Product Spotlight: Car Seats (All-In-One vs Infant)

nerdeebird · May 2018

Hey Guys,

Hopefully it's ok to post 2 product spotlights, I know there is already one about double strollers posted today. It reminded me about carseats! General brand suggestions are great! But I was particularly wondering about people's experience with all-in-one carseats that you can use from infant all the way through vs. infant specific car seats that then have to be upgraded when they outgrow. Has anyone tried an all-in-one with a newborn? Likes? Dislikes? Mainly I am considering one because of cost/best use over time, but definitely can see the drawbacks (having to always take the baby out, not being able to use with a stroller, etc.).

Let's hear your thoughts/opinions/experiences/suggestions!

maureenmce · May 2018

It's a pain in the ass that they grow out of them (relatively) quickly, but I'm a big fan of a newborn car seat that you can take out and click into a stroller or just carry with you because newborns sleep a LOT and (at least mine) was very easy to wake up and very tough to get back to sleep, so it was amazing to have a carseat I could just take out of the car and click into a stroller for a walk while she snoozed. (Or to carry up to my apartment and *very delicately* transfer to her crib once I was safely in her quiet room not, say, a loud parking garage.) We have the chicco keyfit 30 for newborn days

Once she outgrew that, we switched to Chicco Nextfit and we love it!

PensiveCrayon · May 2018

Yup, agreeing with @maureenmce. Get the bucket seat. My son never made the sleep transfer save for a few lucky times, but it was nice to be able to snap into my stroller or use at the grocery store. (I know, those special car seat carts aren’t considered the safest but I never had a problem and it was like a miracle the day I discovered them.)

We have a Cybex Aton 2. It’s $$$ but it’s super great. German-engineered, with a metal foot on the base for added stability in the terrible event of a crash. (Yes, ours was crash tested and the babe came out 100% fine.) It also has a European belt path, so it’s very easy to strap in without the base.

When we sized up (maybe around 9 months? Maybe sooner?) we got the Britax Boulevard Clicktight. It is a bit of a beast but very easy to switch between cars, which was one of the features I was particularly looking for.

runrinserepeat · May 2018

+1 what these ladies said. I don’t feel particularly strong about any brand, but the infant seat will save your sanity. I briefly considered buying an all in one, and then I imagined taking a newborn out to go to target or the grocery store. Newp. Not happening. Especially not in December when it’s cold as balls out -I’m not going to want to spend extra time fussing over a tiny infant with the straps and whatnot. Click and go.

pickle-chips · May 2018

I'm going to sort of disagree with everyone else. We have had an all-in-one (the Clek Fllo) since BB1 was born and he is now 15 months. He was a February baby, which is mid-winter where we live (Atlantic Canada). And we love our Clek!

Granted, we didn't have a stroller, so the benefits of the click and go didn't apply to us. We wore him in a ring sling or a SSC. We never had any problems transferring a sleepy baby. He would sometimes stir during transfers, but would be back to sleep almost instantly once he was strapped onto us. There were a couple of big snowstorms that had me in the back seat getting him into the sling, which isn't the most comfortable? But I found tossing him in the sling to zip into the store or run errands was no problem. I have shoulder issues, so lugging a baby capsule wasn't really an option for me - that particular motion / pressure makes them pop out. ha.

The Clek is also one of the narrowest carseats on offer. It doesn't eat up the backseat of our tiny hatchback. Another selling point for us was that Clek is a Canadian company which manufactures its seats in North America. We are going with the same seat for BB2.

All of that being said, I do not dispute any of the points made by the other ladies. Baby capsules definitely seem to be the most popular choice.

mckcak23 · May 2018

We had a baby carrier for my car and an all in one for my husband's truck. For us I didn't see the point in a base for my husband's truck because we do not use it much. He picks up from daycare but if we go anywhere as a family we take my car. This time my plan is to buy front facing specific car seats for my older son and keep the all in one for the baby. My older son out grew the baby carrier in about 6 months because he is stupid tall but it was nice for those few months. I will also say that I did generally wear my son when going into stores because the carrier took up too much of the basket for me to do any real damage shopping.

