Is it worth it?

[snowbird25ca]

I'm trying to figure out if this is really a good idea, or if I just *think* it's a good diea because I'd love to have a SS1. :o

Ds is 5mos old with a long torso and has a bit less than 1" of room above his head in his snugride. We've bought a radian for him to move into, and he fits it well, so fit isn't the issue...

Do you think that I'd really get that much longer out of a SS1 to make it worth buying one? We go to my parents 1.5hrs away on the weekend quite often and the kids sleep on the way back. Right now we bring the carrier in, let ds get back into a deep sleep, take him out of his car seat and put him straight to bed and he sleeps until he wakes to feed. Once he's in a convertible, we obviously won't be able to do this.

So... do you think we'd get our money's worth from a SS1 at his age? Or am I just wanting one for the sake of playing with it and we wouldn't really get much time from it? :o

[Jewels]

I said "yes" partially because I would love one too, but at 5 months you could possibly get another year out of it and getting you through our cold frigid months of winter (well hopefully the worst of it). My ds would have fit in the SS1 until he was just over 2 and I know cold weather so I would say yes :rolleyes:

[snowbird25ca]

I said "yes" partially because I would love one too, but at 5 months you could possibly get another year out of it and getting you through our cold frigid months of winter (well hopefully the worst of it). My ds would have fit in the SS1 until he was just over 2 and I know cold weather so I would say yes :rolleyes:

This was something I was wondering about... but would 2.5" more than the snugride provides give him that much more time?

At least according to the carseat measurements site, there's only a 2.5" difference in the shell height - maybe kids sit in it differently though? Maybe I can talk dh into a trip to toys'r us when we're out tonight to try ds in the safeseat.

As an aside - how much would you ask for a 5pt front adjust snugride that was used for 5mos? no stains, no accidents etc... (blah blah blah, the technical stuff you'd want to know about a used car seat.) ;) It was $150 at toys'r us, got it on sale for $130. Do you think I could ask $100 reasonably?

[arly1983]

Trudy,
I want your snugride, Check your PMs.

[snowbird25ca]

Trudy,
I want your snugride, Check your PMs.

Hi Arly, I got your PM and I"d be interested... but I'm in Canada and my seat wouldn't be approved for use in the US & vice versa. Too bad though, because I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[arly1983]

Oh, thats too bad.

[Jewels]

I think you could try asking for $100 you can always come down in price. What is the DOM? I was also looking and noticed it is very hard to find a 5pt with upfront adjust without getting the seat with the travel system :rolleyes: All I could find was the 5pt with the rear adjust!

I have heard that some kids outgrow the comfortsport before the SS1 (can't remember who said that; sorry). My DS hangs over the ends of the snugride and his head is just even or slightly below (but he is still too big for the SS1) the top of the SS1.

[CDNTech]

I haven't voted yet but I will go do it right away. I would totally get a SS1! Mikkel has about 1/4" left to go (torso wise) before outgrowing the SS1. He is currently 22 months old, 26lbs and 34 inches tall. I tried him in the blue striped one at Sears - no gracopedic foam. He outgrew his Snugride (20lb, 26in model) just before he turned 5 months old. I pushed him to 5 months in it. No way was my baby outgrowing my brand new, had to have a new infant seat, that quickly:rolleyes: I was sooo tempted to go buy one now but I'm waiting until the next baby so I can have the latest model.

Now I am selling my Snugride (8649MTR - Gracopedic foam, harness covers, winter boot) and was also wondering what to price it at? The next baby is getting an SS1. Our winters are too cold to lug a baby in and out when we don't have to, lol.:D

[Jewels]

I haven't voted yet but I will go do it right away. I would totally get a SS1! Mikkel has about 1/4" left to go (torso wise) before outgrowing the SS1. He is currently 22 months old, 26lbs and 34 inches tall. I tried him in the blue striped one at Sears - no gracopedic foam. He outgrew his Snugride (20lb, 26in model) just before he turned 5 months old. I pushed him to 5 months in it. No way was my baby outgrowing my brand new, had to have a new infant seat, that quickly:rolleyes: I was sooo tempted to go buy one now but I'm waiting until the next baby so I can have the latest model.

