Graco Snugride - regular or 35?

snoopy0510

I'm trying to decide whether I should get the regular Snugride (which I think goes up to 29 lbs) or the 35-lb version.  I'm small and not too strong, so I like that the original is two pounds lighter than the 35... but I don't want to end up wishing that I had gotten the bigger one so I could use it longer.  Any advice?

lindseyenderson

The regular goes to 22 lbs.  I had it and loved it, my baby did not grow out of it until she was over a year.  The lighter weight was important to me and allowed me to carry it around much longer than I could have the 35 lb version.  It also depends on the size of your car- I know that some people have had to return the larger snugrides because they weren't able to put their seat back as far as it needed to be.  Both are great seats- just depends on how you want to use it!

laurel22

Unless you think you're going to have a tall baby (like we do), I would just go with the regular Snugride.  Most people don't buy the Snugride 35 for the weight limit, but because it has a higher height limit.  It would be really unusual for a baby to actually hit the 35 lb weight limit before he/she was in a convertible car seat, but taller babies tend to outgrow the height limit of the regular Snugride.

iristony

I chose the lightest weight snugride (up to 22 lb) and am glad I did because it is already so heavy with my 12 pound baby in it and you would be surprised how often you carry this thing- even with a stroller frame.  Once my baby is 15 pounds, I doubt I will still carry him around in this carrier anyway, it'll be too heavy.  I will have to buy a full car seat later on anyway, so as soon as he gets close to outgrowing this I will do so.  I have no regrets.

elle980

laurel22:

Unless you think you're going to have a tall baby (like we do), I would just go with the regular Snugride.  Most people don't buy the Snugride 35 for the weight limit, but because it has a higher height limit.  It would be really unusual for a baby to actually hit the 35 lb weight limit before he/she was in a convertible car seat, but taller babies tend to outgrow the height limit of the regular Snugride.

This.  My hubby is 6'5" and I'm 6'0", so we plan on getting the 35 lb since we think our kid may grow taller faster.

janecanadian

Definitely take into consideration how big your back seat is!  My brother gave me a graco snugride 32 and it is a tight squeeze to get it in the back of my Jeep Liberty.  It would never fit behind either of the seats, it only fits in the middle and even then, it's not easy to get it in there.  I can't wait until my lease expires and we get a new vehicle with more room in the back!

SL122

My 6 month old would be out of his seat by height if we hadn't gotten the 35.  It's a bit heavier, but we stopped carrying it around when he was 3-4 months.  We just left it in the car in its base, and only took it out if he was sleeping in it. You don't HAVE to carry it around. 

For us, it makes sense.  When we stopped carrying it around, we bought a convertible carseat and we leave the infant bucket in one car.  That way, we only had to spring for one $250 car seat and we can get another in 6 months or so when he outgrows the Snugride 35.  We'll know if we like our convertible and want to buy another, or if we should keep looking.

 

nikinikinine

you have to think, will your kid FIT in the seat when s/he is 35 pounds? That's well over a year old for most babies. Usually by then they are too long to fit comfortably. And really, if the seat weighs 10 pounds and your kid weighs 35 pounds are you going to want to carry him/her around in an infant seat?

Probably easier, better and cheaper to get the one with the lower weight limit and just switch to a convertible seat when the time comes. 

bbwgirl

we also got the regular seat. my dd is only 10 lbs and she is already heavy in the seat. there is no way i will even be able to carry her when she hits 20 lbs let alone 35.

Water_Wedding

None of the posts above actually mention the height maximums. It's 28 in for the regular Snugride (and most infant seats) and 32 inches for the Snugride 35 or 32. DH and I are also very tall so we're getting a Snugride 32. I carried te regular Snugride with my newborn nephew and found it exhausting. So DH can carry the seat if he wants, I would only put it on the stroller frame!

EllaSmella

My baby is not here yet, but like you, my husband and I spent a lot of time trying to decide between the regular and the 35. We originally bought the 35, but ended up returning it for the regular. Here's why we chose to do this:

The 35 is a bit bigger and quite a bit heavier than the regular. I have a fairly small sedan and it was quite difficult for me to heft the 35 in and out of the middle seat position (especially when I added two of my 5 lbs dumbbells in the seat to try and simulate a baby). That being said, however, the 35 was somewhat easier to get it in and out of the back of my husband's forester, because it's higher and the back seat is bigger, so it might really depend on what cars you have.

We also decided to go with the regular because we felt that by the time our baby outgrows the regular snugride(either weight or length), we would be fine with moving to a convertible. It just didn't seem worth the extra money and the extra weight/size in the short term to buy ourselves a few more months of use (especially if we just ended up leaving the seat in the car because it was too heavy to carry the baby in the carrier) - might as well have a convertible at that point.

Mereou12

My vote is for the regular.

DS haaaaated the infant seat after about 4 months or so. We made the switch to the convertible at 6 months....though I wish we had done it sooner than that. So for us, the 35 would've been an enormous waste.

MarshMop

Definitely see which one works in your car(s). We were surprised that the seat had a hard time fitting in my mid-sized SUV. 

We went with the Snugride 32 because it seemed to be better constructed and we liked the longer length so we have the option of using it longer as a car seat, not necessarily as a carrier.