Car seats and strollers

NYTino24

Discuss!

NYTino24

@MaximumEffort Thanks for sharing the 50% off Diono seats on Zulily. I crossed them off my list because they were so expensive and now I'm curious. Anyone know how they compare to Graco 4Ever All-in-One Extend to Fit?

jess0211

My FIL bought ours before I finalized pir registry, but luckily I am okay with it as I probably would have ended up going with it. My only concern is we just bought a new vehicle and I am hoping it is compatible.  Unfortunately he didn't ship it to us so I can't try it out  (so annoyed we specifically asked family to ship to us since we are dricing 8 hrs for my shower and are limited on space when traveling). I really debated between an infant seat or convertible but decided on infant for logistical reasons (ie easier to take in and out of car if sleeping,  paticularly for daycare, snap into stroller etc.) That said if it doesn't fit in our second vehicle I may get s convertible for that one. 
We went with 

Graco SnugRide Click Connect 35 LX Baby Car Seat

It was recommended in the baby bargins book. No longer available on Amazon though.

baby3forme

We plan on getting this one. It's very similar to the Graco one DD2 has and we love hers. For 4-65 lbs I believe. 

ETA: Actually I think it's the same one. 

SweetMelissa4

Help me out here as a newb/FTM.  I feel really dumb asking this and google would probably help, too, but I figure actual users might have some good insight.  Infant vs. convertible, pros and cons?  Also, does the term "travel system" just also refer to a compatible stroller?  Do strollers that are compatible with infant seats also then work for older babes/toddlers? (I obviously haven't even made a trip to a store yet to check them out.)

NYTino24

@SweetMelissa4 Convertibles stay in the car (and can be heavy) and you take baby out, so you need a stroller capable of supporting an infant. However, many convertibles have different parts you take off or add in depending on the child's size, so they can last a really long time. Infant seats are good for cold weather and sleeping babies that you don't want to wake. Plus, some snap into strollers. Some people recommend checking out Car Seats for Littles on FB, but I found the page to be extremely busy and they are quite strict with their posting rules. My sister is a car seat crazy, so I ask her questions.

cottingham3

This was a huge decision for us this time. I hate infant seats! Although, they do serve a purpose. I tend to wear little baby anywhere you might would take them in the infant seat. However, we travel more these days and take interstates more than with my other kids so I really want the safest thing!

With #3 we purchased a Graco convertible (4-100 lbs) very similar to the 4Ever seat they have now. We LOVE it!! at 4.5 and 35 lbs is is still the perfect seat for our son. you can changed everything so easily that I can have it go from his size to fit my 9 month old niece in minutes! However, we were forced to purchase a infant seat for him because he could not leave the NICU until he has passed a car seat test and they would not allow convertible seats

So, this time we could not decided if we wanted to put the big bucks into the Britax infant seat I really wanted (due to safety ratings), or wait and spend more on the convertible that we know we will use long term. I got REALLY luck because a very close friend a church had just purchased a Britax Be Safe 35 for her 4th. When he arrived, he weighted a whopping 11lbs and is very wide. They did not like the way he fit in the seat. So, I was able to take it off her hands with one 2 weeks use for pennies on the dollar. 

I will be purchasing either the Britax Marathon or the Graco 4Ever all in one for long term use. 
 

BayCamp

We're going with an infant seat at first, mainly because our bases from DS's seat haven't expired yet. His actual bucket seat is a little worse for wear since it traveled a lot but we are getting one the same brand so it works with our bases and stroller. I babywear so I don't carry the seats often. But being able to move the bucket seat around is a lifesaver when baby is sleeping since we do a lot of parking lot transfers with mine and DH's work schedule. 

kissthesky32

I have used the Chicco KeyFit and NextFit for both of my kids and probably will again. They've worked well for us. My 45lb, 45 inch 4 year old still has a lot of growing to do before she will get too large for the NextFit, so they have a long lifespan.

 I love the infant seat and being able to carry a sleeping baby/snap it into a stroller and go. I'm not huge on babywearing - my babies tend to be very warm blooded and everyone ends up covered in sweat - so the portability of the infant seat is a must for me. 