Now I am selling my Snugride (8649MTR - Gracopedic foam, harness covers, winter boot) and was also wondering what to price it at? The next baby is getting an SS1. Our winters are too cold to lug a baby in and out when we don't have to, lol.:D

I agree, our winters are too cold!

Also remember that the infant seats are outgrown when there is less then 1" of hard shell above the baby's head or they outgrow it by the stated weight limit.

I have heard a good equation to price your seat by is take the total devide it by its life (6years) to figure out how much it is worth per year of use and then deduct from the original total the amount you have used (ie. $189 devide by 6 =$31.5/year, so if it still has 4 years of life it would be worth $126; 2years of life =$63 etc.) (My snugride with upfront adjust was $189 :rolleyes: )

[Gypsy]

Yes.

My ds outgrew the snugride by height before he was 4 months old, a few weeks after his second birthday I played with a SS1 at BRU and he BARELY fit in it, he had one inch above his head and he was at the weight limit.

[snowbird25ca]

I think you could try asking for $100 you can always come down in price. What is the DOM? I was also looking and noticed it is very hard to find a 5pt with upfront adjust without getting the seat with the travel system :rolleyes: All I could find was the 5pt with the rear adjust!

I have heard that some kids outgrow the comfortsport before the SS1 (can't remember who said that; sorry). My DS hangs over the ends of the snugride and his head is just even or slightly below (but he is still too big for the SS1) the top of the SS1. Here he is in the snugride (I will be removing my pic later today, Trudy maybe you could let me know once you've seen it so I can delete it, thanks)


Thanks Jewels. Is that a 29" snugride? (all front adjust are 29", right?)

I have to double check the manufacture date, but I know it's less than 1yr old. I'm thinking June 06?

Depending on the mood dd is in after our trip to wal-mart tonight we'll try ds in the SS1 at toys'r us tonight. I'll be sure to post back. ;)

[snowbird25ca]

Yes.

My ds outgrew the snugride by height before he was 4 months old, a few weeks after his second birthday I played with a SS1 at BRU and he BARELY fit in it, he had one inch above his head and he was at the weight limit.

Thanks. :) Was your snugride a 26" or 29" length limit?

[CDNTech]

I agree, our winters are too cold!

Also remember that the infant seats are outgrown when there is less then 1" of hard shell above the baby's head or they outgrow it by the stated weight limit.

The 1/4" he has left is actually including the 1" rule, so really, he has 1 1/4" left to the top of the shell. Just to clarify;)

[joolsplus3]

What? There are frugal moms voting who aren't recommending stocking up on seats for any and every reason? (lol, just kidding ;) )

I didn't get mine till my dd was 8 months, she would have outgrown the 20 pound/26 inch snugride at 4-5 months, and she STILL has several inches over her head, now, at 14 months.

Although...... I only needed it because I have two older kiddos to chase around and it always seems to be at naptime (LOTS of extra curricular actities and we went out to eat a LOT), and I found the seat for $99 which made it a bargain... seriously, without the older kids I could have skipped it and been happy with a convertible sooner. Also, my garage has been out of commission, if I had at least a garage to walk right into and put her in her convertible, I would have gone to a convertible sooner (we've been having work done...I couldn't imagine buckling her outside in the driveway or on the street all winter! the safeseat was great!)

[scatterbunny]

I voted YES. :D

[broken4u05]

I think yes. I love this seat

[Gypsy]

Thanks. :) Was your snugride a 26" or 29" length limit?

It was a 29 inch snugride.

I have big kids, they were both almost 20 pounds at 4 months, and 26/27 inches then too, however they both have long torso's which is why ds outgrew the snugride by height before 4 months.

