would buy an infant car seat or just a convertible?

peanutprincesses · Jun 19, 2010

I'm having baby #4 next month and have yet decided on a car seat. Some ppl have told me not to waste my money on an infant seat and just buy a convertible BUT i like the convenience of an infant car seat. I like to be able to just take the carseat out without having to take the baby out. We can have nasty winters here and having to take the baby out while it's cold and windy wont be fun. So, have you done this and what was your experience? Did you think it was worth saving the money on an infant car seat by going straight to a convertible?

I want a car seat with at least a 30lb rear-facing weight limit. My 2.5yo is in her marathon, still rear facing b/c she's petite. Have you used an infant car seat that has a high weight limit this long or did you end up switching to a convertible regardless?

Finally, i've found 3 different car seats that have high rear-facing weight limits: Graco snugride 35, safety first onboard 35 and chicco keyfit 30. If you have any experience with either or more of these, which did you prefer? Is there another good one that I'm missing? I'm looking for one that is affordable. I know Britax has one but there's is as expensive as their convertibles, I think. I need one need one under $150.

It's so hard to decide when there's so much out there! Thank you so much for your time and help!!

Keeanh · Jun 19, 2010

I love the convenience of the infant seats for the first few months, especially with early morning hockey practice in minus-30-deg weather. Can you get / borrow one from someone you trust? In 7 children, I have never had to buy an infant seat. There has always been a friend or family member ready to get rid of theirs, or at least not using theirs.

lpperry · Jun 19, 2010

I think it is personal preference. I used an infant seat for my first baby, but it was my stepdaughter's seat. It is expired now, and I am not getting a new infant seat for our baby due in August. I am going to use a Coccoro. I rarely took the bucket seat out for Oliver and he hated sitting in it outside of the car. I always just put him in the sling if we were grocery shopping or something.

Starlight · Jun 19, 2010

I like the convenience of the infant seat - sometimes it's just necessary. I've never used one past 16-17 lbs though.

AmbersMommy · Jun 19, 2010

I personally like the infant seat rather then right into a convertible seat. I just purchased a Britax Chaperone for our little one due in Sept for about $140 from diapers.com after price match, coupon codes and bing shopping 10% back. Doing some looking around online.. you can get killer deals on car seats. Good luck in your choice

wendytthomas · Jun 20, 2010

I've never bought an infant seat. I used one for two weeks so I could write a review for it. It was the onBoard 35 Air. And it was nice when she was sleeping, but otherwise I haven't missed it.

However, having said that, the three you mentioned are my favorite. Of them, the onBoard 35 will last the longest, and fit the smallest kids. The Snugride 35 and Chicco Keyfit 30 will fit about the same size small kids, but the Snugride 35 will last longer than the Keyfit 30, but not as long as the onBoard 35.

Here's a blog about the differences with the onBoards. http://carseatblog.com/?p=6258

The Chicco Keyfit 22 and 30 are the same size, so if you have smaller kids you might save some money and see about a 22. Though I think that only comes in a travel system, so maybe not cheaper, unless you buy from a friend.

Honestly, it may come down to the cover. Which you like the best. The onBoard 35 will last the longest, but it's the least sophisticated. The Snugride 35 is a good workhorse, sometimes in a pretty frock. And the Keyfit is polished, but the smallest.

If you like an infant seat, then get yourself an infant seat.

By child number four you know how long you want one to last, and you can make it worthwhile cost wise for you and your comfort level for that time.

Wendy

catchthewind · Jun 20, 2010

I had an infant seat for my older daughter, and we only took it out of the car a handful of times. It's warm here, but even when we were visiting Calgary in winter, I preferred pulling her out, sticking her in a wrap, and then zipping up my whole sweater/coat around her. We had a bucket for 6 weeks or so with my second daughter, but only because we borrowed one from someone we trusted until the TFP was released in Canada. If the TFP had been out already, we would have just gone straight to that. We never once used the bucket feature with her.

It's a pretty personal thing though. I find carrying around a bucket way more awkward/heavy (and less convenient) than a carseat and feel safer having my babies right on me, where strangers and such can't really get in their faces as much either. My older daughter was a pretty light sleeper but we got good at getting her out of the car seat and into a mei tei pretty quick. But there are lots of people who find the buckets far more convenient. If you like them, you might regret not having that convenience. Is there someone you could borrow one from? Or you could buy a convertible and if you miss the convenience, get an infant seat afterwards since you would need the convertible eventually anyway, though it means losing some time on the convertible when it's sitting around doing nothing.

rosey2007 · Jun 20, 2010

There is another infant seat that I thought I would mention and it is the Baby Trend infant bucket. They have some out now that go to 30 pounds. I had an old 22 pound Baby Trend with DS#1 and it was an okay car seat. I think that you can get one of those for around $100.00 or less. I liked the fact that I did not have to re thread the harness. The one thing that I hated about it was that the handle had to be down in order to use it.
For my son due in September, I got the Graco Snugride 35 and loved how easy it was to install. Plus the handle can be in the up position in the car with is nice when you drive a small car.

Maedze · Jun 20, 2010

I am a huge fan of infant seats.

That being said, even if you use the biggest, highest-weight infant seat around, you still ultimately need to buy a convertible.

It's fantastic that your daughter is still rear facing. However, the reason she needs to be rear facing is not due to her size, but due to her age. Kids need to be rear facing to 3 and 4 years old at least, regardless of whether or not they are petite.

