How long do you use an infant carseat?

PotomacSt

first-time mom question.

How long can LO fit in an 'infant' carseat? Does it go only by weight, or does height/age matter too?

For instance, if an infant carseat says it holds up to 30 lbs, can a 30lb two-year-old still fit in it, or will he/she be too tall?

I think I know the answer to this question, but my mother (who offered to buy the carseat and thus wants to help pick it out) thinks I'm wrong.

Thanks so much. The complexities of baby gear are astounding

 

mrskinsler04

It depends on the car seat it's self. So in short, each car seat is different. They are now saying it is safest to keep a child rear facing until 2. But honestly, with my other 2 children I don't see how this is possible. By the time mine were 1 year old there little knees were up to their chest.

cbee817

DD is 17 months old and technically, she can still fit in her Graco SnugRide 35 infant carrier (she weights 21 lbs/30.5" tabll), but she has been out since she was 10 months old. It just seemed like she was uncomfortable so we moved her to a Britax Marathon. The carrier was nice in the beginning- DH and I each had a base in our car and we were able to leave the carrier at day care... made it easy for the frequent pick ups we had to do (babies get sick a lot the first year at day care!).

Bride2004

My son was out of it very quickly because he was tall.  I think he might have been around 4 months.  I wish I could have kept him in it longer because it was really convenient.  He was 21 1/4 inches at birth and I think the height max on them is 29".

Laxbugg1410

I agree with PP-- they hit the height restrictions way before the weight restrictions.

smacb

It depends on the seat and how fast your baby grows.  My son outgrew his infant seat at 6 months.

EMOmamma

My 13month son still fits in his, and probably will for a while, BUT we haven't used it since about 9/10 months (it's now the Grandma car carseat).  Once they can sit up (about 6-7 months) you don't want to be lugging that thing around anymore.  The convertible car seats also sit more upright than the infant seats so they seem to like them better when they get older and aren't sleeping in the car all the time.  Convertible car seats can be installed rear facing or forward facing.  My son is still rear facing and we'll keep him that way as long as we can.

 

lnh2008

Laxbugg1410:

I agree with PP-- they hit the height restrictions way before the weight restrictions.

This.  My daughter was out of her infant carseat at 7 months.

winter-shock

They would likely be too tall.  My DD is 18 months and she is only 22 pounds. But her head and feet would hang on the infant seat.  It would be extremely unsafe!  So it just depends how fast your baby grows. We moved DD into a big car seat when she was about 9.5 months. 

FyreFlyeRush

Laxbugg1410:

I agree with PP-- they hit the height restrictions way before the weight restrictions.

 Same. My Trolli was avg height and weight, and was in her big Girl car seat at 8 months. She was also thrilled to death to be able to see everything.

T&BMay142005

Usually they will outgrow the height restrictions before the weight. Or you might be like me and I got sick of carrying it around. So at 7 months we switched DD over to a convertible car seat (it goes from 0-100 lbs).

bobbs420

As some of the other pp's mentioned, it depends on the seat and the child. Most babies outgrow the infant seat in height before weight. The infant seats that only go up to 22 lbs and 29 inches will be outgrown quicker than a seat that goes to 35 lbs. and 32 or 35 inches. I would say that if you get an infant seat that goes up to 30 or 35 lbs and at least 30 inches, the average child could stay in that seat for about a year (give or take a little).

KAG30

We moved DD out around 10 months because it got really heavy to carry. We moved her into a rear facing convertible car seat.

IsaacA

It goes by the height and weight requirements. DS was out of his infant carseat at 10 months because he was 29 inches tall.
He's been in his convertible rear-facing carseat since.

Convertible car seats are expensive, but you can use them from 5lbs-60/70lbs. It's just you would have to take just them out of the car instead of the entire seat.

sda6485

DD was out of her infant seat at 6 months. She was too long for the seat and her little knees were scrunched up to her chest -- extremely uncomfortable! Got her the Britax Marathon and she loooved it! Super comfy and loved being able to see everything! And that seat was for up to 65lbs so until she went to preschool we used it. Then her preschool told me I needed to get a booster seat (although she's still NOWHERE NEAR 65lbs and she's in Kindergarten now) because of class trips, they hated lugging her Britax around. So, booster seat it was. But she is very tall! When people see her, they automatically assume that she's 7 or a little older and she's 5, turning 6 in August. 

tootsie0309

Depends on carseat and what your state law is...In PA Children who weigh less than 20 pounds and are under one (1) year of age should ride in rear-facing child safety seats.

JAP09-02

We switched from our Chicco Keyfit 30 to a Britax Advocate 70 at around 1 year. Yes, the length of your child does matter.  Our DD is 2, and my mom had to use our infant seat to pick her up from daycare a couple of weeks ago.  There is no way she would fit in there for any length of trip other than the couple of blocks from daycare to our house.  That being said DD is just now hitting the 30 lb weight limit of the infant seat.  We should have saved the $25 dollars or so and bought the 22 lb seat instead.  I believe at 1 year she was around 18 lbs, so she would have still been safe in the lower weight limit seat.  She was getting crunched lengthwise at 1 year too.