How long did your baby fit in infant car seat?

[Not so Dumbo]

DD still fit at 8 months but we switched her out because she was too heavy to carry around in it.

 

[KirstenB]

Our youngest is 17 mths and still rear-facing. She probably weighs 20 lb now, was 18 lbs at 15 mth checkup. But she has some muscle weakness and dh pointed out he thought we should keep her rear-facing until she won't fit anymore.

 

[tjlovespooh]

My son outgrew the max hieght(26in) on his infant seat by 3mo. Although I loved the ease of using the infant seat I would have prefered to have saved the $$ since he used it for such a short time

 

[slduck]

We have the same seat as the orignal post. I find the straps very difficult to adjust. DS is 9 months and still fits for now. We will be changing over to our Britax soon.

 

[Jennygt]

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 did not know about the 1" but I think I would have noticed that he was not in right, thanks for the tip I will be sure to keep and eye on that. I have to report that when I adjusted the hip level strap I was able to return the shoulder harnes to the middle rung and it fits him perfectly now. I am still going to start looking at the Britax. I know the Marathon is supposed to be the best but I am not sure what makes it better than other brands. I will have to do some more research. I also agree with the others that have trouble lifting the baby in the carrier, it weighs a ton! Thanks to all for the advice!

 

[MSSANDRA]

So glad this thread is happening right now. DS was premature and did not hit 20 lbs till going on three. However piggly wiggly DGS is 3 mo and 16 lbs. I was thinking of buying one of the new infant seats that goes up to 30 or 35 lbs but did not think to check the height on those. Are they any higher than the typical 26 inches on the 20lb ones??? I love the ability to carry him into places and since he is still so young it is nice to have a safe place he can sit during a meal out. Should I just invest in an infant toddler seat that goes both back and forward facing and goes up to 40lb or sometimes higher. I want the safest choice for him as he is so young to be so big!!!!!

 

[labst60]

DD was about 9.5 -10 months - outgrew b/c of height. Moved to the Britax Decathalon and love it (now almost 2))

 

[shelly3girls]

So glad this thread is happening right now. DS was premature and did not hit 20 lbs till going on three. However piggly wiggly DGS is 3 mo and 16 lbs. I was thinking of buying one of the new infant seats that goes up to 30 or 35 lbs but did not think to check the height on those. Are they any higher than the typical 26 inches on the 20lb ones??? I love the ability to carry him into places and since he is still so young it is nice to have a safe place he can sit during a meal out. Should I just invest in an infant toddler seat that goes both back and forward facing and goes up to 40lb or sometimes higher. I want the safest choice for him as he is so young to be so big!!!!!

Yes, I have this seat and it holds up to 32" DS is very big (20lbs and 28.5" at 6months) and he still fits fine in the Safeseat. Now that he is almost 8 months we will be moving him to the Britax soon. The carrier is getting too heavy. Honestly for a big baby already 3 months I would just move him to the rear facing convert. seat when he outgrows the seat he is in.

 

[dabrnigrl]

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?

Hi Jennygt,

I just went through a similar problem.

My son is 7 months and he is 21 pounds and 27 inches long.

We had to take him out of his infant carrier, which we just bought for 75 dollars.

But, had I know all of this ahead of time I would of never bought a infant carrier.

I would of bought a 3 in 1 convertiable carseat.

I priced a bunch of them and they were very expensive like 150-250 dollars.

I could not bear to pay that since I just paid 75 for one 7 months ago.

But, I never knew they even had these types of car seats.

Which a 3 in 1 you never have to buy another car seat again.

Where with my other two I have always bought infant, 5 pt harness front facing, and then a booster.

That is 3 seats a piece. That is a lot of money down the drain.

So, while these 3 in 1's are expensive at first they pay for them selves after a while.

But, here is the best part.

I don't know if you have a BJ's Wholesale Club in your area, but I got this car seat that is sold at other stores for 179.00 for 89.99.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/inde...83.2256187.2256196&view=all&parentPage=family

That is a STEAL.

I hope that helps.

It is a really nice car seat too.

Amber

 

[Ms Marigny]

DD was 21 lbs at 6 months- we switched her over to the convertible carseat then.

 

[all4fun]

Sorry, but the 3-in-1's are not likely to be "the last car seat you'll ever need" as advertised. I had one of these, and my ds outgrew it by height at 27lbs and only 34mos of age. It's not an unsafe seat (as long as used correctly) but there are numerous reasons why this isn't a "great" seat, or at least a seat you'll get the bang out of your buck that is falsely promised. It's essentially a "jack of all trades, master of none".

First the Pros: It comes in pretty covers, and it has a 35lb r/fing weight limit.

