Product Spotlight: Carseats

ashnicell

This is a place for to ask questions and/or to share the wealth of knowledge we've accumulated on products. Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product to help streamline and make it easier to refer back.

This week let's talk carseats. They are something we'll all be needing. A few weeks ago there was some great discussion on vehicles, especially for those who will have more than one in a carseat. 

For STM/TTM+: Share your experiences, feedback, etc. 

For FTM: Ask any questions you have.

For all: Are you considering an infant seat or convertible option? Share any research you've found, etc.

Gingermom15

We already have a convertible Chicco convertible. The latch to my daughters convertible had a cover snap off, so Chicco sent a whole new seat. We upgraded her to the harness booster and saved the convertible since we knew last fall we would need one soon. 

I will probably just babywear when out and about this time. My first was in an infant seat for 9 months but my daughter for only 4. With more than one child I found them bulky and inconvenient, plus they take up a lot of space in grocery carts and I ended up piling the light stuff on the baby 😂 

As for product, I can’t recommend Chicco enough. They have the best customer service and warranty I have had to deal with. Their car seats are a breeze to install and super comfy. My next favorite is Graco. 

mflowers929

This is actually a question we've been contemplating. For DS and DD we had a graco snugride 35 that was handed down from my bestie after she was done using it for her son. It worked well, we still have the jogger that came with it, and they both used it for over a year (I have small kids). But it expires in December this year. 

Where we're not sure if we're going to have another I'm not sure that I want to invest in another infant seat if I'm just going to have to buy a convertible later, so thinking that we'll just got convertible from the start for this one. We like Graco and have the extend2fit that my daughter is currently in, so we might just get another one. If I ever need to take them out they're super easy because the UAS is a seatbelt style vs a clip on style.

My only concern is having baby out, but like gingermom maybe I'll just babywear. I have several carriers so I may as well use them lol

dumbledoredies

I have a graco snugride 35 that my daughter is in. She's almost 18 months so I'll probably upgrade her to a graco extend2fit soon. (She's always been a little peanut- she was only 18lbs 10oz at her 15 month appointment.. that's why I still haven't moved her out of the infant seat). Baby will go in that when they arrive.

My son is in an extend2fit. I highly recommend as a convertible! He started off in a graco 4ever but I ended up buying the extend2fit so he could rearface longer. We just turned him forward facing at 4.5. If you are interested in rearfacing for a long time, which I HIGHLY recommend, then it's a great seat to invest in. It's also cheaper then the 4ever and you can't technically use the 4ever for you're kids entire carseat life because the carseats expire after 7 years.

I personally love using the infant seat at the beginning. It's nice when you get somewhere and baby is sleeping to pull them out and attach the seat to a stroller. 

I also highly recommend the Carseat Safety group on Facebook. They have a wealth of knowledge. I had no idea about carseat safety until I joined the group when my son was 2. I was doing so many things wrong and I cringe at thinking what could have happened. I've since learned a ton from just scrolling through other people's posts.

mflowers929

Oh! I should probably note here for our Canadian mamas that the rules for our seats are a little different than the US seats. You also cannot use a seat from any other country because the safety testing is different. So, like, don't go buying a seat off of ebay or something and thinking it's all good (secondhand seats are discouraged anyways unless you know the entire history)

sunshine2417

For infants we use the Chicco KeyFit 30 and the stroller it attaches into. As they grow up we switch to the Graco All In One 4ever blah blah blah. I keep my kiddos rear facing as long as possible!

ashnicell

We used a Graco Snugride 35 with DS then switched to the ExtendToFit when he outgrew the infant seat. We will likely do something similar this time around. I like having an infant seat that is compatible with a travel system. I like running and would love to find a travel system with a jogging stroller and compatible infant seat. Recommendations welcome!

As he/she gets bigger, we'll likely go to another ExtendToFit because I love how long you can keep them rear facing in it.

dumbledoredies

@ashnicell last spring I looked into this because I wanted to start running. The BOB strollers seem to be the best for jogging. I was looking at the double to take my 2 kids. They have adaptors that you can attach a graco carseat. I would double check though because I think I read it's not recommended to run with an infant that can't keep their head up. I never ended up buying one or running because my daughter started sleeping like poo and I had no energy lol.

ashnicell

Reported the comment above advertising handcare. 

ponyoisfun

I appreciate this convo!

We are way into the Britax family of carseats. Right now we have the marathon and the boulevard.  They have not let us down yet. They also have been easier to clean than our Peg Perego infant seat.  DD was a HUGE barfer and it was so draining to have to clean the entire thing.

I am looking for tips on fitting 3 across in a Prius.  Is it even possible?  Are we crazy for thinking we can find seats that fit?

lastly, I want to say taking a car seat safety class was THE best investment of time and energy before we had our first.  We learned so much and it really has kept our kids safe.   I also suggest having anyone else who is going to be driving baby do so as well.

My parents were literally clueless on how to use a car seat as apparently they didn't use them with us🤷🏻‍♀️.  My sister lets them drive her kids (little) around and they will tell us that the kids got out of their seats while driving, but they don't know why.  Um, maybe you didn't tighten it?

coldlife2

We have a Chico Keyfit 30 bucket seat, which all our children have used and this one will as well. (Yes, I am aware of expiration dates.) After that, they upgrade to a Safety 1st convertible, which SUCKS, and I would not recommend. It is incredibly bulky and incredibly stiff and hard to tighten down. Then, we have the Diono 3R. It’s a little more expensive, but we specifically bought it over other options because it is the narrowest convertible out there (we bought it without the infant inserts, because we didn’t use it for them as infants, but it can be used from birth as well). We had all three of those fit across in a basic four-door car just fine. We’ve upgraded our vehicle to an SUV for other reasons, but they are still three across right now because it’s easier to get them out. We’ve just recently upgraded our oldest to a booster, which is just something basic, I think Safety 1st. 

ponyoisfun

@coldlife2 Thank you for the tip about the Diono 3r.  I will keep reading, but it might make our 3 across idea work. 

sunshine2417

Car Seats for the Littles is also a great Facebook resource page, and I think they have a Canadian site too (not positive about other countries).

