Author Topic: infant car seat vs convertible car seat  (Read 5106 times)

skp

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infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« on: March 28, 2019, 04:56:36 PM »
New grandbaby coming.  When I had mine I don't think they even made infant car seats.  I had one car seat and that was it.  I see the pros and cons of each.  It seems more mustachian to just get the convertible one.  I was thinking of buying the new grandbaby one.  I'll get them whatever they want.  I'm just curious about what people on this board have done.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2019, 05:17:48 PM »
We just got a convertible for the first one. If you live somewhere with severe winters and no garage, the infant seat is maybe worth it. But even with Iowa winters, we never saw a reason for it.

But the main reason I hear people say is so you don't have to wake the baby up if they are sleeping. But carseats are not safe sleep environments. They are really only supposed to be used in the car anyway...

We did get an infant seat for #2. My daughter just turned 2 and still needs help getting out of her seat. I couldn't figure out how to do daycare drop off if I can't put the baby down... I suppose it's a balancing act of getting baby into a wrap, then getting her out...but we'll, that seems like a pain. Lol

nereo

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2019, 05:03:42 AM »
We got an infant car seat in our cold and snowy climate and loved it - now 7mo later we're shopping for a car seat.  Things we liked was being able to bring her in/out of the house already in her seat, being able to take her grocery shopping (the infant seat fits snugly on a shopping cart so the child is near eye level) and yes, that we didn't have to wake her.  Convertable car seats are harder to get a very small child in/out of because they lack head and body control and the seat doesn't easily come out of the car, so you're doing it all standing outside the car. Once the kid can sit up its much easier to get them in and out of any type of car seat.

Cons:  you'll be shopping for a larger seat in 6-8 months .

But the main reason I hear people say is so you don't have to wake the baby up if they are sleeping. But carseats are not safe sleep environments. They are really only supposed to be used in the car anyway...

I've heard this often, but it's never made a lick of sense to me.  Most of the time the kid falls asleep in the car seat while driving, and with trips that can often be several hours.  I'm not saying that one should put their kid in a carseat everyday for a nap, but... they will sleep in whatever car seat you get them. At least s/he's fully strapped in.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2019, 05:08:03 AM by nereo »

ysette9

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2019, 07:29:57 AM »
We got a convertible right away. It has served us from coming home with a 4lb preemie to today when she is starting to grow out of it as a 4.5 year-old. I bought the same convertible when my second baby was born. Mine is a Cocoro Combi which was the smallest convertible on the market at the time (I have a small car). I’ll second that thought that car seats are not designed to be good ergonomic places for babies to sleep. I know it is convenient to be able to bring the sleeping baby in tr car seat inside, but the temptation is to keep the baby in there all the time- in the shopping cart and stroller and and and. Babies aren’t designed to be contained in buckets all the time and that can delay musculature development.

Congrats on the grandbaby!

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2019, 07:31:59 AM »
We got an infant car seat in our cold and snowy climate and loved it - now 7mo later we're shopping for a car seat.  Things we liked was being able to bring her in/out of the house already in her seat, being able to take her grocery shopping (the infant seat fits snugly on a shopping cart so the child is near eye level) and yes, that we didn't have to wake her.  Convertable car seats are harder to get a very small child in/out of because they lack head and body control and the seat doesn't easily come out of the car, so you're doing it all standing outside the car. Once the kid can sit up its much easier to get them in and out of any type of car seat.

Cons:  you'll be shopping for a larger seat in 6-8 months .

But the main reason I hear people say is so you don't have to wake the baby up if they are sleeping. But carseats are not safe sleep environments. They are really only supposed to be used in the car anyway...

I've heard this often, but it's never made a lick of sense to me.  Most of the time the kid falls asleep in the car seat while driving, and with trips that can often be several hours.  I'm not saying that one should put their kid in a carseat everyday for a nap, but... they will sleep in whatever car seat you get them. At least s/he's fully strapped in.
I think she means the temptation to take the car seat out of the car and continue having the baby in the car seat after the car ride has ended. https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/family-resources-education/700childrens/2018/10/container-baby-syndrome

nereo

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2019, 07:35:24 AM »
We got an infant car seat in our cold and snowy climate and loved it - now 7mo later we're shopping for a car seat.  Things we liked was being able to bring her in/out of the house already in her seat, being able to take her grocery shopping (the infant seat fits snugly on a shopping cart so the child is near eye level) and yes, that we didn't have to wake her.  Convertable car seats are harder to get a very small child in/out of because they lack head and body control and the seat doesn't easily come out of the car, so you're doing it all standing outside the car. Once the kid can sit up its much easier to get them in and out of any type of car seat.