[snowbird25ca]

Julie - That's part of what I'm thinking... we don't have a garage, and while we do have remote start now, we still have a walk down the sidewalk to get to our car. And with a 2.5 yr old, it would be handy to be able to have ds already buckled in.

So we went to TRU tonight, and I put ds in the ss1. Here's some pic's to compare the SS1 to his snugride: (clicking on the pictures will show a bigger version.)

<img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/snowbird25ca/car%20seats/th_rdadianmarch07017.jpg" border="0"/> (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/snowbird25ca/car%20seats/rdadianmarch07017.jpg) <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/snowbird25ca/car%20seats/th_rdadianmarch07018.jpg" border="0"/> (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/snowbird25ca/car%20seats/rdadianmarch07018.jpg) <img src="http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/snowbird25ca/car%20seats/th_rdadianmarch07020.jpg" border="0"/> (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/snowbird25ca/car%20seats/rdadianmarch07020.jpg)

And here is just a full shot of him in the SS1. He's actually in the middle slots, so I'm wondering why it seems like he doesn't have that much extra headroom. :confused:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y194/snowbird25ca/car%20seats/rdadianmarch07016.jpg

It sure fits him nicely though and I wish we'd had it from the start... I'm going to try and talk dh into it - if we could get through next winter with it, it'd totally be worth it. I think if we could sell the snugride and then put that money towards it, and use the radian in the meantime (once the weather is warmer,) that that might make it an easier sell to dh. ;)

He's going to think I'm as obsessed about car seats as I am about diapers... and I won't even begin to tell you how many different types of cloth diapers we've had through our house. LOL. :p

[Jewels]

Thanks Jewels. Is that a 29" snugride? (all front adjust are 29", right?)

My seat was only a 26", it has a DOM of 2003 :rolleyes: But I used it until I had 1" of room left and he was still under weight wise.

The SS1 you have your DS in, does that have the gracopedic foam under the bum and in the hip area? If it does it might make him have less room in the seat. Also in the vehicle he may have more room and depending on the angle of the seat might give you a bit more room to work with as well. I have my MA in the centre and DS is right at the 2nd from top slots but when I had the MA install outward he had a good 1/2" from that 2nd slot :rolleyes: I would try the SS1 in the vehicle too. Too bad you didn't try this last week, I was on Sears.ca and they don't have their SS1 on for $150 anymore :(

[snowbird25ca]

My seat was only a 26", it has a DOM of 2003 :rolleyes: But I used it until I had 1" of room left and he was still under weight wise.

The SS1 you have your DS in, does that have the gracopedic foam under the bum and in the hip area? If it does it might make him have less room in the seat. Also in the vehicle he may have more room and depending on the angle of the seat might give you a bit more room to work with as well. I have my MA in the centre and DS is right at the 2nd from top slots but when I had the MA install outward he had a good 1/2" from that 2nd slot :rolleyes: I would try the SS1 in the vehicle too. Too bad you didn't try this last week, I was on Sears.ca and they don't have their SS1 on for $150 anymore :(

Yeah, bummer... but Sears has carseats on sale so often... and so does TRU. I'm thinking we have another month in his snugride, and it's starting to warm up, so I wouldn't worry about using the radian for a few weeks if I needed to wait once his snugride was sold.

I don't think this seat had the gracopedic foam - it's the kendall pattern, is there a way to check if it does? I'd wondered about that. And I had set the seat on a gliding ottoman, so I'm sure the angle wasn't the best. Will have to try it in our car I guess - although TRU didn't have the seat by itself in store.. only in a travel system. I think I probably looked kind of funny rethreading the harness and everything and then moving ds from one infant carrier into the other... lol.

[arly1983]

If you go on gracobaby.com you can take a look at each individual seat and see what features are offered. It is a really cool website. I like to play with it.

[arly1983]

Kendall was in the travel system section and it does not have gracopetic foam.

[CDNTech]

In Calgary (not sure about Edmonton) the only Gracopedic models are sold at E-Children and Kacz Kids. All other SS1's out there have no gracopedic foam.

