Tell me about your Peg Perego stroller

[dis-happy]

Keep in mind when "guesstimating" how long your baby might fit in an infant car seat that in addition to the weight limitation (whether it be 22 lbs. or 32 lbs.) a baby can outgrow a seat with height/length. If you or your SO is tall, you could have also have a tall/long baby. I can't remember the exact limitation (my kiddos tend to be smaller than average) but I think you are supposed to swap them out when their head is reaching the top within 1 inch. You can still move to a rear facing convertible seat, and I still recommend anything by Britax, not only is it safe, but it is easy to install and the straps don't get tangled like other carseats I've had. HTH!

 

[Tiger926]

Keep in mind when "guesstimating" how long your baby might fit in an infant car seat that in addition to the weight limitation (whether it be 22 lbs. or 32 lbs.) a baby can outgrow a seat with height/length. If you or your SO is tall, you could have also have a tall/long baby. I can't remember the exact limitation (my kiddos tend to be smaller than average) but I think you are supposed to swap them out when their head is reaching the top within 1 inch. You can still move to a rear facing convertible seat, and I still recommend anything by Britax, not only is it safe, but it is easy to install and the straps don't get tangled like other carseats I've had. HTH!

This is true, but most babies outgrow car seats based on weight before height. Height limitations are a bit confusing as they can't take into account babies with long torsoes or extra long legs. The height limitations are based on a body length, but again, if a baby has really long legs or a long torso, this may throw those height limitations off. Most car seats explain in the manual that an infant/child's ears should not go above the car seat shell and this is more important than a body length estimate like 32".

I also agree that Britax car seats are fabulous, although the new Frontier does have issues with strap twisting and it drives us crazy at times!

Here is a great car seat info board that you can check out: http://car-seat.org/forumdisplay.php?f=2&order=desc. It is full of car seat techs or car seat obsessed moms like myself! You can get amazing info on that board.

Happy car seat shopping, Tiger

 

[NotUrsula]

There are many new infant seats that go up to 30lbs or 32lbs - the new Peg Primo Viaggio Sip actually does (here in Canada we are still at 22lbs, hence my last post) and so you can use it for longer than the traditional 4-5 months of other 22lb infant car seat maximums.

As I suggested, the new Graco Snugrides go up to 32lbs or Graco Safe Seat up to 30lbs (or other comparable car seat - we have different models here in Canada) will take the average baby at least up to 12 months, perhaps longer, depending upon size of baby. This will allow for extended rear facing past 12 months too!

While that is true about the higher weight limits, I think that for most kids the higher limit is moot, because the benefit of using an infant seat is really parent convenience for moving them out of the car still sleeping and for taking them to places like grocery stores and restaurants before they can sit up unaided. You *can* skip the infant seat altogether and use a rear-facing convertible toddler seat from birth, and that is a cost-saving if you are so-inclined. With DS, I used my convertible toddler carseat from 7 mos until he was nearly 5, so I got about 4 years use out of it, both rear- and front-facing.

The average infant carseat weighs about 10 lbs. empty. I took my children out of them once they reached the height limits (5 months with DS, just about 8 months with DD -- we tend to be a long-waisted family); at that point they weighed about 14 lbs., and I was happy to stop carrying around the combined weight of the carseat AND the baby. I know that for myself, I wouldn't be inclined to want to carry around a 42 lb. load on one arm, so keeping the infant seat in use past the point where they can sit up isn't something I really care about.

Note that if your child outgrows the infant carseat for safe use in the car before he is able to sit up alone, you can still use it for convenience in restaurants and such until he masters that skill -- just keep it in the trunk of the car when you're not using it.

 

[Tiger926]

While that is true about the higher weight limits, I think that for most kids the higher limit is moot, because the benefit of using an infant seat is really parent convenience for moving them out of the car still sleeping and for taking them to places like grocery stores and restaurants before they can sit up unaided. You *can* skip the infant seat altogether and use a rear-facing convertible toddler seat from birth, and that is a cost-saving if you are so-inclined. With DS, I used my convertible toddler carseat from 7 mos until he was nearly 5, so I got about 4 years use out of it, both rear- and front-facing.

