STM Carseat Question

LightBright515 · April 2014

How long was your LO able to use their infant seat before having to transition into a convertible model? And by use, I'm talking based upon height and weight restrictions...not them wailing and not wanting to be in their seat. I'm looking at these convertible seats, and they are EXPENSIVE @-)

pinkshades05 · April 2014

Based on height and weight, Nat could have been able to be in her infant car seat up till 1 year. The only thing that made this difficult were the straps--they were not long enough for her torso. So we switched her at 9 months to a rear facing convertible.

Edit: Our infant car seat is a Graco Snugride 35

LightBright515 · April 2014

@pinkshades05‌ how long did you rear face her? Is she still within the limits to be rear faced?

noellemari · April 2014

We have a chicco key fit 30. My first was in it until she was 15 months and my second just outgrew it (by 0.5 inches) at 15 months also. Neither of my kids got even close to weight limit. It's always the height.

I'm currently shopping around for the best price on a diono radian rxt to move DD1 into and DD2 will go into her britax marathon (rear facing) and my infant seat will be all ready for baby 3 to arrive! Ugh. The logistics of this all makes my head hurt!

Mommy2Boys09 · April 2014

I don't know about height and weight, I don't think they had reached those limits yet. But it became difficult to get them in the infant seat around 10-11 months for both. That's when we got the rear/forward facing seats.

jcsumm0 · April 2014

We used it until she was over a year. She is petite, weight wise, and outgrew it by height. (graco snugride30).

She is still currently RF and we plan to until 4.

mamamurphy · May 2014

We used ours for both kids until age 1. Both kids are petite. Grandparents bought the convertible car seats

Littledeer84 · May 2014

We only used our through 9 months...DD was just too long.

ashie0610 · May 2014

We used ours until about 13 months. He probably could have gone until 18 months based on height (and is only now around the 30 pound weight limit), but it was really difficult to get him in and out, plus I could no longer easily carry the seat with him in it.

Eastie156 · May 2014

We have a Graco snug ride 35. (Piece of advice-go with the 30, it weighs less and chances are you'll switch to a toddler seat way before L o ever gets to 35 lbs). DS was in the infant seat until he was 13 months old, he'd just reached 29 inches. He was no where near the weight limit, btw.

Justabean3 · May 2014

We just switched out DS to a convertible. He is still rear facing. I actually bought the Costco Scenera and it is really nice,
Slim fit. 40.00. My Other DS has a Evenflo (correction) Triumph 65 and it's huge!!! It was 150.00 and honestly now I down think they are not worth it bc he has a Costco for DH's car and he prefers it.

He was in the safety first onboard 35-Ross design
Restrictions: Rear-facing 4-35 pounds and up to 32 inches

He is 18 months and just 32 inches 23 pounds. He is 50th % for height and 12th % weight to give you an idea

Edit: car seat type and not worth it

manateeliz · May 2014

I moved DS out of the infant seat at 6 months, because I got tired of carrying it, I wore him almost all the time, and it is so much easier to get him in and out of a convertible, though because he is a shorty he could have fit into it until 18ish months, heightwise (he is still under 30 pounds AT 22 months). I wasn't going to use an infant seat at all with a second and was going to go right to a convertible, but with the twins, I think I will be keeping them in infant seats as long as I can.

BeanNut · May 2014

We switched at 6 months and 7 months. The seat gets really heavy when they get bigger and it's benefits decrease.

Justabean3 · May 2014

Sorry here is the links all mine

Infant- https://safety1st.djgusa.com/en/djgusa/safety1st/infant-car-seats/onboard-trade;35-infant-car-seat---graydon-ic086bxt

Scenera-
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007TD9JC6/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?qid=1398903792&sr=8-12&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

Correction Evenflo Triumph 65 DXL, I had to go look.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004GXA6L0?pc_redir=1398627726&robot_redir=1

IrishHoney123 · May 2014

We have a Snugride 30 and both boys outgrew it by 1 year by height. DS1 just turned FF in a Harmony Defender (5 point harness FF seat), and DS2 is still RF in an Evenflo Triumph.

Starfish17 · May 2014

We used ours for about 9-10 months. They got to heavy to carry in the infant seat after that. I think they got close on the height restrictions as well by that point.

IrishHoney123 · May 2014

We have a Cosco Scenera and a Safety 1st Guide in DH's truck and for being budget seats they are great. The boys seem just as comfortable as in their more cushy seat. Hope that helps....

mle7106 · May 2014

We used our Chicco Keyfit until about 9 months. He is petite and was nowhere near the height/weight limit, but it was getting harder to get him in/out of the seat and we never lugged him around in it anymore.

c&bmama0911 · May 2014

We used ours till 5-6 months with both of our boys.. they were just too heavy.. I guess we could have left it in the car and done it that way but we switched to graco myride 65s with both of them..

they both rear faced till 2..

BreandMikewedding · May 2014

Dd was in hers until about 1. Ds outgrew his by 9 months. He weighed 24lbs at 4 months and is really tall. He was over 30lbs at 9 months.

live4thegiraffe · May 2014

DD was in her infant seat until she was 9 months. She got too long to stay in it comfortably (which meant lots of screaming in the car), so we switched her to a RF convertible. She was over the minimum for the convertible, but could have stayed in the infant seat size-wise for a couple more months. I do think having them in a seat they're comfortable in is a reasonable consideration, as it's massively distracting to drive with an irate infant in the back seat.

