Overwhelmed with all the car seat selections! Help!

poteetpartyof3

I know I want a car seat stroller combo. I want the car seat to have a removable and washable cover and also the ability to buy multiple bases. This narrows it down to oh a thousand choices. I'm a FTM so I have no idea what is good or isn't. I've read reviews and ratings and there are so many that look good. Does anyone have any suggestions or a car seat that they just loved? I have no idea where to start. Help!

VeganOnTuesdays

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12492125/car-seat-stroller

This thread had a bunch of awesome suggestions. Good luck! It is definitely overwhelming. 

kj808

I didn't reply in the other thread, but I settled on a Graco Snugride Click Connect 30. I love how lightweight it is and also I wanted a car seat that would work with the Graco Modes stroller (which i'm also getting). Both products got great reviews.

annerz22

All car seats have to follow the same guidelines and safety standards, however after those standards are met there can be extra bells and whistles. Most saftey websites, consumer reports, etc have Britax, Graco Snugride, or the Chicco Keyfit as the best/safest. All of those options have coordinating strollers or the option to buy a converter to attach to the stroller you choose.

I have a Chicco Keyfit and love that you can have multiple bases and it seems pretty comfy for the baby. Chicco has an entire system with the stroller, but I went with an UppaBaby Vista and all I needed to purchase was the extra bar to connect the car seat to the stroller.

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Jillibean68

With DS, we got the Britax B Agile travel system (b- agile stroller with B-safe infant seat). I loved it. The stroller is lightweight and easy to get in and out of my car one handed. My only issue was that the infant seat became heavy once DS started gaining weight (this will happen with any infant seat though). I wound up switching DS to a convertible Britax car seat around 5 months, but still love the stroller. For this LO, I plan on babywearing more so it can go directly into a convertible car seat.
Like some PPs said (either in this or another thread), all car seats have the same safety standards. Your best bet is to go to a store and play around and find out which style/brand you like.

Poppy715

Go out and buy Baby Bargians. It's worth the money. They've done all the research and customer review searching for you. It's awesome and has so many helpful reviews on all things baby.

rideeventing

I've been using Lucies List to guide me. We choose the Britax B-Safe based on that and trying different combos out in the store.

AggieAsh23

The best way to decide is go in to a baby store and test them all out. At Buy Buy Baby they even have a fake 8lb baby for you to put in the seat. Mess with the straps, the handle, the sun shade and most importantly- practice removing it from the base, putting it in the base, and carrying it around. Some places will even let you take it to your car and see how it fits.

We did this our first go around and it made our decision super easy. We decided on the Chicco Keyfit 30. It was super light, easy to install, and easy to figure out how to use.

Pintobean39

Poppy715 said:

Go out and buy Baby Bargians. It's worth the money. They've done all the research and customer review searching for you. It's awesome and has so many helpful reviews on all things baby.

I just looked on Amazon and I only saw the one published in 2013. There is a preorder for a new version coming out April 2015. Is this not published every year? I'm just wondering if it's worth getting an outdated one.

icajesica82

If your tall I recommend the Chicco Cortina stroller to go with the Chicco Key Fit.  I'm 5'11" and this was the best thing ever!  Found out after we got it that is is ranked number 1 for tall people because the base of the wheels are more spread apart and the handle goes up high.  I don't have to slouch at all to push it unlike my umbrella stroller.  I love the key fit and got it because my friend had it as well as 2 extra bases I could use when DD was born.  Seat is still good so we will be using it for LO

https://www.target.com/p/chicco-cortina-keyfit-30-travel-system/-/A-15275834#prodSlot=_1_12

poteetpartyof3

AggieAsh23 said:

The best way to decide is go in to a baby store and test them all out. At Buy Buy Baby they even have a fake 8lb baby for you to put in the seat. Mess with the straps, the handle, the sun shade and most importantly- practice removing it from the base, putting it in the base, and carrying it around. Some places will even let you take it to your car and see how it fits. We did this our first go around and it made our decision super easy. We decided on the Chicco Keyfit 30. It was super light, easy to install, and easy to figure out how to use.