MaximumEffort

@NYTino24 I used the radian  rxt after the infant carseat travel system because I liked being able to scoop out the carseat and place in her stroller, that we used until she was 3, the carseat I would have used the radian first when she was close to one and until she was 4.  

car1a

I recently got a Britax Boulevard (convertible) for my sister's visit here, knowing that I would use it for my LO also, and then went with a Britax infant car seat. I'm debating if we should use one car seat per car, or whether I might buy a second infant base for the other car and just use the Boulevard later on. This will probably be a "wait and see" purchase once we know how convenient having the infant seat is. If the bases were cheaper it would make my decision simpler!

cottingham3

@kissthesky32 that convertible is on my list too but I did not know anyone who has used one. I am glad to hear you like it! I will be sure to leave it on my comparison list!

kalenp

we used an infant seat with both boys-- luckily they were hand-me-downs from friends and were free. Then we bought Diono Radians and have really liked them. The main reason we bought them was that we knew we wanted 3 kiddos and they will fit 3 across in the back of my husband's car. other seats are too wide to do that. 

Knottie19640588

I ended up going with the maxi-cosi Mico max 30. I wanted a carseat that had good safety ratings, can handle a heavier baby (just in case), and that was compatible with the stroller I picked out. 
Tip: Pick out your stroller and then see which carseats are compatible! Being able to click the carseat into the stoller with our winter babies will be a life saver since they shouldn't wear snowsuits in the carseat.

SweetMelissa4

Strollers:  What are your favs?  I'm thinking I'll want the option to have the carseat facing me, so I can see her when we're walking/out and about, but did you find that to be important to you?  Did you buy the stroller that went with your infant carseat or something else?

DuchessOfCambridge

We're registering for the whole Uppababy setup. Vista for the stroller, Mesa for the carseat plus the base.

MaximumEffort

Uppababy is way above and beyond our budget. My friend bought one she's only a week into being a mom so not sure how she likes it. 

mymulligan

I love the Diono Radian. We switched DD to the convertible at about 9 months. This one we will probably move earlier because latest studies show babes are safer in a convertible v. Infant seat as long as they meet the min height / weight requirements.

i like the diono for the following reasons:
higher weight / height limits for extended rear facing - we turned my daughter forward at almost 4 years

steel frame - just "feels" safer although car seat experts will tell you that all car seats are equally safe as long as installed and used properly

slimmer seat allowing 3 across or more room in back seat

cons -
the only con i have found (other than retail $&) is that due to the steel frame, it is HEAVY. We travel a lot and purchased a 3rd car seat for travel only purposes because we didn't want to carry the Diono through the airport, etc. this actually turned out to be a huge benefit because it is so much easier to have a travel only seat that's ready to go whenever. We don't have to worry about uninstalling / installing in our car when we leave/come home. Our travel car seat is super light and easy to manage. It's a Graco.

We have the Chicco Keyfit infant seat that we also like and will use for baby boy. 

RiverSong15

Our friends are giving us their UppaBaby Cruz stroller, which is super generous. So we'll be looking for an infant seat that snaps in. We're looking at either the Mesa, which snaps in directly, or one of the seats that use the maxi cost adapters (which they are also giving us). Maybe a Cybex Aton? Not sure yet, if anyone has some experience with these two. We definitely want an infant seat, though, as the convenience of going from car to stroller is important, and the ability to use the seat in cabs and Ubers will be important to us too.

DuchessOfCambridge

@MaximumEffort my MIL wants to treat us to a really nice stroller/travel set and I really like the UppaBaby stuff so we're going with that. It's super popular in my city, I see UppaBaby strollers all the time, everywhere I go. Even if she decides against getting us the stroller set, we've saved enough that we can splurge on a couple things, the stroller/car seat being one of those.

asamapmaker

With DS we had a Chicco travel system, loved it, and we wore it to the ground. 
Then we had really nice convertible car seats --Britax Marathon-- and now DS is in a booster.
This time friends are giving us their Britax travel system so we'll give that a go. We need to have 3 car seat bases so at least we are only short 1 right now. It's not the one that has recalls; and if we really don't like it I guess we could find a different one. Britax should be good though. 

cottingham3

@asamapmaker I think the most recent Britax recall only involves the chest clip...and they will send you a new one free of charge. The one we purchased from a friend was manufactured just after the cutoff date, but I emailed Britax and they are going to send the replacement chest clip anyway!

ariasbabyblog

We bought convertible Britax Marathons for both boys and will use my oldest's for this little girl, as he will be moving to a convertible Graco Nautilus booster. I personally think age specific seats are a way to price gouge. You pretty much end up buying all of these car seats (at least 5 per kiddo) and it just sounds like a pain in the tail. We have really loved the seats for the boys. I ended up having larger babies (8-10 and 10-10) and they both fit in the seats with no issues. They are a little heavy, but we didn't move them around a lot as at the time we only had one car, but moving wasn't difficult as they both have the LATCH system which makes installing super easy and pretty idiot-proof.

