2nd Trimester

S+TMs - How long did your baby fit into the Chicco KeyFit 30?

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! 

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Re: S+TMs - How long did your baby fit into the Chicco KeyFit 30?

  • That's how it is with every infant carrier. Your baby will grow out of every infant carrier height wise before they reach the max weight. They weren't meant to be long term car seats. It's why most people will suggest saving your money and going with a seat that only goes to 22 lbs. They are only in them for about 6-9 months anyways.
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  • 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. 

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  • 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!


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  • We stopped using ours around 7 months with dd. Like a pp said, it was mainly b/c the combined weight of her and the carrier was too heavy to carry by then.
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  • I would also add that people often go by the baby's total length, which can be misleading.  If you have a baby that's very tall but short in the torso, s/he will still fit in the seat.  You have to go by their seated height, meaning how high their head comes in the shell.
    Formerly known as elmoali :)

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  • Around 6 months we switched him out. I wasn't using the baby seat for any other use at that point, and while he was still in the limits he seemed uncomfortable in that seat - so we switched!
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  • imageelmoali:
    I would also add that people often go by the baby's total length, which can be misleading.  If you have a baby that's very tall but short in the torso, s/he will still fit in the seat.  You have to go by their seated height, meaning how high their head comes in the shell.

    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. 

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  • 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.

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    Mama to Mason (7) and Asher the Crasher (3).
    Married to Topher (10 years). 32 years young in Oklahoma.


  • I took him out around 6 months because I wanted to use the convertible for a long road trip, but my really tall and chunky baby was still fitting in it.  The only thing I didn't like (which wasn't in any reviews i read) was that there is a fabric role right behind where their head is once you take out the head pillow thing.  Maybe some people don't care about this, but it seemed uncomfortable and left a mark in his head.  I just folded a receiving blanket and put it behind his head (smaller than the pillow that comes with it), but it was still annoying.  I will be using it again this time around, so it is definitely not that terrible I just wanted to put in my two cents while you are deciding.
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  • My friend's baby is still in his Chicco Keyfit 30 and he is 9 months old. Not sure of his percentiles tho, sorry!
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  • 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! 

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  • 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!  

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  • 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.

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  • DD was 10 months when we switched to a convertible car seat.  She was about 18-19lbs when we switched.
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  • Well, my kid is small but I think she would have fit into it until 15 months, actually. I got a convertible when she was around a year, though. She was 28 inches and 17 lbs then.
  • imageCallMeLauraJane:

    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.

    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!  :) 

    ds #1 | our perfect miracle born 39w1d | 12.9.2009 loss #1 | natural m/c 7/2010 (~8w) loss #2 | chemical pregnancy 6/2011 (4w4d) loss #3 | chemical pregnancy 7/2011 (4w3d) loss #4 | natural m/c 11/2011 (10w1d) RPL Testing 12/2011. Results 100% normal. ds #2 | our 2nd perfect miracle born 36w3d | 12.31.2012
  • My DD was 10  months when she outgrew it height-wise, by weight she could technically still ride in it (except for the fact that she turned 3 in June...) but my DH is 6'5" so I'm not that surprised. Though I will say I have had two friends with boys that outgrew it weight wise before height wise, and it got too heavy to carry it. I bought another KeyFit for this LO since I'm a creature of habit, but know ahead of time we will outgrow sooner rather than later (but we also still have the convertible seats from my DD that are within their lifetime use dates). Two months seems way too early to me, some people try to justify changing to a different seat with many reasons... I loved the carrier since my DD never slept, so if she was sleeping in the car there was NO way I was waking her up, I would have sat in the car for hours to avoid disturbing her in a convertible to take her out. :)
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  • I think we used it until about 9-10mos. The Chicco has a lot of nice features and we'll use it again rather than buy another but if I was starting from scratch, I'd get this one.
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  • imageTMWarren85:
    Two months seems way too early to me, some people try to justify changing to a different seat with many reasons...

    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.   

    ds #1 | our perfect miracle born 39w1d | 12.9.2009 loss #1 | natural m/c 7/2010 (~8w) loss #2 | chemical pregnancy 6/2011 (4w4d) loss #3 | chemical pregnancy 7/2011 (4w3d) loss #4 | natural m/c 11/2011 (10w1d) RPL Testing 12/2011. Results 100% normal. ds #2 | our 2nd perfect miracle born 36w3d | 12.31.2012
  • We moved him out of it around 6 months- he was too tall...but my child is a moose!
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  • We moved DD out of it at 6 months.  She technically still fit, but it was getting way too heavy to lug around with her in it.  By that point she was tall enough that she was much more comfortable in the convertible.
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  • DD fit comfortably until about 9 months, and hadn't reached the height max by 11 months but just didn't look right in it anymore (plus seriously, who wants to lug an 11 months old around in a carrier).  She was 18.5 inches at birth, 29 inches at one year.
  • DS was a petite baby to begin with, single percentiles for weight and height for a long time, but even he would have out grown an infant carrier before 12 months. He was 20.5 lbs, so fine in weight, but 30.5 inches.. 

    Infant carriers are a really good fit for newborns, especially if you have a tiny baby like I did, but be prepared to buy a convertible seat within the first year.
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  • imageKie310:
    Around 6 months we switched him out. I wasn't using the baby seat for any other use at that point, and while he was still in the limits he seemed uncomfortable in that seat - so we switched!

    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 :) 

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  • 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.

  • Both of my kids were out of the Chicco around 9-10 months simply because they were getting to heavy to carry around in there. I loved the seat though.
      
  • I LOVE our Keyfit 30. Both of my kids were about 50th percentile for height and still fit into it around their first birthdays. I changed seats for convenience at that point...they still TECHNICALLY Fit, but we were ready for the next seat.
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  • I dont know how far you are into your research or what your criteria is but I recommend you also look at the Britax Travel systems. I had my heart set on a Chicco but when I actually went to BRU to "test" it it was incredibly heavy and not as user-friendly as some of the reviews implied. The Britax was significatly lighter, folded w one hand, was compact and the price was comparable
  • 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.

    PgAL (MC@7w 29/10/11 - lost you before we knew we had you)
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  • DS was 15 months when we moved him to the Britax Marathon RF'ing. He was fine with weight, but just reached 30 inches.
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