I have an almost 6 month old that I am thinking about moving into the big boy car seat....the still rear facing but can turn around and face forwards also.
Do any of you have any input on if I should indeed leave him in the small car seat for longer or if the bigger one will work?
Any suggested brands? He is a hot natured little guy...so I dont want alot of that materal that is fuzzy.....
Two great websites about convertible car seats:
http://carseatnanny.blogspot.com/
http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/tp/topconvcarse...
Anything Britax!!!! They are some of the best seats out there. They come in lots of different prints. They are more expensive, but I found mine brand new on ebay. So if money is tight, I'd suggest going there.
I used to work at babies r us and i can tell you we got more returns on Evenflo, Safety first, Costco, Eddie Bauer (which is just a costco with his name slapped on it) I'd always suggest feeling the plastic to see if it feels like a cheap dollar store toy melted back down and shaped into a seat. That's my rule of thumb when buying something saftey. If it feels cheap, then it probably is. But all seats pass a certain standard, but some pass better than others. American brands do not have as high of safety standards as Europe, so I suggest Britax because it is from England and has an impeccable reputation. If you have anyother questions you can message me!
M.
There is no reason to not go to a convertible rear-facing seat. The only reason to stay with the infant seat is if you use it in the stroller a lot and don't want to disrupt him. I will be moving my 5mo as soon as my son grows out of the convertible, or she grows out of the infant.
We us Britax (which is currently having a 20% off sale right now - Amazon or diapers.com). They have a great reputation, and they really are worth the cost. My son is 2.5 and only has to now move to a booster because he is so tall. His cousin is 4.5 and only now has to move up. It has great safety and weight standards.
switching now is fine if you don't mind waking him if he falls asleep in the car and he sits well enough to sit in a high chair at a restaurant or in the buggy or a stroller when out.
we switched our youngest at 7 months (though we still use the bucket seat for outings in other cars even now at 14months). We have a graco myride, which you can use with or without the infant insert. it's about 130-150 depending on the pattern/store. Other good options are the first years truefit, the evenflo triumph advance, and the radian80. The only problem with the britax seats is that for the price, MOST kids won't make it close to the weight limits because the harness nor the shell are tall enough.
We have the Evenflo Symphony and love it! We actually have one in both cars. The only disadvantage to switching to a "big boy" carseat is that if he falls asleep in the car, you can't just "unclick" him and bring him inside.
I made the decision for my son around 9 months, now my son is a BIG boy LONG and STOUT. Around 9 months he was very long and nearly 40lbs and the "pumpkin" seat as you call it his feet were too long for and his head was not "in place" so the change was made to the big boy car seat. Due to his size we had him forward facing about as soon as he legally could b/c his poor legs had more room but still not enough. It is really a discussion to have with yourself and the safety regulations. If you are worried you will miss taking the seat with you and not having to drag the stroller get a body carrier/sling/wrap whatever I would leave it on in the car and get him in and out of it faster and easier then dragging that darn seat everywhere (started with that at 6 mo.). Good luck!
Oh and we have Evenflo too! The wonderful "Car Seat Lady" at Toys-R-Us helped me TONS!
If he still fits the height and weight requirement of his carrier car seat then I would leave him in there. When he is at the max then move him to a high rated covertible car seat in the rearfacing position. My favorite convertible is the First Year True Fit seat, it is as highly rated as the Britax seats.
We use the Evenflo Triumph for our younger child and we really like it. We moved him at 6 months and it was so nice...he was getting uncomfortable in the baby seat. The best feature about the Triumph is that it has the turning wheel for tightening as opposed to the pull strap and I think it's magical! ;) Our daughter has the other type of seat and I like my son's much, much more!
my daughter was 3 months when we switched her. She was really big. Off the charts for height and weight. My son was 4 months when we switched him. He was much smaller than my daughter, but his feet and his head were hanging over the edge. THey were both much happier in the convertable seat. We kept them backwards until 1 year
We used the evenflo triumph convertible and loved it! And for $99, it was a steal!
My baby girl is a very chubby cute thing, she met the weight requirement early, around 9 months. We bought two evenflo carseats from Costco, one for our 3 year old and one for our then 9 mos old, they are convertable so I just left it backward until she hit 1 years old. Both our girls are very comfortable in them, my 3 year old is opposite, very petite so other carseats would hurt her back but she does like this one. No fuzzy stuff. :-)
I believe that there are size/age/weight suggestions for each seat, so consult those first. I don't have them offhand, but I know that our son was in his wee little seat for nearly the first year. I think the smaller seat offers better protection for little ones in an accident (more head and leg support than a more open-style seat) and so we kept our son in his as long as he could fit it.
I took my son out of the pumpkin seat when he was too heavy to lug around in it anymore...I think he was around 8 months. But I kept him in a convertible seat facing backwards until 11 months (I know the recommended age is 1 if not later).
Both of my kids outgrew their infant carriers around 6 months. The convertible seats can be used from birth, so there's no reason not to switch. I can't say enough wonderful things about Britax. They are worth whatever you have to pay for the safety and comfort. Both of my kids are extra tall and they had no problem fitting in the seats until they were/are old enough to go to booster seats. We rented a car seat with a rental car once and it was so umcomfortable that my son cried the whole trip. We use the Britax Boulevard, but you really can't go wrong with any of the Britax line. They have super customer service too. Their website is www.britaxusa.com and you can check out their products and then find them cheaper elsewhere. Good luck!
