Question What is the benefit of an infant car seat with a higher weight limit

alymg · May 4, 2010

I'm debating between the Britax Chaperone, the Peg Perego Primo Viaggo, and the Graco Snugride. What I'm trying to understand are the benefits of a higher weight limit of an infant car seat. In Canada, the Chaperone and the Primo Viaggo have 22 lbs weight limits (for some reason in the US the weight limits are 30 lbs on these seats) and the Snugride is now available in a 35 lb weight limit.

I understand once the weight limit is exceeded there are still rear facing options with convertible car seats up to 30 or 40 lbs but is it safer and more advisable to keep an infant in an infant car seat for longer and go for a higher weight limit?

Appreciate any comments, thanks!

Maedze · May 4, 2010

No, it's not a safety issue, merely a convenience one

For example, some people have very big babies that reach 20 pounds at 3 months old, but they don't want to switch to a convertible at that point. A bucket is nice to have when you're doing things like taking baby to restaurants, before baby has grown the bones to sit up in a restaurant high chair.

Also, a bucket can be much more convenient in the winter. You can get the baby strapped in in the house (remember no winter coats, snow suits or Bundle Mes, EVER, in a car seat!!!), place a nice warm blanket over the baby, and then take the baby to the car without exposing him to the elements as you buckle him in. So if you want to get through the first two winters with the convenience of a bucket, you might choose a higher weight one like the Graco Snugride 35

Twinklefae · May 4, 2010

On the flip side, it is safe and just 'as good' to start an average sized newborn in a convertible infant/child seat. Seats like the First years True Fit and the Graco MyRide fit littles well, and come with infant padding.

For a summer baby, I personally would skip an infant seat, since so many of them are outgrown so early, and they cost so much. For winter, I'd be far more likely to want an infant seat so that I can dress them in the house!

unityco · May 4, 2010

Maedze said:
For example, some people have very big babies that reach 20 pounds at 3 months old, but they don't want to switch to a convertible at that point. A bucket is nice to have when you're doing things like taking baby to restaurants, before baby has grown the bones to sit up in a restaurant high chair.

:yeahthat: to pretty much everything Maedze said, but especially the above.

I was a mom with a 22lb 3mo old in February before there were 30lb buckets. He couldn't sit yet, so restaurants were difficult, as was dealing with the cold. I would have loved to have kept him in a bucket for a few months longer.

That said, now that I've had practice babywearing, I may well skip the bucket if we were to have another.

Maedze · May 4, 2010

LOL...I wear my n00bs and it would still take a tazer, or perhaps an enormous financial incentive, to separate me from the bucket in those early months.

mommycat · May 4, 2010

Yes to all of the above. It was totally convenience for me. Restaurants, quick trips to run multiple errands which baby could sleep through, having baby #2 safe and contained while chasing after a runaway toddler, having the seat warm (or cool in summer) in the house and able to strap in and cover as needed before going outside, super-easy 1-minute re-installs in a friend's car. I was still often lugging the bucket with my (admittedly skinny ~22lb?) 18mo until the day he outgrew it by height.

Dillipop · May 4, 2010

DS used his safeseat 1 (precurser to the snugride 35) until he was almost 18 months. I loved the convenience of it. It rarely came out of the car past 6 months or so, but if he fell asleep on the way to preschool, I'd lug him him for pickup so that he could continue his nap. Same with falling asleep on the way home at nap time. I'd take him inside in the seat and then transfer him to his bed. Much less likely to wake up if I did the transfer upstairs in our room. He was 6-9 months during the winter months, so it was also nice to be able to bundle him in the carseat in the house and then trek out to the cold car. (We lived on the 3rd floor at the time and had street parking, so there was no way to preheat the car before going down.)

Twinklefae · May 4, 2010

I'm very jealous of all of you people who had kids who would stay asleep if you moved the bucket! Mine woke up as soon as the car stopped, so it didn't really matter to me.

mommycat · May 4, 2010

Hah. Honestly, DS2 would wake up very shortly after the car stopped as well (ugh), but at least there was a chance that he might stay asleep, or go back to sleep once we were back out of the store. And it was a lot faster to grab the bucket and go than to undo the harness, pick him up, bundle him if it was cold, put him in the sling or stroller or have my hands full of baby, go in to the store, pick up milk, and do everything in reverse. And repeat at the post office, the bank, etc, etc. Usually with the 3yo trying to run away at the same time. LOL

vonfirmath · May 4, 2010

Twinklefae said:
On the flip side, it is safe and just 'as good' to start an average sized newborn in a convertible infant/child seat. Seats like the First years True Fit and the Graco MyRide fit littles well, and come with infant padding.

For a summer baby, I personally would skip an infant seat, since so many of them are outgrown so early, and they cost so much. For winter, I'd be far more likely to want an infant seat so that I can dress them in the house!

My August baby would have outgrown the regular Snugride before the winter was over. So I would have been very thankful to have my Safeseat (now the Snugride35) regardless. He outgrew the regular snugride before he could sit up well on his own. I moved him out of the safeseat (he had not outgrown it) at 13 months.

TechnoGranola · May 4, 2010

Where in Canada are you located? If you've got sucky winters where the temperatures get to -40°C/-40°F, having a larger infant seat is great.

