Hi Moms
I have a new baby due on the 16th of March and we are starting to go down that road of getting a carseat again. (The one we had for my other daughter had a recall on it and I just don't trust the repair kit they sent us) What infant seat would you recommend? Or what ones would you stay away from? Any suggestions to the positive or negative would be much appreciated. My insurance company is sending us a gift card to be used on a new car seat so we are pretty open as far as price range goes.
Thanks for your help!
I strongly prefer and recommend the Graco Snugride. That is the carseat we bought for our son. When we had our daughter this year the hospital was happy to hear that is the car seat we had due to us having a preemie. We were told they are one of the best.
The Graco Infant SafeSeat™ Car Seat holds babies up to 30 lbs and 32” tall. That means it fits 97% of one-year-olds and can keep your baby rear-facing for one full year. The full travel system with stroller is approximalety $ 150. As long as your baby doesn't outgrow it you will be fine until the time they can forward face. My daughter was 6#12oz when she was born and looked so tiny in the car seat but had no problem getting the straps tight enough. Now at 12 1/2 months she is ~19 pounds and it is getting to be a tight fit, especially with her winter jacket. The seat itself fits fine, but the straps could be another 4-6 inches longer to make getting in and out easier. But other than that she still fits well. I figure she might be in it for another couple of months before she goes forward facing. I want to make sure she is the right size before changing.
After this we plan to to the Graco Nautilus. $149- $179. It is a forward facing seat with 65 pound 5 point harness, converts to a highback booster and backless booster to 100 pounds. Good for 6 years before expires. I figure after that time, she can go to a backless booster by Graco. Those only cost about $20-$50 so no great expense after the fact.
Those are my recommendations, but it all depends on how fast your child grows. Some are 20+ pounds at 6 months and the Snugride seats are too small for them. The Safe Seat will last longer, hopefully enough to go forward facing.
L.,
We had the Graco Safeseat with our youngest and I loved it. I was exspecially like the fact that it was a bit bigger than the snugride because our daughter was 10lbs 4oz when born, so she actually outgrew the Snugride we had from her brother by like 4 months. We than bought the Safeseat and she was able to be in it until 10 months when we moved her to a convertible seat. She still fit in it, but got to heavy to carry and since she could sit up in carts we didn't need the carseat anymore. We actually just left the seat in the car and kept using it, without taking it in and out.
The Infant SafeSeat™ Car Seat holds babies up to 30 lbs and 32” tall. That means it fits 97% of one-year-olds and can keep your baby rear-facing for one full year.
Graco Snugride or Graco Safeseat
Then I'd say the Chicco keyfit30
They all have pro's and con's I'll list my pro's and con's!
Graco Snugride-awesome only drawback is babies tend to outgrow quickly
Graco Safeseat- goes to 30lbs...I currently have this it is easy to install the base it has a locking device so my install is rock solid tight. My daughter won't outgrow this for a very very long time. My only drawback are it's big and wide so it doesn't fit nicely in booths at a restaurant or in some shopping carts. Also trying to find a winter covere like a bundle me is hard to find one to fit. My daughter was a preemie and both she and her carseat had to pass a carseat test and they both passed with flying colors.
Chicco keyfit 30-also goes to 30lbs. Awesome seat for smaller babies and also very easy to install. I don't like the fabric patterns though especially if you have a girl. It also won't snap onto a shopping cart or strollers that aren't chicco (safety feature to some annoyance to others)
I really liked our Chicco keyfit...BUT it's heavier then most and our son was big to begin with so it was not easy to tote him around once he was over 10lbs.
we used the graco snugride - problem was that after 6 months my 35 percentile daughter was too tall. Friends had told us to go with a convertable, but the graco cam with our stroller system from my MIL so we just used it.
After that we've used Britax - we used a convertible in both cars until I was in an accident and switched the one in my car to a booster by Britax. We love them even though they are expensive. She still fits in the convertible (she's 3). My parents and both sisters have them now too because we like them so well.
