I've been researching travel systems for the past couple of weeks and I am 98% sure I will go with Chicco but I have read a few reviews online that say while there baby fit weight wise they didn't height wise despite the 3 adjustment levels and grew out of it in under 6 months.
Is this just a fluke and the few reviews I am reading are from people with very tall/long babies?! The overwhelming majority of reviews are excellent.
Sorry if this seems like a stupid question. FTM here! TIA!
ETA: I was thinking he would grow out of it between 6-9 months which is fine but some reviews said they were grown out of it by 2 months which seemed a little TOO fast but I suppose every baby is different and you can't know for sure what your LO will do!
Re: S+TMs - How long did your baby fit into the Chicco KeyFit 30?
We stopped using ours before the height and weight requirement, but mostly for convenience. With baby and the car seat, it got quite heavy. It was easier to carry her by herself or use the stroller.
I want to say it was 7 months or so.
I'm in the very mast majority because E is a small fry, but we used it until she was almost 18 months old. And even then it was because of height, not weight. But, at PP said, that's most likely going to be the case with any carseat.
Beyond the weight/height thing, it was a great carseat & travel system for us. We still use the stroller for longer walks & will use it (the full travel system) for this baby. It's held up very nicely.
Edit: The bold & italicized above should read "minority". Derp!
Ohh, this is a good point! I've just come to the conclusion that infants who only fit in it until 2-3 months are the exception not the norm.
Mason fit until he was 5 months old. LOL. He was just too big for that carseat. It's not very wide and my child was a butterball. Over 98% since he was 3 months old. I must have been pumping protein shakes... It's not a good seat for larger babies.
We went with a Britax Marathon for extended rear-facing capabilities after that. It's a wonderful convertible seat.
Mama to Mason (7) and Asher the Crasher (3).
Married to Topher (10 years). 32 years young in Oklahoma.
You can always put your newborn in a rear facing convertible car seat if you are worried about outgrowing it too fast.
I highly doubt that the majority of babies outgrow a bucket seat before they are one.
Good luck deciding!
DS was in 12-18 month clothing on his 1st year birthday and still in the Chicco car seat. He didnt look comfortable but he fit and was under the weight/height imit.
I moved him into the Britax roundabout at 1 year RF and he was much happier but by 15 months outgrew the weight for RF (30 pounds) and we switched him to FF. he is now in 3T clothing , 32 pounds at 18 months!
We had a Chicco KeyFit that went to 20-22lbs (the model before the 30) - DD was in it until 6 months, and DS was in it until 8 months (and that was a stretch on the height requirement). Honestly... a 20lb baby + a 20lb carrier becomes a bummer to lug around, I wouldn't even consider a 30lb baby + a 20lb carrier. I'd buy a cheaper infant seat and get a good quality convertible, since it'll get much more use.
My kid has been off the chart since birth as well. He's currently 2 1/2 and the size of most 4 year olds (he is actually on the 5 year old growth chart at a very low percentile)?!?!? But he's never been chunky - he's always been in a higher height percentile than weight. We were out of the Chicco at 4 months. Technically he still fit, but he was a very tight fit, and hated it by then - and it was almost impossible for me to carry him in it.
And I definitely realize we are the exception, not the norm - but it can happen with tall kids. Weight wise, he would have fit into it much longer than 4 months - he was big, but not THAT big!
I agree with this. My kid is one of the biggest I've heard of (even one of the bigger ones our pedi has ever seen), and technically he still fit at 4 months. I can not imagine 30 pound and/or 30 inch 2 month old.
my blog :: the domestic wannabe
Us too. My daughter would cry when we put her in the infant carseat so we switched her at 5 months and she was so much happier. But I would recommend the Chicco seat. We loved it for our daughter and little man will be using it as well
Eleven months and my girls are in the 50th & 95th percentile for height. We moved them right from that to forward facing. If the seat is too heavy to take out of the car, don't take it out each time.
Looking at the WHO growth charts (available all over the internet, and the standard growth chart used by pediatricians), using the 99.9th percentile of the boy chart (i.e. only 1/1000 baby boys would be larger, girls are about 2 weeks behind after the first few months), your baby would grow out of the seat by height/weight restrictions:
30 inches (the height restriction for Chicco keyfit 22 or 30): 7 months (12 months)
22 lbs (the weight restriction for Chicco keyfit 22): 4+ months (13+ months)
30 lbs (the weight restriction for Chicco keyfit 30): 12 months (2 years, 9 months ... really, you're going to carry a nearly 3 year old around in their carseat)
The ages in parenthesis are those for the 50th percentile (i.e. pretty average). And remember for a girl, you could expect to add 2 weeks to 3+months to all of these (the difference grows the further out you go).
Everyone I've spoken to, either their child grew out height-wise first (and the height restriction doesn't change between the 22 and 30 seats), or their ability to carry the child and seat was the limiting factor. Most seem to make it to 6 months with no problem.