Random infant seat question

Longhorn Lady

New member
Am I the only person on the planet who just doesn't like infant seats? I mean, they are great for the little bitty newborns, but beyond that, I'm just not a fan.

I think they are heavy and awkward to carry, and I'd just much rather prefer to use a sling or stroller when out of the car.

I feel so alone in this, LOL, because everyone around me LOVES having the flexibility and yet I couldn't wait until the baby I watch was big enough for my MA. In fact, as great as the SafeSeat looks, its just my worst nightmare, thinking of a baby being able to stay in their infant seat longer, haha :p

Am I just nuts?
 
ADS

Dillipop

Well-known member
I see lots of mom's struggling to carry baby in the infant seat and can't imaging doing it myself. I only carried DS from the car to the house in his when he was itty bitty and that was only if he was asleep or it was really hot out (he was born in May and it was usually really hot out!) He moved to a convertible at 3 months because we were moving and had to return the infant seat to DH's sister. I never missed having the infant seat.

That said, we have purchased a safeseat for DS2 due at the end of the month. Reason 1- we use 3 different cars with the kids- mine, DH and nana's. Reason 2- SS1 has a sunshade that has been crash tested with the seat and we have an elantra- no way to add a sunshade to the back window. Reason 3- we live on the 3rd floor and park on the street, where sidewalks are unlikely to be shoveled. Baby will probably be safer being carried through the snow in the seat, where if I fall , he will still be in a nice safe seat. Also can then put baby down in the staircase in his seat to help DS1 up the stairs, especially if we have things other than us to shlep up the 2 flights. Reason 4- able to bring seat inside to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Reason 5- we bought a sit and stand and need an infant seat to use the stroller until baby can sit up unassisted.

I have no use for the infant seat as seat in the store and no desire to carry it around. But the reasons above really helped us make the decision to use the infant seat, even if it ends up sitting in the car 90% of the time and not used as a carrier. If I didn't live on the 3rd floor, or use 3 cars on a regular basis, I might have gone straight for the convertible. I had no problem with DS1 in one from a young age and never minded getting him out everytime we got out of the car. It would have been nice sometimes, though, to be able to bring him inside while sleeping, but we got passed that and can now carry him in without waking him.
 

SusanMae

Senior Community Member
You're not nuts! I don't think I'll use one more than its intended purpose. I want to just use a carrier/sling or the stroller most of the time. If I have a winter baby--then I'll like it for not having to bundle and pull the seat in and out of the house.

I'm hoping to have a spring baby, so I'm hoping the infant seat will get me through mid-Feb before it gets to be too much of a pain.(I'm starting my first IVF cycle at the end of this month--so we have a little more control than most couples.)

Susan
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
I hate the things. I don't get why they're so complicated. My ideal infant seat would be one permanently installed in a car, like a convertible, just reclined and smaller for an infant.

As they are, though, people assume they never need to do anything to the baby, just put them in in the morning and pull them out at night (exaggerating here). They get abused and overused. They're CAR SEATS. Seats for the car. Not to be stood on upside down high chairs, put in the basket of shopping carts (right next to the sign that says not to put kids in there, which granted, probably 98% of us do, I can't keep Piper from climbing in), and my personal favorite, put down at the side of the park and walked away from while mom attends to the older child. I have been so tempted a number of times to take the kid in the carseat (in the stroller or not) who has been essentially abandoned by mom and move them 10 feet. I'm not kidnapping, I have no desire to harm the kid, but in this day and age no mother should leave their helpless newborn or infant in their child seat and walk away and turn their backs and stop paying attention. I can take that seat and install the child safely in my car and leave before Mom realizes there's a problem. So if I can get her heart beating a little, give her a half second of, "Where's my baby??" before seeing the young one curled up a few feet from where it was left, then maybe she'll stop doing that. I've seen moms walk away from their child and not look back for a half hour. I can be easily in a different county in a half hour. She'd never know her kid was gone. And I'm there with my kid, people wouldn't blink at me holding the hand of a preschooler and carrying away someone else's infant (I repeat, I have no desire to kidnap, just pointing out what should be scarily obvious to so many moms).

Ok, rant over. They just annoy me a ton. Piper was in an Advantage from birth, and I just slung her everywhere, until she was about 2.5 or so. She didn't ride in a stroller until close to her first birthday. She walks or is carried. Easy enough. Today in the airports she rode on our suitcases. :)

Wendy
 

TXDani

Senior Community Member
I love them! I didn't use it as much with my first child but with my second child I used it a lot and was very happy I had it. They are great for all the doctor's visits early in baby's life, running quick errands on foot like the post office, dropping one kid off at preschool...things like that. But then again maybe it is just because I think there is nothing cuter then a newborn in their infant seat! All snuggly and cozy looking...
nolan025.jpg

does it get any cuter then that?!?!
 

rachel3612

Senior Community Member
I like them, I don't over use them. We had a 5 week old for the weekend, he always falls asleep in the car so it was nice to bring his infant seat in the resturant so we could eat while he slept. I would never set it on an upside down high chair though. I either put it on the seat of the booth or on the floor next to me if it was out of the way. I will also never put it on a shopping cart or even in the cart. I refuse to let my children ride in the basket of the cart. My now 6 year old, when she was 4 she told a mom at walmart that it wasn't safe and she was stupid. Oops. Too many kids die or are injured every year from shopping cart accidents.

