[jensma]

what kind of "Big Kid" carseat do you have??

How long did your infant stay in the infant seat/do you plan to keep them in??

I have seen a LOT of people lately keeping their babies in the infant carrier until they're 1 (i was thinking of a little girl at work who is walking and in an infant carrier which may still be safe but seems silly ) and they just seem so big for that...and I know some of them do outgrown them quicker. Just wondering what your opinions/thoughts on the subject were.

We're registered for 2 different bigger car seats, both of which could be used for 5 to 65 lbs i think....

[amonstersmomma]

I don't have any actual experience with car seats but thought I'd offer my 2 cents anyway

We had originally gotten a Graco Snugride 35 as a gift and were content with it. But a couple days ago my husband was in a car accident and of course we already had the car seat installed and now we can't use it because it's been involved in an accident, even though there is no visible damage to it.

We're talking with our insurance company to see if the car seat can be replaced and if it can then great. But if it can't we're thinking about getting a convertible car seat. I never liked the idea of lugging an infant car seat in and out of stores so that's not really a problem for us. I plan on using a carrier instead. The seat we really want to get is the Britax Advocate 70 CS but the price is a bit much for us right now while in the middle of a move so I think we'll go with the Graco My Ride 65 if the insurance doesn't replace our infant one. If they do then we'll obviously just use the infant one and use the time that he's in it to save for the Britax after we're moved and settled. So in sum my personal preference is for the convertible car seats.

[MommyBeth]

At first I thought I wanted a convertible car seat to start with. Then I was like well if munchkin is sleeping when we get somewhere I don't want to wake her up. So after talking with my mom and Dh we decided on infant carriers for mine and mom's car.(We got one used from friends.) Dh is getting a convertible seat for his car.(also used from same friends) Also I got to thinking she is going to be so small for a little while that it would look like her car seat was swallowing her whole. Also given how cold, windy, and wet our winters can be, I thought it would be easier to deal with just putting a couple of blankets in around her to keep her warm and then putting another over her seat to carry her in some place. And with travel systems you still have the stroller even when the carrier is outgrown.

[KCMomma]

We used the Graco Snugride until she was around 7 or so months. I think she could have gone a bit longer but it was getting harder and harder to carry that weight. I think they can be in it for up to 27lbs??? Not sure about that weight though. Now we have the Graco MyRide65. Love this seat. It's reasonably priced and still very highly rated for safety. Also the rear facing goes up until 40lbs when most other seats (including Britax) only goes to 35lbs. We plan on keeping Paige Rear Facing for as long as possible!!! Just my two cents!

[jensma]

We're registered for the MyRide 65 and the Britax Marathon. Glad to know you guys like these too. I initally said we could put a convertible in DH's car but if we end up doing daycare at some point we'll probably just have 2 bases and 1 carrier for the first part and then we'll both get convertibles car seats.

[Christine-MA]

Addison (at 16.something pounds) is still in her infant seat, although I had planned to switch them this week. But we are going on 2 long trips this month, so I decided to wait until after that (because the infant seat is more reclined).

We have a MR65 for my car, and an Evenflow Triumph Advance in DHs.

[Boo]

First off, I urge everyone to visit the Car Seat Safety board on JM Car Seat Safety - JustMommies Message Boards It's full of a lot of information and the posters there are very welcoming and love to answer questions anyone has. (I've become a little OCD about car seat safety since I found it lol)

OK, this could get lengthy, so please bear with me.

First, I'll answer your questions. Christian is in a Britax Boulevard CS and I wish I would have done real research before choosing this seat. It's a great seat, don't get me wrong, but #1 the CS feature is a waste of money and #2 Britax is near the bottom of the list for seats that are great for ERF (extended rear-facing: see this link for more details http://www.justmommies.com/forums/f7...ar-facing.html (Extended Rear-Facing)). I basically went by people telling me "Britax is the better brand" when that is completely untrue. In fact, other manufacturers are going above and beyond what Britax has to offer (as far as extended-rear facing goes) at a fraction of the cost. They did redesign their entire line (seats are about to be released), but they still seem to be lacking in necessary leg room & height to allow kids to ERF to 3 & 4 years of age. We kept Christian in his infant seat for only a few months because I thought he would be more comfortable in a convertible car seat. We have the Graco SnugRide (22 lbs weight limit) and I plan on keeping Nolan in it until he reaches the weight limit or height (which, for rear facing, is when there is 1" or less of shell above his head).

