A question about car seats and travel systems?

please correct me if I am wrong.

so, the way i understand things is that the baby carrier of the travel system becomes a car seat when added to the car seat base.

how long can the baby use this particular car seat?

do I need to register for another one (we only need ONE for our driving purposes).

TIA

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

Yes, that's right. The little seat (we had a Graco) snaps into a little base that's left in the car.

How long you keep the baby in the seat depends on you and how big the baby is. My DD was on the smaller size, so she stayed in the infant seat until she turned 9 months...worked out perfectly, since that was the end of winter and it was MUCH easier having her still in the infant seat in the winter. You really just see how comfortable they still are (length-wise) in the seat, and how heavy it is to carry a growing baby around in an already-heavy seat.

Then they move from the infant seat to a convertible car seat (still rear-facing)...we have a Britax.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

We used the infant seat (the one with the handle that went with the travel system) until Kaydyn was a year and then we switched her to the convertible car seat.

Around 6 months we started just leaving the seat in the car b/c it was too heavy and putting her in and out of it so at that point we prob could have switched to the other car seat.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

Yes. You are correct.

We used ours til DS was 10 months in my car and 11 months in DH's car.

The nice thing about hte infant seat is that you can install it without the base or get an extra base if you need to use the seat in another car.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

Depends on the size of the baby.

Our DS was in the infant seat only until about 5 or 6 months. I wanted to use it longer, but he was a big baby. I lived in a 3rd floor walkup and I found it much easier to use the infant carrier, because at the age I had to switch him, he still wasn't "helping" me hold him - he would still lean back or to the side unexpectedly.

One of the boys at our daycare was in it until about a year, but he is a peanut.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

J - I would register for a convertible car seat as well. They can be $$ and even if someone doesn't buy it for you, you can get a discount on it when you are ready to buy.
I put Nick in it at 7 months because he was getting to big for the infant seat.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

I would register for the convertible carseat also. Jack only used the infant seat for about three months - he was so big and hated being squished! Some kids are in it for as long as a year though!

The convertible carseat - you will want to get a good one bc that will last you for a LONG time!

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

I used the carrier/ travel system until my son was about 5 months old. He hated the lying down position. We switched him to a convertible car seat and he stopped crying in the car. I would register for both.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

Jess- It all depends on how big your baby is. Anthony was only in his for 5 months. The carrier alone is pretty heavy and kind of bulky to lug around.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

thank you!!!!!!

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

We used the infant carseat for 6 months. We asked for gift cards for DS's first christmas and used those for the big carseat.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

DS used it for 7.5 months and I was stretching it to it's limit. DS was bigger and taller. But it was Winter and I used this $ucker as long as I could. It was so convenient.

The limit is 20 Lbs and depending on your carseat about 29-30 inches tall. DS reached that heigth and weight way before he was 1 year old. I still would have gotten it because it was so easy to transfer back and forth from the stroller/house, etc..

You will need another carseat though. You could use a convertible right away but again I live the infant carseat so much better for convenience.

Re: A question about car seats and travel systems?

I agree with everyone else. Register for a convertible one as well.

Aidan is 9 months old and still using the infant car seat. He's only 17.4 lbs and fits comfortable in it. It is great being able to just lift the car seat up and snap it right into the snap and go (we don't have a travel system). We hope to use the infant car seat for as long as we can.