Cons:  you'll be shopping for a larger seat in 6-8 months .

But the main reason I hear people say is so you don't have to wake the baby up if they are sleeping. But carseats are not safe sleep environments. They are really only supposed to be used in the car anyway...

I've heard this often, but it's never made a lick of sense to me.  Most of the time the kid falls asleep in the car seat while driving, and with trips that can often be several hours.  I'm not saying that one should put their kid in a carseat everyday for a nap, but... they will sleep in whatever car seat you get them. At least s/he's fully strapped in.
I think she means the temptation to take the car seat out of the car and continue having the baby in the car seat after the car ride has ended. https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/family-resources-education/700childrens/2018/10/container-baby-syndrome

thanks for the link and explanation.  Yes, we take her out of her car seat once we get inside and to our destination, but the reality is she sleeps in her carseat whenever the car is in motion, so it's a bit confusing when I hear people say "never let your baby sleep in a carseat.  Um, how?"

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2019, 07:46:47 AM »
We got an infant car seat in our cold and snowy climate and loved it - now 7mo later we're shopping for a car seat.  Things we liked was being able to bring her in/out of the house already in her seat, being able to take her grocery shopping (the infant seat fits snugly on a shopping cart so the child is near eye level) and yes, that we didn't have to wake her.  Convertable car seats are harder to get a very small child in/out of because they lack head and body control and the seat doesn't easily come out of the car, so you're doing it all standing outside the car. Once the kid can sit up its much easier to get them in and out of any type of car seat.

Cons:  you'll be shopping for a larger seat in 6-8 months .

But the main reason I hear people say is so you don't have to wake the baby up if they are sleeping. But carseats are not safe sleep environments. They are really only supposed to be used in the car anyway...

I've heard this often, but it's never made a lick of sense to me.  Most of the time the kid falls asleep in the car seat while driving, and with trips that can often be several hours.  I'm not saying that one should put their kid in a carseat everyday for a nap, but... they will sleep in whatever car seat you get them. At least s/he's fully strapped in.

Well, I think that's a lesser of two evils thing. Of course you can let them sleep in the car, you don't have to keep poking them to make sure they are awake.  In a car, the safest thing for them is to be in a car seat.  But outside of the car, it isn't a safe place to let them continue sleeping.  Their airway is too easily compromised.

When my daughter was young, I was able to get her in and out of the convertible seat without waking her up.  I wish I still could!

kanga1622

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2019, 12:24:35 PM »
We used infant seats with both our kids. We park our car in a detached garage and live in a cold climate so I appreciated the ability not to be putting a newborn in a freezing cold car seat. It was also a bit easier to put a cover over the entire seat when going out in the cold rather than a blanket over the baby. As no coats (other than thin fleece if it doesn't require the straps to be adjusted) should be used in car seats, it was a worthwhile purchase for us. We could have just purchased a convertible seat but car seats and the crib mattress were my splurge items. :)

For smaller newborns, not all convertible seats fit them correctly. You really want to look at reviews that specifically address which convertible seats fit infants best. I also encourage all new parents to go play at a store with the buckles on the seats. Some are easier than others to operate. Same goes for installation - less steps required for installation often result in less installation errors.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2019, 12:39:50 PM »
We used infant seats with both our kids. We park our car in a detached garage and live in a cold climate so I appreciated the ability not to be putting a newborn in a freezing cold car seat. It was also a bit easier to put a cover over the entire seat when going out in the cold rather than a blanket over the baby. As no coats (other than thin fleece if it doesn't require the straps to be adjusted) should be used in car seats, it was a worthwhile purchase for us.

I think you just changed my mind! I wanted to use a convertible seat from day 1, but we're having a November baby in Vermont (and don't have a garage) and I hadn't really thought it through. Thank you.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2019, 01:41:14 PM »
We used infant seats with both our kids. We park our car in a detached garage and live in a cold climate so I appreciated the ability not to be putting a newborn in a freezing cold car seat. It was also a bit easier to put a cover over the entire seat when going out in the cold rather than a blanket over the baby. As no coats (other than thin fleece if it doesn't require the straps to be adjusted) should be used in car seats, it was a worthwhile purchase for us.

