Did you get 2 infant seat bases?

alisonann15 · February 2012

We have the Britax B-Safe and have registered for a Britax Boulevard convertible seat. Should we get a 2nd base for the infant seat? Or could we get away with using the convertible seat in the 2nd car as needed?

vigurl · February 2012

alisonann15:
We have the Britax B-Safe and have registered for a Britax Boulevard convertible seat. Should we get a 2nd base for the infant seat? Or could we get away with using the convertible seat in the 2nd car as needed?

If you are going to use the 2nd car only on occasion it makes more sense to get a convertible for the 2nd car. I wish we had done that. Our LO is a premiee so we are getting a lot of use out of our infant seat but most other June moms have already moved to the convertible 9 months later.

I disagree with the poster who said getting the convertible early wastes a 1 yr out of its life. I just got my convertible b/c it was on sale and won't be when I need it. It arrived last week and when I checked the manufactured date it was Feb 2012. Yes, as in this month. So it is not like it's sitting around on the shelf for a long time before they sell it to you. A few months early won?t make difference.

julygal · February 2012

I did not get two infant bases. We only had the one installed in my car, which is the car the children are in 99% of the time. The rare occasions that lent to the infant car seat being in DH's car, we used the seat belt to install. The seat belt is just as safe of an installation as latch if done correctly. I agree that infants fit better in the infant seat. Not too long ago we transitioned DD2 to the convertible seat, as our infant seat expired, and it took more work to get the convertible seat angled/installed right that didn't cause her to slump or have her head fall forward. She is fine in it and it works, but I'm glad we did it at 4 months when she had a bit of head control.

cdc1982 · February 2012

I agree w/ PP. I'd get the extra base for the infant carrier & get a convertible when LO is close to needing it. #1, convertibles are HUGE for little babies. #2, the longer you wait for a convertible seat, the longer it will last you (think of the exp date).

CrazyToast · February 2012

You can definitely do without a 2nd base. We had 1. The other car we had when DD was younger was not "baby-friendly" and we only used the 1 car for her. When DD was 8 months old we needed to move her to the convertible car seat. I would wait to purchase closer to that age (DD was really getting too big for her infant seat).

HeyJune · February 2012

This depends on how you plan to use your vehicles. We had 2 bases and never used the extra one. It was a waste of money for us.

DH usually rides with me when he's home from work, so the base in his car was never used. If he's going somewhere with DD by himself (which is really rare), he just usually takes my car. If you tend to use one car all the time and the other just to commute to/from work, I don't see a need for a second base.

In hindsight, I wished we had saved the $50 and used it toward the next size up car seat that we purchased when DD was 14 months old.

EmilyP103 · February 2012

We have 2 bases for our B-Safe. This is just much more convenient for us.

We considered registering for a convertible but then decided to wait until the time comes (maybe we can ask for one for Christmas)!

myattemptatmotherhood · February 2012

I agree with the second base. I couldn't have imagined having a tiny little baby in a convertible and having to wake her whenever I needed to get her in and out. It just makes life a lot easier.

HappyToBe2012 · February 2012

We got a 2nd base and have already used both of them in the 2 weeks DD has been home. When we've had to go somewhere, it's much easier to just take the car last in the driveway than either shuffle cars around or move the base. We also need the 2nd base because DH will be dropping DD off at daycare and I'll be picking her up once I go back to work.

0ashley · February 2012

One of my husband's coworkers (at the ambulance dept) is the carseat check guy for the county. He says that an infant carseat does not require the base to be safe, however, it is convenient, because you don't have to make sure it's in there just right. Although I'd like to have an extra one, it is very low on our priority list because our LO will likely only ever be in my car. DH would only pick him up in an emergency-type situation so his car will go without a base.

Blue990 · February 2012

HeyJune:

This depends on how you plan to use your vehicles. We had 2 bases and never used the extra one. It was a waste of money for us.

DH usually rides with me when he's home from work, so the base in his car was never used. If he's going somewhere with DD by himself (which is really rare), he just usually takes my car. If you tend to use one car all the time and the other just to commute to/from work, I don't see a need for a second base.

In hindsight, I wished we had saved the $50 and used it toward the next size up car seat that we purchased when DD was 14 months old.

This. And we actually switched DS at 6 mos to a convertible.. he was a lot happier in it and I hated carrying that car seat. But everyone is different!

cast920 · February 2012

Skip the second base and just install the infant carrier in the 2nd car with the seat belt when needed. Wait on the convertible untill you need it. You could add the convertible to your registry and if someone gifts it, great, if not, just buy it when you need it.

bhead81 · February 2012

We have 2 bases and use them all the time. DH brings LO to daycare and I pick him up.

