Car seat help- convertible v infant

Hedgessm · January 2014

Hi ladies! I keep hearing mixed things on whether a convertible car seat should be used for an infant or if you should really use an infant seat for the first 6 months. Thoughts? Thanks!!

ns1 · January 2014

I believe you can use a convertible seat for an infant. There are infant inserts, and you should look at restrictions / requirements, but it is possible to do this.

The advantage I saw in an infant seat was that you can take it out of the car when the kiddos asleep and haul them into wherever you're going without jostling them around / in and out of the carseat.

usernewname · January 2014

We bought a convertible so won't be using the bucket seat. It's more cost effective for us and since it's warm out I will just put the baby into the sling.

CamrynnsMommy · January 2014

There are perfectly acceptable convertible seats for infants. It's totally more cost effective to skip the infant carrier, but they are handy to have.

RedInLove · January 2014

We're going for the infant carrier first, for the ease of being able to just take sleeping baby out of the car without having to wake her up or anything. When she outgrows it, we'll choose a convertible.

lv2011 · January 2014

That's why they make "convertible" seats...so the same child can us it as an infant AND a toddler. Ours that we just bought has a weight range of 3lbs-40lbs. Unless your child is born very early, you should have no problems with using one...and even then I'm not sure infants weighing less than 4lbs are released from the hospital to go home (but I could be wrong on that).

Just double-check the weight range of the seat you want to buy.

spacepotatoes · January 2014

RedInLove said:

We're going for the infant carrier first, for the ease of being able to just take sleeping baby out of the car without having to wake her up or anything. When she outgrows it, we'll choose a convertible.

This for us too.

CamrynnsMommy · January 2014

Veganlady said:
I was thinking about getting a travel system and putting the infant base in my car. We'd get a convertible for DH's car. That way we save on the extra base and hopefully the inconvenience using the convertible in DH's will be minimal because baby will likely travel most in my car.

S+TMs, does this sound reasonable?

Sounds most logical to me.

MamaLlama14 · January 2014

There are a lot of convertible seats that are appropriate for newborn +, but for me I liked the convenience of the infant seat being able to snap into bases in each car as well as the Snap N Go.

Miles2Go · January 2014

Careful with the weight limits. Some convertibles rated for 5lbs actually can't be used for a baby that small due to the strap height. When rear facing, the straps must be at or below the shoulders. You can double check the convertible you choose with the cpst's on the csftl page- car seats for the littles on fb. They're very helpful.

spinsoffresonance · January 2014

Veganlady said:
I was thinking about getting a travel system and putting the infant base in my car. We'd get a convertible for DH's car. That way we save on the extra base and hopefully the inconvenience using the convertible in DH's will be minimal because baby will likely travel most in my car.

S+TMs, does this sound reasonable?

That would work. But I just wanted to let you know you don't actually NEED the base for the infant seat. They make them for convenience but you can install the carseat with the seatbelt, no base. With a little practice it takes 10sec (at least with the chicco keyfit). When DD was born we didn't own a car, we used zipcar. We drove all types of different cars and would just strap the infant seat in, no base, and be on our way. If your LO isn't riding in DH's car very often that would totally work and you could wait on getting the convertible until later.

LindsayB0505 · January 2014

You can get convertibles that an infant can go in, but honestly, the infant seat is sooooo handy. Especially if you have a stroller you can clip it into.

Hedgessm · January 2014

Is it tacky to put both types on a registry? I can see the benefit of just being able to carry baby in. I'm honestly ignorant as to whether this is tacky so please don't think I'm being as gift grabby as second showery lady...

usernewname · January 2014

I don't think it's tacky since most people use two types in the end.

Miles2Go · January 2014

Hedgessm said:

Is it tacky to put both types on a registry? I can see the benefit of just being able to carry baby in. I'm honestly ignorant as to whether this is tacky so please don't think I'm being as gift grabby as second showery lady...

You have the option to leave the infant carrier in the car just like a convertible. You don't HAVE to carry it in.

Also, most infant seats come with one base.

Junebug060609 · January 2014

Veganlady said:
@lica001 Thanks! I didn't know the seat was secureable without the base. That will make matters simpler and save me $80 or so.

. Bucket seats usually come with one base. The no base thing would work if need be (i did it when traveling with ds). I always felt more secure with the base though.

bam326 · January 2014

We are doing an infant for my car and a convertible car seat and registered for both. I love the Britax b Safe and the Britax Pavillion. If you get Britax get it on Amazon- so much less expensive than BRU.

DaisyTortilla · January 2014

We had an infant car seat for dd in the very beginning. We used it until she was about 6 months. Then we bought her a convertible car seat that is from 5lbs-80. While I really like the convertible one, I miss just being able to haul her around in the infant seat. Now we have to wake her up when we go places. Also, the convertible car seat is huge, so it takes up a lot of room in my SUV, the seats have to be further up and less reclined, so I am not as comfortable.

bumpuser10194737 · January 2014

Veganlady said:
I was thinking about getting a travel system and putting the infant base in my car. We'd get a convertible for DH's car. That way we save on the extra base and hopefully the inconvenience using the convertible in DH's will be minimal because baby will likely travel most in my car.

S+TMs, does this sound reasonable?

I think it's a great idea. We hardly ever used our second base because baby was almost always in my car. Also- a least with the infant seat I have you could safely put it in the car using the seatbelt without a base. It just took some extra effort. If you decide the convertible isn't convenient enough, you could always try that in your DH's car!

I don't use the infant seat for long with my babies just because it gets so heavy to lug around! Once baby weighs about 20 lbs I just hate having to carry it. It is REALLY nice when they are little though not to have to wake them up!

momo214 · January 2014

spacepotatoes said:

RedInLove said:

We're going for the infant carrier first, for the ease of being able to just take sleeping baby out of the car without having to wake her up or anything. When she outgrows it, we'll choose a convertible.

This for us too.

Ditto.

rainydayluck · January 2014

DD is still in the convertible car seat she came home from to hospital in (born at 5lbs). We had no problems with not having an infant seat. With this LO, someone gave us an infant car seat with bases, so we are going to use that and then switch to the convertible later.

chillypenguin · January 2014

MamaLlama14 said:

There are a lot of convertible seats that are appropriate for newborn +, but for me I liked the convenience of the infant seat being able to snap into bases in each car as well as the Snap N Go.

This exactly. So convenient!

Hedgessm · January 2014

Thanks ladies. We physically looked at a few today and that helped get my mind around it some

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