How long did you use the infant seat?!

kaireece · Jun 16, 2011

Hi all
I am just curious that if you used an infant seat how long you kept your LO in it before switching to a convertible seat?

I'm expecting a LO in august and think I might have a three across solution that works for now. It might mean though keeping the baby in the infant seat until at least a year, maybe even 18months (of course assuming he/she still fits it - it's a graco snugride 35). Obviously I won't be carting the bucket around

but using it in the vehicle.......and maybe I'll play around with other car seat configurations to see about moving to a convertible seat......but I'm just wondering if anyone here has kept their LO in an infant seat for an extended period of time?

FTR I moved both my other kids to RF convertible seats around six months of age or so - so this would be different for me

tia

smileybrea · Jun 17, 2011

DS1 had outgrown it by 6mo (22lb limit) and DS2 was moved into a convertible around 9mo. He still fit in it until just after he turned 1 (keyfit30).

cookie123 · Jun 17, 2011

Matthew outgrew the Keyfit at 10 months by height.

krissybear25 · Jun 17, 2011

I have a snugride 32 for ds and we used it until he was 16 months. He just outgrew it at 20 months. I love that seat. I have the snugrider stroller frame so we could just take the seat out and pop it in the frame and run in to the store and not carry the seat or have to take him out of the seat. We stopped carrying him into the house at about 12 months but still took it in occasionally. And we used it with the snugrider until we stopped using the seat. We stoppe using the seat because I started driving another kid and needed two seats side by side.
Ds is pretty skinny and small. He was 20 pds. 29 1/2 inches at 12 months. And now at 20 months he 25 Pds and 32 inches. Evenly proportioned I guess.

Katy · Jun 17, 2011

Somewhere around DS 18m we switched him to a RN, but he used the infant bucket for a few months longer in the spare car. I'm thinking he outgrew by height (SS1) the seat around 22ish months. I don't think I carried the seat very often after 12m. DD used the SN22 untill she outgrew it in weight and was moved to the SS1. We moved her to a CA (now a RN) around 14ish months. We use the SS1 as a spare for the other vehicle. She is 16m and about to outgrow by height.

To me leaving a bucket in the car is just the same as using any other seat RF. I don't plan on FF the kids until they outgrow RF, same goes for buckets we use them in some way until they are outgrown.

Dillipop · Jun 17, 2011

I used our SS1 with DS until he was 18 months. He had pretty much outgrown it when I dropped it and cracked it. Oops.

DD is currently still in her companion at almost 8 months. I was going to use it until she outgrew it, but I think I'm going to move her to something without a head pillow for the summer.

DD will be in the shuttle33 we have in the tight 3 across in dh's car as long as possible. I am hoping until at least 18-24 months.

jenfrogmom · Jun 17, 2011

4 seconds. LOL! Just kidding, around 5-6 months. I had the Keyfit 22.

Ninetales · Jun 17, 2011

I used ours until about 11 months. She wanted to be more upright but hadn't quite outgrown it. I wanted to get through the winter first before we moved up.

Pixels · Jun 17, 2011

With DD, we stopped carrying her around when she got too heavy for practicality. I moved her to a convertible because leaving the seat in the car just didn't work for us. I kept bonking her head on the ceiling because the high sides of the seat plus the high base just made the whole thing too high. Then winter came, and bundling her into a warm seat inside the house outweighed lugging the seat around, so back into the bucket she went until spring. She outgrew her 22 pound BabyTrend right at a year, by both height and weight simultaneously. She is a peanut, especially when it comes to height.

Even though DS is in the same bucket, it's much easier to put him in/out of the seat without bonking him because he is outboard (DD was center). I swear I end up moving seats around once every week or two, depending on needs and somewhat my mood, but when he's in the bucket, it's not an issue with bonking. He is too heavy to carry around reasonably, so I only lug it when I feel I need it. Since he's not sitting up on his own yet, I'll lug it into restaurants, for example.

truckerswife · Jun 17, 2011

my DD is 10 months old and still has tons of growing room in her infant seat two of my sisters were tiny like my DD is and they both used infant seats until 18 months

bnsnyde · Jun 17, 2011

Britax Companion (was kind of small by today's standards)
Baby #1: 7 months (had to carry it up 3 flights of an apartment)
Baby #2: 11 months
Baby #3: 10 months (was told it was expired at a seat check and it had 2 years left!). We had 3 across at this point with 2 Radians and the bucket. But the Triumph Advance then also fit in the Malibu!

