We need some advice about car seats. Currently we have our daughter in the Graco Snugfit with a base in each car. She is 4 and a half months old and it is starting to become very difficult to carry her around in the car seat. I have been thinking about getting a convertible car seat for one car and leaving the Snugfit in the other car. When did you start using the bigger, more permanent car seat for your child?
Re: Car Seat Questions
We switched to the convertible car seat at about eight months when DS got too tall for his infant seat. I actually really miss the infant seat because, when DS falls asleep in the car, I can't just lift him and the seat out of the car. I also found the infant seat easier to install quickly when we travel.
I hardly ever actually carried DS around in the infant seat. I usually popped it into a frame stroller and rolled it around. I'm in an apartment, though, and could roll the stroller from the car to an elevator and then to my apartment. I can see that the infant seat would be more of a pain if you have to go up stairs regularly or if you have to walk a long way from the car to your house.
We used a convertible carseat from day 1 for both of our DDs. Ours is the Evenflo Triumph Delux--it is on the big side, so depending on the car you have it may or may not work, but safety-wise it rates just as well as the Britax seats, but is MUCH cheaper. Plus the straps are really easy to loosen and re-adjust, which makes taking the LO in and out, sleep or awake, a bit easier.
I got the Evenflo Triumph DLX when DS was around 8 months old. He was still small enough to fit in his infant seat, but he hated the thing, and I hadn't been carrying him around in it for a long time anyway.
It is a big carseat, but it fits in my Corolla just fine, so I'm guessing that it will fit in quite a few smaller cars.
I changed DD to the convertible carseat around 5 months. She was in the 99th percentile for her weight and was getting too heavy. We got the Britax Marathon for my shower which is what I use in my car. However, if I were to buy something for myself, I wouldn't spend that much. There are safe seats for much less.
I find that it's much easier to carry her in and out of daycare on my hip as opposed to in the Snugride. Good luck!
Mackenzie Beth 10.26.05 Ian James 08.09.08 Rhys Edward 07.05.10 William Brendan 04.17.12
This.
We just got convertible carseats for our cars, but haven't installed them yet because I'm holding off as long as possible. The car seat and DD combined are heavy, but I don't carry it around that much. DD is getting too long for our infant seat, unfortunately.