How soon to install infant seat

mburks26 · Jun 13, 2012

Scheduled to go in 9/14 so about 3 more months to go, im the only one that can install seats right. We have 2 cars and 2 infant seats and one car is used more then the other right now and well both seats are taking up space that i need for other things in the baby room. Should i install the one seat in the car that is not being used but maybe once a week or so or wait?

newyorkDOC · Jun 13, 2012

I'm due 9/20 and I don't even know if I will install the seat until we leave the hospital. But... We don't really have extra room in the car for an empty seat. If you have room in the car and no room in the house, I'd probably install it. Then again you risk having to replace it if you get in an accident or someone breaks into your car.

jacqui276 · Jun 13, 2012

I played with mine beforehand to make sure that I knew how to get a nice tight install with it a few months before but didn't install it in DH's vehicle until I was about 38 weeks (didn't have him until 41.5 weeks). I was pretty mobile at the end of my pregnancy (worked until 38 weeks pregnant on my feet the majority of the time) and had room to store it in the house though.
If you don't have room to store it in the house but don't mind having it in the car, there would be no harm in putting it in sooner, as long as you don't get in an accident. If you are the only one that can get it installed properly, I would at least do it by 35/36 weeks in case you go into labor before your scheduled day (I'm assuming c-section due to the definitive date).

hedgefun · Jun 13, 2012

newyorkDOC said:
I'm due 9/20 and I don't even know if I will install the seat until we leave the hospital. But... We don't really have extra room in the car for an empty seat. If you have room in the car and no room in the house, I'd probably install it. Then again you risk having to replace it if you get in an accident or someone breaks into your car.

:yeahthat:

I'd maybe install one of them. That way it would free up some room for you in the house and you'd probably have peace of mind knowing that at least one was installed just in case.

I've never been pregnant, so I don't know how much more difficult it would be to install once super-duper pregnant. I would imagine it would be really hard to install a seat after giving birth or having a c-section, but I have no personal experience with that either obviously.

I keep a seat installed in my car that I really don't need because I have nowhere else to put it, so I totally understand where you're coming from on the space issue.

zeo2ski · Jun 13, 2012

Will you have to move other kids' seats in order to put in the infant seat? That's what makes the decision for me--if it's a really tough seat to install I'd actually *wait* at this point if you think it could be too difficult on your pregnant body. For a regular nicely installing seat though (and you could ask for a helper to do the lifting and moving and then you do the actual install) I'd do it now for your spare car.

With my last baby I had to install the infant seat myself after delivery because DH had to run out and get a smaller seat to fit the peanut, but I had moved the older babies' seats ahead of time.

With this baby, moving the older kids' seats is going to depend on their growth and will involve steps down in safety, so I'm totally waiting til the last minute.

mburks26 · Jun 13, 2012

older DD 7 is in a booster and outboard infant is going in the middle due to dh not wanting to move his seat up a tiny bit plus this way older dd can reach dd2. Yep C section it is i was pretty mobile with dd1 but got so big and didnt know jack about seats at that time either. All installs will be done by me as no one else can. We use the truck maybe 2 times a month right now due to gas and that will be the one we will use to come home form the hospital and the seat is a onboard 35 reg not air so i know it will fit if i have a little but not counting on that as dd 1 was 9 lbs and like 19 or 20 inches long

the car is the much harder install locking clip 2 door etc but as long as we have to use the window ac the baby wont be going it it too windy back there my older dd hates it so really the My 2nd seat is a back up so I dont have take out the onboard ( i know i can use with out the base but i dont really like to)

zeo2ski said:
Will you have to move other kids' seats in order to put in the infant seat? That's what makes the decision for me--if it's a really tough seat to install I'd actually *wait* at this point if you think it could be too difficult on your pregnant body. For a regular nicely installing seat though (and you could ask for a helper to do the lifting and moving and then you do the actual install) I'd do it now for your spare car.

With my last baby I had to install the infant seat myself after delivery because DH had to run out and get a smaller seat to fit the peanut, but I had moved the older babies' seats ahead of time.

With this baby, moving the older kids' seats is going to depend on their growth and will involve steps down in safety, so I'm totally waiting til the last minute.

ketchupqueen · Jun 13, 2012

I haven't even bought my infant seat yet. My guess date is 9/21. I won't put the seat in until, oh, 36 weeks or so, probably. If I need help I'll get my husband to help; I can always sit and tell him what to do and make him do it right.

Jessica61624 · Jun 13, 2012

My DD is Friday and my seat isn't installed.

MommyShannon · Jun 13, 2012

I'm 37 weeks and need to put ours in. My bigger concern was freeing up the seat the baby's carseat will go in. I installed DS's FR85 the other day in the 3rd row. DD has a booster back there, but I want her FR85 in once I put the cover back on. The baby will be in a RA55 so I washed the cover and added the infant insert a few weeks ago. Install will be pretty easy for DH now. It's the easiest seat to install we have. I'm not sure which car we will take home from the hospital anyway so we may just wait until after she is born.

ks227 · Jun 14, 2012

We installed the base when I was 38 weeks - I found the Keyfit an exceedingly easy install even when hugely pregnant in the summer heat of July.