Baby #4 I hope to keep in a bucket to age 2 if he makes it, or as close as possible b/c I need to be able to carry bucket and click into stroller. We have a Chaperone but I'd buy an On-board Air to eek out more inches if needed.

Unless at some point he's better off tethered RF and it's after winter...I could move him to the Advocate.

kaireece · Jun 17, 2011

Thanks so much everyone! I'm not too concerned about the babe outgrowing the seat too quickly as I tend to have small babies and average sized kids

I was more worried about the recline - but it sounds like it might just be doable! yay!
I'm hoping to leave the babe in the bucket until my DS2 is in a booster - but that means likely the babe would need to be in it at least a year to a year and a half.

jaded · Jun 17, 2011

I had the SafeSeat 1 for my son, and he still fit in it at 22 months(he was on the verge of being too tall for it when I gave it to a single mom soldier in my husband's unit)

Brianna · Jun 17, 2011

6 or 7 months. J was 20 pounds, too heavy to carry and not too happy at the newborn recline.
He would have outgrown the 22 pound weight limit by 8 months.

MANDY1234 · Jun 17, 2011

I have a Sr35. My 2.5 year old just fits in it by heighth. My 14 month old rides in it on a regular bases still...I love the seat!

cryswilkins · Jun 17, 2011

DD was 5 months, I waited for it to be warm enough that I didn't need her all bundled anymore in the infant seat.

DS was 6 months, he was a peanut and didn't really fit in the Britax convertibles well enough for me to want to switch him before then. And I was waiting for the cowmoo Frontier for DD so he could have her Marathon.

I am really not a fan of infant seats because I hate carrying them, but having winter babies in MI, its really nice to be able to put at least on kid in the car already buckled. If I were to have a spring summer baby I would probably just do a convertible.

luckyclov · Jun 17, 2011

DS1 was moved out around 6 months. He was in Snugride (22). I don't remember if he had outgrown it or not, but I'm thinking not. He just hated the bucket.

DD was also in a Snugride (22). I moved her into a convertible at 7 months. She was close to the weight limit, but not yet there. She loathed the bucket.

DS2 was in a Keyfit (22). He moved out at 7 months. He had a couple of lbs left in the bucket, but, much like his older siblings, hated it. And since we rarely took the seat out of the car anyways, we just said...screw this and made the switch to the convertible.

I will never use a bucket again. I said that after #2, but in the time between #2 and #3, the Keyfit came around and I caved to the pressure.

jeminijad · Jun 17, 2011

I moved DD1 from her SR22 to a Marathon at 3 months old.

I don't know yet what I'll do with DD2. She is in a SR35, so obviously that will last a long while.

jaded · Jun 17, 2011

I forgot to mention we rarely used the "carrier" part of the SafeSeat 1, it mostly just stayed in husband's vehicle. It was Ds's secondary seat, as he has ridden in his Radian since he was 4 days old, in my vehicle. As for recline level, as DS got older, I just raised the recline foot so he was reclined less.

miraclebabies · Jun 17, 2011

DD1... 6m, I wanted to stick her in a marathon cuz I was excited to use it. I didn't take the infant in and out of the car much, I would rather carry or wear her.

DD2... 10ish mnths, her being a preemie she fit in it forever and outgrew it around her 2nd bday. She would still fit in it weight wise now at 2.5y. But since DS was coming I switched her to the marathon.

DS... 1yr, he would have fit longer but I had the 3rd marathon sitting around so I stuck him in it. I didn't take it out of my vehicle much but it got me through the winter before his 1st bday. Here in Indiana the winters can be cold and very snowy so it helped with having two other little girls to get in and out of the vehicle.

I always loved the ease of the infant and especially if they were asleep and I needed to run into the store. It was easy in and out of the car.

How long did you use the infant seat?!

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