Even the big infant seats aren't going to get even the petite kids much beyond the second birthday. Average sized and big sized kids will outgrow them before that. So once your baby outgrows the infant seat (or once you decide you're done with needing it), you do need to buy a convertible and use it rear facing :thumbsup:

Maedze · Jun 20, 2010

rosey2007 said:
There is another infant seat that I thought I would mention and it is the Baby Trend infant bucket. They have some out now that go to 30 pounds. I had an old 22 pound Baby Trend with DS#1 and it was an okay car seat. I think that you can get one of those for around $100.00 or less. I liked the fact that I did not have to re thread the harness. The one thing that I hated about it was that the handle had to be down in order to use it.
For my son due in September, I got the Graco Snugride 35 and loved how easy it was to install. Plus the handle can be in the up position in the car with is nice when you drive a small car.

I absolutely don't recommend the Baby Trend infant bucket if you're looking for something that will last a long time. The Baby Trend is a tiny bucket. That 30 pound limit is pretty meaningless. Babies will outgrow it by height ages before they are anywhere near 30 pounds.

armywife12 · Jun 20, 2010

Maedze said:
I absolutely don't recommend the Baby Trend infant bucket if you're looking for something that will last a long time. The Baby Trend is a tiny bucket. That 30 pound limit is pretty meaningless. Babies will outgrow it by height ages before they are anywhere near 30 pounds.

While I was very happy with our baby trend seat, I do agree that it is a small bucket seat, even the 30lb limit one. Ours was the 22 lb version but I believe the shell height is around the same. My son outgrow it before 6 months old and only 16 or 17lbs. It's not a great seat for longer term use.

Maedze · Jun 20, 2010

They are identically shelled seats :thumbsup:

They are also so narrow that even a very short 30 pound baby wouldn't be a good fit for this seat as it would take a crowbar and vaseline to get him in it

mylittlet · Jun 20, 2010

We have always used an infant seat. We only had a 20# version, because I didn't want to buy a new seat for the youngest. It didn't last through the winter and made life a challenge, because we are out of the house about 3x a day for school drop off and pick up. Can't always warm up the car. I found the Onboard 35 several places for $99 when looking for one for a friend.

mydogteaser · Jun 20, 2010

I used buckets for both of my kids and IMO it was a necessity with my second. She had to be carted around for ds's activities and school, so it was very handy to have her in the bucket. We used the SS1 for her and she outgrew it by height a couple weeks before her second birthday. We had stopped using it as her primary seat at about 18 months, but kept it as a back-up until she outgrew it.

Heidi

TinaM · Jun 20, 2010

Thanks everyone!! We're going out today to see if we can find any major deals on infant seats. I'll settle for a cheaper infant seat if we can find a great deal and i mean GREAT. But if not, then I'm almost sure I want a Safety 1st OnBoard 35.

Now, 2 more questions on that particular seat. First, can it fit any stroller or does it have to be a safety 1st stroller? And, can it fit on shopping carts? I do have 2 ring slings but in 3 kids, i still have yet to get the hang of it and be comfortable with one. I keep them for every child so i can just keep trying. =)

You know i didnt know that kids should be in rear-facing position til 3-4yo. I was just trying to keep her in that for as long as possible. She likes it cause she sees her sisters in the back seat.

Thank you so much again!

Patriot201 · Jun 20, 2010

TinaM said:
And, can it fit on shopping carts?

No infant seat should ever be used on top of a shopping cart. It is incredibly dangerous. People do it all the time, but it is unbelievably unsafe. :thumbsdown: Gravity is not kind to falling infants in carseats.

For light shopping, the baby can be put in the bucket into the big part of the shopping cart's basket. For major shopping, wear the baby while you shop.

TinaM · Jun 20, 2010

Thanks Patriot! My 4th child and looks like i've got lots to learn about safety.

Patriot201 · Jun 20, 2010

TinaM said:
Thanks Patriot! My 4th child and looks like i've got lots to learn about safety.

There is a warning about it in almost every manual that I have ever read, but the manufacturers can REALLY confuse parents by advertising their "shopping cart clip" or "shopping cart ridge," and then ALSO putting a disclaimer in the manual that says to never use the seat on a cart.

Talk about mixed messages!

Plus, seeing so many people do it makes it seem like it is acceptable. It isn't though!

We are all learning about safety all the time. Don't worry.

bobandjess99 · Jun 20, 2010

Maedze said:
I am a huge fan of infant seats.

That being said, even if you use the biggest, highest-weight infant seat around, you still ultimately need to buy a convertible.

It's fantastic that your daughter is still rear facing. However, the reason she needs to be rear facing is not due to her size, but due to her age. Kids need to be rear facing to 3 and 4 years old at least, regardless of whether or not they are petite.

Even the big infant seats aren't going to get even the petite kids much beyond the second birthday. Average sized and big sized kids will outgrow them before that. So once your baby outgrows the infant seat (or once you decide you're done with needing it), you do need to buy a convertible and use it rear facing :thumbsup:

I just wanted to emphasize this. The convertible is NOT a seat you can skip. In fact, unless you actually intend to CARRY yopur kid around in a bucket until they are 18-24 months old, you rmoney is probably muich better spent purchasing a standard 22 lb convertible, andf then gettgin a nicer convertible. No matter how long you use a bucket for, you need a convertible, preferably one with a 40+ lb rearfacing limit, because ideally, children are safer when rearfacing to 4 years old, but at leasta minimum of 2 years.
The one carseat you can probably skip is the forward combination seat. If you get a long lasting convertible, you can probably go stright from it, to a belt positioning booster seat.

love2shop54321 · Jun 20, 2010

New here--but doesn't the Coccoro have a stroller you can get that it fits into even though it is a convertible? It doesn't have the nifty handle to carry it like the infant seats, but still a thought. I was wishing I had something like that when DD was too big for her infant seat. It seems like a good compromise for you if you are wanting an infant type seat but don't want to buy an infant seat and later a convertible.

would buy an infant car seat or just a convertible?

peanutprincesses

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