Car Seats - Jersey City,NJ

Get a covertible seat, don't get an infant car seat if you want to save money. I had both but it wasn't necessary, plus my daughter grew out of her infant car seat pretty fast and we had to install a convertible facing rear anyway so the infant seat was really just a waste of money. We did use it to take her shopping in a cart (we'd put the infant seat in a cart when we shopped which was handy) but if you don't mind taking her out of the seat and into a stroller a lot, you can do without the infant seat.

The Graco Snugride is constantly rated one of the best, and not super expensive. You definitely want an infant seat - the baby carrier is so so convenient for taking him into the supermarket without waking him/her. I have 2 of the newborn-pre-schooler seats for my other children, and just can't imagine putting a newborn in them.
Congrats!

all carseats have to pass the same safety tests so I recomend a conervtible seat. My youngest hated his infant seat so we never used it in the store only in the car the rest of the time he was in a sling.

It truly does not matter if you use an infant seat or a convertible from birth. What DOES matter, however, is how the convertible seat fits an infant. MANY do not fit infants from birth. Even though the weight limits may start at 5lbs, the bottom harness slot needs to be at or BELOW the shoulders for rear facing, and most newborns are too small to use most convertibles from birth because that bottom harness slot is too high. A couple that work reall ywell from birth are the
Cosco Scenera ($50, rear facing 35lbs, forward 40lbs, basic seat, not lots of padding, but works for newborns)

Graco MyRide65 ($150 rear facing 40lbs, forward facing 65lbs. LOTS of padding and infant inserts, great for extended rear facing, great seat)

Those are pretty much the only two who fit newborns from birth well, where the bottom harness slot is level with their shoulders so its acceptable.

However, you may want the convenience of an infant seat at times. We used our sling almost exclusively, however when we went out to eat, th infant seat was irreplacable before baby could sit up properly in a high chair. If you want the most staying power in an infnat seat, look for the Graco SafeSEat 30, or the Chicco Keyfit 30. These will hold children to 30lbs, and most kids can use thes seats until they are 2 (but most parents choose to switch to a rear facingc onvertible around a year old anyway as most kids prefer to sit up more around that time)

Those are the seats I would look for if you want to start with a convertible from birth, or the two infant seats you should consider if you want to use them longer.

We started with an infnat seat with both our boys, and they had grown out of it by 5mos old. We switched to a convertible car seat then and they both rode rear facing to 18mos and 35mos in the convertible.

A few more things for you as a new parent to research is EXTENDED REAR FACING. This is keeping your child rear facing beyond 1yr adn 20lbs. The AAP recommends that children remain rear facing until at least age 2 and 30lbs, or to the limits of the convertible car seat. A childs spine does not ossify (harden) to the skull until a child is 3-6yrs old, so the longer a child stays rear facing, the safer that child is in a crash. Its 5 times safer to a child to be rear facing in a crash after age 1. In Sweden, they rear face to age 5, and they've had fewer deaths in 10yrs than the US has in one day. That speaks VOLUMES to the importance of EXTENDED REAR FACING. Please google it and educate yourself now.

Also I wanted to address the poster who said consider the size of your car- thats not true. If an infant seat fits in the vehicle, a convertible will as well, as they sit more upright,even with a newborn recline, than an infant seat does. I've fit a Britax Marathon, one of the largest convrtible car seats out there, rear facing in a Chevy Aveo... a subcompact, without it evne touching the front seats. You just have to knwo what you are doing, and if you don't, find a CPST at www.safekids.org who can help you.

A car seat is outgrown rear facing when there is less than 1 inch of hard shell above the childs head, or the child goes over the weight limit. Before this happens, the seat is now outgrown, but if even one happens, the seat IS outgrown and needs to be replaced with a larger seat. Its very important that you move the child to a larger seat when there is one inch of shell above the head. That inch is the 'ride up' zone, in a crash wit ha rear facing child you want the seat above the childs head at all times, and that inch above the head ensures that.

