More on car seats

NeonNoon · December 2014

I'm hoping to decide on a car seat in the next few days. I'm still confused as to whether to buy an infant seat or a convertible. We have quite limited rear seat legroom in our SUV, so that adds to the puzzle. (Also, we hope to have more kids, so an infant seat will hopefully get reused if we go that way).

A question for STMs: how important is it to buy a travel system? I've read that some babies just don't stay asleep once the seat isn't in the car. I'm also not too excited about removing and reattaching the infant seat through a half door on the FJ cruiser.

@hikerlady - did you end up buying the Cybex Aton? Which one did you go with? Does it fit well?

TIA. Feel free to discuss other models/choices.

mandyreads · December 2014

I have never bought a travel system until now. I bought it for the convenience...or at least I hope it will be.
But I definitely recommend an infant seat bc otherwise going into places like Target or walmart...you'd have to carry them without one until thet are sitting up on their own. I know those stores have carts with built in seats...but they can be hard to come by if it is busy.
Plus it is nice letting them continue sleeping if they have fallen asleep going somewhere. Many a time I leave them in the seat while at church or family's houses.

JJBoden · December 2014

I suggest an infant seat with a snap and go stroller frame or a city mini stroller with an adaptor. Travel systems are too bulky. I've never used them with either kid. I had a Chicco one and never used the stroller. It's just a beast.

mattandlora · December 2014

www.lucieslist.com has some GREAT reviews of carseats and travel systemswhich address your specific situations and questions. I have never regretted a purchase which she recommended on her blog.

mandyreads · December 2014

I will say we went with the Urbini (I think that is how it is spelled) and the stroller folds up like an umbrella stroller. So it doesn't take up much room. And the seat just clicks right in. And I plan on buying a convertible carseat through our insurance this month to give us an extra carseat. It is only $25.

niknak1208 · December 2014

Everyone's needs are different. Personally, I hated our convertible seat. It's HUGE. It was $300. We bought it after my son grew out of his infant seat. (he's 6). The thought is that you'll never need another seat because it takes them all the way from infancy to booster. BUT if you do that.. make sure your car can accommodate it because the seats are typically big. Also, make sure you keep the manual and all the parts! My husband was a dummy and didn't save the manual.. can't find the seat parts etc etc. Sooo.. needless to say.. I have a $300 seat that my son sat in for 2 years and then we've bought two seats since then! now he's in a backless booster which that seat turned into but DH lost all the stuff! Waste.

I prefer infant carriers. This baby is due in June so we'll see how different that is but my 2 kids were both winter babies so it was snowing and cold and yucky anytime we were out the first several months. I liked that I didn't have to bundle them in up in snowsuits etc. I had a JJCole bundle me in my infant carrier and that kept them cozy and warm and all I had to to was put the flap over the carseat to shield them from the weather and go wherever I was going. My BFF had summer babies and she had infant seats and ended up taking the baby out a lot of the time so she wasn't carrying around the big carrier. So I think it just depends on what your needs are.

Strollers.. same thing. I think it depends. With my son, he was my first, I didn't do a travel system. It was huge and a pain so instead I bought a smaller light weight stroller that my infant seat snapped into. Worked fine.

This time.. I have 2 kids and my DD will only be 2 1/2 when this baby is born so I felt like I would still be using a stroller with her. I don't necessarily use strollers on a day to day basis. But in the summer we love to go to the Zoo or the park or walks around our neighborhood. She is active and she doesn't necessarily want to sit in the stroller when we're at the zoo or out for walks.. but she gets pooped so I like the option of having a stroller for her. So this time I'm getting the Graco ready2grow double stroller because it has a ton of options. AND I found one on craigslist that's basically brand new and comes with the infant seat/base for $150! That's half price. It's gender neutral too. I'm so excited. I'm picking up next week when the mom I've been talking to gets back from holiday. I think it will be perfect because the graco snugride seat snaps in.. plus there's another seat that can be an actual stroller seat.. or a bench or a stand and ride option. I think it will be perfect for the baby and DD. My hubby works A LOT so I'm with kids alone A LOT .. i need a way that I can get around with all three of them.

