Convertible car seat before age 1?

mcmann05

Has anyone had to move their LO out of the infant seat and into a convertible car seat before age 1? DFS is 23lbs and almost 29" long. I think weight wise we are still ok but length wise, it's not going to be much longer.

Has anyone had to do this? I obviously know whatever we put him in still needs to be rear facing until age 1 but then it becomes controversial or so I've gathered.

FWIW: We've had him for 3 weeks tomorrow and he has really just learned to sit up by himself in that time and has no moved onto almost crawling. I was afraid of him not being able to sit up well and then trying to put him in a vertical carseat. KWIM?

stacieann15

My son is in his convertible seat now. It just got so it was hard to carry it Many of the convertible seats can be used as infant seats (they have a 5lb weight minimum or something). 

Lucky_N_Love

Yeah you can most definitly move your LO before age one to a convertible seat. Meaning it still faces backwards (read below about new recommendations or just google rear facing) We moved DD when she was 9 months maybe? If you LO is outgrowing the infant seat you definitly need to move him. Depending on the seat you have he may already be too big.

Weight limits will be depending on the seat. Ours was 22 lbs. Height wise you don't want him head to be within an inch of the top of the shell.  If you need recommendations on seats let us know.

also ditto PP there are many people that only use convertible seats for their infants. Good Luck I hope that everything is going well with this new little guy.

little-peanut

stacieann15:

My son is in his convertible seat now. It just got so it was hard to carry it Many of the convertible seats can be used as infant seats (they have a 5lb weight minimum or something). 

This, and a lot of the convertibles also recline to make it a more comfortable ride for babies and toddlers.

jerseygirl81

Absolutely, like everyone else has said. We moved Charlie to a convertible seat long before his birthday - he just didn't seem comfortable in the infant seat. Of course, I can't remember exactly when, but it was definitely before 8 months.

Jessica&Brett

We moved Fin at around 6 months, and he was MUCH happier!

ETA: He still fit in the infant seat at the time, and wasn't sitting on his own. We just had the new one and he liked it!

adamsbabble

Both Ava and Charltote moved to their convertible prior to 1 year, and most people I know switch before then as the seats just get to be too heavy to lug around when your child hits 16 pounds (I believe that was their aroundabout weight when we switched them). 

You can actually use a convertible car seat from birth, what matters is that they are rear facing.  The only reason for infant seats is more of a convenience/ease of use thing (for instance with an infant seat you can take the child out of the car and into the grocery store while leaving them in the seat).

Mrs_D_in_KY

DS was 7 months old when we switched him from the infant seat to his convertible carseat. He was getting to be quite the load to carry in the infant carrier, so switching over made things easier on us. 

And the new standard is now rear facing until age 2 or the child exceeds the height/weight limit of the carseat.

https://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/21/car.seat.guidelines.parenting/index.html?hpt=P1&iref=NS1

ryry1977

My son has been in his convertible car seat since 3 months (in my car).  You just have to check the weight limits on your seat.  Mine was 5 pounds to 35 pounds.

mcmann05

You ladies rock! I think we'll be shopping this weekend for a new seat! He hasn't outgrown the weight on ours yet but it's definitely coming very soon. Thanks!!!