Car Seat Dilemma

hi there
My daughter used to nap in her baby carrier and now if she falls asleep in her car seat on the way home she usually still stays aleep for the transfer to someplace at home.
As for grocery shopping my daughter falls asleep sitting in the grocery cart. We got one of those grocery cart covers and she will usually just sit while sleeping there.

I recommend Britax car seats, they are PRICY but well worth it. Sometimes you can find a deal on line where you don't have to pay for shipping.

We use the Britax Marathon. It goes to 30 or 35 lbs rear facing and I believe 65 lbs FF'ing. I really like it and the straps are SUPER easy to adjust. My daughter is almost 2 and still rear facing comfortably. My mother in law just bought the Britax Frontier for her car which is for ages 2+ and 25lbs +. It goes up to 100 lbs! I told her my daughter will be in that forever. Its nice that she will be able to stay in a 5 pt harness for awhile. Although I think at a certain point the back comes off to make it a booster seat only.

Do what is safe. If she is outgrowing the infant seat, move her to a convertable seat.

I would move her into the bigger seat. I have used the Britax Roundabout convertible car seat and its awesome!
It is one of the best and safest models on the market.

If you really want to keep her in a bucket for convience you check out the Graco SafeSeat 1 or Snugride 32. They have higher weight and height limits and last most kids to 18 months. If she has at least an 1" of hard shell above her head, she still fits in her infant carrier. They are a lot of great converitble car seats out there, and it is so much safer to keep her rearfacing for as long as possible. This site has a ton info and have been a great help to me. http://www.car-seat.org/

Hi J.,

It has been awhile since I've needed a car seat so I don'thave specific brands to recommend, but, I can tell you that my youngest was very tall and outgrew car seats quickly. So my advice is not to get a convertible one because you think they will be able to use it as they get older, he was too tall. Save your money, get what fits her now, and when she is older, you will get what she needs then. There is no on seat that I found that will last tall little ones for mroe than 12-15 months.

Definitely time to move up. That's about when we ended up switching too. Don't worry, she'll still nap. Sometimes if my daughter is tired enough I can actually pick her up out of the seat and transfer her to her crib in the house without her even waking up. If she's too small for the infant seat, it's definitely safer & better to switch.

We have two of the Evenflo Triumph Advance seats and L-O-V-E! them. They are so nice, comfortable, I love the tightening knobs, and they aren't ungodly expensive (though not cheap either). http://www.amazon.com/Evenflo-Triumph-Advance-Convertible...

We also have one of the Cosco Scenera seats for grandma's car. We didn't want to spend another $120 on a seat for a car she's only in for a few minutes a few times a week but we also didn't want to have to switch carseats around either. It gets great reviews, is safe, and was even recommended to me by a carseat tech I know as an extra carseat that can still be trusted to keep your kid safe, but it isn't as soft & cushy as some of the other seats (which is why it's so much cheaper!). http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8054497

EDIT: Oh, and both of these seats can do both rear-facing & forward facing and will take your kid well into the range for the basic boosters you would get after the convertible seat stage.

J., look into the Eddie Bauer car seat at Babies R US. They are for 5-100 pounds. They also convert into a booster seat. You can face the seat backwards and forward, also it reclines. So your little one can still nap on the way home. Please check into this. You will love it. They run about 189.00 but look for the coupons and you can get it for 150.00

Best of luck!
P.

Yes It will be ok to move your child to a front facing seat. If her legs dont work any long for a rear facing seat it safe. If you were to get in an acct. her legs would be injured badly so if she meet one of the two rules you are safe to move her. As long as she has control of her neck muscles.

I love Gracos. I researched lots online and looked at safety ratings and what other parents said about them, and I ended up getting a Triumph 5, and I love it! I'm not sure if they are still on the market though, as I got it about 3 years ago, but there has to be a similar one.
If there is one thing to splurge on, it's a car seat. Move your daughter right away from her infant seat, it's not safe! Convertible seats are great, sooner or later she will outgrow it and you will have to move up to a booster, but the convertible is safest for now. Don't go just with the highest safety ratings, they are often uncomfortable and bulky and/or hard to use. Listen to what the other parents have to say about them!
As for the grocery store, there is no reason why you can't keep the infant seat in the back of your car and use it only in the store.