NicoleWI · December 2014

Infant seat, for SURE. I'm in a cold climate and have had winter babies. WE could put them in the infant seat with some blankets and a cover on top and transport them easily that way. I can't imagine using a convertible seat. Also, there are LOTS of times when they sleep in the seat and you can just bring it inside, set it in a corner, and let them keep sleeping. Absolutely infant seat, for me. I'm actually buying a new one b/c ours expired, even though we have convertibles we could use.

Travel system depends. We will get another Chicco Keyfit 30 and we have the Cortina stroller that goes with it. I actually really like that stroller and we have used it a lot. That said, with winter babies in a cold place, I think it's less necessary. I would vote to get it as I think our system stroller is a really nice general purpose stroller. You can additionally get a cheap umbrella stroller. We ALSO got an expensive, 3 wheeled, heavy duty stroller, and I don't know if that was worth it overall. We use it up north at a cottage where we go on hikes and stuff, so that worked, but otherwise, we wouldn't have really NEEDED it.

The other one we use all the time now with kids close together is a sit-n-stand (for babies/toddlers). If you are having another baby soon, the time goes fast until you need a double. I wouldn't put megabucks into a deluxe single.

NavyMom77 · December 2014

The big reasons I wanted an infant seat are to be able to carry sleeping baby in and out of the car without waking, to be able to plop the whole thing in a cart while shopping, for use at restaurants when baby was too small for a high chair, bundling baby during the colder months for travel and for the ease of transporting one carrier from car to car with an extra base (who picks her up from daycare changes on a daily basis depending on DH and my schedule). DD was in the carrier til around 6ish months - until she was big enough to sit up on her own in shopping carts and restaurant high chairs. Your needs may be very different, though. I have a good friend who only baby wears (no stroller) so going straight to a convertible made the most practical sense for her.

I didn't go with a travel system with full-size stroller, though. We got a Chicco KeyFit 30 and the Liteway stroller, which is a high-quality umbrella stroller that the carrier snapped into. It's been a great stroller for both with the carrier and now without.

NeonNoon · January 2015

Thanks for all the tips and links everyone. They've helped a bunch in finalizing our decision.

Here's an update for anyone who's in a similar situation.

We ended up going with the Cybex Aton Q. It was hard to decide because the differences were so marginal among the competing designs. We were also looking at the Cybex Aton 2 and the Nuna Pipa. The Aton Q fits in the middle back seat quite comfortably but the base has to be attached by seat belt since LATCH is not approved in that position. We will probably use it with LATCH 'off-label' if we go this way. It also fits behind the driver's seat for my ideal seat position (I'm 5'4), but not for H's who is about 6'2. The bigger problem we have is if we decide to leave the seat in the car, it seems it would be pretty awkward to get LO in and out of the seat since the back door is only half-sized (doesn't extend all the way to the back of the seat). We're probably going to have to strap in LO in the house and then position the seat in the truck. At the destination, we might have to remove the seat and use the back of the truck to unstrap. (I'm also expecting to use the back of the truck as a diaper station.. lol). I guess time will tell.

We liked the Nuna Pipa too, but it has rigid LATCH attachments which don't let us use them off-label. The Nuna Pipa is a couple of pounds lighter than the Aton Q, and $50 cheaper.

As for the stroller, we decided to hold-off until we understand our post-baby lifestyle better. We know we'll need one for air-travel at some point but hope to be baby wearing as far possible.

marijaa333 · January 2015

@NeonNoon thanks for the update. We'll probably be thinking along the same lines, so reading about your decision-making process is helpful. Can you clarify what you mean by using the seat "off label" ?

NeonNoon · January 2015

Our truck has LATCH lower anchor points on the rear left and right seats (2 on each side), but not in the center position. Toyota only approves use of LATCH in those positions for our model. We are able to attach the infant seat to the inner anchor points of the left and right seats (one of each), for use in the center position. This makes the distance between the two attachment points greater than 11", and seats are not tested for that. The welding of the anchor points may also not be designed for those force vectors. So, while it fits, it's not approved use. We will probably be using this improvised method. Using a seat belt in place of LATCH is approved in the center position, though. You have to figure out how to lock the seat belt once in position depending on your car model. Hope this helps @marijaa333 and good luck.

Bostonchelle · January 2015

@NeonNoon‌ I'd suggest either consulting a car seat tech or even a carseat tech on Facebook (Car seat Lady or Car Seat for the Littles for ex.) before using the improvised latch system you have come up with. Most will say not to improvise in this way as it may/will cause the car seat to move in a direction it should not be moving.

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