I'll make it quick since you have tons of advice. I became a first time mom 3 months ago. We have the Britax Companion car seat that hooks on the base in the car. We got the Britax Vigour stroller that comes with the toddler seat. The great thing is that the toddler seat comes off until your baby is big enough and you hook the infant/car seat onto the stroller. It's super easy and lightweight. It has the expensive look of a Bugaboo with a much lower pricetag. Look online on Ebay for new ones for cheaper! Good Luck.
I highly recommend an infant seat, particularly the Graco travel systems. My infant seat went up to 30 lbs, 32 inches which is a nice range compared to most infant seats which are usually limited at 22-25lbs. I moved my son into a Britax Marathon after his 1st birthday because he did appear to be outgrowing his infant seat, although he really could have lasted in it 4 more months. He has now exceeded the height limit. They are easy to carry around or you just prop it on the stroller. Infants sleep a lot, so having the infant seat is great. You cannot take a convertible seat in and out of the car and carry it around like you would an infant seat to restaurants, grocery stores, etc. Once you get a convertible, sometime after they are a year old (unless you have a large baby who outgrows one quicker!) those can last you up until they are 6 years old, at least the Britax Marathons will. Looking at my convertible seat, I cannot see how they are meant for infants. You will be happy you got one, I promise!
The infant carriers are AWESOME!!! You will have so much more "flexibility" with it. Let's say you are out running errands and the baby falls alseep...one lift of the carrier and you have the baby...and they are still sleeping. They also fit into shopping carts. It is MUCH easier to take a baby out of a carrier in your house than trying to get the baby out of the car seat while it is still in the car. My daughter used her infant carrier until she was almost 13 months old. She was 5 lbs when born and still isn't 25 pounds at 19 months (have moved her into the Britax Boulevard...AWESOME!!!!!) We loved the Graco system because it had the stroller too. Congrats and get ready for the experience of a LIFETIME!!! Motherhood is the best!!!!
-Stephanie
I am a first time mom to a almost 4 month old. We have the infant carrier for her. It is a pain to carry in and out of places, so I use my sling 99% of the time. I personally, do not like carrying the infant carrier at all! However, we use a convertible car seat for her at my parents house (they are out of state). She used it for the first time at Christmas. It seemed really nice for her, however, I would not have felt comfortable having a newborn in it. It has the baby at a more seated postion. I was ok with it, because my daughter can hold her head up just fine and sits with assistance, so it wasn't a big deal.
With that being said, I do like the infant carrier. It comes in handy when we go out to dinner and the sling is not a good fit. (This has been like 3 times ha ha). I would suggest going with an infant carrier just for the comfort and safety of the baby while in the car.
Most kids do grow out of the carrier in 6-8 months. My guy was pretty small and we still had to move him to a regular car seat by 7 mos. The plus of the carrier is that if they're asleep, you can just leave them in it and take them wherever you need to go without disturbing them much. You would be fine with a convertible car seat from the start. I have friends who chose that route and the bonus was that they had only had to buy one car seat in their child's first year that would most likely last their child's entire car seat using years. Most are designed for infants as small as 5 lbs., so it's just as safe from what I can tell.
It's totally a personal choice about what is going to work best for your family's lifestyle. Congratulations!
I loved the infant car seat for the convenience of being able to move my sleeping daughter from the car to the house without waking her. I also had a stroller frame(can't remember the name of it)that the infant seat fit into, but it wasn't the big heavy "travel systems" that convert to a regular stroller because I got the infant seat separate from a friend. I did have to learn how to hold it right so I didn't trigger my carpal tunnel syndrome, but you figure out what's best for you. She transitioned to the convertible seat when she was about 10 months old (she was pretty light for her age and the doctor said it's best to go by weight and not height). It stayed backward facing until she was almost 16 months and finally weighed 22 pounds - which was the recommendation in the car seat manual. We used a Graco infant seat and a Cosco Alpha-Omega convertible seat. The convertible seat also was used as a booster seat until she was 5 years old. Because she is still such a "skinny-mini", even though she's average height for her age, 7 yrs old, and doctors recommend children be in child safety seats until they are 4'9" (or at least tall enough so they can sit all the way back and their legs bend naturally over the edge of the seat)she still uses a Graco "princess" booster seat. She loves it - calls it her throne and our car is her "carriage".
Michelle
I've always used an infant seat for all three of my children (it came with the stroller I had). My kids didn't reach 20 pounds until the age of 1 or older (Arizona law is you can NOT turn your infant around until they are 1 year old AND 20 pounds NOT either or) so they never out grew it before I could turn them around. I thought it came out handy espeically when they would fall asleep in the vehicle and I would bring them in the house in seat and just let them finish their nap in there, I found when I would take them out of the seat they would wake up and not get a good nap. The seats are heavy with the child in it but if it comes with a stroller it's easy to lock them in the stroller without having to take the baby out of the seat.
As a first time Mom myself. I know where you are coming from.
Yes, as your baby gets larger, the seat does become heavier. But, remember than when that baby is smaller, they sleep ALOT. If you run errands, go to a restaurant, or even just driving in the car...a convertible seat does not recline quite as far as an infant seat. Nor, does a convertible seat travel well. It's harder to hold that sleeping infant in one arm while you are shopping, eating, walking, than it is to let the baby lie in the car seat (if they are content to do so.) I recommend that you get an infant seat to begin with. My daughter is 10.5 months old right now and will probably not outgrow (weight or height) her seat until she is over that one year mark.
And, if I can recommend an AWESOME car set to you...BUY CHICCO. I researched, and researched the seats (as each new Mom does) Chicco has fantastic, thick padding and fits the baby nice and snug. It's moderately priced, but well worth the investment in my opinion. I've been very happy with ours.
