Infant car seat suggestions

Get a Recaro or Sparco baby seat! :mrgreen:

 

We have the Graco Travel System that I think Evan is talking about. The stroller is large but it fits in the back well enough. There's even a bit of room left over for other items. We've never had to take it anywhere other than daily outings though. Getting the stroller in along with baggage for other people could be a problem I think.

Personally I think the quick release base for the car seat is indispensable. I presume most manufacturers offer this in some form or other. Another choice you'll likely encounter is between 3 point or 5 point harness. The 5 point is suppose to be safer but does make it a little more difficult getting the shoulder straps over the baby's arms.

P.S. Congratulations, that's quite the Christmas gift.

 

[Congrats on your new additon! I am being induced tomorrow so am fishing for some of the same info. Consumer Reports safety said the Britax Companion was the best. Good luck

dawn

 

I'm a parent with a 4 year old... and also a family doc.

Make sure you distinguish between the "infant carriers" and a true car-seat.

Infant carriers will hold your kid until they are about 20 pounds. They are generally designed so you can snap the carseat into and out of a base, and carry the kid around in the carseat. Nice convenience factor, but you will only be using it for the first 6-12 months, and newborns don't tend to rib/bend/tear/mangle these, so you don't have to spend a ton. Graco is fine for this, but so are a lot of other brands. Warning... I see a lot of moms with elbow and shoulder problems from hauling these things around with their kids in them all day. Do yourself a favor... and get a stroller that will hold your infant seat. It will save your back and neck.

Convertible Car Seat: For a kid larger than 20 pounds.. you need a larger seat. Get a GOOD quality convertible car seat that will last. They are called convertible because they switch from rear to front facing after the kid is at least 20 pounds AND one year of age. I see a LOT of the el-cheapo brands that look OK in the store, but don't hold up at all. Remember... toddlers are very skilled in destroying cheaply built items!! We were given a Graco, that ended up in the trash after 2 months. The belts on it were VERY cheap, and started to twist and snag almost immediately. The strength of the webbing goes down dramatically when it is bent or twisted. And the padding was not very comfy. I HIGHLY recommend the Britax seats. They are bomb proof, high quality materials, comfortable, and last until your kid is 3+ years old. Most important, it is easy to remove the fabric and wash it.. and since you will have a lot of diaper blow-outs and spitting up occurring in that seat... you will need to do this often!

Booster Seat: By the time your kids need this... the models will all be different, so hard to recommend now. These use your cars seat-belt to hold the kid in. We found a folding one from a company called Compass that we really like and is highly rated.

Here is a good article on car seats from American Academy of Family Physicians:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020515/2085.html

There are lots of other good references online like consumer reports, NHTSA, and more. These are referenced in the AAFP article, or you can Google them.

Whatever you do... keep your kid in the seat all the time, EVERY time, and in the back seat... the "automatic" airbags in modern cars does NOT mean they are safe to put a kids carseat in the front.

Good luck with your kids AND your Prius

 

Definitely grab one that uses the LATCH system. I was always paranoid with the car seat we have (Eddie Bower... 20-100lbs) in my Grand Am using the seat belt as a restrainer. When I got my Prius and swapped it over using the LATCH system, the thing was bloody solid.

 

The first year of parenting is so strenuous and sleepless and stressful (wonderful too though) that you want to make things as easy on yourself physically as possible.

I strongly strongly strongly recommend getting one of the "systems" where you install a base in the back seat of the car, transport the baby in a basket carrier that attaches to the base, and also has a stroller base that the carrier fits into. If the baby will ever be traveling in another car, get a second base so you never have to uninstall the bases. Have the bases installed by someone who has been trained to do so. In our town, the local police station has a staff member who took the week-long installation course. She used a foam "pool noodle" as part of the installation! It was very firmly installed, which is how it should be.

When you are ready to go out, you buckle the baby into the basket carrier, carry it out to the car, click it in, and go. When you get to where you're going, remove the basket with the baby still strapped in, and click it into the stroller. This type of stroller is especially nice for the first few months because the baby is facing toward you as you push the stroller. An older child prefers to face outward, but in the beginning, face-to-face is better for both parent and child. The stroller we used had a basket underneath, and I used that for grocery shopping, which I found easier than putting the basket in the grocery cart.

Resist the urge not to get or use the stroller. Even for a short trip in and out of a store, that basket gets awfully heavy fast. Take the thirty seconds to get the stroller out. Your muscles and ligaments will be happier, and it's less jolting for the baby too. You see a lot of people lugging the baskets everywhere, and I think they're nuts.

A major advantage of these basket systems is that when the baby falls asleep in the car, you can bring the basket into the house without waking him or her. Also, if your baby seems to be getting sleepy and you know you have to go out soon, you can put the baby in the basket and take the napping baby with you hassle-free.

If you are in an area that has cold winters, be sure to get one of those fleece things that you fit inside the basket and zip up over the child. That removes any need to put the baby into a coat. When you come inside, if the baby is sleeping, you just unzip it and fold it back so the baby doesn't get overheated.

I am a big believer in holding babies as much as possible. Some people dislike these basket systems because they think the baby is stuck inside it all the time and doesn't get enough holding. But as long as you make sure that doesn't happen, this type of car seat/basket/stroller system is a real bonus for new parents.

Good luck and congratulations!

 

Sparco? I've seen the Recaro, but never one by Sparco.


We use a booster and a forward facing seat. In our Prius we use an couple of Graco seats. In our Volvo, we only use the one forward facing seat as Volvo was smart enough in integrate a booster seat into the rear (middle) row of seats.

When #3 arrives this coming summer, we'll put the Per Perego infant seat into use again. Great seat.

 

My wife is one of those. She insisted on taking the baby(ies) outof the seat every time we stopped even though the seat snapped into the stroller as well. Oh well, what are you going to do. Now with #3 it'll probably be different, as our hands will be full.

 

I recommend the stroller wholeheartedly, too, but not the full travel system. We used an Evenflo infant seat and a Snap N Go stroller frame that is very lighweight and much easier for my wife to load and unload (probably will prove double so with the Prius' high rear loading height). Also, if you are an air traveler, the Snap N Go is less likely to be damaged when gate-checked, and much better for getting around with all of your luggage than the large travel-system strollers, in our opinion. I would certainly at least check them out at the baby store, to see if you like them.

Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS! HAVE A BALL! SLEEP NOW!