Mrs.MLR04 · February 2012

We had 2 bases and used them both on a regular basis. DH and I would both drop off and pick up for daycare depending on the day. If you don't plan on using the second car often you could go without the base and use the seatbelt to secure the carseat.

acbeeman · February 2012

We did get a second base for DH's car. I just dont have the heart to pull a soundly sleeping baby out of a convertible seat when I could just as easily pull the infant carrier out and leave them sleeping soundly, plus DH decided that he would be guilt ridden if he had to wake her up if I wasn't home.

iristony · February 2012

We had three! But then again, I drove my son to MILs in morning, she had him all day and my husband picked son up- so it was the easiest option for us. I am glad we had all three even though we only used them for such a short while. We switched to convertible seats in all three cars when son was 9 months old.

dojo1 · February 2012

mullenem:
I would suggest getting 2 infant seat bases and not getting the convertible until you need it (when LO outgrows the infant seat). Little babies just fit better in the infant seats and it's MUCH easier to take the in and out of the car and just carry the carseat, particularly when they're sleeping.

Not to mention, if you get the convertible early, you "waste" a year of its life before you actually need it.

I agree for the most part, except with idea that buying a convertible "wastes" it's life span. The life span starts from the date of manufacturing. Most car seats will sit in a wear house or store shelf no matter what, meaning six months from now you'll probably be buying one with a similar expiry as today. I say if you can get a good deal get it while you can!

Lastly, I'm not getting a second base for the infant seat. Infant seats are only used for six months or so. It was a trade off for me because I don't think I'll use our carseat in our smaller car enough to warrant the price tag.

alisonann15 · February 2012

Thank you for all your opinions!! I think we will need the 2nd base as DH and I will probably be 50/50 as to taking baby places. I am going to leave the Convertible seat on our registry and if we get it great, otherwise we will just get one when we get to that point.

duckiegrl · February 2012

As for the 2nd seat base, really depends on how many cars your child will be in and how frequently they'll need to switch from car to car. We had 2 bases (1 in my car and 1 in grandma's). Grandma was our sitter so in case she needed to go anywhere, she was able to do so without have to install the car seat. I had the other base because I was the one who usually did drop off/pick up. We didn't get one for hubby's car because realistically if we went anywhere together, we used my car and not his. On the off chance hubby did pick up DD (I think it happened like twice), he knew how to properly install the car seat with just the seat belt.

Especially if you won't be using the 2nd seat often, I think you can get away with using a convertible as the second seat. If your child doesn't fit comfortably, I'm pretty sure they have an infant insert you can use to make the fit more snug.

That.Just.Happened · February 2012

We had 2 bases because DH picked her up one day a week and we would randomly drive his car on the weekends. Personally, I would put the infant seat in (without the base & just using the seatbelt to fasten it) way before I would put an infant into a convertible seat. The infant seat is just as safe using the seatbelt w/o the base as it is with, but I would not feel comfortable putting an infant in a convertible. Not to mention the inconvenience.

imimahoney · February 2012

Our baby will be in 2 cars almost daily so yes, we have 2 bases. Dh will drop off the baby in the morning at daycare and I will pick up the baby in the afternoon.And before the baby starts daycare, I like the idea of being able to use Dh's car easily is there are any problems with my car.

We registered for an extra one and have the one that comes with the car seat. Stalk amazon for good deals... one random day our B-Safe base was on sale for $14.99. I couldn't pass up that deal!

ekd816 · February 2012

You can get away without it however we bought a second seat base just for convenience. It just so much easier using a base than having to buckle it in everytime. I had to do this with my friends daughter when I watched her and it was a pain in the butt. I got a really good deal on the base too so that made it easier to buy.

wifeyvana · February 2012

mullenem:
I would suggest getting 2 infant seat bases and not getting the convertible until you need it (when LO outgrows the infant seat). Little babies just fit better in the infant seats and it's MUCH easier to take the in and out of the car and just carry the carseat, particularly when they're sleeping.

Not to mention, if you get the convertible early, you "waste" a year of its life before you actually need it.

All of this. We just had 1 infant seat/1 infant base and that was the designated "baby car". I'm a SAHM (well, now WAHM) and another base would have been a waste of money for us (but maybe not for you).

shediva1 · February 2012

We found our second base on Craigslist for $50, reg price is around $80+. It was the britax chaperone base.

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