It sounds like this may be your first baby, but if it's not, or if you know of anyone who has a car seat or other baby gear that is too old to be handed down, Babies R Us is currently offering a promotion where you trade in the old gear and get 25% off another car seat, stroller, etc. Car seats cannot be used if they are more than 5 years old, and it is risky to buy a used one because you never know if it has been in an accident (after which they are supposed to be thrown away because there can be damage inside that is not visible on the outside). Just wanted to mention this in case you know someone who has old gear they are not using and it could save you some money. Check out the Babies R Us website for more info.

Here is what I would do:
Go to a book store, find Baby Bargains. Look up the best, safest and most wonderful car seat.
Take those names and go to your local Craigslist and buy one used.
Convertible is the best. My baby is only 6.5 months and she out grew her infant care seat! Had to move up. Saves a lot of $$$

The infant carriers are more for convienence. Regular convertible seats, with infant specific padding work well from birth up.

First I would check with you hospital to see what their departure proceedure is. My hospital had a rule that your baby had to be in an infant carrier when departing the hospital. Let them know that you are considering just having a non-carrier car seat. See what your options are from their viewpoint.

M.

Our pediatrician strongly advocated a travel system for the first several months (one of the bucket seats that latches into a base). The hard plastic is most protective for newborns and infants.

Both of our kids were about 7-8 months when we moved them to a bigger car seat.

We used a Graco system because we saw good safety reviews on them. We now have a convertible Graco booster for our 3.5 year old and a Britax Roundabout.

A little known fact is that most car seats have expiration dates. For our bucket seat, the plastic is only good through 2011 (we got it in 2006). Also, I've seen many warnings against getting infant products at second-hand stores/garage sales as you don't know if the product has been recalled or not. So, best to buy new.

Good luck in your decision.

I don't know how accurate this is because I never checked a second source, but my pediatrician recommended an infant seat and said they truly are safer than a convertible for infants. I wanted to be able to use the carrier in stores and such (even though I did use my sling a lot too) so I didn't look into it any further. I loved the convenience of the carrier, and mine didn't outgrow his until a year old. I got one that went to a larger weight and height, so I really got my money's worth from it. Plus I loved that it fit the stroller and used it a lot.

Yes, you will have to get a convertible regardless, and that is where I would make sure of the quality and ease of use. I got an Evenflo Triumph Advance which was still pricey but was only about half the price of a Britax, has similar features and I think it's just as good. It is very user friendly and got really great ratings. I've also heard great things about First Year's True Fit but haven't used on myself. I would not personally get any of the Costco or Eddie Bauer lines, they have a ton of recalls. I used a few websites for research : http://cpsafety.com/articles/ConvertibleShop.aspx ; http://www.car-seat.org/ and consumer reports.com. You can get a trial membership for free to look stuff up. I also went the consumer products saftey commission recall website and just kinda looked at how many recalls one brand had versus another. I don't know if there were any with no recalls, but some had double or triple the amount of others. All carseats are considered "safe" so you won't find ratings systems for safety, just ease of use, comfort, etc. But being easy to use is important, you won't use it correctly if the instructions are poorly written or it is difficult to install, etc.

I would NOT recommend buying secondhand. This purchase is too important to risk getting a faulty seat. If you can't afford both, getting just a convertible is much better than risking baby's safety on a second hand seat. If you have trusted friend and know it hasn't been in an accident, that is fine as long as you check expiration dates.

A couple of discount carseat websites I have heard of: www.Babyage.com www.babycarseats.com and amazon as well. Good luck!

We bought a graco infant seat the day before Braeden was born (he came 4 weeks early). In hind sight, I was not one to leave him in the carseat when I went into store very often so I used my bjorn a lot, so I would probably skip the infant seat and go right to the convertible. We love our recaro seat. It's "infinately adjustable" and we may buy another one when we get preggo with number 2. It fits well in our car (better than the britax we were going to get) and is easy to use. We transitioned to this one at about 6 months because he would get mad being in the infant seat. One of my friends used her infant seat all the time though until about two weeks ago when he sone turned 9 months. Just think about your style and what you think will be the mose convenient for you. The baby will not notice right away.

