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I'm no help because I also never understood why people switched early. Honestly I think some people as parents just get excited to move on to "the next thing" even when there's not a real reason that necessesitates it.

I think the position of the convertible is easier to get them into. I always had a hard time getting him in and out of the bucket when I left it in the car

@Mrs. Polish: yes, because you have to leave the handle up.

@looch: really? I always put our handle down because the hospital told us we had to when we left.

@Mrs. Polish: ours had to have the handle up. I wonder if it varies by model? It was a European brand.

@looch: possibly. Ours was Graco Snugride. I'm not sure what the manual said because I took the word of the car seat specialist.

I got tired of lugging it, and it was much harder to get my baby in and out of due to the curvature. If we have another baby, we won't use an infant bucket at all since I babywear anyway.

We switched cause we found one on sale, so I figured why not. Our infant seat would last her till 18months at least cause she is a peanut. But she does LOVE the convertible cause she can see out the windows.

M has started to complain in her infant seat...it didn't used to bother her, but for the last few weeks she cries when we buckle her in and tries to sit up in it. She prefers the convertible because it isn't as reclined. We have a convertible in one car and the infant base in the other, so we still use both...just depends on which car we're taking.

@looch: We keep our handle up, too.

@Mrs. Polish: @looch: @lawbee11: Our manual says that you can keep the bar up or down as long as it's locked into position. But we always kept ours down because I was told that's preferrable because it's easier for emergency personel to get the baby out in the case of an accident.

@MamaMoose: Yeah, ours says up or down is fine. We keep it up so that the passenger seat doesn't have to be up as far...we're already tight on leg room as it is!

@Mrs. Polish: We had the Graco Snugride and the manual said to put the handle down; however we had to leave it up because the seat didn't fit in our cars with the handle down because DD is tall and has to have his seat all the way back. We were told at the carseat check place that we just needed to make sure it was locked in position.

We switched around 9m for both DD and DS but that was because while under the weight limit they both had surpassed the height limit.

We're going to keep using the infant seat till she can't fit anymore. She's tiny, so we'll be good for a while (she's almost 15 months). If your LO is uncomfortable or something, then sure, switch. We just take her out of the car seat if we don't want to lug the bucket around. Easy-peasy.

It's impossible for me to get him securely strapped into the bucket seat when it's attached to the base. I always have to take it out of the car and get him strapped into it. I don't know why, but it's really difficult for me.

He also sweats buckets in the infant seat. I think he'll be a lot happier in the convertible seat.

We kept DD1 in the Graco SnugRide 35 until 14.5mo, bc it was borrowed and we were delaying the inevitable of having to buy her a new seat. We will switch DD2 a lot sooner, prob some time this summer. She's only 7wks and already looks squished in her (also borrowed) Chicco Keyfit 30! A convertible will be roomier and more comfortable.

We switched early to get a more comfortable seat for DD for an 8 hour road trip (Thanksgiving road trip). She slept for the majority of the car time both ways, so we knew it was the right decision. I love our Peg Perego. The material is much nicer, more breathable so she is not so sweaty in it either.

I think DS outgrew the seat in length at around 8-9 months. I had heard that usually infants outgrow the seat long before the weight requirement so we got the 22lb seat instead of the 30lb or 35lb