DD was born in the fall and was in her SafeSeat (now called the SnugRide 32 and recently changed to SnugRide 35) until 18 months. We have a detached garage, so, I got TWO winters out of being able to buckle her *in* the house rather than in a cold vehicle. Heading into doc appointments and such was also nice having her in the seat as that way I didn't have to worry about slipping on ice or losing my footing in the snow and have her falling out of my arms or landing on her if she was in a sling/wrap. She had her car seat to protect her if I fell.

rodentranger · May 4, 2010

I had a January baby during a winter where we had two feet of snow on the ground, and still only used the bucket for three months. At that point he was about 15-17 lbs, and there was no way I was lugging his weight plus that of the seat. So, for me there is no advantage to a higher weight limit seat. At 10 months, he was too tall for the KeyFit or the SR35 anyway. I only used the SR22 because he loathed the TrueFit and obviously didn't fit in a Marathon. As soon as he had a 10" torso, I moved him into the MA.

My first son was a December baby and I didn't have an infant seat at all. Didn't really feel like I needed one.

It's all a matter of personal preference.

Twinklefae · May 4, 2010

vonfirmath said:
My August baby would have outgrown the regular Snugride before the winter was over. So I would have been very thankful to have my Safeseat (now the Snugride35) regardless. He outgrew the regular snugride before he could sit up well on his own. I moved him out of the safeseat (he had not outgrown it) at 13 months.

Oh so would mine, but I don't really mind as much once they aren't TINY TINY. DS was and August baby and I moved him out of his bucket seat in November. I had a thin fleece suit for him and he wore hats and mitts til winter was over.

And the SafeSeat wouldn't fit in my car. So there's that too.

bree · May 4, 2010

One of the benefits of the Snugride 35 in particular is the built-in seatbelt lockoff on the base. It makes the base so incredibly easy to install with the seatbelt. Even when I was putting my Safeseat 1 (earlier version of Snugride 35) in a spot in my car that was equipped with LATCH, I still used the seatbelt to install because of the awesome lockoff. It's also helpful for installing in the center of the backseat, because many cars do not have the option to use LATCH in the center and sometimes the shoulder belt can cause the base to tip a little when using a base of an infant seat without a lockoff.

Kat_Shoshin · May 4, 2010

My son outgrew his seat at 4 months old and 22 lbs. Here is the last photo of him in it, just to see how big he was...

So, if I ever decide to do this again, I would either skip the infant only seat altogether (especially for the sake of my 3 across) or I would get one that lasted longer than 4 months...

The time of year would also be a factor for me.

Dillipop · May 4, 2010

I thought of another reason I loved having the bigger infant seat. Although it was easier to bundle ds up in the seat in the house in the winter, it was for purely selfish reasons. We have sedans. So to be able to plop the seat into the base in less than 5 seconds instead of hanging my butt out of the car in the freezing wind/rain/sleet/hail/snow made me much happier. My kids are 3 years apart and the older one I could do up from the front seat, totally eliminating freezing my bum off getting them in the car.

alymg · May 4, 2010

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. We live in Ottawa and our baby is due in September so I can see the benefits of the infant car seat in the winter. Based on this I think I'll go with the Snugride 35. It's really too bad the Britax Chaperone has such a low limit as its safety ratings are second to none. I did give both Peg Perego and Britax a call to inquire on when they will be releasing infant car seats with higher limits and they both blame Transport Canada for the long testing times and don't think anything will be released until late this year or next year.

TechnoGranola · May 5, 2010

alymg said:
It's really too bad the Britax Chaperone has such a low limit as its safety ratings are second to none.

There aren't any safety ratings for child restraints. Every seats has to pass the same set of standards and there is no rating assigned to any particular seat.

alymg said:
I did give both Peg Perego and Britax a call to inquire on when they will be releasing infant car seats with higher limits and they both blame Transport Canada for the long testing times and don't think anything will be released until late this year or next year.

That's interesting. Consider this, the Chaperone WAS tested in Canada before it was able to be sold here. And Britax already knew it passed FMVSS to 30# (U.S. testing) so either they chose not to test it to 30# in Canada OR it didn't pass the CMVSS tests at 30#. Either way, Britax is responsible for the low weight limt, not Transport Canada. Additionally, Britax has apparently made some sort of commitment to release the Canadian versions of seats within a specific time frame of the release of the U.S. versions. So, if Transport Canada was so slow then it would also be holding up the release of their U.S. seats. Interestingly enough, the new Britax Frontier XT was released in Canada *before* it's U.S. counterpart, the Frontier 85, was released in the U.S.

Something similar could be the case with the Peg seat.

hipmaman · May 5, 2010

alymg said:
I did give both Peg Perego and Britax a call to inquire on when they will be releasing infant car seats with higher limits and they both blame Transport Canada for the long testing times and don't think anything will be released until late this year or next year.

They really blame TC? Did they tell you which models infant seats they current have planned for Canada or being tested? I long ago would buy into this but I am more suspicious these days

Did they tell you that testing are done by the carseat manufacturers themselves and if the seats don't comply to safety standards set by TC, then no go for the seat? So how does testing takes long and the blame is on TC?

Interesting...

Btw, yeah an Ottawan Sept baby would definitely benefit from an infant carseat so you have the convenient of bundling her/him under a shower cap style snuggle cover or blanket(s)

Twinklefae · May 5, 2010

Transport Canada has no problem releasing seats that rear face to 65lbs. (The maximum set out under CMVSS 213) as long as they PASS.

So presumably, the Chaperone did not pass the sometimes more stringent testing under CMVSS 213 at a higher weight limit.

But the companies LOVE to blame TC.

Question What is the benefit of an infant car seat with a higher weight limit

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