Car Seay questions

nsturm85 · March 2011

Hey ladies, my hubby and I were just about to buy our LO's car seat when the new regulations came out. SIgh back to research. All of our friends have commented with the travel systems LO's out grew them by 6-8 months.... some felt it was a waste of good money. Can any one give me some suggestions for a good stroller and a 3-1 convertiable car seat?

We aren't rolling in money but we did plan for this baby and just want to spend wisely. Thanks

TheFannins729 · March 2011

i would buy an infant seat and wait on the convertible. nothing in the new regulations would have changed that.

brenwick · March 2011

Graco has an infant carrier that goes up to 35lbs rear facing. They also have the My Ride 65 which I've had my eye on for quite some time. It can go refacing up to 40lbs and the 5 point harness can be warn up to 65lbs, which I think is awesome. If I had the money I would buy 3 of them, one for each of my younger kiddos.

emmyloustu · March 2011

For dd, we had the graco snugride32 & we were able to use it all the way to 1yr. She was still nowhere close to the 32lb weight limit, but she was close to the length. After she got too heavy to haul around, I just left it in the base at all times. For a convertible we got the Britax Boulevard 70 CS.

ShannonSky · March 2011

We got the orginal Snugride, it's cheaper and lighter than the 35. Then, around 9 mos (in the spring), we moved DD to her convertible, which will go rear-facing to 35lbs, and forward-facing to 50lbs.

julygal · March 2011

Even with the new regulations we will use our infant seat and when baby outgrows it (or it expires as we are approaching that time with this being #3) we will move the baby to the convertible seat. The new regulations really don't affect infant seats as much as they do convertible seats, which when the time comes means you will want to make sure it has high height and weight limits to handle the extended time in the seat.

Also, most 3 in 1 seats (which I assume you mean rear facing, forward facing, then booster) do not get good reviews. They are often known for being horrible boosters as they don't position the seat belt correctly.

jkylie · March 2011

When you say travel system are you referring to infant carrier / stroller combo. My opinion, dont want your money. They are big and bulky.

What we did, we had infant carrier (Keyfit30) with Snap and Go (Baby Trends) Frame. It was perfect. DD was 20 right at a year and we honestly kept her in there til about 13 months. We just pulled out the light and an easy frame and dropped the car seat on there.

In essence that is what you are doing with a travel system as well...it is just MUCH bigger, heavy, more expensive and harder to maneuver.

Now that DD is 20 lbs we have switched her to her Convertible Car seat (Britax Boulevard) which is RF til 35 lbs and FF til 70 lbs. For a Stroller we are currently using a Bob jogging stroller but you could get any lightweight stroller you wish, a jogging stroller or something else. If you plan on having another I recommend Phil and Teds (which also allows you to install an infant carrier on it).

HTH.

glmorgan03 · March 2011

Sounds like we are in the minority, but we went with the Recaro ProRide...it's rear-facing for infants (5lbs to 35lbs) and converts to a forward-facing seat for up to 70lbs. So, it is certainly worth the $$. It also got excellent reviews and was actually recommended by the manufacturer of our vehicle.

jkylie · March 2011

glmorgan03:
Sounds like we are in the minority, but we went with the Recaro ProRide...it's rear-facing for infants (5lbs to 35lbs) and converts to a forward-facing seat for up to 70lbs. So, it is certainly worth the $$. It also got excellent reviews and was actually recommended by the manufacturer of our vehicle.

is this what you used from birth?

I would find taking baby in and out of carseat at young age inconvenient. We often left DD in her infant carrier bc she would be sleeping.

ShannonSky · March 2011

jkylie:

When you say travel system are you referring to infant carrier / stroller combo. My opinion, dont want your money. They are big and bulky.

In essence that is what you are doing with a travel system as well...it is just MUCH bigger, heavy, more expensive and harder to maneuver.

What we did, we had infant carrier (Keyfit30) with Snap and Go (Baby Trends) Frame. It was perfect. DD was 20 right at a year and we honestly kept her in there til about 13 months. We just pulled out the light and an easy frame and dropped the car seat on there.

Now that DD is 20 lbs we have switched her to her Convertible Car seat (Britax Boulevard) which is RF til 35 lbs and FF til 70 lbs. For a Stroller we are currently using a Bob jogging stroller but you could get any lightweight stroller you wish, a jogging stroller or something else. If you plan on having another I recommend Phil and Teds (which also allows you to install an infant carrier on it).

HTH.

It's so funny how many people I see recommending the SNG...I HATED it. I think I used it maybe 5 times, as soon as I could get away with putting DD in her stroller (Baby Jogger City Mini), I did. This time around, I'm leaning toward the City Mini Double plus the car seat adaptor.

MrsGo4Hockeychick · March 2011

the 3 in 1 seats, are all forward facing only. It's a FF harness, high back booster and backless booster.

There are some convertibles that would be usable from birth, but honestly, the bucket seat is safer for a newborn. If you feel strongly about getting only one seat look at the First Years True Fit, Graco My Ride or Sunshine Kids Radian.

There are a lot of convertibles, that even though they're rated at 5 lbs, the bottom harness slots are far too high to actually use with a newborn.

jbd1020 · March 2011

Personally, I'd stick with an infant seat and switch to a convertible later. They fit newborns better and are pretty convenient. This is purely speculation, but it's possible by the time baby outgrows the infant seat, car seat manufacturers may be coming out with convertible seats with higher RF weight limits so there will be a larger selection. That's just my guess based on the new recommendations though. Currently I think the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL or 80SL have the highest RF limits though, so if I were only going to get one car seat, that would be it. It's not cheap though.

lynn97 · March 2011

TheFannins729:
i would buy an infant seat and wait on the convertible. nothing in the new regulations would have changed that.

Same with me. I'm still leaving my travel system as is. We'll still buy a convertible when LO outgrows their infant seat but it will just need to be turned around to rear-facing for longer that we would've done before the new regulations.

Mereou12 · March 2011

The infant seat was invaluable to us. I couldn't imagine having to strap a newborn into a convertible every time. Half of his naps during his first few months were in the carseat, which I would carry inside after we got home and set on the floor, letting him continue his nap. Can't do that with a convertible.

Travel systems are bulky and obnoxious, but you could get a Snap 'n Go or another stroller that has an infant seat attachment (i.e. City Mini). Worry about the convertible later.

Kalarachel · March 2011

Actually, there are 3 in 1 carseats that rear face too. The problem is that many people find they are outgrown quickly and like someone else has stated, they are not known for making good boosters b/c of how belt positioner works.

jkylie · March 2011

Mereou12:
The infant seat was invaluable to us. I couldn't imagine having to strap a newborn into a convertible every time. Half of his naps during his first few months were in the carseat, which I would carry inside after we got home and set on the floor, letting him continue his nap. Can't do that with a convertible.

Travel systems are bulky and obnoxious, but you could get a Snap 'n Go or another stroller that has an infant seat attachment (i.e. City Mini). Worry about the convertible later.

this. all of this.

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