Car Seat Question

[PrincessRora]

Our family is going to be driving to Disney World next week. We have a 9 hour ride from our home to Orlando and we have a 17 month old. Currently we have two car seats that she is used to sitting in. However, both are very different. We're not sure which one to use for her. The first one is her baby seat. It sits her up higher in the car, but provides her with little room to wiggle about. The second is her toddler seat. She sits lower in this one, but she has more room to cross her legs or spread them. She falls asleep easily in both, neither one better than the other. Does anyone have any opinions on which would be better? This is our first long car ride with her.

 

[all4fun]

I'm guessing she's over 20lbs by now and her infant bucket is a bigger one that goes to 30lbs like the Graco SS1? If her "toddler" seat is fwd facing only and she still fits in her infant seat (under the weight limit and still has at least an inch of shell above her head) then I would recommend using the infant seat. Rear facing is 5x safer than f/fing for kids under two so it would be the safest option for her. If her toddler seat is a convertible that is rear facing then that would be equally safe and I would go with whichever one she seems more comfortable in.

hth!

 

[hmacmahony]

What seats do you use, I am not really understanding the infant and toddler seat difference?
She is still not in a infant bucket right? I would guess you are talking about a 5 point harness seat, right?
We have britax marathons, we had one to start with, and let me tell you, the first ride home from disney (24 hours), my daughter in her britax slept like a baby! The one in the cosco eddie bauer, cried, and just could not get comfy, finally we stopped to switch kids into each others seats, and bam, my daughter who had fussed for 15 hours was out like a light in the britax seat, and then my other daughter in the eddie bauer cried pretty much the rest of the way home.
I got home, and got another britax marathon!! Mainly because we were getting new seats anyway, wanted them both harnessed to 65 pounds, but we noticed a big difference in the comfort level of the girls that first ride.

 

[canadianmom2three]

Not only is it way safer, but also far more comfortable. She can be more reclined, which will make it easier for sleeping, and her little legs won't be dangling down. 1 year and 20lbs is the MINIMUM for forward facing. Check the limits of your seats and see if she could still be rear facing in one of them (quite often up to 33lbs). It would make the trip much more comfortable and safe for her.

 

[mamaLori05]

What seats do you use, I am not really understanding the infant and toddler seat difference?
She is still not in a infant bucket right? I would guess you are talking about a 5 point harness seat, right?
We have britax marathons, we had one to start with, and let me tell you, the first ride home from disney (24 hours), my daughter in her britax slept like a baby! The one in the cosco eddie bauer, cried, and just could not get comfy, finally we stopped to switch kids into each others seats, and bam, my daughter who had fussed for 15 hours was out like a light in the britax seat, and then my other daughter in the eddie bauer cried pretty much the rest of the way home.
I got home, and got another britax marathon!! Mainly because we were getting new seats anyway, wanted them both harnessed to 65 pounds, but we noticed a big difference in the comfort level of the girls that first ride.

Oh, I agree about the Britax Marathon!! We own two of those..one for each kid. We started out with another brand, and it worked fine, but man the difference when we switched to that one.

I would say to go with the one she has the most room in. If she's going to be in the car for that long, you want her to be comfy. And comfy for a toddler means being able to move around. Plus if you are talking about one of those infant carriers as your other option, well 19 months is a little big for those IMO. I'm not sure what the infant seat is, but I'm still sticking with the bigger seat so she can move around more.

 

[PrincessRora]

Sorry for all the confusion. I'm not the mommy, so I've got no idea for the proper names for certain styles of car seats, nor brand names, and my sis is asleep by now, so couldn't ask her.
Car seat #1 looks like this, minus the top layer of padding (it was removable). My niece is still under the weight limit.

Car seat #2 looks like this one:

They're not the exact brand, just similar. They're both foward facing, five-point harnesses, and she's the proper weight for either.

 

[teresajoy]

Sorry for all the confusion. I'm not the mommy, so I've got no idea for the proper names for certain styles of car seats, nor brand names, and my sis is asleep by now, so couldn't ask her.
Car seat #1 looks like this, minus the top layer of padding (it was removable). My niece is still under the weight limit.

Car seat #2 looks like this one:

They're not the exact brand, just similar. They're both foward facing, five-point harnesses, and she's the proper weight for either.

Does her baby one have the handle like this picture? Because, unless I am mistaken that is rear facing only infant seat, it should NOT be used forward facing.

 

[all4fun]

Sorry for all the confusion. I'm not the mommy, so I've got no idea for the proper names for certain styles of car seats, nor brand names, and my sis is asleep by now, so couldn't ask her.
Car seat #1 looks like this, minus the top layer of padding (it was removable). My niece is still under the weight limit.

Car seat #2 looks like this one:

They're not the exact brand, just similar. They're both foward facing, five-point harnesses, and she's the proper weight for either.

yes if the 1st one has the handle, it is REAR facing only. Very important! And if it's the brand shown (not to mention most other infant bucket style seats), then it only goes to 20 or 22lbs (there will be stickers on the sides that show the weight limits)....at 17mos, unless her toddler is itty bitty... she's probably outgrown it by weight already. It's outgrown by height when there is less than 1" of hard plastic shell above the head. this is the rule for every rear facing car seat.