I didn't know they had the 8LB baby there. That is so smart. I will deffinantly go check that out!

jesslfar

I second going to a store with hands on displays.  We don't have BBB here, but we have Babies r us and some have a fake car seat you can try strapping the child into.  My basic criteria are the straps need to be easy for DH to snap the chest clip and be able to tighten and loosen easily without messing it up so he can help.  He is not clueless, he just doesn't have the confidence needed.  I also need a base that wont wiggle.  I had a Peg Perego and what I did not know when I bought it is that not every seat will install as well in every car.  The tightest install in my car for that seat was by using the seat belt and not latch if I wanted it in the center.  What that meant was it slowly loosened every time we took the seat out and left the base so I had to adjust the base often.  Had I spent 5 minutes googling my car's make and the seat I would have bought a different one.  Go to car safety.org or car seats for the littles and ask about your specific car, they can usually tip you off to ones that are not going to work.  My personal favorites are B Safe, Chicco Key Fit, and Graco Snug ride because of how easy they are to install, the length of the seat, machine washable covers, they fit a small baby well and how easy they are to adjust the straps.

mpiemont

I have the Graco Snug Ride 32(?). I've used it with both babies so far and never had a complaint. It was easy to get baby in and out, easy to snap seat in and out of base, worked great with the Snap n Go stroller, extra bases were inexpensive, etc.

amylee545

Pintobean39 said:

Poppy715 said:

Go out and buy Baby Bargians. It's worth the money. They've done all the research and customer review searching for you. It's awesome and has so many helpful reviews on all things baby.

I just looked on Amazon and I only saw the one published in 2013. There is a preorder for a new version coming out April 2015. Is this not published every year? I'm just wondering if it's worth getting an outdated one.

@Pintobean39‌ the most recent book is 2013-2014. They release a new version every 2 years. I don't think that new one is coming out till mid-2015 from what I remember reading somewhere.

jesslfar

I used to recommend Graco, but their handling of the recall was really bad this year.  They recalled only older children seats and not the infant ones at first even though they had identical buckles.  Parents had to wait months before they recalled them and would give them new buckles.  Graco is actually under investigation for how they handled the whole thing.  I will still buy Graco products but never a car seat from them again.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/04/5-best-car-seats-for-your-baby/index.htm  These are the seats consumer reports looked at.  The best seats for over all installation and customers using them correctly are the B Safe, Chicco Key Fit and Graco Snug ride on most top 10 lists because they are pretty easy to use.  They are all heavier seats that a lot of people do not like when the baby gets older.

annerz22

JerseyAKL said:

annerz22 said:

All car seats have to follow the same guidelines and safety standards, however after those standards are met there can be extra bells and whistles. Most saftey websites, consumer reports, etc have Britax, Graco Snugride, or the Chicco Keyfit as the best/safest. All of those options have coordinating strollers or the option to buy a converter to attach to the stroller you choose.

I have a Chicco Keyfit and love that you can have multiple bases and it seems pretty comfy for the baby. Chicco has an entire system with the stroller, but I went with an UppaBaby Vista and all I needed to purchase was the extra bar to connect the car seat to the stroller.

@annerz22, I have the UppaBaby Vista and am torn on the carseat. I was planning on the MESA because I love the one-button release and some of the other features, but am now torn based on some things I have read. May I ask what inspired you to go with the Chicco? Are you concerned about it on the Vista at all? I know you can get a connector, but then it is not as easy to snap in and out. 

I went with the Chicco at the time because uppababy hadn't come out with the Mesa yet. I went with the Chicco because it seemed to be the easiest seat for DH and I both to install/tighten/use. Also the saftey ratings and reviews on the Chicco are fantastic across the board. For us it was between the Chicco and the Graco and the Graco to me was a bit bulky looking. I actually haven't looked at the Mesa now that it came out.

Putting the Chicco on the vista took a little getting used to but it wasn't difficult. I was even able to shut the stroller with the adapter bar. During the summer we actually used the bassinet more than the car seat because the carseat was so hot when walking around.

littlecookie

amylee545 said:

Pintobean39 said:

Poppy715 said:

Go out and buy Baby Bargians. It's worth the money. They've done all the research and customer review searching for you. It's awesome and has so many helpful reviews on all things baby.

I just looked on Amazon and I only saw the one published in 2013. There is a preorder for a new version coming out April 2015. Is this not published every year? I'm just wondering if it's worth getting an outdated one.

@Pintobean39‌ the most recent book is 2013-2014. They release a new version every 2 years. I don't think that new one is coming out till mid-2015 from what I remember reading somewhere.

It looks like they have a digital version now. I found this the other day. Haven't houned yet, because I probably just want it for a month, but I'm not sure when I want to do it.

https://windsorpeak.com/babybargains/

rositalynda2014

Does anyone have any experience with the new graco forever seat.?

maritimeme

Check out this site:

https://csftl.org/recommended-seats/compare-rfo-seats/

Not all infant seats are really that great for newborns for various reasons.  I would review this list and then choose a travel system/stroller that you can use with it if you want to got that route.

There is a separate list for us Canadian gals btw.