https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 25 May 2026 22:13:29 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618460 Wed, 07 May 2014 09:23:20 +0000 wonderstruck 1618460@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We switched around 6 or 7 months. I'd say it depends on how much bases cost for you seat - we were able to get one for about $25 and knew we'd be using the infant seat again with #2, so it made sense to go ahead and get my parents a base. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618426 Wed, 07 May 2014 09:16:51 +0000 mrsjyw 1618426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We switched at 8/9 months... DS was getting too long/tall for the bucket seat </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618421 Wed, 07 May 2014 09:15:17 +0000 blackbird 1618421@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Right around month 8/9, before a 5 hour drive to my parents' for Christmas. She was getting increasingly crabby in her infant seat and it was a PITA to move. And really bad for my back (my chiropractor said the worst thing was to carry around that damn bucket seat!). Mostly it kept jacking up my pelvis, so I was happy to let it go. </p> <p>At her 1 year appt, she was 31" tall and our car seat was OK up to 30", so i'm glad i switched her early. She's much much happier/chill in her convertible than her infant seat! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618355 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:59:42 +0000 oliviaoblivia 1618355@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd just get the convertible. My LO was a similar size and by four months was 17.5 pounds which for me was the "too heavy to be lugging around" threshold.<br /> Sounds like you have a big kid and will be needing the convertible soon enough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618351 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:58:50 +0000 Bao 1618351@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Around 7 months when she could sit up well unassisted so that it was easier to take her places without it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618349 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:57:50 +0000 LuLu Mom 1618349@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>8 months </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618338 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:55:29 +0000 mrskc 1618338@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You can install infant seats with out the base. Unless your parents are wanting something they don't have to install themselves or you're like me and don't trust your parents to install a seat properly, I would go with a convertible seat. We switched my son around 8-9 months and he was definitely getting pretty heavy to lug around in the infant seat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618311 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:49:36 +0000 swurlygurl 1618311@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Smurfette: Yeah, I'm already missing it this Spring!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618305 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:47:24 +0000 Smurfette 1618305@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swurlygurl: Good point! I do miss it when it is raining out. So much easier to get her buckled inside and snapped in really quick. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618283 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:39:25 +0000 ElbieKay 1618283@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@tinyperson: Well, we already have a convertible so we'll probably just switch completely when the time comes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618278 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:37:27 +0000 ElbieKay 1618278@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Foodnerd81: They can use our stroller. They will be coming to our house to relieve our nanny for the afternoon. They just want the option to take him in their car.</p> <p>ETA: Oh, I see what you mean. Yes, we will have to see if he is big enough to use our City Mini without the infant seat. Otherwise it will be pretty unwieldy for my parents. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618274 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:35:58 +0000 swurlygurl 1618274@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>14 months - I loved that thing. I just figured I was building muscle every time I had to carry it ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618221 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:16:25 +0000 Mae 1618221@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our LO isn't here yet but we got one infant seat for my car and then a convertible for my husband's car. We only take my car when we're together, and I'll do most of the driving with her anyways. My husband will mostly only use his car to take her to daycare in the mornings, and the random circumstance where I'm not around... so I didn't see the point in buying a second base for $80 when we'll barely have her in his car. The convertible seats are baby safe, so it made sense to me to just get that, which she'll fit in for years. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618199 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:10:20 +0000 Foodnerd81 1618199@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ElbieKay: what will they use for a stroller? If you will use the car seat in the stroller, you will have to figure that out for your parents. </p> <p>C is 9 months, 18.5 lbs, and we are still using the infant seat. We have a graco snugride that maxes out at 22 lbs, 29 inches, so we will have to change soon-ish. I no longer take the seat out when we go to the store or something, since it's heavy, but I do carry it in and out of the house. I find I really difficult to tighten the straps when it's in the base for some reason. But she does occasionally fall asleep in the car and if we are in the right time window (10-30 minutes after she fell asleep) I can carry her up to her room and let her sleep, which I'm sure she wouldn't do if I took her out of the seat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618188 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:05:26 +0000 Mamaof2 1618188@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We switched at 8 months - I was just tired of lugging it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618163 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:48:20 +0000 septca 1618163@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We didn't switch until about 13 months, but around 7 months it became a huge pain to carry her in the bucket. </p> <p>If you are talking about which seat to get for your parents to use, I would just get a convertible from the get-go for them. Most (and all Britax) convertible seats are safe for infant use and that way your patents won't have to get a new seat after just a few months of use. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618146 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:29:57 +0000 Smurfette 1618146@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We switched around 10 months. She still fit, height and weight, in the infant seat. I was just sick of caring it around and we got the seat on sale, so I wanted to go ahead and use it so the box wasn't sitting in the office anymore! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618143 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:29:02 +0000 Turd Ferguson 1618143@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We switched around 4. She HATED the infant seat and would death scream the entire time in it. It was a pain as it was still winter/cold up here, but was worth it for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618138 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:25:10 +0000 Silva 1618138@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we switched at about 10 months. we could have continued using the infant seat for a lot longer, we still had about 2 inches to go. but she was starting to get pretty upset about getting in the seat, and I was sick of lugging it around. I'm so happy we switched. She loves the 2 convertible seats we picked out- and sleeps much better in them than she did in the infant seat (she used to wake up at every stop light!). </p> <p>You could look into a seat that has an option for smaller babies. I know its pricy, but we got the maxi cosi pria and love it. And I know it has an infant insert, so you could use it now with no issues. honestly, if I had to do it over again, I'd probably get one infant seat/base for the car we used the most (because its convenient to pop her out and into the stroller, etc), and then get a maxi cosi pria with infant insert for the other car. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618133 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:21:19 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1618133@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>16 months is when he switched! That was the age that he reached the height limit, while also meeting the minimum weight for the convertible seat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618120 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:07:51 +0000 tinyperson 1618120@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're at 17 months, and just going to buy our convertible this weekend! She's tiny though.</p> <p>As for the weight being to much to carry around - you can keep using the seat, but just use it like a convertible (i.e., leave it in the car and carry baby in/out!</p> <p>ETA: I would just get a convertible for your parents. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618114 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:05:52 +0000 Anagram 1618114@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is almost 10 months and 17 something pounds and we are still using the infant seat. We probably won't get the convertible until she's almost a year old. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618112 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:05:08 +0000 Adira 1618112@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We switched right before 10 months when Xander reached the height limit for our seat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618109 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:04:24 +0000 looch 1618109@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son never slept in the carseat and if he did fall alseep, as soon as I'd try to remove the seat from the base, he'd pop awake, so the usefulness of the seat was our main reason for switching to a convertible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618105 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:01:57 +0000 Charm54 1618105@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Around 7 months, she was 18 pounds so nowhere near her weight limit of the seat but waaayyyy too heavy to lug around anymore ! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618104 Wed, 07 May 2014 07:00:50 +0000 T.H.O.U. 1618104@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would go ahead and get a convertible seat. </p> <p>The bases alone are like $80 and you can just save that and put it towards a convertible that you can get for under $200. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618071 Wed, 07 May 2014 06:30:15 +0000 BananaPancakes 1618071@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We switched him right around 8 months. I'm guessing he was 19lbs or so. He wasn't too big for the seat, but it was getting heavy to lug around. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/switching-from-infant-seat-to-convertible#post-1618067 Wed, 07 May 2014 06:27:53 +0000 ElbieKay 1618067@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At what age / weight did you stop using your infant seat?</p> <p>My son is 2 months old and weighs 14.5 lbs. I am going back to work when he is 12 weeks old, and my parents are going to watch him two afternoons per week. They may want to take him places in their car. I am trying to figure out how much longer he will use his infant seat. Should we get them a base for the infant seat, or should we just get them a convertible car seat?</p> <p>My understanding is that usually the baby + seat gets too heavy long before the baby outgrows the safety limits of the seat, which is why I'm asking the question.</p> <p>Thanks!</p> <p>ETA: I added a poll! </p>