The average infant carseat weighs about 10 lbs. empty. I took my children out of them once they reached the height limits (5 months with DS, just about 8 months with DD -- we tend to be a long-waisted family); at that point they weighed about 14 lbs., and I was happy to stop carrying around the combined weight of the carseat AND the baby. I know that for myself, I wouldn't be inclined to want to carry around a 42 lb. load on one arm, so keeping the infant seat in use past the point where they can sit up isn't something I really care about.

Note that if your child outgrows the infant carseat for safe use in the car before he is able to sit up alone, you can still use it for convenience in restaurants and such until he masters that skill -- just keep it in the trunk of the car when you're not using it.

Good point, and I understand this more than anyone as I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis at a very young age of 30 years old - before I had kids, so for me, I didn't carry my infant seat out and about as it was too heavy. Only my hubby carried the seat, but we just took our baby out of it most of the time. We got the infant seat because the bucket shape of it is better suited to young infants. I wouldn't put a newborn in a convertible seat as they are just too big - we tried our large 9.5lb newborn in a Britax convertible seat and he was so lost in there, so we much preferred the infant seat.

Sometimes it all depends upon the size of the baby too as we got a seat before the baby was born, but once she was born, it went back as it just wasn't a good fit (it was a convertible seat as well), so an infant seat is always a safe bet as they are made to fit pretty much all infants, whereas convertible seats are larger to accommodate a larger weight/height span, and don't have quite as much as a bucket shape as infant seats do.

I'm sure most people probably buy infant seats for the portable usage of it, but that was not our primary reason for doing so. If that is the case, then any infant seat will be heavy, you are correct about that!

Lots of good info on here for new parents, Tiger

 

[worm761]

Thanks for all the advice. To be honest, I didn't use a stroller with my DS13. So this is all very new to me. We will look into the Graco car seats instead of the Peg. We don't hike often and it isn't rough terrain but it isn't paved either. We will probably just get a sling type carrier for hiking. We did love how small the Peg folds up. I do have some questions though. Do all years models have the five point harness that allows the baby to move? That is a big selling point for us. Are all the years basically the same but just different colors? What is the difference between a 2008 and a 2009?

 

[NotUrsula]

Thanks for all the advice. To be honest, I didn't use a stroller with my DS13. So this is all very new to me. We will look into the Graco car seats instead of the Peg. We don't hike often and it isn't rough terrain but it isn't paved either. We will probably just get a sling type carrier for hiking. We did love how small the Peg folds up. I do have some questions though. Do all years models have the five point harness that allows the baby to move? That is a big selling point for us. Are all the years basically the same but just different colors? What is the difference between a 2008 and a 2009?

The harness on the Pliko has been that design for pretty much forever. I had to replace the harness on my '98 two years ago because the buckle got caught in the trunk latch of the car, and the new one just slotted right in. (The buckle was designed slightly differently, but the harness was the same.)

AFAIK, there were no major changes in the design of the regular P3 from 08 to 09. They did come out with a version that allows you to reverse the seat, but that is an add'l model. For the definitive word, buy Strollerqueen's current guide; she lists every tiny change.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

You don't have to buy strollerqueens guide but you can join her stroller Swap group on yahoo. She and others are very helpful we LOVE our strollers and we all have expeirence w/ so many so any questions you have about any stroller on the market can be answered. You may even be able to find someone who has one for sale between now and when you are ready to buy or they can keep you up on who has the best deal.

 

[dis-happy]

On the latest version (2008/2009) the parent cupholder is a bit different. The parent cupholder on the earlier version never worked for me (and others have complained the same). Before paying a lot more money for the new one I'd want to be sure that the new one works (stays attached) and decide how important it is from a cost standpoint.

If your baby isn't due for awhile wait to buy...the later models may be on sale by then.