Switching to convertible carseat

amroke

How old/how big was your baby when you switched from the infant carseat to the convertible car seat? My guy is starting to get super heavy for me to lug around in his infant carseat. He's 5 months and about 17 lbs.

UMichGirl

We switched when he was just over 7 months. He was 21 pounds 11 oz around that time, and 29 inches long.

danslilgrizzly

LO was around 6 months and 15 pounds. He's a lightweight, but tall, so his feet were hanging off.

mamaHippo23

We will need to do it soon. He is over 20 lbs. and his feet are almost over the edge. I'm putting it off a little longer though, because I love using the infant carrier and don't want to give it up yet.

hmd

I plan to wait until the weather warms up here.  My guy is only 16-17 lbs. at 7 months, but he is long.  But he is a lot warmer and easier to haul in and out.

abbyful

As soon as the NextFit comes out, we're going to switch. He still fits in his infant seat, but he is tired of laying down, he wants to be more up-right.

LO is 6.5 months, 20 pounds. 

JayandEmm

We just switched a couple of weeks ago. Ds was 6 months old and about 21 lbs. He was wayyy too heavy for me to lug around in his infant seat. I didn't see the point in it at this point, since I was just taking ds out and leaving the seat in the car!

Grins04

DS was 4.5 months (he was really long and getting heavy too).  Luckily he started sitting at 4 months, otherwise it would have been a tough transition.

DD is still on the first slot and a lot smaller (about 15lbs now).  I'm glad too, because she isn't close to sitting (and I LOVE that she can stay in it when she falls asleep).  Not a problem for shopping (I'll just wear her in the Ergo), but not so great for going out to eat and having a spot for her to sit wherever we go.  I have no issues carrying her right now, so I'm going to milk the carrier for as long as possible.

Grins04

mamaHippo23:

We will need to do it soon. He is over 20 lbs. and his feet are almost over the edge. I'm putting it off a little longer though, because I love using the infant carrier and don't want to give it up yet.

Their feet can hang off the edge, fwiw.  That's perfectly normal, and as they get older (in convertibles too), you'll find that babies/kids naturally sit cross legged.  It's their head that you want to watch.  You don't want it to be less than an inch from the top.   

vic8504

DD is 6.5 months and 20lbs. I am trying to hold out until warmer weather starts before switching just because it is so easy to bundle her up and keep her warm in the infant seat.

Grk_Natasha

We took DS when he was around 6 months, 17 lb. It was winter and he was cramped in the carrier with all his layers. Now, DD is still in the carrier although I just leave the carrier in the car and put her in and out. It's just too heavy to carry with her in there. I'm waiting for DS to turn 3 to put him in the booster car seat and then DD will go in the convertible. She never falls asleep in there so waking her is not an issue.

opaque1997

Ours went home in a convertible.. she hates the car and the carseat (and yes we tried an infant seat and it didn't help) - we have small compact cars and a Combi Coccoro fits a lot better for us then an infant seat (Though its a short life seat - we'll move to a radian with angle adjuster later when she's old enough for the adjuster)

A few notes (several were mentioned) -

Carseats are outgrown by weight or height, but height is determined by head to the top of the shell 90% of the time.  Feet hanging over isn't an issue for carseat safety.  

You don't have to take the infant seat out of the car  

car-seat.org or carseat for the littles on fb is a great resource for all carseat questions

As long as your childs shoulders are over the part the straps come out of the carseat you can use a convertible (rear facing of course)