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Attachment Parenting
iLoveblueberries
member
Question from a lurker: babywearing and the infant carseat
iLoveblueberries
member
We plan on babywearing and were thinking of just using a convertible carseat from the start and taking baby out when we go in to stores/ other places and use a wrap to carry baby around. To me carrying baby close just seems "right"...something about leaving them in a seat is very foreign feeling to me (if this makes any sense)
After telling some friends and family members this is why we are registered for the convertible seat instead of the infant carseat --they looked at me like I was crazy. "babies only sleep in carseats".."you will want a infant carseat/travel system otherwise baby will cry when you take them out"..."infant carseats are much more convient".. "babies are not designed to be carried around"....so on and so forth
Am I way off with my plan to babywear instead of keeping my child in a infant carseat/ travel system set up when we go out? What has your experience been with an infant carseat vs. using a wrap as your choice to carry baby around. Thanks in advance ladies *back to lurkdom*
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Re: Question from a lurker: babywearing and the infant carseat
I liked having an infant seat. Catie would wake the second I tried to get her out of her seat, but I could carry her in it without a problem. This was especially vital during the 4 month wakeful when every minute of sleep was helpful. It was also nice when we went out to eat so that I wasn't dripping hot soup on her head!
Also, please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think most convertible carseats really fit baby well when they're tiny. Ours are supposed to be fine from birth but they don't fit as snuggly as the infant seat did.
Do you have somewhere safe to put baby when you're showering or going to the bathroom? Like a bouncer or swing? I'd say you could potentially avoid getting both if you have an infant seat.
I'm a big fan of not buying all the hype and getting a million baby gadgets, but the infant seat is one that I, personally, wouldn't skip.
Thanks for the input--I had not thought about situations where there might be food! Don't want that dripping on baby! We do have a bouncy seat, and a rock and play so I am not too concerned with comfy places for baby around the house if we need to put him/her down...However I will look into an infant carseat more for out an about! Yes, I have heard the same things about the convertible carseats but the one we were looking at came with a nice infant insert so I was thinking that would provide more support for little baby--not sure though!
These were my exact words to my in-laws....it is not as if not purchasing one RIGHT NOW will mean suddenly they will all disappear from store shelves. I had put some thought into an infant seat w/ a snap and go....I think I will look into that option a little more! Thanks for your input!
We had an infant car seat and I did like having it, even though I wore her almost all the time. There were a couple of occasions when I was on maternity leave that I wanted to get out of the house and buy clothes...can't try things on if you're wearing the baby! It was also nice to have when we went out to eat (we did weekly trips to Panera and she was always in her seat then). The other advantage was for walks when it was really hot out--a friend and I tried to get out as much as we could and walk together, and we both almost always wore our girls (she has an Ergo, I have a Mei Tai) but when it was super hot out it was more comfortable for everyone to have the girls in their seats (we both have travel systems).
And LOL to the "babies aren't designed to be worn" comment. That cracks me up. I'm pretty sure babies aren't 'designed' to be in seat away from their mom all the time either.
DD always fell asleep almost instantly when I put her in the Moby when we were out so if I woke her up to put her in it it really didn't matter.
We used and loved an infant car seat. Travel systems are too bulky, IMO, and we didn't need a stroller much so we got a snap n go. It was great. We used the infant carseat until about 6 months when he outgrew the weight limit. I mostly wore him as a brand new newborn, but once he woke up a little more (hellllo 4-5-6 month wakeful!) I didn't dare risk waking him up just to run into a store. Some babies love infant car seats, some hate them. Is there anyone you can borrow one from for a couple weeks to see if LO likes it, before buying your own?
I'm trying to find the right way to say this- I would caution you against making this a value based issue. It's not babywearing= AP and car seats= unAP. Exclusive babywearing is practical for some families/babies/geographic locations, but not for others. Most parents/babies enjoy a mix of the two. Don't feel like any time spent not in your arms or worn is "unattached" time. Car seats and strollers are very useful tools, you don't need to feel guilty if you or your kid likes them!
ITA.
We love wearing LO however, it's simply not always practical. Our infant seat has proven very useful for reasons PPs mentioned.
We never had an infant seat. We got the convertible from day one (Graco MyRide 65). I used (and still use) the Moby any time we went out. DD stays sleeping between the convertible and the Moby. (She may fuss for a bit but goes right back to sleep.)
I got the same comments and told people that if we want an infant seat, we can get one later. Also now that they have seen DD in the Moby, family members constantly comment about how much she loves it. A cousin of mine even bought a Moby for her baby!
To me it is much easier to wear DD than to carry her in a seat that adds 20lbs. For a stroller, I bought a Combi at a garage sale for $10. It fully reclines, so we started using it at 6 weeks.
Now that she is bigger I am going to get an Ergo, but the Moby has been great. I put on the Moby before we leave the house. If you live in a cold climate, you can wear your baby under your coat to keep him/her warm. I bought a winter coat from Old Navy up two sizes for $17 to use for babywearing.
All of this, also.
You could end up with a baby who won't stay asleep if he's taken out of the car seat and put into a sling. He usually won't fall back asleep either and then stays up for the entire trip to the store or restaurant...
We were going to do the same thing until a friend lent us an infant seat, which we said we would try. I don't feel that an infant seat is needed, but there are a few things I ended up liking...
