How long did your baby fit in infant car seat?

[Jennygt]

My ds is 4 1/2 mon 21 lbs and about 25 inches. I have the Graco safe seat. the snaps to the crotch were getting tight so we adjusted the shoulder straps to the highest adjustment. Now there is not enough strap give left to even get his arms in! There is no way I can come close getting him in. I called graco and they admitted that you loose alot of the strap when you use the tallest height adjustment. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there something that I am missing? I guess I just need to get over it and buy a bigger seat! It just anoyes me that the feature they provide seems to make the seat un- useable, there is no way you could fit a 30lb 32 in baby in this seat as graco claims? Any thoughts?

 

[Mouse House Mama]

By that point my kids were already out of the infant seat. They were too big. I prefer not even using them. I have the Britax seats that are from 5lbs and up.

 

[goofy4wdw2]

Our DD outgrew her Graco Snug Ride due to height at about one year old. She's still under the weight limit...she's a peanut...but she's in another car seat now.

 

[Jennygt]

I have to admit that I just found one more adjustment I can make that gives me more strap so mabey graco is not crazy afetr all! I am still going to get the Britax seat so I am ready for the day he really does not fit! I will have to try it again when he gets up from his nap. Thanks for the advice!

 

[disneymom225]

Our DD grew out length wise by the time she was 8 months but weight wise- she could probably still fit-- she's 3 now. We couldn't turn her seat forward facing until she was almost 18 months b/c she didn't meet the weight requirement! I think every kid is different. Good luck!

 

[daisyduck123]

My DD12 was 20 pounds at her 4 month check up. (She was 9.8 lbs. at birth).
We took her out of the infant seat the next day & put her in the regular car seat.

 

[NotUrsula]

Too tall at 5 months. We kept the seat in the trunk for another 2 months so that we could use it in restaurants and shopping carts if he wanted to -- until he could sit up unaided.

 

[SaraMc]

DS came out of his snugride last week. He's 5.5 months old and about 20lbs and well it was time.

 

[Carrie772]

My Jay was out of the carrier in 8 weeks. He was a porker and tall too! Wish I had never bought the thing! He was 10 pounds at birth so I never even carried him anywhere.

 

[rt2dz]

None of my kids have ever outgrown the infant seat by weight (when actually moved), but always by height. DS#1 was out at about 6 months. DS#2 was out at about 11 months, and still hadn't outgrown it by height--he's such a tiny little thing; was 17 months before he hit the weight requirement for forward facing. And DS#3 at 16 months, at 17 months he still hasn't hit the weight requirement for going forward (not that I care, I'll keep him rearfacing as long as possible). Our seat limits were 26 lbs and/or 30 inches.

 

[NY Disney fan]

It just anoyes me that the feature they provide seems to make the seat un- useable, there is no way you could fit a 30lb 32 in baby in this seat as graco claims? Any thoughts?

I totally agree. My dd is also 4.5 months and she's a chubsy wubsy baby (weighs about 17.5 lbs and tall). She is about to outgrow her infant carseat and I'm shopping for a new one. If she has no coat/snowsuit on she can fit just fine (barely), but if she has her gear on, forget it!!

 

[all4fun]

Keep in mind that car seat height limits are based on averages so they have a little "wiggle room". The top of the head has to have a minimum of 1" of shell above the head in r/fing mode, and the harness straps must start below the shoulders. This is because in an accident, the child will "ramp up" the back of the seat and if the straps start above the shoulders, then the harness won't hold the child down and their head can go up and past the top of the seat shell, which wouldn't be good. I hope that makes sense. Oh, and feet touching the vehicle seatback is not a safety issue. Maybe you already knew that but it wasn't clear from your OP so I thought I'd mention it.

Weight limits, OTOH, are set in stone and should be strictly followed.

I actually gave up the infant seat before I needed to because I didn't realize that the stated height limit was just an average and that I could have kept him in there quite a while longer as he was well under the weight limit and still had several inches of shell above his head. No biggy though as we really didn't take him out very much during the first year due to his preemie status, when we did I felt more comfortable putting him in the front carrier instead anyway.

hth.

 

[Jennygt]

I totally agree. My dd is also 4.5 months and she's a chubsy wubsy baby (weighs about 17.5 lbs and tall). She is about to outgrow her infant carseat and I'm shopping for a new one. If she has no coat/snowsuit on she can fit just fine (barely), but if she has her gear on, forget it!!