The Cons:
The top harness slot is the fourth (or 2nd from top) position. This is stamped onto the shell on the back of the seat (but hard to see so you really have to look for it) and the manual is kind of vague in it's wording as well. Many people are not aware of this which means the seat is easy to misuse. I mention it because I was unaware and found out about it on a car safety tips board (then verified by carefully reading my manual).

The top Harness position is 15" and many kids outgrow this by height between 3-4yrs old.

The minimum weight requirement to use as a belt positioning booster is 40lbs. So in order to get full use as a harness car seat and a bpb your dc will have to hit 40lbs right at 4yrs old (the bare minimum recommended age for moving "up" to booster mode) AND not have a torso over 15". That's quite a lot to ask and many children will grow too tall for the harness before they reach 40lbs and 4yrs of age.

Another problem with the seat is because it's designed to convert to a bpb, it doesn't offer a lot of head support (my ds's head slumped horribly when it was in f/fing mode and even in r/fing mode if I didn't have it reclined all the way and he fell asleep. Note that I had the AO which looks a little bit different than the EB linked in the pp but they are essentially the same seat with different covers. The EB linked does look like it has a slightly more padded headrest than my AO had.

It doesn't make a great booster either. The shoulder guides can cause the seatbelt to not retract properly if the child leans forward, the lap belt guides can hold the belt too far from the childs body. It only boosters to 53" and the recommended minimum (and law in some states) is to booster to 4'9 or 57". The seat also expires 6yrs from date of mfgr so if you buy it when your dc is 1 then it will be expired by the time they're 7 and probably not big enough to be out of a bpb yet. Sorry to rain on the pp. but I had one of these seats and it ended up being a huge disappointment. I would have saved money if I'd just bought a higher weight limit seat. At that time there were fewer options. Now there are a couple more options like the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe and the Sunshine Kids Radian so you don't have to spend over $200 to get a bigger seat (like the Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Blvd) that will keep your dc in a 5-pt harness years longer than a 3-in-1 or just about any 40lb limit seat currently on the market. And the older my ds gets, the more I realize I want him in a 5-pt harness as long as possible.

hth.

 

[emileee]

Two of my three babes outgrew the Graco infant Carrier by 4 months. However they were at the high end of the growth charts....We did keep it the trunk for restaurant seating purposes....

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

DS was in the infant seat until he was 14 months. Now we have the Evenflo Triumph and LOVE it!!

 

[dsneygirl]

We just switched DS this weekend. He is just shy of 19lbs but he was 28 inches (29inches was the limit) He was also way to heavy to carry around. He is 7 months old.

 

[Jennygt]

We just switched DS this weekend. He is just shy of 19lbs but he was 28 inches (29inches was the limit) He was also way to heavy to carry around. He is 7 months old.

What seat did you switch to?

 

[kileybeth]

chiming in with some funny statistics. . .

I have 6 children,the oldest 25 years old, the youngest 1 year old.

my oh my have carseats come a long way. . .

I've had almost 9 pounders who outgrew infant seats at 3 months, a premmie who didn't come home from NICU until she was just at 4 pounds and could have remained in her Graco Infant seat until she was 20 months old!!! (yup, short and pettite), and lots in between.

I'll just say this, after way to much research and first hand information I bit the bullet and bought the Britax. I feel like the baby is so much safer and so much more comfortable. The cute cover is all bonus. And it is so so easy to install, put baby in and out of. Only draw back for me was weight of the seat but even that is a bonus, the thing is steel reinforced as opposed to all the other plastic ones.

LOVE IT! Oh, and it actually goes up to 60lbs as oppssed to most 40-50 pound limits. . .

other funny fact is my 4 year old loves the britax too (doesn't care that it is pink and flowery!) when we are transfering it from car to car and it sits in kitchen floor for a day ot two, he insist on getting in it LOL! And this is the kiddo with "special reading lights" built into his booster seat!

MT 2 Cents. . .

 

[jeni1072]

I didn't realize FP had started making car seats again- that is GREAT news!!! Years ago they had the best car seats, until they got out of the car seat business in about...October of 2001?? We have 2 of the Safe Embraces from my 6 year old that my 2 year old is still in, and I tell you what that was the greatest $60 ever spent. They are so big and comfy, the straps are super wide and impossible to twist, and they have this metal bar that surrounds the seat for extra protection. I remember they used to get the highest reviews from consumer reports back then too. I don't know if they are making them as good this time around, but I would surely check them out!!!

 

[Desnik]

DS was 22lbs when he was 3!!LOL He was a preemie and was in his infant car seat well after a year old. He now has a Britax and we love it!!

 

[dsneygirl]

What seat did you switch to?

We went with the Britax Roundabout. Everything I have read and heard from other moms is the Britax are the best.

 

[PaulaSue]

from 4-8 months depending on my DDs