Car seat question

MBush4

FTM here... I was wondering about convertible carseats. Have any of you used one? Would you recommend it? I am researching before I begin registering for stuff and was wondering if any of you had strong feelings about this. My only misgiving is that I know it can't be used with a stroller. my thought around it would be to use a carrier like a BabyBjorn until LO is old enough to be okay in a stroller sans car seat.. Thoughts? Sorry, I'm just lost with all the information available...

jess60

By the time DS outgrew his infant seat, he was more than okay riding in a stroller.

ETA: I misunderstood your post.  I thought you were asking what to get after an infant seat.  Definitely start with an infant seat.  All of the convertible seats I've seen don't look like they'd actually work well for an infant.  Having an infant seat that you can take in & out of the car is very convenient for sleeping babies.

Ms5586

You'll need a convertible eventually, yes.  I really would suggest starting with the infant seat, because when they're that young, they'll fall asleep anywhere and everywhere, and you dont' want to have to wake LO up to take them out of the carseat.  If LO is in the infant carrier, you just carry it inside and let them continue napping. 

It's an impossible thing to predict.  We could've not used one, and went with babywearing while out, but they get heavy quickly.  We stopped using ours around 5-6 months, because he was at the height limit.  There are still a couple babies older than mine at daycare who still fit in their infant carrier. 

nanabanana06

They aren't ideal for newborns. Since often times they sleep in the car and nobody wants to wake a sleeping baby. So the infant buckets are best for the first 6 months or so. Also, convertible seats weren't really designed for newborns anyways. My suggestion is to not worry about getting a super expensive baby bucket, I love the graco snug ride (the regular 22), and then get a convertible for later and the baby has better body control.

Also, baby bjorns are terrible. They can cause hip dysplasia, since they forward carry. Would you like to be dangled from the crotch?? Carriers that face toward you are best. I have an Ergo and love it!

MrsWindyCity

I agree with others - infant carseat first, convertible after they outgrow that one.

AlexKate45

katem3277:

IMO you need an infant car seat.  The base will stay in your vehicle(s) and the carrier can be taken in and out.  This is very useful for infants who like to sleep in their car seats.  As LO gets bigger/outgrows the infant seat you can switch to a convertible.  I would register for both if you expect lots of gifts.  If you don't then I would just register for an infant seat for now.

I second this. 

My babe always fell asleep in the infant seat so is was nice to be able to take it in and out of the car/stroller without waking him. 

seahorse102410

I loved the whole snap n go feature of the infant seat.  And going in to restaurants was SO easy!  My son grew quickly and got very heavy so the wearing and carrier stuff was very short-lived for us.

numeria11

AlexKate45:

katem3277:

IMO you need an infant car seat.  The base will stay in your vehicle(s) and the carrier can be taken in and out.  This is very useful for infants who like to sleep in their car seats.  As LO gets bigger/outgrows the infant seat you can switch to a convertible.  I would register for both if you expect lots of gifts.  If you don't then I would just register for an infant seat for now.

I second this. 

My babe always fell asleep in the infant seat so is was nice to be able to take it in and out of the car/stroller without waking him. 

This plus when you eat out or need to go somewhere where they need to sit in something and aren't old enough for a high chair then the infant seat is a God send.  Babywearing is great for a walk etc but when you want to eat at a restaurant you dont want to be trying to eat around the head and body of a 2-3 month old kiddo.  And believe me when I say you will want to go out while they are still infants it's one of the few times you can depend on them to actually be quiet thru a meal and you actually get to eat mostly uninterupped for the next few years. 

penguingrrl

I'm going to go against the crowd and say that my kids *hated* the infant seat with a passion. They did nothing but scream nonstop in it, so we never really used it out of the car. We're debating whether to use it again or go straight to a convertible for #3, but since we're now in the suburbs (moved out of Manhattan this summer) and will drive more, especially with getting the older 2 to and from school we likely will use it for a little while. I found it ridiculously awkward to carry, heavy once the kid was all of 10 lbs, and it  just left me with a screaming miserable child, so we only used it in the car and used a sling/moby wrap for everything else. I feel like my experience is not the norm though.

