how long did you use infant seat?!

Smootchy · March 2012

I was going to post on a different board like 9-12 but figured this was good enough.

I don't remember how long you use an infant car seat? I have to buy a new one for this munchkin and I'm just trying to calculate the pain my wallet will take for the short time she'll be in it.

Is it a year? No, that's too heavy to carry a kid... Or did I keep DS in there till he was walking...About a year?

Duh, I don't have any clue...

TIA

RayRay007 · March 2012

I think we used it until like 7 months, but by that time we were leaving the seat in the base in the car and taking DD out of it. I think we stopped carrying her around in the bucket seat by 4 or 5 months.

chach916 · March 2012

Both of mine were to big by 9 months.

chardonnay24 · March 2012

We used it until he was sitting well unassisted, so about 5 months.

hmp1 · March 2012

About 7 months. He hadn't grown out of it yet but he was getting too heavy for me to carry him around in it. Also, we had the Keyfit 30 Adventure seat and DS would get soooo hot in it. I just couldn't make the kid go through a TX summer in it.

magdalina.h · March 2012

Depends on the car seat. Ours goes up to 23 lbs and Lucas is a slow grower. He still hasn't hit 23 lbs, but we switched him over right before his 1st birthday.

hterry85 · March 2012

DD was a peanut and was able to use her snugride (not 35 or anything, just the regular one) until about 13 months

sillypit · March 2012

9 months, but she didn't outgrow it until 13 months. She's a peanut and finally outgrew is by height only. She's still under the weight limit.

scoutkate · March 2012

We used it until she outgrew the height limit, which was 18 months.

BelhurstBride · March 2012

DD outgrew the height restrictions by 9 or 10 months. I never really used it to carry her around in. I hated the damn thing and found it easier to just wear her. In hindsight I would have been good with the convertible from the get-go.

walkercpa · March 2012

We switched DS around 9 1/2 months. Poor little guy was looking like an overstuffed sausage in the infant seat.

Kara5109 · March 2012

We switched at 10 months.

myself1nme · March 2012

We used ours until just after his 1st birthday. He hadn't outgrown it yet though. He was definetly too heavy to cary in the seat at that point though. We bought our convertible car seats one at a time because they were so expensive. We just left the infant seat in one car all the time until we got our second seat.

seahorse102410 · March 2012

We had a snugride 35 and used it until at least 10 months.

JaZavitz · March 2012

i used mine until DS was about 9 months, then it was just too heavy to cary him around in it (although he was only 17 lbs) and he was a very tall 9 month old and his legs really hung over so I moved him to a rear facing carseat that stays in the car.

TMNTgirl · March 2012

We used it until around 9 months. At that point he ourgrew the height limit for it (he's always been in the 90th percencile or more).

I didn't carry him around in it very much anymore at that point, but didn't mind using it still just leaving the seat in the car and taking him in and out.

We'll be using the same infant seat for DS#2 since it's not expired yet.

HappyMama2011 · March 2012

Mom2Oli:
chardonnay24:
We used it until he was sitting well unassisted, so about 5 months.
this was pretty much us.

Us too. About 6 months. I got a basic Graco Snugride, the cheapest model. Then spent money on the convertible car seat.

PartiallySunny · March 2012

LO still uses his. He is still within the height and weight limit so we haven't bought a convertible car seat yet.

I want to add LO is only in the 12th percentile, so he is a little guy. And I haven't used it as a carrier since he was about 5 months or so.

Fulbri05 · March 2012

We only used it for 4 months with DS. He absolutely would not sit in it in a restaurant/stroller/store, etc so I always wore him anyway.

However, even though we only used it a short amount of time, I still would not have gone without it during a midwest winter. It was nice to throw the shower-cap style cover over it with his blankets inside and not have him exposed to the cold on the way to and from the car.

TriciaandSean · March 2012

We are still using it. Kieran turned 18 months on the 8th. He's still under the limits of 30" and 30lbs. We plan to switch him in the next month or so.

Edited to add:

We stopped taking the seat out and carrying it around before he turned a year.

nealbl · March 2012

differs per kid. Look for a seat that has the highest weight and height requirement.

LO was moved to a convertible carseat at 6 months. She was a chunk a monk and was nearing the max requirements. She also was to heavy to carry in the carseat anymore so I did not see the need to keep her squished in it.

