I saw on April or May that they were doing weekly threads for recommendations/discussion on the bigger items. I like the idea so I'm copying it. Plenty of discussion beyond just what to get is welcome here. Especially for this topic. You can learn more at
https://www.safekids.org/ and use this link to find a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician in your area.
https://cert.safekids.org/get-car-seat-checked For me, the local children's hospital has someone available for a few hours every week for free. She'll walk you through installing, making sure the fit is right, etc.

And yes, this kid shouldn't be wearing that coat while riding in her car seat.
Me: 34 DH: 38
Married: June 2011
TTC since Feb 2016
BFP#1: 7/7/16 MMC: 8/16/16
BFP#2: 5/8/17 - CP
BFP#3: 6/27/17 EDD: 3/10/18
Re: The Great Car Seats Thread
Please also look at chest clip placement.
I am interested in hearing about experiences with safe and light seats. I owned a Peg with #2 and #3 and it was so heavy. Babywearing saved me. I got a Britax with #4 and it was better with weight, but the chest clip broke and I need to get another. I am open to getting a new carseat if I can find something I love and comes highly recommended.
Married: 5.27.16
Baby Boy Due: 3.18.18
EDD March 12, 2018
We have a Britax B-Safe. It was easy to install and worked great. Definitely have a professional check your installation! Ours was done through our hospital.
Dx: PCOS
Married: June 2013
TTC#1: January 2015
BFP #1 8/24/15 | MC 9/3/15 at 6w2d
BFP #2: 12/12/15 | DD born 8/29/16
TTC#2: June 2017
BFP #3: 7/15/17 | DS born 3/20/18
Married: 5.27.16
Baby Boy Due: 3.18.18
Married: 5.27.16
Baby Boy Due: 3.18.18
Married: 5.27.16
Baby Boy Due: 3.18.18
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UVW40XA?colid=J79JWY8AZA13&coliid=I1RWLJX62MRD0G&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link&th=1
We have him rear facing in the Graco Milestones seat now and I really like it. It's easy to install and easier to adjust. We will probably go with another Milestones when this one is ready to move from the infant.
My parents keep the Cosco seat at their house for convenience. It was $50 and can rear face from 5-45 lbs (I think) so can be used form the very beginning, then forward faced up to 60 lbs I believe. It's also a good option for those on a tight budget. One car seat purchase for probably at least the first 3 years.
ETA I can't brag about the Chicco enough. So easy to install and adjust. My little guy was about 4 lbs when we left the hospital and he was nice and comfy with their insert.
Spontaneous pregnancy #1
DD1 July 31, 2011
Trying for #2 since Oct 11
Spontaneous pregnancy #2= Ectopic #2= lost left tube
Spontaneous pregnancy #3= DD2 January 29, 2016
Spontaneous pregnancy #4= Ectopic #3
Spontaneous pregnancy #5= Baby #3 is a BOY!!!
Exposure to flame retardants (especially in the womb and in small children) has been linked to some pretty serious medical problems. As of January 2015 mattresses and couches with flame retardants in them require labeling in California (which has thankfully led to a lot of big companies making more affordable options without these chemicals), but I don't think the people who are fighting to get these chemicals out of mainstream products have made it to all the products yet so it's not common to find something like a carseat without them currently. It's not possible at this point to 100% stop yourself or your kids from being exposed to these chemicals, but by eliminating as many as you can from your own house and car, the idea is you can lessen the probability of these related medical problems.
Also full disclosure, I'm not a doctor and I'm definitely a bit on the crunchier side and generally more wary of chemicals than the average person. But MH is a science person who works with a lot of chemicals and gets the science behind this stuff and he was the person who initially brought this up in our house. If I personally thought this was paranoid hippie BS I wouldn't be taking these precautions myself, but I purposely phrased it in a way to recognize that not everyone is on the same page about this kind of thing and although I hope to be informative to ppl who haven't heard about this I don't want people who for whatever reason can't take this precaution to feel guilty or interpret this as shaming on any level --especially since many of these products are definitely not cheap so it's not an affordable choice for everyone... I mean we can't really afford it ourselves and it's definitely gonna hurt financially for us to do this but we decided to do it anyway and figure out how we're gonna pay for it later. I'm hopeful there will be cheaper versions of these things in the future--even in the past couple years that has gotten a lot better (mattresses without flame retardants especially are becoming more mainstream and cheaper than they used to be).
