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November 2012 Moms
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So let me get this straight. No infant car seat = no carrier???
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As a FTM I am completely at a loss with all things. Most recently with car seats. I was debating getting a convertible seat, however I learned that the convertible seats are stationary and do not have the base like infants seats. Meaning you have to take the baby out and carry him around.
Now that confuses me because I have never seen an infant being carried around without a seat. Furthermore, when I talk to my parents and aunts etc who haven?t had kids in 20 plus years say they never had a removable car seat, but had the infant carrier that they had the kid in all the time. So whats the deal? Did they used to make both?
Is the only way to have a seat to carry the baby around in is to have an infant car seat???
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Re: So let me get this straight. No infant car seat = no carrier???
JHB 1/19/09
Baby girl due 11/22/12!
Yeah, I came across the same thing. I'm a FTM too, and when we started the registry I was so confused. Our solution was to get a convertible seat that will stay in my car 100% of the time and a travel system with infant seat and a base, the base will stay in DH's car and the infant seat we will take whenever we need it and are using my car.
I plan on baby wearing, so I'm hoping we don't really need the carrier often. I don't feel like lugging that thing around. I know buying extra stuff isn't ideal, but it made sense to us, since we need a stroller anyway. We'll see how it all works out.
? Voted Cool Cat ~ 2012 Sweetpea Mom Awards ?
Hi, We have a 4 yr old DD and another on the way, so I have experienced both infant and convertible seats. Ok...this is what I know. First, I used my infant seat soooo much in that first year that I couldn't imagine not having the carrier function for DC2.
Having a winter baby, there is nothing better than an infant seat combined with a JJ Cole Bundle Me bunting inside. We combined Graco's safe seat with the urban Bundle Me and ended up having 2 friends borrow the combo over the past few yrs. I'll tell ya...when your little one is sleeping soundly and you arrive at the grocery store or mall, etc you do not want to have to take them out of their happy warm spot and try to transfer them to a carrier or stroller. The infant seat also works as a bassinet of sorts if you are at a friend's house during naptime. It's nice to have a zone that you know is clean, safe and warm no matter where you go.
We purchased a Britax Marathon for DD after she outgrew her infant seat. Actually, we moved her before she exceeded the seat's limits but the Marathon has a 65 lb weight limit and can accept an infant, so we moved her to rear-facing just before a yr after we stopped needing to bring a carrier with us to the grocery store, etc and kept her rear-facing in the marathon until she was 3. She is still in her Marathon at 4.5 and will still fit it for a few more years. Nice thing is they are good for 6 yrs, so we aren't forced into a 3rd seat before school starts. She finds it very comfortable and can nap in it very well during car trips.
FYI, I bought a travel system with my infant seat and hardly used it enough to justify. If I were to do it all over, I would get a good infant seat, a BOB Revolution with infant attachment and a light umbrella stroller like the Chicco cT for traveling after the 1st yr.
Just my 2 cents. I know others will have examples of how they made a convertible work. I just loved having the ease of movement without any transitions that 1st winter!
Yep, two different "container" contraptions for kids. It helped me to go look at them in a store. Touch them, pick them up, latch and unlatch. It all made sense after that.
Here is an infant seat, aka "baby bucket". This thing detaches from the base with baby in tow. This is the thing most people buy for infants.
Here is a convertible seat. There is no detaching mechanism other than from the seat belt in your car.
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Infant car seats weigh 10lb when empty and are hella awkward to carry, and very hard on your back if you have any sort of history of issues. So you won't be carrying it all the time, it's a convenience to transfer them to a stroller or into a store while asleep.
But my babies almost never stayed asleep when the car turned off, so I never found it as useful as some do. However, they both have always gone back to sleep or at least settled down and stayed quiet when I put them in a ring sling or other "baby carrier" like an ergo (not like the baby carriers your relatives mean).
Oh, and also, some strollers do recline flat or nearly flat, so you can put a newborn in them without an infant seat. And you could always go crazy and just carry the kid with your arms. It is allowed.
As PPS said, the convertibles typically stay in your car 100% of the time. The infant carriers typically snap into and out of a base that stays in the car and can be used to snap into a stroller (travel system or stroller frame) or shopping cart.
One big question, IMO, is where do you live and what will the weather be like when LO is born? I live in New Brunswick, Canada (that?s the province above Maine). The snow will be flying by the time LO is 1 month old. I don?t want to stand with the car door open in the freezing cold and snow trying to buckle LO into a car seat. I used a snuggle bag in our infant car seat instead of dressing DD1 in a full snowsuit. It was soooo much easier with DD1 to just snap the infant car seat in, fold down the snuggle bag, and go.
Later when DD1 didn?t need to stay in the infant carrier when we went to a store (ie could sit up in shopping cart or go in the umbrella stroller) I just left the infant car seat snapped into the base in the car all the time. I didn?t switch DD1 over to a convertible seat till 1yr. I bought the graco sungride 35 so it lasted a lot longer than the typical up to 22 lb infant seat (I could have technically gone to a forward facing booster at that point and skip the convertible all together, but I wanted to keep DD rear facing till almost 2 yrs.)
I only used the stroller that came with my travel system around the neighborhood. I used a frame stroller at the mall, etc. when DD1 was smaller and then an umbrella stroller when DD1 got older (6 to 8+ months). I used a snugglie on occasion if I was walking around places. But really like having the infant car seat to put DD1 in if she fell asleep.
Convertible stays in car. If you want something to carry the baby in and don't want to buy an infant carseat and a convertible...you can get a body carrier like a baby bjorn or snugli or a wrap carrier and wear your baby, or just use a stroller when out and about.
With DS#1, we got a travel system with stroller/infant car seat and base. We used the infant seat til DS was about 9 mo (he was huge) and then we moved to rear facing convertible, which he still uses at almost 3 yr, it goes right to 80lbs, so it might expire before he outgrows it. We also have a snugli that we use/will use to wear DS at hockey games and other early outings.
My two cents - Get an infant carrier + an extra base, and a stroller frame. One seat for the infant that will then click into either car.
You can get a wrap, sling or whatever baby wearing device to use if that suits you as well, but it is nice to not be forced to take a sleeping and snug infant out of the seat on occaision. The seat can snap into the stroller frame as well (I liked that it snapped in facing me).
By the time baby grows out of the infant seat, you'll have a better idea of how much and where you will use a stroller, so you'll be better informed of what kind to get (travel system would have been a huge waste for us b/c we use our stroller most when traveling overseas and need an ultra-lightweight stroller easy to get on and off planes, subways, etc.). Also, by then baby will be of an age to sit in the cart at the grocery, if baby-wearing isn't for you, so good time to get the convertible that will last the next 4-5 years.