Infant carseat vs. Convertible

[Lisalee2]

Hi mamas,

I'm thinking about whether to get the bucket style infant carseat w/base for this babe or not. With my 2 older children, I had one, and did take it out of the car often to go to the grocery store or when they're sleeping. But as I recall, that stage doesn't last very long.

How many of you would recommend getting that type of seat vs. a rear facing convertible type seat that you don't remove from the car?

Dh and I were wondering if it would be more cost effective to just skip the removable infant carrier.

Any advice? It's been way too long since I've had a newborn.

[neonalee]

We had originally planned to skip the bucket seat, but I'm glad we didn't. It's been way too handy. DS loves to be in motion so we have the car, the stroller frame, and even a swing to put the bucket seat into (Graco). DP has even swung DS in the seat before we got the seat. DS doesn't always love being worn, so well worth it in our case.

[PatioGardener]

nak

i skipped. no regrets (ds is now 5 months old.)

[mysticmomma]

Even my 10lber didn't fit well in the convertibile, so we used a bucket, but it never left the car.

[Mom2M]

We have a bucket and I'm glad. I don't like the way she fit into the convertible, she seems a lot more comfortable in the bucket. We have the snugride 35 and it is really padded and feels good.
It's really heavy, though, and I usually leave it in the car because she likes to be worn mostly, but I have the frame that the carseat fits into and it is great for when I go somewhere that I need to have a place for her to sit and I can't hold her. Or when she's asleep.

[Oliver's Mama]

I never had one (though I've carried other people's babies in them) and have no regrets. I have 2 kids- a three-year-old and a 6 month old who's 20 pounds, and I have only ever bought 2 carseats and if things go as planned, we'll only need to buy 1 more to get both boys through the 8 year limit. ds1 used his convertable (britax decathlon.. 5-65 lbs) from birth til age 2.5 when it was passed on to ds2 at birth (though he still could have continued to fit in it, we decided to buy ds1 a new convertable seat -graco nautilus 20-100 lbs- that will fit him until the final booster age limit). So economically, it's been beneficial.
Nowadays they all come with infant pad inserts, or you can purchase a cheap one, so it's easy to get a snug fit. For me, I never considered a bucket seat because I knew it would become too convenient just to keep him in it on so many occasions, and I wanted him to have variety in positions, plus it's an unnatural and unhealthy way to bear weight when you carry something that heavy so far from your body and off to one side. I will admit if you're having a winter baby it would make the cold walk to and from the car more tolerable, but then you miss out on bundling your babe in a cute snowsuit!
And while many will note it's less likely to disturb a sleeping baby, if a baby is accustomed to babywearing from birth they may transition from carseat to carrier without fully waking, or I usually plan so he naps at home or not until we get to our destination, then I don't feel bad if I interrupt a quick snooze in the car because it's not really a full-blown nap going on. He would get awfully sweaty and stiff sleeping in a carseat anyways.

[carmel23]

I've had 2 december babies and used bucket for one, convertible for the other, and prefer the convertible.

You'll end up carrying baby/nursing in a sling, etc., anyway, and then you are stuck with a big old cluncky seat to lug around and baby.

a nice fleece pouch is way better.

Get a bouncy seat (or borrow one) for home, and otherwise sling/pouch, etc.

[Knitting Mama]

We had a bucket seat for Cecilia, but I found it far too much of a hassle to carry around, so it became a permanent fixture in the car, and I just wore Cece. Now she has a convertible (Graco MyRide 65, which is awesome and I know of 5 lb newborns who have been in one!) because it holds her at a more comfortable angle.

[cloudbutterfly]

We skipped...and then bought one at one month. It made it much easier to get out and about in the winter. Even if it only was useful for six or seven months, I'm very glad we reconsidered.

[chel]

i hadn't planned to use a bucket, but when my convertible carseat was put on backorder, i had to borrow something. just happened to be a bucket. so glad i did.
dd2 was a midwest winter baby. while i just planned on staying home during the first couple of weeks, she had jaundice and had to do daily doctor visits during the first week, then had some other medical issues, plus my OB visits.

it was just too cold to take dd out of a carseat and put into a sling.

i did have a bucket for dd1 but never took it out of the car (she was born in the south in the summer) so no weather issues, plus she would cry in the seat, so it was never possible to carry her in the bucket anyways.

[akind1]

I started out with a convertible (the Combi Cocorro) which fit my 6 lb 14 oz LO from birth. It is very cushy and compact. However, we needed a seat for DH's car, and the babytrend bucket happened to be on clearance at Target (I think DS was less than a month old) and we nabbed it up.

I really liked having both, TBH. It will work out great for when we have #2, all I will need to buy is an extra base for the bucket for my car and we will be set.