There are people on here who are uneducated enough to recommend buying a car seat used and also to recommend keeping your baby in her seat as long as possible.

1. never buy a car seat used!!!! You never know if it was in an accident for one thing, for another, spend the extra money, this is the most important safety issue in your child's life!

2. You have kept your child in her seat as long as possible. She should have been moved before now. As a few other smart moms have mentioned, if you were in an accident, even a very minor one, chances are very good that she would sustain neck/back/chest injury because the seat is not a good fit for her!

Britax Boulevard ... hands down the best for Safety!
I have 2 of them

Spen the extra money and get a Britax. I had a Graco Comfort Sport and the straps would rub on my daughter's neck. Yes they were adjusted properly, I even took it to the car seat check place. Once you try one of those seats you do will not want to try another seat. I would move her up to the convertable seat, the infant seats are not safe for your infant once they have passed the height and weight guides. Also it is alot easier than you think to move a sleeping baby from the car to the crib with out the carrier seat.

I would keep her in the infant car seat until- if you can.. My daughter was tall -- but all of her height was in her legs soshe fit in her infant seat a long long time.. Just because your daughters legs are long doesnt mean she cant fit in her seat.. as long as her head and back are protected she is fine.

I highly recommend britax car seats.. the britax roundabout is great- it goes up to 40 inches and 40 pounds. The britax marathaon is larger and heavier -I think it goes up to 65 pounds.. I bought mine used on craigslist. I think a used britax is safer than a new bargain carseat.

the napping thing will not be a problem.. she will still nap in the car.. but as kids get older they nap on a predictable pattern.. and I never left the house during scheduled nap times. At 9 months your daughter should be taking a morning nap (about 2 hours after she wakes up for the day) and an afternoon nap (about 2 hours after she wakes up from her morning nap) if she catches a quick snooze in the car no big deal.. but the shouldnt mess up her nap scedule..

I suggest the Graco Comfortsport...we have one in each vehicle. It's the only carseat I found that fit comfortably rear-facing in my Grand Am and truck without having to have the front seats ALL the way forward. It's a pretty no-thrills seat but that also means it's cheap (under $70.) My 9mth old has been in it for 4 months and always looks to be comfy and content.

As for giving up the convenience of carseat napping..the time has to come at some point. I moved my daughter into the big seat as soon as she could sit up (so she could handle highchairs/shopping carts) because I thought it was a pain to lug the infant seat around...and heavy too. Just plan accordingly so that she doesn't "need" a nap when you're out and take toys along for entertainment during your errands.

hey J. you do know she has to stay rear faceing to she is one year of age the rule is 20 ponods and one yr if they hit one yr and are not 20 pounds they stay rear to they are and i perfer the one with just the five point harness that go up to 60 or 80 pounds they only sell them at baby r us most only go up to 40 and that don't work with a chunkie toddler so look for one that will grow with her you might pay more now but it will last oh i use to be a car seat safety inspecttor befor i was a mom

J.,

Hi there! I would keep her in the her current car seat for as long as possible. That inch could take a little while for her to put on. Then, when she is ready for the convertible seat, she may be transitioning the naps and less likely to nap in the car seat.

As far as recommendations. I researched extensively the next stage car seat and found that Britax Boulevard or Recaro Signo were the two it came down to. Both have EXCELLENT safety ratings.

For me, what it came down to was the Recaro 1) Is built by a company that makes car seats for race cars. They know how to build a safe seat. 2) The weight/height limit was greater then the Britax. Basically, the Recaro car seat is the last seat my daughter will need before she will move to either a booster or sitting on the seat herself. Most kids can use the Recaro until they are 7 or 8! I like the idea of keeping her in a 5-point harness for as long as possible. I'm sure when she gets older SHE won't want it...but I'm okay with that. I want her to be safe.