CecilB93 · May 2018

I'm with the majority, we had the newborn carrier with my son and I can't imagine not having it. It's easier when he was sleeping to just click it out, or if we went to restaurants he had a place to be, we didn't have to hold him while trying to eat. I did have carriers (ring sling, wrap) that I loved for grocery shopping as it kept the cart space clear, or if we were just walking around. But I think the newborn seat is worth it. I don't remember when we switched him over, but we did get an All In One after that so that he's set from here on out. We've only used Graco, it's what was given to us for our first seat, so we've just stuck with what we know since it's worked well for us!

runrinserepeat · May 2018

Yeah, @ay-eff if I lived somewhere warmer, I think it might be more of an option. I’m in Wisconsin, so there will (hopefully) be lots of snow when LO is tiny.

wickedtiny · May 2018

I have two older daughters and can't imagine not having used an infant seat when they were infants. We actually owned a Radian at one point; used it after my younger was out of the infant seat. (It's an all in one from infant to high back booster.) It was so enormous and heavy I didn't end up using it into the booster years because it wasn't easy/convenient enough to move around in the car and that sort of thing. So I spent a whole bunch of money on the thing and ended up buying a dedicated booster anyway. In my experience the all-in-ones aren't super amazing in any particular stage; they're only super amazing at being all-in-one. For this baby I'll stick with a car seat that matches the stage, meaning I'll have to get a new one each stage, and that's ok w me.

There is nothing like the convenience of the newborn bucket seat.

eta: I used a Graco SnugRide with both my of DDs. They're 7 and almost 11 now, though, so I have no idea what the latest and greatest infant seat is these days.

ebk20 · May 2018

I was so sad when I had to switch my LO out of the infant seat. I loved just letting him sleep and moving his car seat wherever we were. It does stink that they grow out of them so quickly but I would say use it while you can. If the baby is smaller, some can stay in the infant seat at 1yo.

We have the britax clicktights as well (advocate and boulevard) and love them. Pretty large but so safe and super easy to install. It doesn't matter how safe a car seat is if it isn't installed correctly.

ScootsMcG · May 2018

We've always used an all in one. We like the recaro brand. They are nice (I think similar to Britax) and my car nut husband thinks it's cool they're made by the company that makes high end race car seats. It was pretty much the only baby item he got excited about with our first, so I was all for it:). We've never had too many issues with transfer and are big fans of baby wearing when shopping, etc. We live in wi and when its cold, I just throw a blanket over baby when going from the car to inside. I admit, I do feel a little jealous when I see new mom's getting to eat with TWO hands at restaurants when their babies are in the infant car seats, but you can wear baby at the table, they just get a few crumbs on their head:) I also have some sciatic nerve issues, so I didn't want to add any weight, especially just on one side, to carrying the baby. And its nice to only have to buy one car seat... I think ours are rated for up to 75 lbs!

One thing I think I think easy to forget in the zillions of car seat options out there is that if you're buying a new car seat in the US, they are required to meet certain safety standards. So, regardless of price, they will all keep baby safe, which is the important thing:).

Jens_Hoes · May 2018

I have an infant car seat for my daughter.
I have the travel system for this car seat : https://www.gracobaby.com/en-US/Infant-Car-Seats/snugride<sup>-reg;<-sup>-click-connect<sup>-trade;<-sup>-35-infant-car-seat

But they don't make it anymore because they don't use the fabric anymore or something. But the convenience of not having to move her out of her seat was fantastic. She was a TERRIBLE sleeper as a baby and there was no way I'd be able to transfer her without waking her. She's almost 11 months and still fits. Not sure when we will move her but when I do, she'll be moving to the graco 4ever 4 in 1 car seat.

kristah2 · May 2018

I used the infant bucket seat from November - probably June. Then we switched.
I did find it easy to take the seat with me as opposed to take him out. I also loved then I could slap a fleece cover on the seat and not have to worry about finding car seat safe snow suits and then worry about over heating on long drives. It was definitely convenient.
That said I was glad when the weather was nicer and we switched to the Britax Marathon. It was nice not to lug that heavy car seat around for a change.

texas_t · May 2018

We started with a Britax B-Safe and moved him after a year (he's a peanut) to a Britax Marathon. We'll have 2 infant seats this go around because they're easy to click into a travel system.

katy0990 · May 2018

I second @texas_t We loved the Britax B Safe. Personally, I would rather have an infant seat since, as others have said, if the baby falls sleep you can just carry the car seat in or put it on the stroller. I also loved it for my March baby because we used a car seat cover and it kept him warm, so we did not have to mess with coats until he outgrew that seat. I loved the Britax seat because it has metal in in, which makes it a bit heavier, but safer.