[Niea]

Forgive my ignorance because I don't know much about the SS1, other than it looks like a larger version of the Snugride with some extra features. Does it's recline adjust?

I ask because there is NO WAY that my DD would have been happy in an infant seat beyond 9 mos or so. She couldn't stand to be so reclined back and would constantly struggle to sit up, which of course she couldn't because of the harness. Then that lead to lots of fussiness and crying whenever she was in the seat. We had to move her to a convertable seat anyway (she outgrew her Snugride) but I tell ya, she was SO MUCH happier in the convertible. So if I had a SS1 with her, it wouldn't have mattered how long she'd have fit in it, it just wouldn't have been a good solution for her past a certain age.

[joolsplus3]

Forgive my ignorance because I don't know much about the SS1, other than it looks like a larger version of the Snugride with some extra features. Does it's recline adjust?

I ask because there is NO WAY that my DD would have been happy in an infant seat beyond 9 mos or so. She couldn't stand to be so reclined back and would constantly struggle to sit up, which of course she couldn't because of the harness. Then that lead to lots of fussiness and crying whenever she was in the seat. We had to move her to a convertable seat anyway (she outgrew her Snugride) but I tell ya, she was SO MUCH happier in the convertible. So if I had a SS1 with her, it wouldn't have mattered how long she'd have fit in it, it just wouldn't have been a good solution for her past a certain age.
Yes, it can be installed as upright as you can get it (which is still about 45 degrees in my car, but a more slanted seat it can be installed tighter at the belt and more upright).

Your dd wasn't alone...many, many kids HATE the snugride, not because of the recline, they just hate it...so far, I haven't heard of kids hating the Safeseat... :)

[Niea]

Yes, it can be installed as upright as you can get it (which is still about 45 degrees in my car, but a more slanted seat it can be installed tighter at the belt and more upright).

Your dd wasn't alone...many, many kids HATE the snugride, not because of the recline, they just hate it...so far, I haven't heard of kids hating the Safeseat... :)

Awesome! Good to know, then! Thanks :)

I was thinking of just keeping the Snugride (DOM early 2005) for use on kiddo #2 (but that's going be at least 2 years away). But since the seat will be getting older then, even if it's just sitting in my closet, I may just get rid of it now and buy a new seat when I need it. And as great as the SS1 seems, I may go with that or whatever great thing happens to be on the market at that time.

[NatenMaddiesMommy]

I think yes, especially if you have cold winters and older children to haul around. Now that the weather has broke we moved our 9mo into a convertible seat, and I absolute hate it when she falls asleep and I have to take her out of the car. I am considering one when it's time for baby #3.

Does anyone know if the SS1 fits/snaps onto Graco strollers that were part of a Graco Snugride travel system? I'm giving our Snugride to a friend due in August since it doesn't expire for another 2 years, but I'm wondering if it's even worth it to hang onto the stroller if I'm planning on getting an SS1 in the future.

[Jeanum]

The SS1 is compatible with any stroller that's compatible with the Snugride according to what I've read on gracobaby.com so it should work. :)

[NatenMaddiesMommy]

The SS1 is compatible with any stroller that's compatible with the Snugride according to what I've read on gracobaby.com so it should work. :)

SWEET!!!! Then I guess I'm keeping the stroller.

[smithmom]

You know i said YES!!!! lol:p

[smithmom]

Does anyone know if the SS1 fits/snaps onto Graco strollers that were part of a Graco Snugride travel system? I'm giving our Snugride to a friend due in August since it doesn't expire for another 2 years, but I'm wondering if it's even worth it to hang onto the stroller if I'm planning on getting an SS1 in the future.

Yes, the SS snaps on to anything graco made that was/is for the SR. Its just a tighter fit.

