. especially if we end up having another LO one day. 

I do need help finding an umbrella stroller with GOOD wheels to help with grass/ pumpkin patches/ ETC in the future.  All the ones in the stores & most online looked like crap wheels.  anyone heard of this one: https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=22242386&fromRegistryNumber=54801776&product_skn=947896  ? 

mwagner25

We are also a Britax household. I LOVED our infant B-safe seat, now he has grown out of the infant seat and is in the Britax marathon. We also have the B-agile stroller. It works great for us, we usually take long city walks or to the park, but if you are a runner you would definitely want a more heavy duty jogger.

ball.and.chain

We have the Chicco KeyFit30.  I researched car seats on Lucie's List and in Baby Bargains, and to me that seemed like the best combo of price and ratings -- plus I liked the idea of pairing it with the Liteway Plus stroller, which accepts the infant seat and then becomes an umbrella stroller when the baby is bigger.

I will say that the KeyFit scores points for ease of use, installation, adjustment etc.  And when we had our car seats checked at our local police department, they told us they think the KeyFit is one of the best you can buy.  The one con?  It is HEAVY, even without a growing baby in it!  I wish I'd looked into weight a little big before buying.

We are planning on buying the Britax Marathon for a convertible.

Amber&Reva

We got the maxi cosi micro ap.  Main reason for getting this one is that it is one of the lightest on the market and unfortunately I am not the strongest person and R worries about how easily I will be able to carry a carseat with baby inside of it.  We also had already got the Mamas and Papas solo stroller and you are able to buy a converter for the stroller to make it a snap in go for the maxi cosi carseat.

LolaBelle515

Like many others, we have the Chicco Keyfit 30.  Honestly, it's one of the 'standards'--very common, so you know you're getting something good.   We got the stroller, too.  Both were/are great.

Of course, ANY baby carseat has to be approved by the gov't and should be very safe...but, yes, a bucket carseat is very convenient that first year and you have to get a stroller anyway, so why not get the two pieces together?  Can save a bit of money that way, too!  

2MamazInSeattle

Because @ball.and.chain is my hero, we have the Chicco KeyFit30. We scored the stroller that it fits into on Craigslist which saved us a lot of $! It's been just fine for us! It's a pretty popular brand and the carsest lady we hired said it was her favorite,fwiw. Highly recommend the base so it just snaps in and out easily from the car! Again, we got the bases on CL.

firstcomeslove2013

Again, what amazing advice! I think we've decided to use my sister's bucket car seat for a few months until she's in a permanent (or more permanent) seat! You guys are amazing!

2momsinCA

Weighing late here... We love our britax b safes. Bucket seats are essential for carrying to and from the car. I honestly don't know how we would manage without them. We also have radians for when they grow out of the b safes. Maybe they will walk themselves to the car by then...

yachee

@2momsinCA‌ - we have the exact same thing as you! Britax b safes now and Diono Radians next! Do you have the City Select stroller too?

2momsinCA

@yachee oh wow! We have the Britax b ready for now while they are in their bucket car seats and then the city mini GT double for when we move on into those radians. Us twin mamas think alike!!

@carls10 if we didn't have twins we would exclusively baby wear most likely. In fact my opinion on this is probably skewed by how difficult it is manage/carry twins.

AandStilltrying

@yachee‌ and @2momsinCA‌... Which strollers are you using for twins with the britax b?

2momsinCA

@AandStilltrying‌ the britax b ready with the second seat adaptor. It's quite the workhorse of a stroller, fits both b safes nicely.

Jazibel

Just to weigh in. We didn't do the infant car seat. We had a used one for Kaden, but I hated it. I took it on road trips but otherwise never used it. It was really heavy and awkward to carry and Kaden always seemed to big/long to fit in it comfortably. One plus is the handle bar which is great for hanging toys from. We use the Ergo or Moby wrap to wear Owen/Kaden, or bring the stroller when going out to a restaurant, etc.  

Instead we have the Britax car seats, which I love. We had the City Mini stroller when it was just Kaden, and used it from the very beginning.  We had a cute headrest for him when he was very little.  Now we have the City Select which we use often as a double stroller, but it works great as a single stroller too. If I had known I was going to have two kids close together I may have just purchased the City Select upfront and added another seat later (or bought two seats and used them alternatively so they would wear the same).  Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

I know many friends that love the infant car seats and swear by them.  I just helped my sister-in-law by a snap 'n go for her infant carrier.  The plus is sometimes you can transport a sleeping baby in the car seat. My kids rarely stay asleep though. The second something changes their eyes pop open.

yachee

@AandStilltrying‌ - we have the city select and it is AWESOME! Way worth the hefty price tag. It's so easy to snap the b safes in and really versatile. We've switched to the other seats now, but if one of them falls asleep in the car we'll use one seat and one bucket. Most of the time I wear one and only use one seat, which makes the stroller the same size as a single stroller.