AGK2015 · May 2018

We still have a bucket seat (the Chicco Keyfit), but I'm still debating whether to bother with it or whether we'll just trade it in and get another Diono Radian R120. I found the bucket to be awfully heavy to carry (in fairness, my kid came out at 9lbs 14oz), especially when we lived in the city, which meant parking far away, then trying to lug the carrier up multiple flights of stairs. We didn't really use a stroller, which means the travel system wasn't an advantage for us, either; we accomplished most errands with babywearing (because who doesn't love extra newborn snuggles?). And with only one car, portability between vehicles isn't a factor for us.

trucksntutus · May 2018

I've used both. I loved my chicco keyfit 30 for an infant carrier given it's so convenient w/ the base & easy to maneuver. I also have the stroller it goes with too. Currently I use the Britax Boulevard for my DD who's almost 2, tech I could have used that since she was born but I just love the convenience of the infant carrier and I don't have to lift the tiny baby out of the seat each time.

I'll be using DD's old keyfit 30 as it hasn't expired yet.

clbness · May 2018

I too used the infant bucket seat until about 10 months. We had a Graco Click-something-or-other and DH and I each had a base in our vehicle. We also had a little stroller frame it would snap into. That system was so handy and we'll use it again. For convertible seats, we have a Chicco NextFit in my Jeep and a Graco (4Ever AIO or Extend 2 Fit, can't remember) in DH's car (we're still rear facing at almost 2 years). Now that I think about it, we might have to get a new infant seat, as it's probably expired (we got it second hand from a friend).

mckcak23 · May 2018

ooooh I forgot about restaurants. We took my son with us everywhere which includes a lot of bars. It was really nice to have the seat to put him in. I kept the carrier in the car for awhile after he grew out of it just for use in restaurants because he was not ready to sit up for long periods of time.

borgie05 · May 2018

I loved our bucket seat! Way easy. Also easier when you go out to eat before baby is big enough to sit in a high chair. We had a Peg Perego and loved it!

nerdeebird · May 2018

thanks for all your replies ladies! Looks like the general consensus is the infant carseat over just starting with an all-in-one. I'm sure my mom will insist I get an infant carrier, so maybe if I mention not wanting one because of having to buy two the grandparents will buy one haha

carseats are just so bloody expensive!

@AGK2015 @ScootsMcG I'm actually worried about the point you ladies brought up about how heavy the infant carriers are...I have no upper body strength and every time I see one of those infant carriers I just think about awkward and hard they look to carry! I feel like I might prefer to baby wear most of the time for that reason. But I can see everyone's points for the occasional times I don't want to/it's inconvenient that the infant carrier would definitely come in handy.

@ay-eff sounds like the all-in-one worked out for you! I'll have to look into the Clek brand, I like the feature you mentioned about it being more narrow!

katy0990 · May 2018

@nerdeebird It does get to be quite a workout carrying it around. I would definitely get one that connects to your stroller to save you some of the lugging. I wanted to keep my son in his through the winter (March baby) because of the car seat cover and by the time we switched him at 13 months I was building up lots of strength on my right side due to the 20 lb baby and 11 lb car seat!

wickedtiny · May 2018

There are stroller frames that you can snap the bucket seat into. I don't mean the "systems" that are a big stroller that you fit the seat into, but rather just the frame that the bucket IS the entire seat part of the stroller. Graco makes one called SnugRider and there are other universal ones.

eta: they also make a "room for 2" stand and ride one.

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Product Spotlight: Car Seats (All-In-One vs Infant)

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