ETA: I see someone else answered that already,lol

[Loves2sing]

I just can't help but think that he doesn't have a whole ton of room left in there. Considering that it is now officially Spring, and slowley but surley the weather is warming up, I personally don't think it would be worth it. How tall was your current snug ride? Maybe I think differently because my daughter fit in hers until about 15 months, and by 13 months I said "forget it! she is way to heavy!" So we moved her into her Marathon. If you could sell your snugride, to some poor unsuspecting Mother who doesn't know about the safe seat;) , and get it on sale at Sears, maybe just go on a "Baby Days", or Scratch and Save day. Also, you can call your local Sears to find out what goes on sale 1st thing Saturday morning. Most Saturday sales start at 8am, and are over at 10am. If you want it, it's worth a try that way!

[snowbird25ca]

I just can't help but think that he doesn't have a whole ton of room left in there. Considering that it is now officially Spring, and slowley but surley the weather is warming up, I personally don't think it would be worth it. How tall was your current snug ride? Maybe I think differently because my daughter fit in hers until about 15 months, and by 13 months I said "forget it! she is way to heavy!" So we moved her into her Marathon. If you could sell your snugride, to some poor unsuspecting Mother who doesn't know about the safe seat;) , and get it on sale at Sears, maybe just go on a "Baby Days", or Scratch and Save day. Also, you can call your local Sears to find out what goes on sale 1st thing Saturday morning. Most Saturday sales start at 8am, and are over at 10am. If you want it, it's worth a try that way!

Our snugride has the 29" limit on it. I know that he'll be too heavy to carry in the carrier on a regular basis, but having the option is really what I'm looking for, a lot of the time it'll be left in the car like a convertible. Plus if he gets even to 15mos then we'll be past half of next winter. ;)

He's really getting too heavy to comfortably carry in the snugride now...lol. But carrying a heavy carseat at 11pm is better in my books then waking a sleeping baby and trying to get him back to sleep. ;)

We're looking for it to go on sale at Sears though... and our flyers come tonight, so hopefully we'll see car seats in there. And I will be selling the snugride once we get the SS1 for him.

As an interesting side note, it dawned on me last night that if we get the SS1 for $150, and then get 6 or 7 mos use of it still, it's not much different than the $130 we spent on his snugride for 7 mos use. ;)

[Loves2sing]

He's really getting too heavy to comfortably carry in the snugride now...lol. But carrying a heavy carseat at 11pm is better in my books then waking a sleeping baby and trying to get him back to sleep. ;)

I totally understand that. Since my DD outgrew her snugride, we had to carry her inside and she still wakes up everytime! I would love it if we could somehow keep her sleeping right into the crib.

As an interesting side note, it dawned on me last night that if we get the SS1 for $150, and then get 6 or 7 mos use of it still, it's not much different than the $130 we spent on his snugride for 7 mos use. ;)[/QUOTE]

When you look at it that way, it's not that big of a deal price wise. It would just be so much better if you could see into the future and know exactly how long it would last. My DD has had some major growth spurts, and it would suck if that happened with you ds, and then he outgrew it quickley. My daughter grew 25% in height on the charts in 3 months. If your son did that, he probably wouldn't fit anymore. i keep going back and forth about my seat too. I also have the 29" seat. Do I want a SS for baby #2? or should I stick with my snugride? If I chose to get the SS, then i will sell my whole Travel system. Because I want a new stroller too. Good luck with finding a good deal, if I see any, I will let you know!
Man he is a big boy for 5 months. But then again, my daughter is pretty little!

[thepeach80]

I put no b/c I just don't think it's worth it. If we were going into winter, I'd probably vote differently, but coming out of it, I don't think so. Now if your kids were like mine, you'd get a LOT more use out of it and I'd say go for it, but it seems you'll be using a convertible soon anyways out of necessity. Evan finally got too tall for ours right at 2 so I expect Ilana to use it just as long. PLEASE let her keep liking being in it!

[smurf]

I also put no as an answer. I'd only buy a Safeseat in your situation if another baby was in the plans. I had that very same debate in my head for baby #3 and I figured it wasn't worth it even though I really wanted to get my hands on a Safeseat.