-Could bundle and strap-in our winter baby in the house (but only at the house, when running errands we would wrap baby)
-We could move the carseat to other cars more easily than a convertible (DH's car, grandparents, outing with friends, etc.)
-A place to put a pre-sitter when eating in a restaurant if I was eating hot/messy foods
-If I was shopping by myself and trying on clothes, having baby in the seat in the Snap-and-Go just made things a smidge easier than carrying around a blanket for the floor and getting baby up and down plus carrying shopping bags, purse, diaper bag, etc.
More Green For Less Green
All of this. I had an infant seat and LOVED it.
I think an infant seat is invaluable, and used/am using it for both my LOs, in addition to wearing them. I don't like waking a sleeping baby, and there's no way DS or DD would appreciate being woken out of a car induced nap to be put into a wrap (especially now, since it's winter in New England).
While I get your train of thought on wearing LO for longer shopping trips, etc., what about the times when you just need to pop into a store? And if your LO, like my DD, only tolerates the carseat when she's sleeping, then you're going to have to deal with a very unhappy baby if and when she wakes up when you have to take her out of the wrap and buckle her back into the seat. Being stuck in a car with an inconsolably crying baby is not something you want to experience if you don't have to.
I'll add to the chorus, though, that says travel systems are bulky-I never got one and just used a snap-and-go instead.
Thank you everyone! Ya'll rock!
I think I will look into the infant carseat more! I had not thought about some of the points you brought up! I have a friend whose baby is about to outgrow their carseat so I will see if she will let me borrow it and try it out before we purchase!
LOL at "babies were not designed to be carried around". Seriously? I'm sure the baby designer totally had a Chicco Keyfit in mind when he was drawing up blueprints.
We bought a convertible before DS was born and planned on using only that. My grandmother insisted we needed a bucket seat. I tried to talk her out of it but the woman is 87 and stubborn as a mule. She bought us one and I can count on one hand the number of times I took the damn thing out of my car.
DS HATED his infant seat, so much so that we ditched it at 6 weeks for a convertible seat. After the first week or two, I never even took it out of the car because he screamed bloody murder the second he was in it till we took him out. For us there was never the worry of waking a sleeping baby because he NEVER fell asleep in it. I never took it in a grocery store, I never put it on our stroller.
I wore him all the time, and got awful comments and stares. But it's my baby and I'll do what I want. I wasn't asking anyone else to wear him. This time around we'll try the infant seat (because we have it). If it doesn't work we'll use our convertible for Baby2 (we have an extra one) and ditch the infant seat right away.
I loved wearing my baby and carried him with me a lot.
That said, I loved my infant bucket seat and it was wonderful to let him sleep when he fell asleep in the car (which was often). We just moved to a convertible, and it's less convenient... but he started waking up when ever we moved his seat anyway.
I would get the infant seat and snap n go. I would say skipping it is only really practical if you rarely drive.
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I didn't use the bucket outside of the car much with Ari but he really hated the infant seat. All car screaming stopped when we switched to a convertible - we didn't switch till 5 months & I wish I would've sooner.
I will probably try an infant seat next time just because I'm going to a smaller car & getting the necessary recline for an infant in a Radian car seat will be tough, plus the new LO will have to tag along for Ari's activities more. I'll probably wear the new LO 95% of the time, but there may be times (Montessori drop off, etc.) where I don't want to get LO in & out of the seat for a quick trip.
If you decide to start convertible right from the get go, a few that work well for newborns are the Radian (with infant insert, comes with the 85 model or sold separately), the Maxi Cosi Pria, & the Combi Corroco. The Corroco will probably be outgrown before you're ready to go to a harness to booster seat (only fits most LOs to 18-24 months), but it's a great seat for small cars.
Eh, I liked having an infant car seat. DD didn't generally sleep in there (she usually wouldn't), and we didnt carry her in it (carried her in arms as she didn't like being in a carrier until closer to six months), nor did we usr it with a travel system stroller (because we almost always just carried her). She just fit better in it than she would have in a convertible.
Babies are WAY easier to carry around than an infant car seat; those things suck to carry. And I don't like hassling with a stroller in the back of the car, and I've got plenty of space for it!
We almost never take the infant seat out of the car - could totally have done without it.
I'm jealous of those of you who have babies that fall asleep in the carseat. Mine refuses. The second he starts falling asleep in it he SCREAMS and will continue screaming until he is removed. If on the very rare occasion he falls asleep in the car seat he will immediately wake up when the seat is removed from the car - so the whole "don't want to wake him by removing him from the carseat" was a non-issue for us. He woke up when removing the car seat.
It's far bulkier to carry the baby in a heavy carseat than just the baby, so we never lugged that thing around.
Because he hates the carseat, we couldn't use it with the stroller 9 times out of 10. He had to be in just the right mood. Most of the time we ended up wearing him and pushing the stroller.
The first 6 weeks when DH was home we went out to eat for lunch a couple times every week. Now we go out every weekend. I wear him - he doesn't get food on him, no matter what we're eating. I hate the carseat for restaurants because there's no good place to put it (IMO). It's a safety hazard on the floor or on the chair or in an inverted high chair and I never feel like there's enough room on the booth seats.