Good luck with the new arrival in April!
Jen,
It really is a personal preference. I really liked having a convertible seat because it grows with them until about 40-50 pounds. I found the infant seats/carriers were really heavy and bulky to carry around, so I chose to "wear" my babies most of the time. Have you looked into babyslings, wraps? There is TONS of info why babywearing is beneficial to baby and mommy. You can get overwhelmed by the choices of seats and babywraps so take it slow. I have found the best wraps/slings are the ones you can order since most of them are handmade and seem to wear better on the body and the material is usually organic and softer. The ones you can buy in the store are usually bulky and difficult. You could find a great one in a maternity botique though, and there are quite a few women in town who make them as a business.
I dont' have any suggestions on the best car seats....havn't been in the market for one for quite some time. Again, do your research and check for recalls and safety.
Good luck with your search and congratulations on becoming a mamma.
In peace,
Alejandrina
mom of 4, Birth and Parenting Mentor
www.birthingfromwithin.com
Hi Jen-
My daughter is going to be 11 months old in 10 days and she still fits in her infant seat. She is wearing size 12 months but fits very well in her seat no problems. I think a convertable seat would be ok "personally" only if you had someone to ride in the back seat with the baby untill she or he were able to hold their head up on their own very well. Again that is just my personal opinion. I honestly have only seen one and it sat so upright, luckilly for the baby in the back her aunt was riding in the back seat with her. Good luck. I hope this helped.
I see you have a million responses, but here is my two cents:
I had my son (a big baby) in his infant seat until he was one. His seat held up to 22 lbs. A lot of the infants seats do not go that high. We bought Combi because their infants seats are not heavy so it was easy for me to get in and out of the car. When he got towards the one year mark and a little heavy to carry on my arm, I would drop the seat into his stroller. Again the stroller is also light weight and easy to maneuver. It only weighs about 8 lbs and thus easy to use.
We moved my son into a convertible seat at the year mark (his pediatrician was adamant that we didn't do it before then) and he looked so small in it! I am glad I kept him in his infant seat until he was 1yr old because it worked for us.
Good luck!
Although it is inconvenient that babies grow out of their infant seats so soon, that is the only thing inconvenient about it. I think they are absolutely necessary. I have 2 kids (ages 4 years and 4 weeks). The infant seats are convenient when you go to the grocery store because you can put the seat in the cart. I am not sure how else you would go grocery shopping with an infant (except maybe in a sling). They are also convenient in restaurants. Even when we go to family/friends houses he can lay in his infant seat when he falls asleep. They also fit in the travel system strollers and the babies feel more secure in them than just in a stroller alone. I got an infant seat for both of my kids and then a convertable carseat once they grew out of the infant seat.
I have LOVED my daughter's infant car seat. It is the Chicco Cocina Key Fit. It fits babies 4-22 lbs. and under 30". My baby was borm preemie so she is very small and she is 15 months old and still fits it! I love it because her naptime is never compromised. She can sleep anytime, anywhere. If I have to grocery shop, and it's her naptime, she can still nap! I put the seat on top of the cart. Or shopping for clothes too, I just put her carseat in the stroller (it's a travel system). She never has to wake up, or wait to go to sleep. She is almost too tall for it and we just bought the Britax Boulevard which seems SO safe. However, I'll have to plan my days around her naptimes now since I'll have to wake her up to get her out, or wait until naptime is over to leave the house.
Of course some moms just baby wear or have the baby in one of the shopping cart baby carriers or just move them to the stroller for shopping or running around. I guess the babies just go back to sleep after being moved if that's what they're used to or tired enough to do so. But for me, I think the infant carrier is the best thing ever invented and I wish they lasted longer! It's not too heavy. I have a bad back and I can do it. The carrier itself weighs about 9 lbs. My baby weighs 18. So together, that's 27 lbs. However, she has been a slow weight gainer, so maybe that's given me more time to build up some muscles! If you go with the travel system/infant carrier, you will have to buy two carseats--for when baby outgrows the infant carrier. My friend's baby is really big and she stopped carrying him in it at 4 months when he weighed like 16 lbs. Also, I'm pretty sure that the Britax Boulevard will fit in my Jeep Liberty rearfacing in the middle, but I know for sure it won't fit rearfacing behind me. If I had two carseats and had to put the Boulevard rearfacing, I'd have to put it behind the passenger seat which would make for a very uncomfortable ride for the passenger! So the size of your vehicle matters too.
Good luck & you can email me if you have any questions!
Kristen :)
I use a Graco Safeseat for my son and would recommend this seat to anyone. It is rated for up to 30lbs and 32 inches which is the most of any infant seat. My son will be 1 on 1/28 and he's still in the Safeseat. He's a big boy too (75th percentile for weight, 90th for height). The Safeseat costs a little more than other infant seats out there but if you can keep your child in one seat until they are ready for a forward facing booster (with a 5 point harness is best) it's worth the extra money. I also had an infant seat for my 1st son and he outgrew it before his 1st birthday (and he was tiny, 25th percentile for weight) so I had to buy a convertable seat and then a booster seat. So we had to buy 3 different seats for him (and we got two of each so my husband and I would eash have one in our car). The Safeseat new is around $110. I'm going to keep my son in it as long as I can but plan to list it on Craigslist when he's done with it. It has only been used for one child, non-smoking home and had never been in an accident. If you think you might be interested in it, let me know and I'll send you a note/email before I post it to see if you're interested in it. Good luck on your decision, there are so many choices out there.
Thank you all for the awesome advice. We went out today and got the Chicco Cortina keyfit 30 travel system. I also want to mention how much I like USA Baby. They had the system for $40.00 less than Babies R Us - I guess they are discontinuing the Race Red color but it worked for me! Thanks again!