Infant seats are great for some things, but yes people over use and abuse them. It is nice to be able to set them down on the ground and pick up a 2 year old that fell down. Or set them down to unlock the front door, forgot my keys were in my backpack, on my back.

Oh and it was nice to put him in the seat then try and get the other two out the front door then grab him and go. LOL

Rachel
 

Kellyr2

New member
I like them, but only as CARSEATS!!! I don't carry them around. Not only are they heavy and bulky, I truly believe in the benefits of skin to skin contact that comes from carrying and wearing babies. I plan to use the seat in one circumstance for sure, and others may crop up, but they'll be rare. The one place I plan to use it out of the car is in a restaurant. I did get very good at eating with one hand when Mikayla was a baby (no infant seat), but now, with 3 kids, I am not sure I am equipped with enough arms to feed myself, hold the baby, and deal with the other 2 kids. And I did often wish I had an infant seat with Mikayla. After the baby is able to sit up, I'd just use a highchair. I'll also probably bring it inside when its cold out.
I like infant seats for carseats because they are designed to fit infants, and convertibles seem to rarely do the job. For me, a maker of bigger babies, the ones that have a 22 lbs limit are a waste of money, because I refuse to spend that much on something that will last 6 months, so we're getting the SafeSeat.
I also don't understand why people lug the things all over the place. Having done it both ways, restaurants were the only place where I wished I had an infant seat the second time around. Wearing her in my sling was much much easier than dealing with a seat.
 

rachel3612

Senior Community Member
You have a very good point, eating while wearing the baby or holding the baby is just fine and easy UNTIL you add an extra kid or two to the table. LOL Sitting next to a three year old while holding the baby, trying to eat and trying to get the 3 year old to eat and not spill his drink or your drink is not fun or easy.

Rachel
 

jenny03

New member
I used them when my kids were newborns and slept all of the time, but when they were a few months old, I moved them to the convertible seat. I was never a big fan of the infant seat. They are just sooo heavy.
 

melaniev

New member
I HATED the infant seats!!!! Since I was the 1st one of my friends to have a baby, I told EVERYONE even if they didnt ask, to save their $ and forego the infant seat! I could never tote that thing around and like you, loved my strollers and sling carrier.

I found that most peoples' arguments FOR the infant carrier really didn't apply to me- baby would fall asleep in the car and they would leave him in there for the entire nap (couple hours) - never really happened to me, and for use in restaurants, which we don't frequent.

Once I decided to spring for the tethered roundabout when my baby was about 4 months, I loved it and would never go back.
 

Longhorn Lady

New member
Oh Danielle, that picture is adorable. What a doll!

Yeah, the baby I watch can be DEAD alseep for the entire car ride, but the moment the ignition turns off, she is wide awake, haha. So its never an option to keep her sleeping by using the infant seat.
 

Splash

New member
I like them as carseats because they fit better. However I had a nearly 12 pound newborn who could hold his head up at birth and look around, so a convertible would have been fine! And we did use a Boulevard in the other car.
I never used it to carry him around until he started getting sick and having so many skin issues. When it got to the point that his skin was falling off and just touching him would irritate it and make even more fall off, then we honestly tried to be as hands off as possible at points. And going in and out of stores and such it was just better not to have to touch him. I know it sounds horrible and I SO wanted to put him in his sling and have him close, but it was not in his best interest.
We now have a SafeSeat (we had a Latch Loc) and we still use it as a carrier at times. It's easier to put up the sunshade and throw a blanket over than handle than it is to pick him up and cover him with a blanket to keep him out of the sun. But we still carry him most of the time.
Children are not cargo. They're people. Small people, yes. But still people. They're not meant to be toted about like a suitcase. They're meant to be held and cuddled and loved. I don't mind strollers (my kid is almost 25 pounds and still does not support himself one iota. I cannot carry him everywhere) but it is the supreme height of laziness to pop carseat from car to stroller, from stroller to car, from car to shopping basket, from car to home, etc and never touch your baby. It's cruel as well.

