Transitioning to convertable car seat

Jennifer43

When did you move your LO into a convertable car seat? I'm thinking once he can sit up on his own but he is so big, I'm wondering if he would be more comfortable in one sooner? What did you do or what was your criteria for moving them into a convertable car seat ... rear facing still of course.

AprilJT

Honestly, you can put them in most convertible car seats from birth as long as it is still rear facing.  With Rowen I didn't  move him over until he was a year old but that's just because he was so small I still carried him in the infant up until I switched.  (He weighed 19 pounds at 13 months).  I am going to be moving Phoebe in the next couple of weeks (as soon as I get around to buying a new seat).  She is 16 1/2 pounds already and her car seats weight restriction only goes up to 20 lbs.  I don't ever carry her around in it so I figured their was no point in waiting. 

MrsBlayne

Pretty much the same here - I wasn't carrying her around in the infant seat anymore, it always stayed in the car.  I figured she would like sitting more upright so I went ahead and switched her.  The only think I miss about the infant seat is the handle overhead with her toys.  Now she throws her toys out, I need to figure out a way to keep them close by.  You could always just get it if you see a sale of have a BRU 20% off and see how he likes it, if he doesn't care for it you could just go back to the infant seat until he outgrows it.  (The reason I already bought one for B is that I saw it on sale for like $60 off).

DreamsBride411

We moved Mari around Thanksgiving... so like 7.5 months.  She's built like a linebacker and her shoulders clearly looked uncomfortable in her infant seat although she didn't outweigh it.  It was also getting hard to loosen and tighten the belt because she took up so much room in it.  She's SO much more comfortable in her convertible.  And don't be worried about doing it too soon - it fully reclines like the infant seat.

Jennifer43

Thanks ladies! So for my next question...did you always use some kind of carrier/sling before they could sit on their own or always put them in the stroller or what? C is so heavy its hard to carry him around everywhere.

DreamsBride411

I never take a stroller unless I'm going to the mall. I only use carriers. Typically I use my ring sling for in/out of the car trips, but if I'm going somewhere for a long time (like a wholesale club), I'll wrap her on my back. You could also buy one of those shopping cart cover things and see if that'll work. Before Mari was sitting, I just used to stuff blankets around her to keep her in place.

MrsBlayne

I did wear her (usually in a sling) until she was sitting on her own.

Wendells

I kept G in his infant seat as long as he could fit in it.  It was close to a year probably, but I had the Chicco KeyFit 30 so it went up to 30 lbs or 30 inches.