However, DD is our only child so far and I didn't have to shoehorn it in with other seats. I didn't want to risk a situation where the seat was stolen or I got in an accident and had to replace a never-used seat, so we left the bucket in the house until up to the end.

I ended up on bed rest at 38.5 weeks with suspected pre-eclampsia which was confirmed at 39 weeks and was sent to the hospital for an induction. As soon as I went on bed rest the Keyfit was docked to the base and my hospital bag went in the car.

We didn't even buy the car seat until I was 37 weeks. In retrospect that seems kind of nuts! Still, I would wait to install at 35-36 weeks; odds are if the baby is born earlier than that s/he will spend at least a few days in a special care nursery/NICU and there will be time to install. I'd also try to get your husband or someone else capable of installing the seats correctly; if the baby was to come a bit early you wouldn't want to have to do that yourself while recovering from a C-section.

oddduck · Jun 14, 2012

With my second I had the seat installed around 37 weeks, and uninstalled it at 38+2 (to wash the cover) and my water broke that night. Nesting much? Ended up installing 3 car seats after my water had broke on my way to the hospital... (2 in our vehicle, 1 in MILs).

lovemybabybug · Jun 14, 2012

I isntalled the base probably a week or so before my due date and left the seat in the house. I barely had a belly though so it wasn't a hard task. If you have to move other seats around, I would do those whenever you start to feel uncomfortable and leave the spot open for the new seat, specially if it a particularly easy to install seat. I had a S32 and the built in lock offs made the base so easy to install I could probably get it done while holding the baby if I wanted to lol

Dmcj13 · Jun 14, 2012

With both boys I installed while in labor before going to the hospital, with DD I watched DH and MIL struggle to install the day before my induction (for pre-e)
I am a procrastinator, lol.

MorgieBear'sMama · Jun 14, 2012

With DD I believe we installed the seat 2 weeks before she was born. With the twins I installed right before hospital discharge, which was 48 hours after c/s.

kam1011 · Jun 14, 2012

I always did it like a month in advance (or I should say went to a CPST) so that it was good to go anytime. The last pregnancy I was on bedrest so I took the car in and she actually installed it for me.

Mommy! · Jun 15, 2012

I always install the base and put the seat in to go to the hospital.

When I was eight months pregnant with our daughter, we had just installed the infant carrier a month in advance (the things you have time for with the first!

Lo and behold we got hit by a drunk driver, thankfully all three of us were okay, but I still remember the terror on the firefighter's face when they were helping me out and he noticed the (empty) infant carrier in our backseat. I think he thought we had forgotten there was a baby there (I was big and pregnant and in pain).

Avery'sMama · Jun 16, 2012

With my last September baby I didn't even buy a car seat until I was late in my 37th week

We ended up installing it as we were leaving the birth center with a 5 hour old baby! Luckily it's a LATCH install in a captains chair, Keyfit 30, doesn't get easier...

This September baby will be requiring a total shuffle of seats. The car seat is stored and a friend is borrowing our extra base. I'll probably pull it out after the kids go back to school September 4th and I predict I will start nesting, with my big girl off to third grade, my son off to Kindy, and only the toddler at home. However, I likely won't install it until we're about to have the baby, as we've got to rearrange everyone's location in the van and I like them where they are!

I also was in a car accident at 38 weeks, with my DS, and I had my DD's seat in the car but had not installed the carrier yet. It was a mixed blessing because it was a Snugride 22 I would have liked to replace! I think, though, that that has made me much less likely to put a seat in soon. I would hate to see it wrecked, or knowing my kids, have them put an ice cream cone in it or something!!

lovemybabies924 · Jun 16, 2012

I install early a bit so the other kids get used to their new seat locations

Sent from my iPod touch, sorry for any auto-correct typos!

NatesMamma · Jun 16, 2012

I'm due 9/6. I'm not planning on actually installing the seat in my vehicle (the one we'll leave the hospital in) until maybe about 37 weeks or so. That way I'm not as huge as I'll get, and it'll give DS a little bit of time to practice not putting his feet into the seat beside him.

Currently, he tosses both legs over the sides of his RN. In DH's car, I know both seats install easily where I want them, so DD might actually be here before I install in that vehicle (unless I need to clear the MR out of the nursery to make some more room).

I probably will *play* with the CCO a bit, just to make sure there are no installation issues. I did try it out when I first got it and couldn't get the install that I wanted. Not sure when I'll get around to doing that, though. There are waaay too many things higher up on my list of priorities. *sigh* I'm never going to get everything done before she's here. :/

With DS, I trusted DH to install the seat (SS1 with lockoff on the base- how easy is that?!) while I was in the hospital. Alas, he couldn't do it, so I ended up installing curbside at the hospital when were were discharged. I kinda don't recommend that! LOL

jennzee · Jun 16, 2012

lovemybabies924 said:
I install early a bit so the other kids get used to their new seat locations

My kids will be staying in their current locations, but they will have to load differently. I've got (hopefully) 5-6 weeks left, so I'll probably install in the next 2 weeks or so, hist to give them time to get used to the new loading pattern.

How soon to install infant seat

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