Question Convertible seat from birth

I am trying to decide if there is any reason for a bucket seat this time around.
I probably won't actually have to purchase a seat if we decide against the bucket, since I have tons...
BUT I am trying to see if there are really any benefits for the bucket besides moving the child without taking out of the seat.

I don't have a way I can move the bucket seat around with baby in it, because I have a daughter in a wheelchair that will require my hands.
So I was thinking convertible seat and good front carrier.

Am I missing something?

Nope, I went straight to a RA55 and MA70 this time and don't regret it. We have mild winters or I might think differently. I loved the Baby K'tan and Moby at first. Now she's 7 months and I mostly use an Ergo. I needed my hands free for my other kids. If we went to my dad's for a few hours, I took our FP Rock and Play to lay her in. A blanket on the floor would have been fine if I trusted my other 3 to not run over her, lol. Eating out is awkward, but we rarely do that. I just wear her and eat carefully. A wrap is easier to sit down with since nothing stiff is around your waist like an ergo. Once she had head control, I put her facing out in the Moby while eating so she was still strapped to me but could play with a toy or watch what's going on. That didn't work last time since she tried to grab all the food, but she's almost ready for a high chair.
ETA: filling out paper work at the doc is a little awkward but not too bad. Around 5-6 months I started wearing her on my back in the ergo which makes everything even easier. She's 18lbs now so no way I would carry her in a seat and keep up with my almost 3 year old.

Car seat is warm and you can bundle on top of the harness before going out to the car. You can get baby completely ready to go before dealing with getting toddlers in the car. You have somewhere safe to put the baby down (eg. waiting at the mechanic's, dr's office, whatever) if you need both hands for something. Sometimes babywearing isn't a good option. I learned this when I tried to tie DS's hockey skates while wearing a noob in front -- awkward LOL. It worked much better to take the infant seat into the dressing room, dress DS, then wear baby and leave the seat in the dressing room during the game.

So I suppose it depends on your circumstances. NOW that I don't cart all my kids everywhere and mostly leave toddlers at home, I could probably make do with a convertible from birth. But when I had 6 kids with me ALL THE TIME the infant seat was really useful.

Keeanh said:

Car seat is warm and you can bundle on top of the harness before going out to the car. You can get baby completely ready to go before dealing with getting toddlers in the car. You have somewhere safe to put the baby down (eg. waiting at the mechanic's, dr's office, whatever) if you need both hands for something. Sometimes babywearing isn't a good option. I learned this when I tried to tie DS's hockey skates while wearing a noob in front -- awkward LOL. It worked much better to take the infant seat into the dressing room, dress DS, then wear baby and leave the seat in the dressing room during the game.

So I suppose it depends on your circumstances. NOW that I don't cart all my kids everywhere and mostly leave toddlers at home, I could probably make do with a convertible from birth. But when I had 6 kids with me ALL THE TIME the infant seat was really useful.

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My youngest two right now are 6 (one in wheelchair) and the rest are preteens and teens.

Eating out is something I need to think of.

I don't know how I would carry a bucket seat and drive my daughters wheelchair....
If I have all the kids then I could do the bucket seat easily, but I could also probably hand baby off if needed.

I am torn.
It is cold here, but by time it gets really cold again baby will be big enough I probably wouldn't use a bucket.

Keeanh said:

Car seat is warm and you can bundle on top of the harness before going out to the car. You can get baby completely ready to go before dealing with getting toddlers in the car. You have somewhere safe to put the baby down (eg. waiting at the mechanic's, dr's office, whatever) if you need both hands for something. Sometimes babywearing isn't a good option. I learned this when I tried to tie DS's hockey skates while wearing a noob in front -- awkward LOL. It worked much better to take the infant seat into the dressing room, dress DS, then wear baby and leave the seat in the dressing room during the game.

So I suppose it depends on your circumstances. NOW that I don't cart all my kids everywhere and mostly leave toddlers at home, I could probably make do with a convertible from birth. But when I had 6 kids with me ALL THE TIME the infant seat was really useful.

Click to expand...

I agree. It's nice to have a place to put baby while you deal with other kids. And to me, getting the baby ready in the house and not into a cold seat is invaluable. But I live in MN and it's very cold - it's -4 today. The wind chill is well below 0, too!

DS2 was born in November and has been in a CCO since birth. No regrets here. I wear him and that helps me keep my wild 2.5yo in control best. Both DH & I hate the bucket so we were glad to skip it this time.

Yeah, -4 degrees I'd want to be carried in a bucket too! Brrrrr... For reference, DD3 was born June 30th in Arkansas plus our van has vents over each seat so it cools down/warms up quickly. I also rarely took her anywhere that means a lot of in an out of the car. DD and DS ride the bus, so no walking into a school multiple times a day. Its normally driving to grocery shop which is easier for me to wear her anyway or to someone's house. I've never tied ice skates. That would definitely be tricky until you could use a back carry.

I have 6 kids. If I have another I'll skip the bucket. I've used it less with each baby. And I've baby worn more with each one.
I put my now 10mo old in a cocorro at 5 mos, and I love it. I would also consider a MR for a new baby, or maybe a Blvd.

I find it easier to chase toddler's while wearing the baby.

Kelley

TyAndCheyMommy said:

My youngest two right now are 6 (one in wheelchair) and the rest are preteens and teens.

Eating out is something I need to think of.

I don't know how I would carry a bucket seat and drive my daughters wheelchair....
If I have all the kids then I could do the bucket seat easily, but I could also probably hand baby off if needed.

I am torn.
It is cold here, but by time it gets really cold again baby will be big enough I probably wouldn't use a bucket.

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So it's not going to be hideously cold, you don't have toddlers who want to be carried, you need hands free, and you generally have "helpers"...

I think it sounds like you would be fine with a convertible and babywearing. Especially since you have older children to hand baby off to if you did need to be totally unencumbered. I bought soft-structured carriers for my 12 & 14yo daughters. Sure they could just use mine, but they love having their "own", and often ask to carry Kaitlyn

The few times I've been in a restaurant with an infant and no car seat, I've asked for a booth and laid the baby down on the bench with the wrap/carrier under the baby and rolled up the side to keep baby from rolling.

Also, when I've had young infants in convertibles, I've kept an expired bucket seat in the car (trunk/cargo area) for those random times I need to put babe down. I think I may have used a 3-pt since it was quicker to secure the baby. In your situation, it could be hung from the wheelchair handles, maybe.

That way I had a "chair" for restaurants etc, but no need to purchase a new seat, or deal with the bucket the 98% of the time I didn't need it.

We went with a convertible from birth with my 4th baby. It worked really well for me and I probably would have done it again except I fell in love with the turquoise combi shuttle. Typically, someone grabbed baby out of the seat before I could anyway as the older girls liked to carry him.