::TW:: personal anxiety about car seat safety and accidents

I’m definitely a personally anal mom about car seat safety in my car and for my kids, and will advise any and every one to do your research and go with the best option for you, your family, your car, and your baby. I hope and pray nobody in our group (or any parent for that matter!) ever has the safety of their car seats tested, but it only takes one moment. Also make sure anyone driving your babies knows how to properly operate a car seat. My parents have left other grandkids untightened or unbuckled in a running car so many times and their ignorance to actually learning is frightening to me and they just won’t change. So, they don’t have privileges to drive my kids anywhere until they choose to learn 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m the mama who didn’t think about this at all until I went to do my first Baby registry at BabiesRUs and the choices were so overwhelming that I had a panic attack in the store because all I could picture was this being the only vessel offering any protection if my child was ever in a horrific car accident, whether by my fault or any of the millions of other people we pass on the road. When I was 6, there was a horrific car accident right in front of our house on Christmas Eve where three children died, one of which being a baby who went through the windshield due to improper restraints (but also, it was the 90s and we’ve learned much better by now). 

Scary PSA from an awake and pregnant worry-wart mama at 4am on Easter, done! 

mflowers929

@sunshine2417 I'm definitely that mom who will point out to you if your child is improperly fastened too. I joined the local car seat safety group for my province and learned so much and I'm super cautious about it all now. I even tell off my husband if he's not buckled our son in safely (he sometimes forgets to move the chest clip to the proper place)

PurplePumpernickel

Bumping this to once again pick the brains of our northern climate parents. Talk to me about car seat covers. Do I need one or should I just stick with tucking heavier blankets on baby when we're going from home to car or car to whatever building we're going into? Are the ones that stretch all the way over the seat ok for air flow?

mflowers929

@PurplePumpernickel Canada is pretty strict on car seats (stricter than the US I believe). Car seat covers that go under the child are prohibited from use in a vehicle (okay for walks) because it changes the way the straps fit in the same way a bulky jacket would. Shower cap style are okay, but you have to make sure it doesn't interfere with the seat connecting, and it's recommended to be removed for anything longer than about a 15 minute trip because it can cause overheating.
Personally I've just always used blankets.

PurplePumpernickel

Oh yeah, I wouldn't put anything under baby. I'm building out a registry, and I wondered if I should throw a cover on there. Good to know about the 15 minute time window!

Gingermom15

@PurplePumpernickel I always just used a blanket tucked around the baby on the walk to and from the car. We had the car warmed up so we never left the blanket on them because it can cause overheating, I don’t know if covers could also cause this but I would imagine they would and I just envisioned them being a hassle lol I also am cheap and didn’t see spending the money on them when we could use what we already had. If it was raining I’d toss a muslin blanket over the seat when outside. Babies are awful sturdy, cold air on the face for a few minutes won’t hurt them! Whatever you do will be fine. 

Edited because my autocorrect always changes muslin to Muslim 🤦🏻‍♀️ not trying to appropriate anything I promise lol

Gingermom15

@mflowers929 I am also the parent who gently tries to help get all kids buckled correctly. A mom did it for me and I am forever grateful, I had no idea what I was doing and she was so kind to educate and help me 

coldlife2

I live where it gets cold. I’ve only ever used blankets, but I know so many people who use the shower cap style and find them so convenient. 

mflowers929

@Gingermom15 same. Except depending on the mom not so gently - I kind of railed on my bestie when she turned her son around at 1, oops. I joined a car seat safety group for my province and there was one specialist there who became a specialist after losing 2 of her children in a car accident due to improper car seat use (they literally told her that if she had had them in correctly they'd likely still be alive) and that pretty much scared me into trying to make other people understand how to properly use car seats. If I had the time I'd probably become a specialist myself

Gingermom15

@mflowers929 depending on their response I may or may not remain gentle, but I do try to start off that way lol 

Working in the ER even occasionally when I am floated there, it’s not uncommon at all to see injuries or deaths from improperly buckled children. Or not restrained at all! Sacrificing a child’s safety after being educated is unacceptable 

sunshine2417

@PurplePumpernickel I always just put a blanket on top of them. I live in MN so… it’s cold here. The shower cap cover things honestly scare the crap out of me for my kids and others. I want to see them breathe and temperature check at all times. I’d hate to be fully head to toe covered under a blanket. 

baby-h2022

We are starting to look for a car seat. Has anyone used the Doona+

themrsjacoby

baby-h2022 said:

We are starting to look for a car seat. Has anyone used the Doona+

I haven't yet, but have a good friend who has it and swears by it.  Her baby just turned 1 and she's still in it.  For us smaller mama's, she absolutely recommended it to me.  Just the back pain alone avoided going into and out of the Dr will be amazing I think!  This is totally my top runner right now, tho I am still looking into convertible bassinet type seats/stroller combos.

ponyoisfun

I just found out that Diono will give the third seat free: https://www.diono.com/3rd-seat-free . We might do this as we are going to have 3 across in our Prius. 

erey339

Has anyone tried the uppa baby Mesa car seat? We have the uppa baby vista stroller so figure the compatible car seat could be good.