do you think all those air bags or whatever protections they charge extra for and all are worth it?
did you actually need an extra base?
did you start with infant or straight to convertible?
ahhh, it really sux that i have to make my "first" mistakes twice!
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
We only have the car seat in one car so we don't have an extra base. Our other car is a 2 door and not baby friendly, so whoever has the baby takes the car with the car seat. If she were going to be in both cars all the time, I'd want an extra base.
We started with infant. Everything I read said it was safer. I'd rather spend the extra money and sleep better at night knowing my LO is safe.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
we never got an extra base and were fine.
i regret getting an infant car seat, especially since we had to upgrade to a convertible when my LO was 7 months old (she's in the 98th % for height).
we have the Britax Advocate 70. If I were you I'd go straight to a convertible. The Britax reclines like an infant car seat (has 3 seat positions) and is really safe.
we didn't go out too often during the first few months of our LO's life. just to doctor visits, church, occasionally to the market.
If you're planning on not having any more kids after the twins I'd definitely skip the infant car seat.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
ps. the Advocate 70 has the side airbags. It's only $30 more for extra protection.
pear / 1639 posts
I started with infant. It was really nice to be able to carry DS into the store, still in his car seat, instead of always having to take him out. The extra base was really nice to have. Its not necessary, and switching it in and out isn't hard nor does it take a long time, but it was handy to have more than one.
clementine / 958 posts
We use the extra base. For us, the convenience of being able to take LO in either of our cars is worth the extra expense.
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
I think the infant car seat was a life saver so you don't have to disturb the sleeping babies. We only used it for 6 months but I don't regret having it.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
I agree. It is super convenient to carry LOs in their infant car seat. We bought a Peg Perego for almost $300 (regret!) which is why I say go straight to the convertible.
Luckily we're planning on having more LOs so we can use the infant car seat again.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040A4CLY/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details
This is the Britax I have. It's super cozy and the seat material is soft.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I have 4 car seats, one child who is a year old. We have 1 car and DS only rides in it on the weekends. During the week we take the stroller and train to go places.
I found the infant bucket to be a waste of money because my son would wake up the second we got in the garage. Then I had to lug it up three flights of stairs, and that gets heavy fast! It was convenient for shopping trips when he was smaller, but honestly, I could have done without it.
We have a Britax Boulevard for use in the US. We used it when DS was 6 months with no issues. I love that seat but it is large and inconvenient for travel, so we also have a Cosco Scenera as our plane/travel seat. I got a super deal on that one so I don't mind having it. Our fourth seat is a Swedish Britax for our car at home, that one will remain here and will be used when we visit. DS can use that one up to 25 kilos, so probably up to age 4.
honeydew / 7968 posts
we're leaning towards the infant car seat to start because the stroller we're thinking about (city select) takes infant car seats. even the double snap & go takes only infant car seats. and in the beginning i can just carry the car seats to go.... like @rosie girl and @andrea stated.
don't think we'll go with the extra base. like @artbee said, i think we'll just use the SUV for the car seats and whoever has the baby will use that car. @owlmom - we have a new car and we don't want the kids in it just yet. so think we'll stick with the 1 base.
@chopsuey119 - we're not going to be actively trying with the 3rd child, but if we're blessed with one, we'll take it.
so many choices! i feel like we're buying a CAR or something.
honeydew / 7968 posts
@looch - we were actually looking at the boulevard! that's on our list for convertibles. the guy at buy buy baby said to add convertibles to our registry (even if we get an infant car seat)....
thanks for your inputs, ladies!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I just thought of something else, since you have twins on the way, check with the hospital you're delivering at. They may have rules on what kind of seat you can take the babies home in depending on their weight.
apricot / 498 posts
We have an infant seat and at first had bases in all 3 cars. Then we realized that the infant seat sucked in my car because it took up too much room and no one really could sit in the passenger seat so we bought the Recaro ProRide Convert. for my car. I love it and our son is only 3 months right now.