There are some people that go to a convertible car seat right away but you have to be careful because not all can be used for infants even though they advertise from 5lbs. The lowest strap height is too high on most to safely secure an infant. For rear-facing, the straps must be AT or BELOW the baby's shoulders. Convertible car seats I can think of at the moment that are good for infants are the Graco MyRide 65, Evenflo Triumph Advance, First Years True Fit & True Fit Premier and I believe there are others, but I'm drawing a blank right now (it's early lol). Convertibles that are NOT good for infants are all Britax seats, the Safety 1st Complete Air and the Safety 1st Avenue, just to name a few.

There are still base models with 22 lbs weight limits, but most infant car seats have limits from 30-35 lbs. Obviously no one is going to want to lug around a 35+ lbs car seat so I know that once the car seat is too heavy to carry around with the baby inside, people will leave it in the car and use it kind of like a convertible to get their full money's worth out of it. There's nothing wrong with doing that! I plan on keeping Nolan in his infant seat until he reaches the 22lb weight limit or has less than 1" of shell left above his head. Once he does reach either limit, I plan on getting Christian a seat that accommodates ERF for bigger kids because his Britax offers very little leg room compared to what other seats have to offer. I'm not doing this because it bothers him or he complains but because I want to get him a seat that he can rear-face in until he's 4 (I hope!).

I think I covered everything but I may have missed something. lol Again, I urge you all to head over to the CSS board. I wish I had the knowledge I do now when Christian was a baby. Oh the no-nos I did. I'm just lucky Christian is OK and we never got in an accident or anything. :/ And, if anyone has any questions, don't hesitate in posting on the CSS board. There are lots of members who come and post once to get some info or seat recommendations based on cars, budgets, kids sizes, etc..

[Jodi0804]

We have the Grace Snugride in my car. I don't take the seat in and out anymore since he is around 17 pounds and it gets a bit heavy. In DH's car we installed the Graco MyRide 65 and love it. We took a 350 mile trip to NC and he did great in it. We have another for my car as well but will probably not switch him over for a bit more. We got the MyRide because of the ERF to 40 pounds.

[Boo]

I also wanted to add that all car seats pass the same safety inspections. The "safest" seat is one that fits your child, fits your vehicle and is installed & used properly 100% of the time.

[SassyMama]

We used a Chicco Cortina infant carrier for Siera until she was a little over a year old. She was a preemie so she didn't out grow it and she probably can still fit into it. After a certain point, we just left it in the car and took her in and out.

Now we're using The First Years convertible carseat - she's still rear-facing. I love it and she's comfortable in it. The only thing I don't like is that I have a hard time adjusting the length of the straps (the adjuster piece gets trapped between the carseat and the car. But I figure we'll be fine whenever we decide to turn forward-facing.

[MommaLee]

I have the Graco Snugride 35. It is larger (and heavier) than alot of other infant seats. Personally, I looked for comfort in a seat because I wanted my little girls butt to sit in a nice comfortable seat. I went to buy buy baby in austin where they have every model you could think of out for display and I felt and pushed on every single one of them. The only one that was cushiony was the Graco Snugride 35 because it has the gracopedic foam. Everything else - infant carrier wise - felt like a piece of cloth over plastic.

I'm probably the odd ball here, but Julie only uses the seat to sit it while in the car. She hates the carseat and if you all do not know, I work for a transportation agency that researchs safety including child passenger. So everywhere we go I apologize to her and explain why she cannot sit on my lap and help me drive when she is screaming her head off. I'm lucky that the last few days she has calmed down when I start driving. But GOD help me if I get stuck at a light. Anyways, as soon as we get to our destination she gets taken out of the seat and is carried. When we go to breakfast on Sundays cause that is the only time she comes out to eat with us, we bring in her carseat but again, she is mostly held by me and stares at the other patrons while I eat. If for some reason she is having an off day and will sit in her seat while we eat, we wolf our food down and leave asap! We don't actually lug her seat around very often with her in it.

Julie is tall and skinny. There is alot of room for her in the snugride and she might be able to fit in it until a year. It really depends how tall she gets. The infant carrier is great for us because it is super hot here in Texas and the seats get hot! So it is nice to be able to take the seat out and take it inside so that she is not placed in a hot seat.