I think you just changed my mind! I wanted to use a convertible seat from day 1, but we're having a November baby in Vermont (and don't have a garage) and I hadn't really thought it through. Thank you.

Without a garage, I'd 100% go for an infant bucket.  And a cover that zips over, rather than just flaps over the seat.  Just make sure nothing is IN the car seat (behind the straps)- they still sell some like that, and the car seat manufacturers say not to use them.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2019, 01:51:42 PM »
We used infant seats with both our kids. We park our car in a detached garage and live in a cold climate so I appreciated the ability not to be putting a newborn in a freezing cold car seat. It was also a bit easier to put a cover over the entire seat when going out in the cold rather than a blanket over the baby. As no coats (other than thin fleece if it doesn't require the straps to be adjusted) should be used in car seats, it was a worthwhile purchase for us.

I think you just changed my mind! I wanted to use a convertible seat from day 1, but we're having a November baby in Vermont (and don't have a garage) and I hadn't really thought it through. Thank you.

Without a garage, I'd 100% go for an infant bucket.  And a cover that zips over, rather than just flaps over the seat.  Just make sure nothing is IN the car seat (behind the straps)- they still sell some like that, and the car seat manufacturers say not to use them.

Good to know, thanks.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2019, 03:21:00 PM »
Glad you’re planning on getting them what they want, since there are so many pros and cons that they’ll want to consider.  Not to mention making sure it fits in the car!  Worst advice I got - buy a car to fit the car seat we like best.   Um... no. 

Infant car seats seem great if you’re doing daily in/outs like day care or don’t want to do much baby wearing and need to go to the grocery store oor something like that on your way home.

We went with the convertible because we don’t expect to have these kinds of daily trips (2 stay/work from home parents) and plan on baby wearing a lot.   Theoretically it will last as a booster until the kid is 120 lbs... and if the kid ends up me-sized the seat will expire (they last 10 years) long before then anyhow. 

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2019, 03:34:34 PM »
We went with the convertible seat (Graco 4Ever in both cars) and have loved it. The only hiccup was that the NICU expected us to have an infant carrier carseat. Our nurse let us work around it by bringing in the convertible seat for the carseat test and the necessary checks, then my husband went to the car to reinstall it. As I was leaving the hospital with my son, another NICU nurse accosted me in the hallway and said I wasn't allowed to take my baby without an infant carrier. I told her we didn't have one and kept walking. She was so mad I half expected security to stop me. So if there is any chance the baby will spend time in the hospital (fingers crossed he doesn't!) then they may need an infant carrier depending on hospital policy.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2019, 04:00:30 PM »
ANY shopping is easier with a baby in a bucket seat or stroller rather than strapped to you. Wait, maybe that's more because I'm really short. I have trouble reaching things. Just something to consider.

They're a godsend for anyone who frequently runs errands by car. I mean, if you're just popping in somewhere for five minutes, you could spend more time than that buckling and unbuckling! You might also consider your plans for further procreation. I am not sure we would all have survived the years that I had two babies if one of them hadn't been in an infant seat. I could get one secured while we were still inside and just snap him right in once we got outside before his brother could run into traffic or whatever.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2019, 05:12:14 PM »
I'm 5'0" and found baby wearing the best for shopping.
The bucket seat takes up 90% of the shopping basket so it's a giant pain there.

The OP is also a grandparent. Unless they will be the primary caregiver, I'd wonder how much use the bucket seat would get. Even if still within the weight limit, it's recommended kids not stay in them after age 1.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #15 on: March 30, 2019, 07:19:26 PM »
So, as I understand this, you are planning to buy a carseat as a gift for the parents of your new grandbaby?  Sounds great, and of course the parents' opinions are the really important ones. 

That said, huge fan of the bucket seat.  We had 2 parents + 1 grandparent driving baby around, not necessarily always the same for all legs of a trip (e.g. I would drop son at grandma's, grandma might run errands with him while she had him with her, then dad would pick son up from grandma's).  So -- 3 bases, 1 seat, way easier and more affordable, in our experience.

And yes, we moved baby around in the seat <i>all the time</i>, asleep or awake.  And no, I wouldn't have put him in a room by himself asleep in the seat, but I sure didn't hesitate to get him out of the car in the seat and let him sleep while we ate dinner (with an eye on him) or whatever.  Maybe that wasn't sensible, but it is what we did.