HappyCianci · May 2014

I can't answer your question because we never had an infant car seat... I just wanted to mention that you can always use a convertible carseat from day one to save the cost of buying two. We got the Graco Myride 65 and brought my son home from the hospital in it... he is 3 years old now and still riding in it, rear-facing. We love it! I know many people like to be able to unclick the carseat and carry it. Personally, that seems very cumbersome to me. I plan to start with the convertible again this time.

turtlewifey · May 2014

We used our infant seat to about 17-18 months. Kids who are on the smaller side will last a long time in them.

When it is time to get a convertible, they have them at all different price points. Keep an eye out for sales and if you are near a Buy Buy Baby, you can use Bed, Bath, and Beyond 20% of coupons on many of the carseats. Also, your LO should ideally be in a convertible seat until age 6, so it will get years of use.

PC0909 · May 2014

O is still in his infant seat. Based on how he's been growing we could stretch it out to a year, but lugging around that bucket is just too heavy at this point. DH and the grandparents have switched to the convertible, and mine is purchased but not yet installed so the bucket basically stays in my car right now.

I have a small car, so I had to look for a seat made for smaller cars. I got mine for $80 from kmart, and MILs for $80 (same seat, different sale). You don't have to have a $500 car seat.

SusieBW · May 2014

We switched DD to a convertible at 6 months, and for about a month before that, we were mostly leaving the bucket in the car and just taking DD in and out of it. She was probably still well within the height/weight requirements (I honestly have no idea), but our infant seat was a handed down seat and was really, really heavy, so it just got to be too much for me to carry her around in it.

She rear-faced in the convertible until a couple of weeks before she turned 2.

raynes · May 2014

LO stayed in his Peg Perego (a gifft) bucket seat until 11 months or so. He could have stayed in longer (he's generally 10-15% for weight, 50% for height) but we wanted to switch him over before I went back to work.

He's still RF in a Britax Marathon. From the time he was 8 or 9 months we kept an eye out for sales/deals and managed to get our in a Save the Tax event at a local baby boutique. Here in Ontario sales tax is 13%, so it was significant. I plan to keep him RF for a while yet. He's probably not even 25 lbs yet, so we have a long way to go for the limits of the seat.

andrea.kay · May 2014

We had the Chicco Keyfit 30 and we didn't switch my daughter to a convertible seat until she was about 15 months old. She hadn't quite reached the height limit, but she was getting close. She's still nowhere near the weight limit (she's almost 2). Most people I know had moved their babies to a convertible long before that, but she liked her infant seat just fine and still fit, so I figured I'd use it as long as we could.

Now she's rear facing in a Graco MySize 70, and I'm hoping to keep her RFing until she hits the height limit again.

ss265 · May 2014

DS was in his Chicco Keyfit until he was about a year. We ended up moving to a convertible because his infant car seat was involved in an accident (he wasn't in it and it was a minor accident but Chicco requires replacing all seats in any type of accident). We probably would have transitioned him around that time anyway. He was nowhere near the weight limit but was close to the height limit.

He is currently in a Chicco Nextfit. Regarding prices of convertible seats, yes they are expensive and you usually have to buy one per car which makes the cost even higher. There are a wide range of seats out there though at different price points and if you plan ahead you can get a good deal.

wildflower75 · May 2014

I love my car seat!
It's the Britax and it clicks into their stroller...
https://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/b-safe

My daughter will be 14 months next week and we still use it she's only around 21 lbs and it can be used for up to 30 lbs. That being said we will change her to the convertible seat soon, she likes to sit up more than recline...

lct2008 · May 2014

My son would have fit into his till like 18 months. Lol. And he was heavy, just short. He got a new carseat at like 10 or 11 months though.

pinkshades05 · May 2014

LightBright515 said:

@pinkshades05‌ how long did you rear face her? Is she still within the limits to be rear faced?

She is still within the limits to be rear faced, but we switched her early (after 1 years but before 2 years). We moved her to a Britax Marathon and loved it! It might seem like they are too long to be rear faced, but most kids can comfortably sit with their feet crossed. Next time, I will rear face our LO for longer than DD. It's much safer.

trisharenee0316 · May 2014

We kept my daughter in her infant seat until she outgrew it. She's a pretty tall kid for her height, so that happened around 13 months. Lugging her in the car seat wasn't a problem and we would also occasionally just put her in the seat/pull her out and leave the seat in the car (as one would a convertible seat). Totally wasn't an issue for her and she didn't care at all.

CheesyPeas · May 2014

We switched DS to a convertible car seat somewhere between 7 and 9 months. I don't remember which. He was just getting to heavy to lug around in it. He probably would've fit height-wise in the infant seat until close to 18 months, and still at 2.5 years no where near the weight limit of the seat.

We got the Diono Radian RXT carseat which is pricey but acts as a high limit rear facing seat (which is how he'll be for quite some time yet), a forward facing 5 point harness seat, and a booster seat. So even though it's pricey up front, it will be used probably up until the expiration date on the seat and is thus pretty reasonably priced all in all.

Ax2 · May 2014

Ds is still in his infant seat at 18 months, it goes to 40lbs. He's 21lb and 28" tall right now. We're going to get a convertible in a few months, just before #2 is due.

DiannaVB · May 2014

We used ours until we got tired of toting it out every day for daycare. Then we got one convertible and used the infant seat in the second car. We got the second convertible about 9 months but could have used the infant seat longer.

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