Yes, it was just as much for his convertible as it was for the infant carrier one, but for us it was worth it. I got the infant seat mostly because it fit into the stroller. It was nice to be able to take him out on walks in those first few months. Most strollers aren't really equipped for under 3mo without the carrier. We mostly carried him everywhere in the stores, but it was helpful when I had to run into the store that I could just bring him carrier and all.

If you go for a convertable you need to consider the size of your car , covertable seats can take up a lot of room in the rear facing posistion. The pros of an infant seat is that you can just lift the seat out of the car and carry into a store or into the house without having to get the baby in & out all the time. Another thing to think about is whether you plan on having anymore kids , if you are then an infant carrier may be the way to go as this child will still be using the convertable (if that's what you go for) so you would have to buy another seat anyway.
The expensive of a new seat is a few months off yet , most infant seats can take a baby up to 20lbs some 22lb (which is around 9-12 months old), providing the baby has not become to tall for the seat (head must not be higher than the top of the seat). I have lost count of the amount of cars I have been behind where the kid is so much taller than the seat!!

I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old so we have looked at a lot of car seat options. The baby carrier type car seat is so handy with a small baby. My son was a big baby-9lbs at birth so he needed a new car seat at about 7 months. We found one that went from convertible rear and front facing to a booster seat and my 47 lb 4 year old still is in it (in the harness). My daughter was smaller (7.5 lb at birth) and is still in the baby carrier style seat at 13 months and 19 lbs but we will switch her soon. I believe a couple of the infant carrier seats do go up to 30 lbs if you want that option. Also see if you know any friends or relatives with babies. I got a car seat from a friend and that seat was used by 4 babies before it expired (mine, 2 before and 1 after). I also have another friend who has her older child between the ages of my 2 and is expecting her second. We have been trading back and forth baby gear for years now (most is in decent shape still except a few favorite items). It has saved us both lots of $. Freecycle is also good for baby clothes and gear so you can buy new the few things that are most important to you (like a car seat).

We used our infant carrier for almost 12 months but both DH and I are small people and so is our little one. It was soooooo convenient to just unsnap the seat and go. I can't imagine having to unbuckle and disturb a sleeping baby all the time! Plus, you can get a stroller base that the seat snaps onto. I highly recommend that option.

You probably could find a used seat but PLEASE make sure to check the expiration date on the seat. It should be marked in raised letters somewhere under or on the back of the seat. This really does matter A LOT. Plastic can break down over time especially when exposed to sunlight as frequently as car seats are. A lot of people get rid of infant car seats that are only a year or two old. I think most have a 5 year life span. If the seat is NOT expired you should end up with more safety features while staying within your budget.

I found it easier to keep them in an infant carrier for the first 9-10 months. You can get them that go up to 30 lbs so they can stay in it longer. After that we switched to Britax convertible, they are more money, but it's worth it and they stay in them for a long time. You can go to Babies R Us and look in their clearance section for the infant carrier. We ended up getting a $100 one for like $55.00. They have never been sold/returned, and come with everything. They are the floor models that they sell off as the model changes. If you are going to get a used one, I would only get it from someone you know so you know the history of it (no accidents).

Definitely get an infant carrier first. I know your finances are tough but a newborn in a huge convertible car seat, while safe, isn't very practical. The infant carrier car seats are wonderful because you can snap a sleeping baby into the car seat base and then just unclick the baby out. This way, you don't have to wake the baby each time you get her/him in or out of the car. I know it only lasts a year, but it's so worth it. Believe me.

Some of the Graco Snug Rides go up to 32 pounds!!! That can last you quite a long time! (for instance, one of my four year old twins is only 35 pounds now....)

Here is a link. http://www.buybuybaby.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SK...;

You can also get less expensive ones (last year's models, for instance) but some only go up to 22 pounds.

We also got a carseat in the clearance area at Babies R Us. And I found our toddler seat at an incredible price at babycatalog.com. It had mixed reviews, but they were great for us - best price (by $40), free shipping.

But an infant seat's value is in that the baby can sleep in it while you are driving and you can take them with you without interrupting their sleep. The snap and go stroller is fairly inexpensive and the infant carseat snaps right onto it.

Good luck!