I was a tremendously enthusiastic baby carrier, wore my son up through the point where he was 40 lbs & 3 years old (on my hip in a sling at that point), but I also used the carseat to cart him around, and definitely in grocery carts & such (in the younger part of this window, obviously).  And while I wore him a lot, my husband had zero interest in baby wearing though he & our son walked miles & miles & miles in the stroller that came with (and would accommodate, though it didn't require, our carseat.  My mom also wasn't into babywearing as a grandma, though she had been as a mom.  So ... yeah.  Huge fan of the bucket-style snap in seats. 

LouLou

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #16 on: March 30, 2019, 09:39:06 PM »
One advantage of the infant seat is that you only need one car seat, even if baby goes in a lot of different cars. My daughter regularly traveled in my car, my husband's car, my mom's car, my husband's mom's car, and my husband's dad's car. It was nice that everyone had a while to buy a car seat, and the car seats everyone eventually got didn't need to be suitable for newborns because she was older/bigger when the time came.

I originally only bought a convertible seat, but we ended up getting an infant seat within the first week for that reason.

Another benefit is that it clicked into my stroller. I didn't leave her sleeping in the seat for long periods of time, but it was nice when she was sound asleep and we arrived somewhere.

ysette9

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #17 on: March 30, 2019, 10:11:12 PM »
Our experience has been that when initially confronted with the task of installing a carseat in a car, it is really intimidating. Once you've had to install the seat in a couple of different cars however, it quickly becomes an easy task. We move our convertible car seat between cars pretty easily now, though initially I was too scared to try.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2019, 09:53:14 AM »
Another thought: you cannot put a newborn directly into a stroller - you need to wait until they can sit independently.  We were also torn on the car seat question, but for us the deciding factor was that an infant seat would allow us to use the stroller in the first few months.

Congrats!

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #19 on: April 01, 2019, 01:09:49 PM »
Our experience has been that when initially confronted with the task of installing a carseat in a car, it is really intimidating. Once you've had to install the seat in a couple of different cars however, it quickly becomes an easy task. We move our convertible car seat between cars pretty easily now, though initially I was too scared to try.

I think this really depends on the carseat.  I've got 2 (step)grandkids I pick up from preschool a few times a week, and I cannot begin to tell you how annoying I find installing and un-installing their carseats (both very inexpensive models, a Cosco and a low-end Graco).  The Cosco is relatively more OK, but for both, the Latch install straps are really, really difficult to loosen (not so bad to tighten), so once the seats are in ... they are in.  And getting the Latch clips loose enough to take them out and then to reinstall them is a source of much frustration to me.  Repeatedly.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #20 on: April 01, 2019, 01:27:29 PM »
Another thought: you cannot put a newborn directly into a stroller - you need to wait until they can sit independently.  We were also torn on the car seat question, but for us the deciding factor was that an infant seat would allow us to use the stroller in the first few months.

Congrats!

Lots of strollers lay flat.  People used strollers well before bucket seats became a thing.

(But, I didn't use a stroller until she was older. I baby wore, because with the c-section, I couldn't get the stroller in and out of the car.)


I did miss that they are buying this for the parents, not themselves.  If they buy it for the parents, they should buy exactly what is asked for. Which is probably a bucket seat.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #21 on: April 01, 2019, 05:50:34 PM »
We did the lie-flat stroller for our newborns, no bucket seat. But I agree: baby wearing was much easier and that is what I did most of the time until they got quite a bit bigger. With my second she barely rides in the stroller unless we are walking to the park. She prefers being worn on my back.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #22 on: April 04, 2019, 10:42:14 AM »
Infant bucket seats are great for moving from car to car IF you have the bases, which are about $35-40 each.  You can belt them into a car using the seat belt, but you must pull the belt all the way out, get it to catch, and ensure it will no longer pull back out (makes a clicking noise).  If you just belt it in without pulling the belt all the way out and engaging the lock, it is not safely installed and there is a risk the car seat could release from the car in the event of an accident.  I have found a number of times when the car seat was belted the car (the two Grandmas are especially guilty of this) and the belt wasn't locked. 

We had an infant seat and a convertible seat for our second baby (one in one car, one in grandma's).  We found it easy enough to get BabyIce#2 in and out of the convertible seat and into a blanket/snowwrap as a December newborn in the snowy tundra.  Disclaimer - 1) our kids loved baby wearing both with mom and dad (shopping, cooking/cleaning, walking the dogs, etc.)