Stroller wise we didn't end up using one until we went to the coast when my oldest was 2 and I was pregnant with #2. We used a pretty basic stroller for the airport and have continued to use that stroller. It was just easier to carry DS1 around than to try to fuss with a stroller. With DS2 I've used it more as he is huge and heavy and I just can't carry him that long. With little girl coming along, I'm hoping to get a double jogging stroller if I can find one that doesn't cost an arm, a leg, and my first born. Seriously, the prices of these items is ridiculous. I'd love to get the Baby Jogger Summit, but again, the price is a major hurdle.

baby3forme

I've never heard of UppaBaby before so I googled it. Holy expensive! But @DuchessOfCambridge since you plan on having three more, I'm sure you'll get your money's worth. I've probably spent that much in total with infant car seats (because they suck and fall apart), convertible car seats, and strollers with my two. Probably would've been better to invest in something nice right away. 

kwaldy

We have an evenflo convertible car seat with surelatch (need to find a picture) for DD and LOVE it. We do a lot of switching between cars and it is a breeze. We're going to get the same one in a different pattern for this LO. It also converts all the way up to a booster and like 110lbs or some ridiculous upper weight limit. 
We found one on sale on amazon for like half of what I paid for DD and will probably splurge soon, even though we'll be using the infant carrier for the first few months. 

Asivec

I ended up with a babytrend system with an infant seat and a "jogging" stroller that's good for rougher terrain. We go to a lot of parks, festivals, etc in our area that do not necessarily have paved roads. It still is a go to stroller occasionally for my 3 1/2 year old. Held up very well but is a bigger stroller to fold. I had a sept baby the infant car seat was nice with the cold pa weather. 

Eta: The infant seat locks in with the baby facing you as you push, which I liked a lot. 

kdl89

We ended up buying a babytrend travel system is was on sale half price and it had a bunch of good reviews. We also liked this one as it is a jogger stroller and we go for walks almost everyday and sometimes on dirt roads so we want something that would hold up.

Airynn Chica

@ariasbabyblog Yes double joggers are so expensive but so awesome!! We bought one second hand and I love it for walks and runs! I prefer to push it compared to our sit n stand. Now with #3 coming at least I won't be outside with a stroller and all 3 until at least April here! I will baby wear for walks/hikes but I am thinking about getting a single jogger again to just take 1 of them!

jess0211

@SweetMelissa4 I spent A LOT of time researching our stroller and went with the city mini gt because it seemed versatile and was fairly light. I was also able to get adapters to attach our Graco carseat.

mymulligan

jess0211 said:

@SweetMelissa4 I spent A LOT of time researching our stroller and went with the city mini gt because it seemed versatile and was fairly light. I was also able to get adapters to attach our Graco carseat.

We have the same stroller and love it. So light and easy to fold up with one hand. We had an adapter for our infant seat also.

av2323

@DuchessOfCambridge. My sister went through 3 strollers before buying her Uppababy G Luxe (I think that's the name of it).  She regrets ever wasting the time and money on the others.  She used it for 4 years before passing it down to me.  It's lightweight, one handed, and awesome.
We used a Chicco Keyfit for our infant seat.  I loved it.  We will reuse for new baby.  The only reason we didn't go with the Chicco nextfit was size.  For our convertible we got the Britax Marathon.  It took some getting used to coming from a Chicco but I like it now.  
We are planning on buying the Chicco bravo for 2 double stroller when sister arrives.

ArtificialRed

I have read so much about car seats that I have a billion things I could say about them. But I'll limit myself lol

We decided the infant seat was worth its money for school drop off and pick up, in case the baby is asleep and to also simply save time. We won't buy a second base though. The kids won't ride in the second car that often, so we'll either seatbelt install, or go straight to a convertible. 