[snowbird25ca]

Well, I printed a growth chart from the CDC and plotted where he is percentile wise right now and whether he's changing or not... then looked at how much on average the growth is per month, so I'm figuring that unless he has a huge jump in the %ile's, that we'll make it to 12mos, even with his current proportions. Plus he wears cloth, so a disposable might buy us a bit more time if needed.

My thinking is that even if we only make it to 1 yr, then we'll still get partly into next winter with it if winter comes as early as it did this year. I'm sure we have a good 2.5 or 3" of torso growth before a SS1 would be outgrown, and according to the growth charts he's likely to grow another 4.5" or so before 1 yr old, so unless it was all in his torso, we should make it past a year I'd think. :confused:

I'm pretty sure we're going to get it just for the convenience and also to make it easier when I'm out by myself with both kids. Dd is still in that running off stage and thinks it's a huge game. :rolleyes: So being able to snap ds into his carseat base quickly is definitely a plus. ;) My biggest motivator is not waking ds though. I still remember the royal pain it was when dd went into a convertible at 4.5 mos. Outings all the sudden became a nightmare.

Will have to discuss it with dh some more though I guess, everyone makes good points. :cool:

[Splash]

If you didn't have the Radian, I would say yes. But since you already have a Radian, I don't think it's worth it to let a seat rot for a year.

Charlie outgrew his first infant seat (22/29) by five months. We got the SS1 at 8 months, and he fit into it comfortably (with paper diapers) on a trip we took at 15 months. I would say that in Pampers he probably would have fit until 17 months or so, until he hit 30 pounds. In cloth, he outgrew it by height around 13 months. He is a VERY big child, though. I love the SS1 and loved having it for the "just in case" times we needed a carrier, and for flying/taking cabs in NYC. And actually... I think we had another BV when I got the SS1. My bad. Okay, so *I* let a BV rot for six months while I used the SS1, so I guess I can't talk. At least the SS1 was free, though. I woudln't have paid for it at that point.

[snowbird25ca]

If you didn't have the Radian, I would say yes. But since you already have a Radian, I don't think it's worth it to let a seat rot for a year.

Charlie outgrew his first infant seat (22/29) by five months. We got the SS1 at 8 months, and he fit into it comfortably (with paper diapers) on a trip we took at 15 months. I would say that in Pampers he probably would have fit until 17 months or so, until he hit 30 pounds. In cloth, he outgrew it by height around 13 months. He is a VERY big child, though. I love the SS1 and loved having it for the "just in case" times we needed a carrier, and for flying/taking cabs in NYC. And actually... I think we had another BV when I got the SS1. My bad. Okay, so *I* let a BV rot for six months while I used the SS1, so I guess I can't talk. At least the SS1 was free, though. I woudln't have paid for it at that point.

HAhaha about your BV.

We considered taking the Radian back, but since it's a) not going to expire before it's outgrown anyways, and b) would just be repurchased anyways, it seemed rather pointless.

But I do share the being conflicted about having a perfectly good seat sitting around - but at least it doesn't take up too much space. :p :cool: ;)

We got our Sears flyer and car seats are all $5 to $30 off tomorrow, so we'll likely get it tomorrow. I'll be sure to post back with our final decision and show pic's though if we do get it... it'll be the imperial print. :)

[snowbird25ca]

So the SS1 is on sale at Sears tomorrow. I'm not sure how much off yet, but there's also a $20 coupon given to the first 200 people through the door. So dh is headed there for 7am before he heads off to work. We'll save between $40 and $50 between the 2. :)

I went back and looked at the pic's we took of ds in the safeseat and he has a lot more room width wise. I think it'll be more comfy for him too.

[snowbird25ca]

Well, we were able to get it for $140, so went ahead and did it. I can't believe how easy it was to install the base, wow! I'll take pic's later... thanks for everyone's votes. Even if I did go against the majority, it helped to hear opinions. ;)