There is no way he will fit with a coat on , I have that cover thing on but still, it is 14 out here! I did have some room to extend out at the waist level that I did not know about so I will have to see if I can get him in it. I don't mind getting the next seat but the problem is that he is still to small to sit in the basket at the food store or target, I hope I can get a few more weeks out of this so he will be able to sit better in a shopping cart. He always naps for me also in the store I guess those days are over!

 

[1rockinmamato2]

DS came out when he was able to sit on his own because we relied on the carrier for somewhere to "put the baby" when we came in from outside and got settled in.

DD on the other hand is about to come out of her infant car seat. She's much bigger than DS was a this age and she is entirely too heavy in that seat for me to lift up into the vehicle.

I'm anxious for her 4 month checkup to see how much she's weighing these days. She's a chunky monkey that's for sure! Fat rolls on top of fat rolls. Love it!

 

[MomofKatie]

DD was very small for her age, so she fit in the infant seat until she was more than 14 months old! We put her in a regular seat (rated for 5lb and up) when she turned 1, though. We got it for her birthday from Grandma and Granddaddy.

 

[mericletwins]

My ds is 4 1/2 mon 21 lbs and about 25 inches. I have the Graco safe seat. the snaps to the crotch were getting tight so we adjusted the shoulder straps to the highest adjustment. Now there is not enough strap give left to even get his arms in! There is no way I can come close getting him in. I called graco and they admitted that you loose alot of the strap when you use the tallest height adjustment. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there something that I am missing? I guess I just need to get over it and buy a bigger seat! It just anoyes me that the feature they provide seems to make the seat un- useable, there is no way you could fit a 30lb 32 in baby in this seat as graco claims? Any thoughts?

Mine were 18 lbs and 18.5 lbs at one year (twins) and the third was 21 lbs at a year. They stayed in the rear facing infant seats until one year for the twins and I think I took the third out of the infant seat about 11 months.

 

[jeni1072]

The top of the head has to have a minimum of 1" of shell above the head in r/fing mode.

Yes SO many people don't know this. I can't tell you how many babies I see in carriers whose head are hanging totally out of the seat. My kids were only about 12 lbs by the time their heads were one inch from the top, so infant seats in all reality truly aren't meant to last that long.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

My children were in their infant seat until they were 12 months and ready for a forward facing seat. We went to the safety officer at the Police Barracks every time they had a child safety seat check. The officer told us to keep our daughters in the infant seat, because they were both so small for thier age, until they were one. They are now 5 and 6 and although most of their friends are no longer in booster seats. I have my daughters using them. Safety is my number one concern. Each child is different.

 

[mericletwins]

. They are now 5 and 6 and although most of their friends are no longer in booster seats. I have my daughters using them. Safety is my number one concern. Each child is different.

In NJ they must be in a booster sit until age 8 or 80 lbs. My kids won't be 80 lbs anytime soon. My twins will be 8 in May and they are in the low 40's as far as their weight. They are counting down to no more seats, I am not looking forward to it as much. We may keep them around a little longer.

 

[all4fun]

Yes SO many people don't know this. I can't tell you how many babies I see in carriers whose head are hanging totally out of the seat. My kids were only about 12 lbs by the time their heads were one inch from the top, so infant seats in all reality truly aren't meant to last that long.

I just realized how poorly worded that was... The OP's seat is a little bigger but still most babies probably won't make it to 30# in that seat. It all depends on how you child grows - all legs or all torso. If they are long torso'd they tend to outgrow seats by height a lot faster (my ds is like this).

Also, this is OT, but about winter coats - the best way to tell if the coat is too puffy is to put the child in the seat w/out the coat on, tighten the harness so you can't pinch it at the shoulders, then take the child out without loosening the harness. If you can buckle child back in with the coat on w/out adjusting the harness, it's not too puffy. Adding too much padding between the child and the harness can leave too much slack in it in an accident and it might not hold the child. The harness webbing is built to stretch a little bit in a crash so you don't want it to be too loose or have too much padding in there.

This site has some CSPT approved recommendations for winter coats & car seat covers:

http://www.carseatsite.com/babycenter_links.htm#Cold Weather Links

This one's not on the list but it's cpst approved as well:
http://www.carseatponcho.com/

Another thing you can do is take the coat off, buckle child in, then put the coat back on the child backwards, over the harness. If they get too warm, it's easy to remove and they don't have to get out of the car seat to do it.

hth!