Our infant seat is the Cybex Aton 2. It is one of or the most compact front to back seats available, perfect for small vehicles. We had the original Cybex Aton with DS for this reason. It's a nice seat. Not perfect (sunshade is very small) but worth it for the size. I like that the 2 has a load leg on the base, and the baseless install is European design which is supposed to be quick and easy to do properly. 

I currently have the Graco extend2fit on my registry as our convertible. It has great rearfacing capabilities. It's also supposed to have a small front to back footprint that's good for smaller spaces, but I personally haven't tried it yet. 

The most important thing is a seat that is installed properly and used correctly every time. A $45 seat will pass the same required safety tests as a $400 seat. Any extra safety tests are not monitored across the board and may not truly prove anything extra. You will sometimes literally just be paying for convenience (one hand adjustable harness, cup holders, a zip off cover) or name. There is no shame in buying what you can afford, be that $45 or $400. But install and use it correctly (your car manual and car seat manual will both have instructions)! 

dragonfly87-2

My aunt found the Graco Snug Ride 35 on sale for $35 and picked it up for us, which worked out great because I was favoring that one.

DH's mom bought us the Graco Trax Jogger that is compatible with all Graco connect car seats.




I also bought the Graco My Ride 65, Sully for $67 (reg $114)

DuchessOfCambridge

@baby3forme @av2323 that's what I'm hoping for! Paying upfront and having it last us a looong time. I literally see at least three a day (I live in a very family friendly part of our city) so they must be good for walking around and taking on the train! definitely hoping it will last us through four kids. Even if MIL doesn't want to get it for us it's something I feel comfortable splurging on, we've been pretty good pricewise with our other stuff. 

maegpie

I know this thread is primarily for car seats and strollers but I thought baby carriers/baby wearing may fit in too. Does anyone have any experience with the Lillebaby carriers? I used a wrap with DD and while it was great it did take a bit of time to put on. I'm leaning more towards a carrier this time and want one that ideally will transition from newborn to toddler carrying. 

mariposa_767s

We are going straight to a convertible seat.  I had an infant carrier with DS and found it to be a waste of money because he got too heavy for me to carry in it pretty quickly.  I still have his Graco MySize70 (similar to the newer Size4Me65) and it won't expire for another couple of years.  Then we are also going to get a MyRide65 or something similar for my car.  As far as the stroller, since I plan on wearing her a lot, we got an inexpensive Summer Infant 3D Lite stroller.  It was important to me for it to be light and compact.  We already bought it and have it put together.  So far, I'm pretty impressed.  The incline is very easy to do and the stroller locks feel very sturdy and secure.

As far as carriers/wearing, I have two off brand carriers.  One is like a Mei Tei and the other is like a Tula.  I used a Moby with DS and loved it, but I wanted something easier to put on this time around.

Knottie19640588

Stroller shopping took wayyyyyy longer than expected. I ended up going with the Bumbleride Indie... mostly because it has air filled rubber tires instead of foam, a big enough basket underneath, and isn't as heavy as the Bob. The city mini gt was a very close second choice but I will be going on trails and gravel so I want to make sure the tires will hold up. It is on the pricier side - but it is a treat from my parents

av2323

@maegpie. I bought a 
Lillebaby for this baby.  I haven't used it yet but I'm excited about it.  I chose it over Tula because it has more carrying positions.

maegpie

@av2323 what style did you buy? They have the all season as a last chance right now for $64.99 but I'm not sure if that's the right style for NB.

pawcall

I bought a britax bsafe infant seat on clearance for like $60. The other car will get a graco extend2fit right away and assuming we like it, we'll replace the britax with another of the same after a few months. 

Extended RFing is really important to me so the graco seat is pretty exciting. My son RF'd until 4 and is still in a 5 point at age 6.5. 

pawcall

maegpie said:

I know this thread is primarily for car seats and strollers but I thought baby carriers/baby wearing may fit in too. Does anyone have any experience with the Lillebaby carriers? I used a wrap with DD and while it was great it did take a bit of time to put on. I'm leaning more towards a carrier this time and want one that ideally will transition from newborn to toddler carrying. 

I liked lillebaby with my 6yo but eventually moved on to a Tula (which I liked) and then a kinderpack (which I looooove).