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Adoption
infant car seats and strollers?
Now that we have turned in our home study packet and now just have a few weeks before completing the process to become a waiting family I am interested in your opinions on car seats and strollers. Before deciding to adopt I dreamed of purchasing an UppaBaby Vista stroller. Now with adoption expenses my stroller budget has decreased to $200 - $300 at the most. Any recommendations? Here is my wish list; maneuverability, large basket, not to heavy, tray for child and parent. For the infant car seat safety is the number one concern. I would love to hear the recommendations from real moms. TIA
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Re: infant car seats and strollers?
We are definitely going to be doing lots of babywearing. I purchased a Hotslings and my husband can't wait to get a BabyHawk.I just know we will want a good stroller too and safe car seat of course. I get so confused when choosing because they all seem to have good points and bad. Do you use a stroller ever or just always baby wear? What car seats do you like?
I read Consumer Reports reviews and decided on the Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat. Budget wasn't an issue for me, so I bought the Cortina stroller, too.**
I think the Snugride was also very highly rated on CR, too.
I have heard of many moms who wanted the safety of the Keyfit - but not the cost of the stroller - and say it fits into the Snap-n-Go (but doesn't "click"). I believe there is a McLaren brand of the snap-n-go style, too, that works with the Keyfit seats.
**ColoRxGirl fully admits that she probably over-bought on some of these items and may end up offloading stuff on CL at some point.
Can I agree with almost everyone here?
1. get a copy of baby bargains
2. Baby wearing is great
3. I had the snugride and it was fine. It has the top safety ratings when DS used it, but those ratings may have changed by now.
4. I also had the Graco Metrolite. It was part of the travel system with the Snugride. I would not recommend this route because....(see #5)
5. The snap n go is the best thing ever. I quickly found that the Metrolite, although a nice stroller, was big and bulky for quick trips to the store. Once DS was old enough to use the stroller without the carseat, I found that the stroller didn't fit well into our lifestyle. We are pretty outdoorsy people, and decided we needed a jogger.
I highly recommend that you go with the infant seat / snap n go combo for a while. You will figure out in time what type of stroller you need. Put the money toward something else fun for baby for now (see number 1 for ideas
).
we didn't buy Baby Bargains but I would go to the local Target and leaf through the book when I was about to purchase something!
We bought the graco snugride car seat and the Baby Trend snap n go- best thing ever when shelby was a newborn. I used it constantly up until she turned about six months old. I will still use it off and on until she reaches the height and weight limit which will be in about 4 months when she turns 1.
When she turned 6 months she started wanting to
"see the world" when we were out and about so I was on the hunt for a new stroller. I wanted cup holder, tray, light weight, large canopy, large basket. I read BB and online reviews and finally settled on the Peg Perego Aria (10 lbs) Check some of the daily deal sights, plus Baby Cheapskate. You can usually get really good deals on strollers with free shipping and no tax. We got the 2007 or 08 model and nomally it would cost between $200-300. We got it at Albeebaby dot com for $120 not tax, free ship! LOVE IT! Albee also has really good prices on Britax and other high end car seats too.
I tried to Babywear and it wasn't for Shelby or me...but she loved to be carried so I still "wore' her a lot, just in my arms.
Baby Bargains also has a great message board.
https://www.windsorpeak.com/babybargains/
I agree with others . . . snap n' go is the way to go! Babywearing is wonderful, but I am also glad that I have a stroller. We're out of the infant seat now, and I now love our Maclaren Triumph. Light as a feather and so easy, so I'd recommend that if you want a good umbrella.
Well, I would still suggest the Uppa Vista (check craigslist or ebay and see if you can get a good deal) it has great reviews, a huge basket and great versatility, I really liked it, but DH wanted to get the Bugaboo (so he won).
If you like that look of the Vista- look into the Maxi Cosi Foray- it looks like the Uppa, but at a fraction of the price- it doenst have the basinett- but you can attach the car seat to it. They sell it at Babies R Us.
For car seats- the chicco keyfit gets great reviews, but also the Graco snugride everyone loves, all my friends with kids swear by the Graco carseat.
Because of getting a Bugaboo we couldnt get the Chicco carset, the adapter doesnt work, so we went with the Snugride 32- so the baby can stay rear facing longer and it seems good so far, I dont have a baby yet, but its a good quality.
Our carseat was determined by our stroller. We babywear, but H is so squirmy and heavy that the ease of the stroller has been great. We have a Bugaboo Frog. Not cheap, I know, but I got ours for about 1/2 price on Craigslist. DH was deadset on this stroller.
We looked at the Graco Snugride and the Peg Perego. Both had adaptors for our stroller. We ended up with the Peg because we got the bigger one (I think) and again hubby liked it better. It has been a great carseat but it is quite heavy.
Our son does not stay asleep well in his carseat so we always took him in and out of it. The snap n go would not have worked for us. For the first 4 months we used the bassinet on the stroller and he would nap in there. We now have the regular seat on there and I LOVE our stroller. We've flown with it and I actually keep it in the back of my car (not folded up) at all times for convenience.