And I don't ever want to play at the park Wendy is at! I'll reach down to tie my shoe and my kid will be on his way to Delaware! ;)
 

KaysKidz

Senior Community Member
I'm one who likes them for many reasons. But currently, I do daycare and have several children to take care of, my own included. We live in OK where our weather is very non-predictable! We get snow/ice in the winter, lots of rain, and high summer temps reaching well over 100. During these times, I really like having an infant seat so that I can get the baby buckled and covered before ever walking out the front door. Then it's just a matter of 'clicking them in' and we are off (after I get drenched/sweaty/snowed on etc) from getting everyone else in! It's one less child that has to be buckled in with me outside the vehicle (we don't have a garage...what is it with houses in Oklahoma without garages?! lol)

As for the Safeseat, I absolutely love it. I probably wouldn't use it with a child as a carrier much beyond 6mo...unless it was during the winter months and then it would only be to/from the house. Just leave it in the car as you would a convertible. It's just nice knowing you are getting more use out of it than 4 or 5mo.
 

Simplysomething

New member
I never much liked the infant seat. I never liked the way it felt with the base, so I kept it buckled in the car...and I sure as hell wasn't installing and uninstalling that every time I went somewhere! lol

But infant seats are just to awkward for ME to carry much past the first couple of months or so. I was very surprised that my 15 month old fit into the thing until he was 10 months old, because my oldest grew out of his at about 6 months. Even so, babies are heavy enough without that thing...lol

I don't dislike them as a rule, I just don't care for them for me and my kids. lol

The infant seat I had with the baby my sil is using for my 5 month old niece...she digs it, she would really dig the safeseat, for that 30 lb weigh limit. She's also got 4 kids, to my two, and they are always on the go, so do a lot of in and out of the car... (but she's got the 3 year old in just a booster...anyway. lol)
 

scatterbunny

New member
If more convertibles had lower bottom slots I'd hardly ever recommend an infant seat. :) I love the Scenera because of how low the bottom slots are, it really should fit most newborns very well. The bottom slots of the Scenera are the same height as the bottom slots on the infant seat I had for Hayley.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Oh, no ... you're definitely not alone -- I hesitate to admit that I actually hate them in general :p

Of course I do LOVE that they fit newborns much better than most convertibles, but otherwise the only thing I like about infant seats is that they can keep kiddo safer while walking on icey paths in the winter (I can just imagine myself slipping & falling on my baby in arms, but the hard carseat would keep him/her safer!)

The way I get around the weight of them is to carry baby in sling & then I only remove the carseat empty to keep at room temp so it doesn't get too hot or cold in the car :eek:

Oooops, almost forgot that I do also really really like that you can keep multiple bases installed in various vehicles to make traveling easier/quicker & even safer....
 

LovinMyBabies

New member
I love having an infant seat. I tend to have small babies in the winters, and it's so much easier to throw the blankets over the baby, and get the other kids out. Not to mention the sunshade. I already carry my 1.5 year old everywhere, and hold my 3.5 year old's hand. It'll be easier to carry the carrier instead of trying to juggle the 3 kids.
 

ccjones

New member
I loved my SnugRide and I only have one child, so I can't even use the "multiple children" excuse. Since I pride myself on being as lazy as possible ;) , I found using it to be extremely convenient. As others mentioned, I loved using it in winter, and when DS would fall alseep it was nice not having to wake him when we got home. Also, I loved being able to put the SnugRide in either the SnugRider stroller or the big Quattro Tour stroller, and I totally put it in shopping carts in stores and in upside-down highchairs at restaurants when I was too lazy (see a theme here? LOL) to get one of the strollers out of the car.

I am not a sling or wrap person, so having the option of an infant seat was pretty cool, IMHO.

Colleen
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
I used infant seats for both of my DDs and in fact used more than one infant seat for each of them when they outgrew their first ones by height in the middle of the winter. I'm a big fan of slings and front carriers like the Bjorn and prefer them for the infant stage whenever possible, as well as simply holding the baby period, of course. For the life of me though, I couldn't figure out how to wear my babies and comfortably and safely load and unload groceries in the shopping cart, lol. I'm long torsoed and 5 feet 6 inches tall, so you would think this would have made it easier for me, but I felt like was in danger of upending the baby or squishing her between me and the cart, lol. Baby wearing is also tough for me in the winter weather here.

For grocery shopping, I preferred using the infant seat in the main part of the shopping cart until my DDs were able to sit up properly and during our lovely winter weather. And I echo the convenience factor when another older child is involved.
 

super_grape

Active member
I love my infant seat!

With DD #1, I couldn't wait to get her out of hers and into
the RA. We didn't have a stroller that our carseat fit on
so 95% of the time she went straight into the stroller
or Bjorn when the car stopped.

With Allie, I find the whole travel system thing invalueable(sp?)
(Especially since Katie is so independent and refuses to ride
in anything that isn't shaped like a car or bus:)).
She rides in it when we go shopping or out to eat. I don't carry
it tho....WAY TOOO HEAVY, lol!
And since I'm shopping with my wild child, our shopping sprees
never last too long:rolleyes: .

I did just get an EllaRoo lightly padded ring sling, so we've been using that alot too....and today I put Katie in it when we were at Old Navy.
I was really surprised at how easy it was to carry 33 lbs. in it!
 

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