To buy an infant seat, or not to buy an infant seat?

Buy it or don't buy it?

  • Buy it

    Votes: 12 70.6%
  • Don't buy it

    Votes: 5 29.4%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .

Brigala

CPST Instructor
I'm putting it up to a vote.

I currently own a pair of Onboard Air 35 car seats in O2. Love 'em.

My best friend and my husband's daughter are both expecting babies in the spring. I have promised an infant seat to each of them. So I was going to give each of them one of my OBAs.

Problem... DH and I have decided to try for one last baby this spring. After thinking about it, I realized neither of them would likely be done with the infant seat by the time baby is born, and I'm also not 100% sure I would want to use the seat from either of them after they got done with them. I'm sure I'd know if either one was in an accident, but I'm less sure about other forms of abuse they might be subjected to. So I was planning to wait... we'll know whether we're going to be able to get pregnant again or not by the time my step-daughter's baby is born, so I figured if I got pregnant I'd buy another infant seat for her and keep one of my OBAs.

But now I have found one brand new in box (old DOM, but not too old for this purpose) SR32 for $60 online. A gender neutral color, even.

DH's daughter's other child was almost 9 lbs at birth so I'm not too concerned about the fact that it doesn't fit tiny babies well. In the unlikely event that she had a tiny baby I could probably stand to loan her my OBA for a month or two... I just don't think I want to loan it to her for 8 months or a year or something. A long-lasting infant seat is a must for them, I think, so something else that cheap (like a comfy carry) is not a good choice.

If I ended up buying the SR32, I probably wouldn't even take it out of the box until I knew for sure I was giving it to them. If I ended up not getting pregnant, I could give them my Onboard and sell the SR32 on Craigslist or something. I should be able to get my $60 back out of it that way, right?

DH says he'll leave it up to me. What do you think? Should I buy it?
 
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gsdguenter

Well-known member
If you have the money to spend on it and it won't affect you negatively in a financial way, then I say buy it.

Disclaimer: I'm a sucker for a good carseat deal :p
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
It won't really affect us much to buy the car seat, no. :)

Even though I bought a Frontier 85, a Parkway SGL, and a Roundabout 55 on Wayfair today. :eek:
 

Syllieann

New member
I'd wait until you have the bun in the overn. Think back over the past 9 months, how many killer deals on infant seats have you stumbled upon? Surely more than 1 or 2. The sr32 is a great deal it's just that I'm pretty confident it won't be the last good deal you find so why bother buying something you might never need and storing it for the next year if you don't have to?
 

mominabigtruck

New member
I'd wait because I'm always wanting to know if something new and exciting is coming out or better cover choices. I would hate to have a seat sitting in my closet making me feel like I couldn't buy something else because that would be wasteful.
Posted via Mobile Device
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
See, this is exactly why I'm waffling.

Thing is, I don't see super duper deals on infant seats that often.

If I could snag a keyfit or an onboard (even if it's not an air protect one) for $60, I'd rather do that.

How wide is the SR32 anyway? Will it fit in the center of a '99 Accord with a FR85 outboard? Of course I don't know whether any other infant seat will, either.

DH's next grandbaby is due in April. My BFF is due in March. I'm aiming for a frozen embryo transfer in February, and there's a slim chance if it doesn't work I'll have one last shot at it in March or April. If I don't get pregnant with the embies we have in cryostorage, then that's it -- no more kidlets for us. Our schedule may not work out perfectly, but I know if I'm not pregnant by the middle of next year, I won't be. So it's not like I'd be holding on to it for an indefinite period of time.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
I do see deals on infant seats on nbd quite often though.

I almost always just see rear-adjust Gracos or girly seats on there. I would most likely want something gender neutral. The only time I ever saw an Onboard Air it was girly, and it was a lot more than $60.

How often am I likely to run into a really GOOD car seat, like an Onboard Air or a Keyfit or something for under $100, or one of the better long-lasting decent seats like the SR32 for under $75? I've been watching for ages and this is probably the best deal I've seen.

*sigh*
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
Bah. Someone sniped it out from under me. DH said I should bid more but I didn't want to. LOL. Lost it by a buck. ;)

Will keep looking. I'm eyeing a travel system which would make a GREAT shower gift and comes with a SR32. Will watch it and see if anybody bids on it. My only hesitation is that DH's daughter thinks she wants a stroller her 6 year old can ride on the back of, like a Joovy Caboose, but I think the older child's way too big and such a stroller doesn't exist as far as I can tell.

For the most part, I'm relieved I didn't get it. I was really stressing over it. :p
 

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