I'll include some links below, but giving a general trigger warning for all these articles too.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-you-need-to-know-about-flame-retardants/
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/flame_retardants_508.pdf
https://www.lucieslist.com/gear-guides/the-organic-mattress-smackdown/
I cannot urge everyone enough to get your installation checked out by a professional. What we did on our 1st try with the bucket seat (with our placement we needed to use a seatbelt instead of Latch), and what my parents did with their convertible (their relatively new car doesn't have Latch) was horribly wrong.
Pregnant with #2:
Edit bc I type to fast and don't proof read well
In addition, the fire safety standards are a throwback from the time when more people smoked cigarettes indoors and when homes themselves were made with more wood and were more flammable. Home fires were much more common then than they are now, and it made the tobacco companies look bad when a lot of fires occurred so many people say the tobacco (and chemical) industries are responsible (because of their lobbying efforts) for many of these flame retardant requirements even though they no longer, according to many people, reflect the actual risk (also to be fair we --and those industries-- didn't know these chemicals posed these risks back then).
*TW In addition, and this is super dark to think about, but let's say a man is sleeping in his bed and there is a fire engulfing his home: the risk of death from smoke inhalation is so severe that by the time it mattered for his mattress to have flame retardants in it, TBH he'd likely already be dead or close to death. Sorry I know that is super shitty to think about but it's a point I've seen brought up a lot and think it is worth repeating. *End TW
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/04/24/firefighters-seek-new-law-ban-flame-retardants/Zzv8aVoRN6WTcpKDIvV4cP/story.html
Is it just chemical retardants to be wary of?
ETA: It is cheaper than normal on Amazon right now (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IVNDWHG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Dx: PCOS
Married: June 2013
TTC#1: January 2015
BFP #1 8/24/15 | MC 9/3/15 at 6w2d
BFP #2: 12/12/15 | DD born 8/29/16
TTC#2: June 2017
BFP #3: 7/15/17 | DS born 3/20/18
I know some moms get a snap 'n go stroller (example) for the infant seat days and then switch to the jogging stroller once baby can sit up well.
Dx: PCOS
Married: June 2013
TTC#1: January 2015
BFP #1 8/24/15 | MC 9/3/15 at 6w2d
BFP #2: 12/12/15 | DD born 8/29/16
TTC#2: June 2017
BFP #3: 7/15/17 | DS born 3/20/18
My car seat tips that I wish I had known:
-Show grandparents/family members/etc how to properly fit babe in a car seat. My heart fell into my stomach when I saw how my father in law had strapped in DS after a trip to the store - loose straps and chest clip down over his belly.
-You should really rear face until at LEAST two. It's generally 5 times safer than forward facing. DS is super tall and his legs were always criss crossed before we flipped him forward, DH always gave me shit because he thought it looked uncomfortable, but it doesn't bother little ones. He was happy as a clam.
-No fluffy coats or buntings in the car seat. Here's a good link for info on how to keep baby warm: https://thecarseatlady.com/warmandsafe/
-Most fire departments and police departments have certified car seat technicians, if you call them they'll show you how to correctly install your seat and are super helpful.
There are definitely chemicals besides flame retardants that I'm wary of (offhand, pesticides come to mind for one). Not all chemicals have been tested a lot, you know? Not all chemicals are even disclosed to the consumer, which is a big problem IMO. So TBH that question is a bit over my head. If you want something totally chemical free, then you're going organic. There are definitely fully organic baby crib mattresses on the market (no carseats), but they tend to be even more expensive than the ones that are just flame-retardant free. It's a personal choice. When there is an organic option I tend toward it personally but as I said the prices go up fast when you add up all these products. And like with food even if you want to eat organic all the time it's not practical really because you're gonna be out somewhere and hungry and not everyone carries organic options. Keetsa makes great organic mattresses for adults but no kids ones yet. If you just want flame retardant free Ikea now carries it, I think. And the Lucie's list link I shared a few comments ago has full on organic crib mattresses from other companies. Really hoping to see more, cheaper options in the future.
Honestly it hadn't crossed my mind either until MH went down the rabbit hole on it, freaked me out, and educated me. We had bought an organic mattress when we moved a couple years ago and then I just forgot about the whole thing until he brought it up. I only sound knowledgeable about it because I've been studying it these last couple weeks.