In addition, you CAN put the Recaro rear facing. It is designed for both.

My daughter LOVES her seat. It is cushy and comfy. The head side wings come out far and are nice and thick. I never worry about my daughter being safe. In addition, she if she gets tired, she is very comfortable and can fall asleep easily. The seat is easy to install and easy to use.

Hope this helps.

J.,

Yes I would move her to a convertible car seat. If you were to get into a car accident she could get a serious head injury if she is to tall for the seat. You can find many websites that compare car seat and prices. I found that you do not need the most expensive car seat a lot of the medium price car seat are a lot easier to use and just as safe. Also you need to make sure the seat fits the car properly.

I have the Britax convertible carseat and I am pleased with it. It is a more expensive one but I just bought it at the new BuyBuyBaby (on Hall Road and Schoenherr) with a 20% off coupon and felt like I got a good price. I like carrying my baby to the car now instead of the infant carrier... she is much lighter than that beastly carrier.

I would think that you could leave her in the infant seat. However, you would want to realize that the guidelines on those seats are set for the safety of your child. If you leave her in it longer than the guidelines, then you could compromise her safety in an accident. While you do have some valid points (ones that every mom struggles with). Here is what I have found, as my daughters both did what your daughter does. You can find carts at grocery stores that have an "infant" type seat attached, get one of those so that your daughter can be comfortable if she falls asleep. I once saw a parent pull an empty infant carrier out of the back seat, put it on the cart and then take the rear facing infant out of the back facing car seat. I was buckling both my girls at the time next to them, but I loved the idea. I suppose if you had the space to do that... As far as car napping, it is NOT over by a long shot. I can't even remember the number of times that I took my daughters out of their car seats while they were asleep and move them into the house and put them in the play pen or crib still asleep. In fact, I did this with my youngest yesterday and she's almost 4 (she slept for about 2 hours after I got her in the house).

Car Seats - We got the Alpha Omega by Cosco. It fits a child from 5 lbs to 100 lbs. It can be rear facing, forward facing and a belt positioning booster seat. When we got it our oldest was 6 months (she was 21 inches at birth). We thought it would be our last car seat. With the new laws, that isn't the case. However, she's 5 now and we just put her in a backless booster seat. She was the only kid in her class that had a "big" car seat. My recommendation would be to find a car seat that will grow with your child. Something that will convert with them as they grow. When we didn't pay anymore for the car seat (and longer life) than we would have if we got a rear/forward only.

Good luck!!

Hi J.
If she's too big for her seat she definitely needs to go into the bigger one for her safety.
My son usually sleeps through being taken out of the carseat and having his hat, coat and boots removed before being put into his bed. When he falls asleep on the way to the store I sit him in the cart, let him lay to one side and put a folded fleece blanket under his head to make him comfy. I always keep the blanket in my car.
I have an evenflo triumph and I love it but it does only go to 40Ibs which my son has not yet reached at 3 1/2 years old, but my older son had outgrown it by the age of 2 1/2. The seat I have is about 6 years old so they may go to a heavier weight now.
I also agree with another poster that you cannot go wrong with Britax. I would have got one if we could have afforded it. They go up to 60Ibs and really are the best carseats out there.
Good luck with your decision :)

I second what many others have said... move her to the safer seat. My experience was that my children would stay asleep even during transitions (I couldn't believe it!)

It's time for the next transition. Get used to it...they are constantly changing.
Get the bigger car seat if you no longer can handle her in the carrier because of your back. Get a cushy cover/with strap for the grocery cart and take her along for a fun outing (with a bag of snacks, of course)instead of a nap. She can always still nap in the car like you said.
Personally, I cherished the nap(s) at home because I could get things done inside the house/relax a bit, and it gives them a good nap in a comfortable place (the crib).
It's always bittersweet when they transitioin to something new. Next thing you know she will be taking one nap instead of two :)