If you are looking at convertibles for a newborn, I highly recommend asking for recommendations on car-seat.org. While most convertibles are rated down to 5 lbs, frequently the bottom harness slots are still too tall to fit a newborn (they need to be at or below the shoulders for a rear facing seat and often even the bottom ones are too high for a newborn). Many people on that board, including several techs, share my general opinion that infant buckets are great for other people but useless for them (either due to lifestyle or their child hating the seat) and use a convertible from birth.

Angela814

You can use a convertible seat with a newborn. Some are better than others. Personally, I like having the infant seat to use through the winter. I just think it's so much more convenient. DD1 outgrew her infant seat at 6 months (before they made the larger ones), and it was a pain taking her in and out of the convertible seat all winter, especially since bulky winter coats aren't safe in a carseat.

grr_aargh

We used a convertible seat ONLY with our first, but a bucket-style infant seat with the other 2. 

Here's my 2 cents:

1). The bucket is safer - infants have different needs than older kids, in terms of angle.  Your newb will scrunch up in a convertible and that's just not the best - plus you HAVE to know that your convertible straps will be at or below the shoulders and, frankly, that's unlikely with MOST RFing convertibles.

2). The bucket is NICE because it's removable when the infant is asleep.  My kids rarely slept - and I spent a LOT of time just sitting in the car with DD because getting her out of the convertible would always wake her up.

3). Your hospital will not know wht to do with you.  Our nurses were CRAZY when we tried to leave the Mom and Baby floor without our baby strapped into a bucket.  It was bizarre - but because most women use infant seats, the staff was not sure how to test a baby in a convertible seat.  

As you can see, we made different choices for our subsequent children.  A good infant carrier can last you 4-6 months depending on how much of a linebacker your kiddo is.  I used one with a snap and go as my primary stroller and it was lovely.

Good luck! 

penguingrrl

grr_aargh:

We used a convertible seat ONLY with our first, but a bucket-style infant seat with the other 2. 

Here's my 2 cents:

1). The bucket is safer - infants have different needs than older kids, in terms of angle.  Your newb will scrunch up in a convertible and that's just not the best - plus you HAVE to know that your convertible straps will be at or below the shoulders and, frankly, that's unlikely with MOST RFing convertibles.

2). The bucket is NICE because it's removable when the infant is asleep.  My kids rarely slept - and I spent a LOT of time just sitting in the car with DD because getting her out of the convertible would always wake her up.

3). Your hospital will not know wht to do with you.  Our nurses were CRAZY when we tried to leave the Mom and Baby floor without our baby strapped into a bucket.  It was bizarre - but because most women use infant seats, the staff was not sure how to test a baby in a convertible seat.  

As you can see, we made different choices for our subsequent children.  A good infant carrier can last you 4-6 months depending on how much of a linebacker your kiddo is.  I used one with a snap and go as my primary stroller and it was lovely.

Good luck! 

That's actually not true. A RF convertible at the correct angle for a newborn will take up more room than an infant seat, but they absolutely can (and must) be at the same angle to test as safe for a newborn. And if they weren't safe for a newborn they wouldn't be allowed to be rated down to 5 lbs. Many carseat techs skip the bucket entirely, it's perfectly safe. The bucket really is just a convenience item, though one most people choose to utilize.

Wufroggy79

I second what others have said here.  An infant carrier is awesome for the first few months. I had the Graco Snugride 35 and bought the Snap and Go stroll base for it to pop it.  It was fab.  The only downside to all of that was that it only lasted six months before DD was getting too heavy (20)lbs for me to lift that heavy carrier with her in it into and SUV.  At that point, we moved to a convertible seat.