Our kids outgrew their infant car seats by three months, but I still recommend the investment. It's wonderful to be able to lift them out and use the seat as a carrier when they're sleeping. I was with you, thinking they'd be a waste of money, but was really glad we spent the extra and got the infant seat in addition to the convertible.

Also, when you buy a convertible seat, consider getting one that becomes a booster later on. If you end up with big kids like mine, they will outgrow the convertible seat before they turn four and you're stuck buying yet another seat. We've spent a fortune on car seats!

You have to get a regular baby seat first because the baby sleeps about 22 hours a day and will most definitely be sleeping in the car. Every time you go in and out you'd have to unstrap the baby and mist likely wake a sleeping baby. With the infant seat it would just be the bush of a button and out the whole thing goes. The infant seat also is smaller and when the baby is first born they are tinier than you can ever imagine. It's like strapping a small ball into the straps. The babies arms and legs are all curled up and tucked close to their body and the bigger seat would be very awkward. Also the infant carrier had a hood that when it's windy and cold, you can take a blanket and drape it over the top when you take baby from car to store. When the wind hits a babies face the actually will hold their breath because of the abruptness of the air smacking them in the face. It will be more costly but invest in the infant seat and when the baby get older towards 8 months, when their sleeping less and can support their bodies better, then get the convertible. By 8 months old your baby will really start to get heavy in that infant seat and you won't want to wait till their 1 year old to get the next seat. Hope this helps. As friends that you may know with kids if they want to sell you their bigger car seat. Just make sure it's never been in an accident and that it not too old. You can also check Craigslist or ebay for a seat called Britax. They are top quality and the highest on safety but expensive.

Graco snugride is a great infant carseat. There are a few different price points. It was so handy to have my girls in an infant seat. I could bring them everywhere without having to bother taking them in and out of it. I also recommend the Graco car seat frame stroller. You just snap the car seat into the base and there's your stroller. Very convenient and cheap.

For my older child, I bought a convertible car seat only; she transferred well between the car, stroller, and house. When she was 2 and became a big sister, I bought an infant seat in case they both fell asleep at the same time.

Do you shop at big stores like Costco? W/o an infant seat, how will you shop with the baby?

I got a free car seat from my local police department. Some (not all) have them available.

I posted this same question a while back when i was pregnant with our twins - and before i asked it was almost positive we would use the convertible only. we weren't planning on a "travel system" and planned to just take them out of the car seat and into the stroller or wrap carrier. Also money was a HUGE factor when we found out we needed 2 of many things!
99.9% of the responses and friends we talked to said the infant seat is a very good investment! They managed to change my mind and convinced us to get the infant seat! Our babies aren't home yet - they were born 3 months early so they're still in the hospital - but i'm so glad we made that choice! Plus the hospital's policy is that you need to have a portable infant car seat to bring the baby home in.

The best part was we put the car seats on the registry just on the off chance a group of people wanted to buy us one - and a ton of people from my husband's family went in together to buy them both for us! Are you having a shower? maybe a good thing to suggest people pool together to buy for you if anyone asks what you need!

Some good points brough up to us - Once they're asleep in the car, are you going to want to wake them up to bring them in the house and not be able to get them back to sleep??
Its nice to have the seat to snap out and take into the house if you're visiting someone, gives the baby something to lay in while you visit so you don't have to hold them the whole time!

I had the same feeling of being overwhelmed with the choices! We chose the Graco Snugride - it came highly recommended from friends and had good reviews online.

Good luck with your choice! and congrats! :)

I'm curious how to do extended rear facing. My daughter is small, and we kept her rear facing until about 1 month ago, but her legs got too long! She's only a little over 20 lbs so any advice about how we could keep her rear facing longer would be appreciated.

I love my infant seat. My daughter falls asleep every time (almost) in the car and with the infant seat I just carry the whole thing in wherever we are and I get a few more minutes of peace! I believe the infant seats are actually safer BUT that is only MY opinion. You could find out what is recommended for safety and go from there. Oh, I have a graco travel system that was expensive (bought 4 years ago) but the car seat has been used for 2 of my kids and a friends son and is still in great shape. The stroller has seen hundreds of miles and is still in great shape. Congratulations!!! A.