Convertible car seats. What age to switch?

PeachsMama

I see people asking about which to buy. I know once they max out the weight limit on there infant carriers you switch but on mine it's 30 lbs. that's gonna be a while! Are some of you switching before then? And why? I'm just curious.

Gianluca109

I switched DS1 when he was 9 months, not because he outgrew the height or weight limit, but because he just seemed uncomfortable and squished in the infant seat. The only downside was that I could no longer easily transport him when he was sleeping in his seat

JamieCallow

I have had DS in a convertible carseat since he was born.

Chargersgrl33

They get too gosh dang heavy! We will switch around 6-7 months because of that.

CarrieB.

We did at 9 mos for DD1. I can't imagine having a 30 lb kid in that bucket.

PeachsMama

I guess they will get pretty heavy. It's already difficult for me to lift him into my SUV because I'm so short.

barista411

DD we switched at 6 months and DS we just switched to a convertible car seat. I pretty much just switched because we got a good deal on a seat but DS is a big guy and would need one soon anyways. I also BW most of the time so we rarely took his car seat out of the car. I probably would have used a convertible from the beginning but I wanted the option to use the stoller for this spring once it warms up and we start walking to the park.

dobrydney

Obviously, because I just posted about which one to buy, I don't have experience with it yet, but most of my mama friends have said that they'll usually grow out of it height wise first or you just decide you don't want to drag their asses around in it anymore because it's so heavy.  For us, I don't really plan on switching yet, I just figured if I can get it on sale I may as well do it now before I HAVE to buy one.

DebateThis

dobrydney said:

Obviously, because I just posted about which one to buy, I don't have experience with it yet, but most of my mama friends have said that they'll usually grow out of it height wise first or you just decide you don't want to drag their asses around in it anymore because it's so heavy.  For us, I don't really plan on switching yet, I just figured if I can get it on sale I may as well do it now before I HAVE to buy one.

Yup. Most babies out grow height before weight, or parents just get sick of toting around a heavy baby in the infant bucket.

You can have LO in the infant seat as long as he/she fits the height and weight limits for your particular seat. Some kids still fit in them at 12 mos, others outgrow them by 5 mos.

McJen715

We switched DD1 around 9 months in my car and a year in my H's truck. She turned 3 in September and just recently hit 30lbs. There was no way she'd have fit in the infant seat until 30lbs, she out grew it length wise long ago. We switched to a convertible when she started getting too big to haul around in the bucket seat. DD2 is a little chunk, she's 15lbs at nearly 3mo, so I think she'll at least be closer to the weight limit when we switch her.

Kfran84

I was planning to switch when LO can sit up on his own in shopping carts. Also, our britax stroller requires the infant seat until age 6 months, so that will play into my decision to switch as well. We will be using it a long time with our jogger- it says not to use the regular seat until 8 months.

Kaymee

We switched DS1 at 5 months old. He was a big baby. DS2 is following along and I see us switching around the same time.

juliane2004

You can switch whenever you want. Most of the convertible seats I've seen have a minimum weight of 5 lbs, so you can switch as long as they are over 5lbs.

Personally, we switched at 3 months or so for the first three kids.

With baby #4, I like the infant carrier more right now, so we'll keep him in there till he hits the limit. Even if we leave the infant carrier in the base in the van, and just take himself in and out of the house, just so I can have the carseat to click in the stroller and have a spot to have him nap when we are out.

3Dewdrops

I will wait to switch to a convertible seat when he either outgrows the weight or height limit.  At some point I will not lug it around anymore but just keep it in the car.   DD2 had a Graco infant seat that she outgrew lengthwise around 18 months.  There were still occasions when I carried her around in it but not often. 

Ashleyfurillo

This may be a stupid question but I'm guessing I'm going to have to buy 2 convertible car seats seeing we have 2 vehicles and use both with LO regularly

McJen715

Ashleyfurillo said:

This may be a stupid question but I'm guessing I'm going to have to buy 2 convertible car seats seeing we have 2 vehicles and use both with LO regularly

You don't necessarily have to. We did with DD1 because my car is old (2001) and doesn't have the latch system. Installing, taking it out, and reinstalling was a pain. I think if my car had the latch system like my H's truck does we could've gotten away with just one seat as it makes it easier to move from car to car. Also I dropped her off at my mom's in the morning before work, and he picked her up after work. So we needed a seat in each vehicle for that too.

mmm50

Ashleyfurillo said:

This may be a stupid question but I'm guessing I'm going to have to buy 2 convertible car seats seeing we have 2 vehicles and use both with LO regularly

I think it depends on how often LO goes back and forth between cars.  Personally on the 2 or 3 days/week DS goes to MIL's for her to watch him, I drop him off and DH picks him up (since he works 7-3 and I work 9-5).  If LO is in one car more often than not you can get by with one and just switch it whenever necessary.  We only have one base for the infant seat because in the winter we take DH's SUV 95% of the time rather than my small car that sucks in snow.  

mmm50

We plan on switching when DS is at the stage where he can sit on his own and kind of sits on your hip and holds onto you when you carry him (probably around 6-9 months).  I'm short-ish so carrying him in the infant seat can be a pain, and once he is easily carried I think the convertible seat will be easier.  

dmm113

Chargersgrl33 said:

They get too gosh dang heavy! We will switch around 6-7 months because of that.

Exactly this for us too!