[Sam914]

We havent gotten it yet, but we plan to get the Safety First complete air convertible seat, probably around Christmas time. I'm not very strong so i think i wont be able to carry him in his infant carrier even if he reaches the wait limit. I've heard great things about the myride though.

Also for any specific questions the car seat safety board here is great!

[Lauren S]

We took Brady out of his infant seat (Graco Snugride) at around 6 months. I had just gotten pregnant and didn't want to carry the heavy seat anymore. He actually still fits in it even though it's one of the ones that only goes to 22 pounds!

As for convertibles, we have three. We have a Graco MyRide 65 in my car. It's our favorite seat. It has two cup holders built in that Brady loves to keep his toys in. We have a Britax Marathon in DH's car. It's a nice, cushy seat. But it doesn't have the cupholders which we like. I'm also not crazy about the buckle release. You have to push in unlike the MyRide where you push the button down. Sounds like a dumb thing, but when my lupus is acting up and my joints in my fingers ache I can hardly push the Britax button in. Oh and our third seat is a Cosco Scenera (only $39 at WalMart) which he's only been in a handful of times in grandparent cars.

[*Mommy2Camden*]

Camden outgrew his infant seat about a month ago. We have the Graco 65 lb seat that stays in the car.

[KCMomma]

Karly, thanks so much for all the information! It really helps!!!!

[karenwalter]

Connor's still in his infant seat. We purposefully bought the bigger one because I didn't want to have to buy another car seat after such a little time. We have the Graco 32 that goes to 32 pounds and 32 inches. I figure he won't outgrow it weight and height wise for a while. I liked being able to carry him in it when he was smaller, and it was easier to properly get him strapped in when it was out of the car and so little IMO. Even though I wore him while shopping some, for those quick trips where you're just running in and out it was nice to be able to leave him in his seat. And I loved having the car seat attach to the stroller so he could face me while we were walking.

Now that he's bigger (and heavier!) we mostly leave the carseat in the base in the car and just take him in and out. So we're treating it like a convertible but getting our full use out of it. And every once in a while when he does fall asleep in it, we can still take him into the house with us. I'm thinking we'll probably use it this way for a year.

[LindsLuvsSi]

to Karly!!

We started out with skipping the infant seat and using a Britax Blvd....DS hated it!!!!!!! He was tooo small for it, IMO. I wish we didn't spend the $ on that seat. We ended up getting a Graco Snugride and he used it until he was around 7months old I believe? I got a great deal on a First Years True Fit so we decided to use than instead of the Britax. Love love this car seat. DS fit in it great, it was easier to install than the Britax and he has more room than the Britax. We sold the Blvd to a friend, just kick myself for thinking it'd save us money in the long run by buying the convertible to start out with- I highly recommend getting an infant seat- makes eating in restaurants and such much much much easier!!!!! Soooo worth it!! When we go back to the states, I plan to get baby #2 a True Fit seat as well.

[Gray_baby]

The infant seat we have is a Chicco KeyFit 30 (so it goes up to 30lb) but we switched our DD to her convertible at around 18lb because she hated her car seat. We got a MyRide 65 and she loves it, she can see out the window better and she's more upright. She's only about 20lb now and I can't imagine using the infant seat anymore.

[MommaLee]

Hmmm...although I hate to buy ANOTHER carseat, I wonder if buying a convertible my solve the problems I have with Julie. She absolutely despises her infant seat. So now I'm wondering if she had one to see out better if she'd be more happy? Things to think about.

[samspain]

Excellent advice Karly!

I have the chicco keyfit 30, up to 30lbs and 36" (the european version) and DD still uses it regularly. Shes 17 months, 33" (she has another 3" shell height left) and she still weighs 18.5lbs, it expires in December and I will miss it!! I never took it out of the car as personally I dont like carseats on strollers. Now we use it if we are going in anyone elses car.

For our car her main seat is a Britax First class. Its not one of the most expensive seats here, I love it, its very roomy, quite high as it has a big base, easy to install (even in a 2 door car) and RF to 35lbs, which at her rate will probably be well over 3 years old. Its quite wide in the leg area so she sits like a frog, and isnt cramped at all.