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #23 on: April 04, 2019, 11:32:24 AM »
Infant bucket seats are great for moving from car to car IF you have the bases, which are about $35-40 each.  You can belt them into a car using the seat belt, but you must pull the belt all the way out, get it to catch, and ensure it will no longer pull back out (makes a clicking noise).  If you just belt it in without pulling the belt all the way out and engaging the lock, it is not safely installed and there is a risk the car seat could release from the car in the event of an accident.  I have found a number of times when the car seat was belted the car (the two Grandmas are especially guilty of this) and the belt wasn't locked. 

Interesting - never tried the belt system with a car seat base; instead I've always used the LATCH attachments.  Seems safer (?) and easier.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #24 on: April 04, 2019, 11:49:17 AM »
Infant bucket seats are great for moving from car to car IF you have the bases, which are about $35-40 each.  You can belt them into a car using the seat belt, but you must pull the belt all the way out, get it to catch, and ensure it will no longer pull back out (makes a clicking noise).  If you just belt it in without pulling the belt all the way out and engaging the lock, it is not safely installed and there is a risk the car seat could release from the car in the event of an accident.  I have found a number of times when the car seat was belted the car (the two Grandmas are especially guilty of this) and the belt wasn't locked. 

Interesting - never tried the belt system with a car seat base; instead I've always used the LATCH attachments.  Seems safer (?) and easier.

My understanding is that LATCH is NOT safer than correct seatbelt installation--it is just less likely to be done wrong than seatbelt installation. I never could get it to work, personally, and have always used a seatbelt.

A little-known fact is that many (all?) bucket seats can be installedwithout the base using the seatbelt. It goes over the baby. Read your manual, of course. I actually found this very easy to do, much easier than installing a convertible seat, and it came in handy several times.

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #25 on: April 08, 2019, 04:43:45 PM »
Interesting - never tried the belt system with a car seat base; instead I've always used the LATCH attachments.  Seems safer (?) and easier.

My understanding is that LATCH is NOT safer than correct seatbelt installation--it is just less likely to be done wrong than seatbelt installation. I never could get it to work, personally, and have always used a seatbelt.

A little-known fact is that many (all?) bucket seats can be installedwithout the base using the seatbelt. It goes over the baby. Read your manual, of course. I actually found this very easy to do, much easier than installing a convertible seat, and it came in handy several times.

+1

Another little known fact about the LATCH system: it has an upper weight limit. The anchors  are only rated to 65 pounds. That is car seat plus child. So if you have a 20lb car seat, and a 45lb kid, you have to use the seat belt instead of the latch system. I know this isn't applicable to infants, but you'll get there sooner than you think. :)

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #26 on: April 24, 2019, 12:22:38 PM »
We went with an infant + toddler carseat made by Chicco brand.  It has all the benefits of an easily removable (quickly click out) infant car seat in that you can have multiple bases in the parents cars and grandparents cars and quickly move car seat between cars.  However, thanks to a cool design feature where you can just flip a lever and adjust the angle, once the kid turns 1 year old or so, you can switch it to "Toddler" mode and now it will continue to work until the kid is ~2.

Source:  My kid is 14 months or so and he's still in this car seat.  We're pregnant with Kid #2 and will likely buy a convertible to put Kid #1 in and then Kid #2 will go in this Chicco Infant + Toddler seat.  We plan on getting a rear-facing convertible that can flip to forward facing.  Our decision is to ignore the booster seat aspect since we can always buy a very simple and super cheap $30 booster seat down the road (or even get a free hand-me-down via Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or friends).

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #27 on: April 24, 2019, 01:41:28 PM »
We went with an infant + toddler carseat made by Chicco brand.  It has all the benefits of an easily removable (quickly click out) infant car seat in that you can have multiple bases in the parents cars and grandparents cars and quickly move car seat between cars.  However, thanks to a cool design feature where you can just flip a lever and adjust the angle, once the kid turns 1 year old or so, you can switch it to "Toddler" mode and now it will continue to work until the kid is ~2.

Source:  My kid is 14 months or so and he's still in this car seat.  We're pregnant with Kid #2 and will likely buy a convertible to put Kid #1 in and then Kid #2 will go in this Chicco Infant + Toddler seat.  We plan on getting a rear-facing convertible that can flip to forward facing.  Our decision is to ignore the booster seat aspect since we can always buy a very simple and super cheap $30 booster seat down the road (or even get a free hand-me-down via Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or friends).

That's interesting. I've never seen that one.

It does only work until 35 pounds though, but I guess since you plan to pass it to kiddo 2 and get #1 the convertible it isn't too limiting. I'm happy my seats rear face to 50 pounds. If the growth of my children is like my sister and I, that should take us to middle school. LOL.