As far as getting babe in and out when it is cold, or he is sleeping, that is all he knew, so he got used to it, I guess. The bucket was handy for going in restaurants when he'd sleep through the meal, and for shopping in places with carts. I did and do wear DS alot, but sometimes it is nice to give us a break. And he doesn't like to be worn sitting down (in the case of a restaurant).

If we had only one car, I would go with the convertible again. But I don't regret at all having bought the bucket.

[lrgs]

I agree with pp........way too cold here to take baby out and put them in a sling. I'm in Northern Canada and the infant carriers are just to convenient for keeping baby warm.......especially since bulky snowsuits are unsafe for carseats. DD1 is older so she can manage with a fleece jacket and blanket......it would be much more complicated with DD2. I often end up bringing in the carseat and then wearing her......I like to have my stroller anyway because it's great for carrying all my stuff (diaper bag, etc) and sometimes my 3 year old likes to jump in for a ride.

I think DD2 is a lot more laid back sleeper and could probably make the transition to a wrap and fall right back asleep but with DD1 that would have caused hours of screaming and I would have been trapped at home.

[P.J.]

We have a bucket and some people (like my DH) find it really convenient, but I would rather carry DS on me than around in the carseat. It has come in handy once or twice when he was asleep and he could go on sleeping and be brought into the house in the seat. But our baby cannot stand riding in the car and often screams bloody murder and it is awful for all of us. After reading this forum for some months now I can tell you this situation is not entirely uncommon for babies. Some just seem to hate the car. And I also learned from reading here that some mamas then switch from the bucket to the convertible and from one day to the next the baby is fine with the car. So, long story short we're getting the money together for a convertible and had I known then what I know now I would've skipped the bucket. If your baby is one who is uncomfortable in the bucket you'll have to buy a convertible anyway ~ and you'll have to get it anyway when he or she is outgrows the bucket~ so why not just get it now?
Just my

[Pookietooth]

Many covertibles don't really fit newborns, and really it can be nice to have the removable carseat so you have somewhere to put them when you need it (even when you babywear most of the time, there are some times when you might need a seat for them). Also, with dd I find she wakes when taken out of her carseat but would sometimes stay asleep in her removable one.

[busymama77]

We used a bucket for W but most of the time, I wore him, so it stayed in the car. Once he was technically too big for the bucket, we switched to a convertible car seat. That was right before he turned 6 months. The little guy was getting way too long for the bucket!

[tabrizia]

We are going straight with a convertible for this one. For DS we used a bucket seat for 11 months and he loved it, it was nice to bring him into stores and such still asleep. With DD she hated it, it didn't fit her well, she screamed in the car, she did not fall asleep in it, she would scream the entire times she was in it, we couldn't take her into stores in it, because she would scream. She was so much happier when we moved her to a convertible at 4 weeks old, we never looked back. The convertible also fit her a ton better then her infant seat did which probably helped a lot.

With this one we are going with a convertible, my car is small, and it will fit best in the tight space, a convertible would be a pain to get in and out with two other car seats in the same row. We found that a sling/carrier of some sort was just as easy and kept DD snuggly and warm as the car seat did with DS, and honestly it was just as easy getting her out and popping her in the carrier as it was putting the car seat in the large part of the cart when shopping.

[lifeguard]

We only had a convertible but were in Costa Rica when ds was little. If we were to have a fall or winter baby here in Canada I'd definitely do a bucket for those first few months. For a spring or summer baby I'd definitely do the convertible again.

[carmen358]

We skipped the bucket and went with a convertible. It's been a really good choice for us. We went with the true fit convertible after a lot of research on what convertibles fit newborns best. Luckily, DD was 9lb 7oz so never was that small anyway

[jillmamma]

I think it depends on where you live (like some in really cold climates like to be able to bring it in and out of car to keep baby out of cold), do you need it for a spot for baby to sit while you are out (like in a restaurant or shopping), whether you have back problems or other reasons where it would be difficult to babywear, and your kid in general. I did not plan on getting a bucket at all this time around, but I had a friend give me one that her son had used for free, so we used it for the first few months. I think it came out of the car twice, maybe? In my particular case, the only place I can install the carseat for the baby is the middle of the backseat with a FF carseat on one side and a booster on the other for her older siblings. It was way too much of a PITA to try and lift that bucket over one of the other seats to get it in and out, and when they are smaller I really prefer to babywear most of the time anyway. At about 6 months we switched to a Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL (thanks grandparents!), and that should get her to booster age easily. Also, as others have mentioned, if you do go the convertible route, make sure it has low enough bottom slots to accomodate newborns as not all seats do. Family Safety is a great forum to ask about carseats!