I never liked being able to carry him around in the infant seat except for if we were going out to dinner. The rest of the time I found it much easier to either throw him in his Ergo or the stroller and go. Carrying the infant seat is cumbersome, annoying and heavy. Plus we never used it with our stroller (with an adapter) since we rarely drive and then need the stroller. We live in a very walkable neighborhood.
clementine / 889 posts
DS is in the 90+ percentile for heigh and weight, and we just moved him into a Britax Boulevard at 8 months. We got a travel system with an infant seat and base. We used the base initially, but we both have smaller sedans and had more room using the seatbelt to secure the seat. I think an infant seat is worth it if you are out and about a lot. We went out almost daily from about 3 weeks on. It really is handy to keep a sleeping baby asleep. We've gone driving when DS was sick and it's helped him fall asleep and keep sleeping when we bring him inside. We've also used the infant seat as a place for him to sleep when he's sick, so he's more upright. I bought a Safety 1st travel system, and wouldn't pick that one again. We ended up with a jogging stroller and they don't make an adapter for the infant seat we have. I'd go with a Graco Snugride if I had to do it over. They make them for different weights, 22lbs up to 35 lbs. I'd get the small one though, because carrying a 20 pound baby in a infant seat is not easy, so I can't imagine trying to carry a 35 pound baby around. Plus the 22lb version is cheaper. I do LOVE our new Britax Boulevard convertible seat, but I don't think it'd be very easy with a newborn, at least not in a sedan. It sits higher, but the door frame is lower so I don't think it'd be easy to get in and out with a newborn.
cherry / 116 posts
@tequiero21: I have the infant seat, and definitely don't regret it. I also registered for a convertible, but haven't even used that one yet.
You don't have to have the extra base, that's more just for convenience.
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
The infant seat and extra base has been a life saver for us, but we travel a lot. Also, it's so easy to just get a stroller frame for an infant seat and turn it into a stroller (this has been especially great the heavier the baby has gotten).
We've had the Chicco Keyfit 30. Highly, highly recommend.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
since olive was a preemie, she had to undergo a mandatory 90 minute car seat stress test. since you have twins, they will probably be on the smaller side and may have to undergo the same test.
for us the infant seat was definitely worth it because we used the stroller frame for 6 months. but buying two infant seats and then upgrading a short while later is a big expense! for that reason i might go with a convertible seat....
grapefruit / 4049 posts
I love the convenience of having an infant carseat... yes it can get heavy, but to me, it's so important to keep a sleeping baby sleeping. the graco snugride is afforable and we got a ton of mileage on it with our first DD... til 10 months!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
I think it totally depends on your lifestyle. We have two vehicles but one we use for day to day driving around town for errands. We went with a Britax infant seat and base for that car. It was a life saver to be able to get her bundled up and securely in the seat in the house and then just click the seat into the base outside. Running in and out of say the grocery store was easy especially when she was sleeping because we just grabbed the seat from the base and off we went. We only got one base and kept it in the primary vehicle. If we used the other vehicle we would just install using the seat belt.
Now that she is a bit older (4 months) and she has started day care where depending on the day either one of us may pick her up we went ahead and got a convertible for our second car. We use both car seats now depending on the day. We will probably look into getting another convertible later on.
Also we went with the Beitax convertible boulevard. It has the extra side impact wings which can be helpful in a vehicle without side curtain airbags or with high likelihood of roll over. It was only like $30 more expensive so it seemed like a good upgrade to us.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@bluestriped bee: they're not airbags, they are side impact wings on the car seat itself, that are made of foam.
honeydew / 7968 posts
@Mrs. Bee: i think we'll start with the infant because the stroller we're getting (city select) takes infant car seats (none of the strollers take convertibles)....
what's the car seat stress test? who performs it?
thanks!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@tequiero21: i felt like our infant car seat was worth it because we used it with a stroller frame (and we could have used it with our city mini).
the nurses perform the car seat stress test. basically it's putting your baby in the car seat and making sure they can sit there for 90 minutes and not get stressed out. i'd never heard of it, but they just want to make sure you can get home safely with baby in case you get stuck in the car i suppose!
grape / 81 posts
I think they only do the stress test in most places if they're worried about baby's size or stamina.
We got a rather basic infant seat because we had to prep for a baby that might be 4 pounds or less and we needed one ASAP, so we had to buy local and the selection wasn't that great. We ended up with a Safety 1st that I like, and because we bought the stroller frame with it (Clic stroller frame) it ended up being 60% off, which was a bonus.
If I had known for sure that she would be bigger than 5 pounds (she was), I would have gone for a Chicco.
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