(Already at just 2 years old people are questioning that my daughter is still rear facing...sigh.  Hopefully until 4...but at least 3 is my goal.)

Blueberries

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #28 on: April 24, 2019, 01:51:40 PM »
We purchased a good quality convertible.  We wore our children so I didn't really need the infant seat, though I can see where they could come in handy.

kaypinkHH

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #29 on: April 25, 2019, 07:18:01 AM »
We got a convertible from day 1. We had the baby in May, temperate climate, and had a garage.


Agree with the above poster that the hospital was a little bit confused, but we did the same thing. Brought the car seat in for the car seat test, husband went to install it back in the car and I walked down to wait for him. Security asked me if I had been discharged because it is so rare to see a baby just being carried out of the hospital, but other than that no issues.

I baby wore while shopping, brought a stroller, or some stores have bucket seats. Our stroller had a bassinet style (vs the car seat attachment) and I loved it when he was little. It was always reassuring that he was sleeping flat on his back as recommended when we went out for walks. Only "issue" was if he fell asleep on a walk, and I had to transfer to car. But in most cases I would just keep walking. This happened only a few times.

Same if he fell asleep in the car. Either I would sit in the car in our driveway reading on my phone until he woke up, or I would risk moving him inside. Really not a big deal.

We ended up borrowing a bucket seat for a trip when he was around 4 months old and actually hated it. I'm 5'2" and lugging around the big buckets seat was super uncomfortable to me.

We may get a bucket seat for kid number 2 (if/when), to be determined.
 

elliha

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #30 on: April 25, 2019, 08:16:51 AM »
We had an infant seat with our first child because we didn't really think to consider anything else. It broke when she was about 9 months old and then we bought a rearfacing seat that we used until she was 5. Son was born when she was 4 and we went with the infant seat again with him since that fit our car better than two rearfacing seats. When she was 5 he went in her old seat and she got a booster. We will keep him rearfacing until he is at least 4. I live in Sweden where it is recommended to use a rearfacing seat until the child is at least 4 and ideally as long as he/she can fit into one. My daughter could probably have done 6-12 months more in her seat but we switched for space reasons and we had still gone an extra year anyway so we felt we had done well enough by then.

The model we have lasts 10 years so we should not need to buy another seat for the little one until he is ready for a booster.

Civex

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #31 on: April 25, 2019, 09:14:09 PM »
I would vote towards the infant car seat as that is what we have used and had success with. We bought the Britax Elite B-35 as it was the safest from my research at the time. We used it with the bases and Bob stroller kit and would highly recommend it. Not having to deal with the seat belt was nice; I felt like I could initially spend the time to make sure the base was installed correctly and have less of a worry each day when I clipped the seat in. There were a few posts about the latch system-that state that it isn't safer than the belt system, which is correct, but this doesn't mean that it isn't as safe or is inferior; just that it has a weight limit and is different.

The biggest reason I would go with the infant seat or over convertible is the ease of transfer from stroller to car and car to home. I often times would take my son for walks in the stroller to help him fall asleep- 10 minute drive to walking trail, 30 minute walk where he was falling asleep, 10 minute drive home, and take him from his car seat to the bed at home.

I'm a bit confused at people saying you have to buy a new one ~6 months later-ours is rated for 35lbs for weight and as long as his head is 1.5" from the top of the bucket. At 13 months he isn't anywhere near outgrowing it.

Biggest negative is that they are heavy.

Bakari

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Re: infant car seat vs convertible car seat
« Reply #32 on: April 25, 2019, 09:56:05 PM »
Aside from the extra cost of a seat that lasts a couple of months, the main reason I went with a "convertible" is I didn't want any temptation to just leave the baby in it all the time, as I see SO MANY people do.

It's true that occasionally a nap wouldn't survive the transfer, but we learned how to get him out gently, and in a case where he really needed a nap once or twice we just pulled the convertible seat out (its really not hard at all with the LATCH system)
Being in the car seat for more than the length of a car ride - esp. from car to stroller to floor of the place you're visiting to shopping cart back to car, etc etc
is really not good for their development.  Not good for their skull development, but more importantly mental stimulation and physical development.
They should be practicing their head control, looking around, able to move arms and legs, not strapped into a chair.

Its is less convenient, but if one really wants things to be easy best advice is to avoid having kids...
...I'm sure that will offend, just my personal opinion!


 

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