when to transfer from infant carseat to convertible carseat

EricaOO

Am I just waiting for DD to physically grow out of the infant seat or are there other signs that she should be in the convertible seat?  My MIL thinks DD no longer likes to be lying so reclined.  She has started throwing fits in the car which is unusual because car rides used to put her to sleep!  At what age did you switch?

dogperson11

As long as she meets the requirements (height weight) of the infant seat she an stay in it. Most families find their 6+ month olds do prefer to sit a little more upright so they switch before they outgrow the infant seat.

MelCfromMN

They can be switched at any time, most convertibles are appropriate for a newborn up, so it's just a preference. I stopped when mine got too heavy to lug around (8ish months?). I highly recommend the carseatblog.com and Car Seats for the Littles Facebook & website. They have great recommendations for seats depending on your child's size and vehicle for ease of use for installation and your budget.

LittleFish1

switching only postponed the inevitable. Wevve gone through an anticar phase a few times. I second the CSFTL FB group. Great resource.

EricaOO

Thanks for your comments.  Since she will still occasionally nap in the car, I think i'm going to keep the infant seat a little longer so that i won't have to wake her when it's time to get out.  Naps are a whole other challenge!

hollygb22

we waited until she outgrew it for the convenience of the infant seat. I drop off for daycare, DH picks up. Having bases in each car was alot easier than two convertibles.

At around 12 months she hit the height limit for our infant seat. I would've kept her in it longer if she didn't outgrow it. But, she was alos around 20lbs, so it was still manageable to carry her in it.

=Lee=B

At 5 months.  My daughter HATED the recline of infant seat.  Our convertible is much more upright, some brands/models are the same recline angle as the infant though so choose wisely!

There is no reason to wait to switch, they can go in a convertible as a newborn as long as they fit the seat well.  If they are starting to dislike the infant seat then make the switch!

drpayne

Around 5-6 months.  By that point, I'm sick of carrying the carseat around because it's so heavy.

abbyful

We switched around 7.5-8 months, I could tell DS wanted to sit more up-right.

LittleApple

People usually switch around 10-12 months.

You don't have to carry the infant seat when it gets too heavy.  Just leave it in the car and treat it like a convertible.

Meether

We had a convertible for DHs car and an infant seat for my car. She started fitting into it at around 3 mos, so if we needed to use his car, we used the convertible. Your daughter should meet the requirements of the convertible by now, so you can transfer it. When we replaced our infant seat at around 14 months, dd was visibly happier with the new found space. But she was always a great car seat camper.

frasey

LittleApple said:

People usually switch around 10-12 months.

You don't have to carry the infant seat when it gets too heavy.  Just leave it in the car and treat it like a convertible.

This is what we did before we switched to the convertible. It was a bit earlier tho for us - maybe 7-8 months.

krazyinsane

I did at 5-6 months when I was sick of lugging it around. Now we just start out in a convertible to save money. I babywear so I never really took the seat out after DD#2 anyway.

futuremrsdavidow

We have the Chico key fit 30 and really like it. Car seats always talk about weight limits but just keep an eye out on the height limit too. DS was 30 inches by 6 months and DD was 30 in by 9 months, so we had to switch but both my kids were in >90% My son is 16 months and still not even close to 30 lbs. But hey, 3 kids in 5 years we are getting our money's worth outta that thing

ElinJ

Meether said:

We had a convertible for DHs car and an infant seat for my car. She started fitting into it at around 3 mos, so if we needed to use his car, we used the convertible. Your daughter should meet the requirements of the convertible by now, so you can transfer it. When we replaced our infant seat at around 14 months, dd was visibly happier with the new found space. But she was always a great car seat camper.

This was almost our exact experience. The only different was my son HAAAAATED the car no matter what. I mean, screamed nonstop. Since my DS was 3 months old and I went back to work, we bought a convertible for my DH's car. Best decision. We found that while he still didn't like riding in the car, he was happier and more comfortable in the convertible. (Happier meaning less screaming.) I continued to use the infant seat for my car until about 14-15 months of age, as my DS is on the small side. I will say, I stopped taking the carseat out of my car at like 7-8 months of age. Lugging that thing around was not fun, and we had the lightest infant seat on the market!

For anyone considering purchasing a second base for their spouse's car, I ALWAYS tell them to considering a convertible. It can be used for MUCH longer, and you'll need one eventually anyway.

fsumom

I just bought another infant seat due to being in a wreck.  I plan on DS staying in it until he outgrows it but I'm sure I'll end up not carrying him in the seat much before that.