Oh, and if parents are set on her being fwd facing at this point then any front facing seat is going to offer just about the same amount of protection as long as it's installed and used properly. They should really check out the research though...Rear facing is not just for little babies any more. The AAP recommends rear facing as long as the car seat allows (1yr and 20lbs being a BARE minimum recommendation for moving to fwd facing). There are convertible car seats that allow both rear facing and foward facing up to 30 to 35lbs depending on the brand... as I stated earlier this has been proven to be as much as 5x safer for LO's than fwd facing due to how the spine matures and ossifies with age. www.cpsafety.com is a really wonderful site that has a lot of information/links in one place if you're willing to look into it.

 

[hollisterluva92]

I would bring both, put her in the marathon for the ride down, and then bring the infant seat for her to sleep in at the hotel, hook it into the stroller for the parks.

 

[mamaLori05]

Yea, that first one looks like an infant seat. At 17 months, she should have been out of that one a long time ago. Maybe not by weight, but certainly by height!!!! My DD is now 3 and weighs 26 lbs, and my DS is 10 months and weighs 14lbs, I switched both kids out of the infant seat by 6 or 7 months!!!! If she is anywhere close to the top or bottom of that seat (which by now she probably is) that is definatly not safe!!!!!!! You may want to let her parents know that carseats have a HEIGHT requirement as well as a weight requirement. Definatly go with the second one, and I would highly reccomend putting the baby one away until another baby comes along!

 

[canadianmom2three]

There is a rear-facing infant seat with handle that a 17month old could still be in. It is the graco safeseat...fits kids up to 30lbs and 32" tall. Their feet can hang over the bottom all they want, as long as their head is 1" away from the top of the seat shell, and they are under the weight, they fit. It is certainly not a stretch for a 17mo old to fit. Does it look like this?

Or maybe you mean this one, which looks pretty similar to what you originally posted, but is rear facing for infants then forward facing for older children? So your neice may have used it rear facing as a baby, then her mom turned it forward when she was older? It could probably still be rear-facing for her depending on her weight, and may be more comfortable, and definately SAFER that way....

Or lastly, this one is truely a forward facing only carseat, and only for children over 1 year and 20lbs or greater, so the baby would not have used it as an infant.....

Either way, I stand by my original advice. If you have a seat that the baby still fits into rear-facing, that would be the best choice. You will be able to tell by reading the information stickers on the side of the seat, or by reading the manual.

 

[PrincessRora]

Either way, I stand by my original advice. If you have a seat that the baby still fits into rear-facing, that would be the best choice. You will be able to tell by reading the information stickers on the side of the seat, or by reading the manual.

Those two! The first picture is almost exactly like the one she has, just a different color. And the second one is very like the second carseat.
I am so no good at carseats. Definitely not ready for children myself. But no, the first carseat isn't an infant carrier. She outgrew that a long time ago. Not a big baby, just average. But yea, those two look like the seats.

 

[tlbwriter]

If anyone is going to be sitting in the back with her, it's much easier to entertain her if she is rear-facing, since she'll be facing the person next to her.

 

[PrincessRora]

Thanks for all the opinions. I shall run all of them by DS when she gets home so she can make her decision. I like the idea of rear facing, but I think she's worried about the baby's comfort as well. She doesn't do well being confined for long, and she knows how to make a car ride miserable for everyone else, despite "Julie, no whining" or "Juliana, inside voice" or "Young lady, there is no screaming in the car" or any attempt to distract her. My DS is not sis by blood and her parents were separated when she had the baby. They taught my DS nothing about parenting, and as a result, Juliana is a tad bit on the spoiled, attention seeking side. She's been with my parents since about february, and DS is learning how to use an "Mommy is the boss" voice and timeouts, and other things. Julie's getting better, but she still has a tendency to scream when she's unhappy.

 

[LoveKermit]

If anyone is going to be sitting in the back with her, it's much easier to entertain her if she is rear-facing, since she'll be facing the person next to her.

And only if there's someone back there.....

I don't know about the rest of you, but my 17 mo would be very mad at me if she was still facing the seat. She LOVES looking out and I think 9 hours would be a long ride to look backwards. Looking forward helps anyone who might be prone to carsickness. Plus if she's alone in the backseat, it's much easier to help the foward facing person than in the bucket. Man, I don't miss that thing AT ALL.

Of course, this from the same child who got bored looking at the back of the couch while nursing at 6 weeks....

Either way, go with your gut. Try both for a little bit longer rides over the next week, maybe scheduled around naptime, and see which is more successful.

 

[SandrainNC]

Totally off topic.

I just wanted to say hello!!!!! We are in Matthews, NC and are going next week too!!!!

Sandra

 

[PrincessRora]

Hi! What a small world. It's nice to me a fellow local. We live in south charlotte (Audrey Kell - right by the new highschool). We drive through downtown matthew every week, and I graduated from Providence Highschool. LOL.
Can you believe there's only a week left?

 

[SandrainNC]

I am originally from SC. Rock Hill.

I can't believe it either. I have tons to do!!!

Sandra

 

[PrincessRora]

My mom and I are crazy early packers and we've started making lists and such. My dad and brother think we're crazy. We already have all the baby's clothes put together in Disney bags, so she's just about done.

 

[SandrainNC]

I have the Disney t-shirts in stacks for me and my two boys. I coordinated my shorts to my t-shirt last night and put my piles near the suitcase. I have been sorting my socks for about a week (I have 3 different types I bring). My DH just laughs at me, but I have 3 people to pack for. He just has himself.

Sandra