ValentineMommy · March 2012

LO is 13 months and we are still using it. She won't outgrow the weight limit for quite awhile. She will hit the height limit before then, but still has a little ways to go on that.

Edit to add: We still keep her in the infant seat if she is asleep and we go somewhere. Pop it in the stroller and we shop without waking her up. If she's awake, we take her out and put her in a shopping cart or carry her.

Yessika024 · March 2012

I switched LO at 15 months. I could still carry her but most of the time toward the end I'd just leave it in it's base and carry her in. there really is no right or wrong answer...mainly until you are ready to get LO out of it or they outgrow it.

superned · March 2012

We used it for 9 months with DD, but it would have been longer if it hadn't been in a crash.

For the new LO then plan is to use the infant seat exclusively for the first 10-12 months, then as our second seat once I get a convertible seat for my car (primary vehicle). Hopefully we'll get another 4-6 months out of it as a secondary seat. I hate the thought of buying two convertible seats at the same time.

katcarls · March 2012

DS is on the short side so we used our Chicco Keyfit 30 for 13 months. He was about 22 lbs. and I had no problem carrying him in it. I would get one with a higher height limit (30" or more) so you can get more use out of it. If LO reaches a point where you can't carry it on a regular basis, just leave it in the car. That way you'll still have the option to carry once in a while when necessary.

laurapalmer · March 2012

We switched to convertible at 4 months, but that was because he hated the infant seat.

Marc's Mrs. · March 2012

DD was around 9 mos. She outgrew the height restriction plus it got too awkward to carry her around in that thing.

PolishWonder · March 2012

DD is STILL in an infant car seat. Embarrassed

She hasn't met the weight or height requirements yet! But we're getting a convertible seat this week.

srs5624 · March 2012

We had a Snugride 35 (limits were 32" or 35 lbs).

We usually kept it in the car after 4 or 5 months. The only exceptions being, we'd carry him and the seat into the grocery store and put him down in the cart and also into restaurants so I didn't have to hold him while I was trying to eat.

He was about 30" tall around 6 months so we switched him to a convertible right around 7 months.

I should add, DS is a beast. He's in the 94th% for weight and waaaay off the height chart. So, take that into consideration. The Snugride 35 has some of the highest weight/height limits available, so it's a little nutty that he outgrew it that early.

Just because you can't carry it, doesn't mean you have to get a new seat. There's no reason you can't just leave the bucket in the car and carry the kid if the seat isn't maxed out yet.

numeria11 · March 2012

It was like 6 months on the dot for us since DD outgrew the height limit on it.

Doodle2011 · March 2012

She was around 8 months. I just got tired of carrying it, she could have easily kept on riding in it (still could, lol).

Kitiara5512 · March 2012

Based on height and weight limits, and you can put them in a regular RF seat once they can consistently hold their heads up and dont need the laid down position so much.

C outgrew the limits on his seat by his 6 month appt, as in the pedi gave us a dirty look and a "talk" on having him in an appropriately sized carseat because it is dangerous once they outgrow it.

lexigrl · March 2012

9 Months and we only switched him because we were going to head down to NC and its a 10 hr car ride and he wouldn't sit that long in the infant seat

insertclevername · March 2012

I would have used it up to 12 months old but we were in a car accident when he was 10 months old. So we switched over at 10 months old.

nosoup4u · March 2012

DS1 was in a convertible by 9 months, DS2 was in one by 5 months.

heymommy · March 2012

DS- he had a convertible seat at birth.DD- maybe 7 months I can't really remember.My new baby- she has a convertible seat now.. Skipped the carrier.I do not like the carriers. The only reason I had one for my older daughter was because mySon was three at the time and it made it easier to handle both kids.

AdaraMarie · March 2012

DD got too tall for hers at about 12-13 months, but she was still below the weight limit.

sbartschke · March 2012

At 6 months I switched to a convertible in my car because he was too heavy for me to carry and the Chaperone took up a ton of space. DH continued to use the infant seat in his car for another couple months but he is only in that car like once or twice a week.

hopkins5 · March 2012

We switched to the convertible seat at 14 months

vlagrl29 · March 2012

we used it til 1 year

NewlyWeds13 · March 2012

My DS is very light. He was in his infant seat until he was 10 months and that was only because he was way too long. He did not reach 22 pounds until 15 months:)

We did not carry him in it after 7-ish months, just left it in the car.

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