infant carseat comparison - peg perego/graco/maxicosi

[lalazap]

New baby coming in April. First for me, second for DP.

Wanting to get a used infant bucket until baby grows out of it; then we'll buy something new that should last a few years.

A friend has a Bugaboo frog stroller for us which we are gratefully accepting. I have no idea if we will ever want or need to clip the carseat onto the stroller but it would be nice to have the option.

So as far as I can tell my choices for compatible carseats are: Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Peg Perego.

Am keeping an eye on craigslist but not sure of the pros and cons of each of those seats. I drive a Toyota Matrix if that influences anything.

Are any of these seats much safer/lighter/easier/better than the others? Should I cross any of them off the list altogether?

Thanks in advance for your expertise, mamas!

[Maedze]

Well, I'm going to let you down.  

PLEASE don't get a car seat off of Craigslist.   There is absolutely NO way, no matter what questions you ask, you can be sure that it was correctly cared for and not in an accident.  People lie, and they lie like rugs, when they think they can get 25 dollars out of you.   

If you showed up to my check station with a Craigslist seat, I'd confiscate it and replace it with an institutional one.  

What's your budget? 

Edited by Maedze - 2/2/12 at 3:03pm

[jes h]

I was just about to say the same thing. 

Normally I am ALL ABOUT  reusing thing, esp. baby things... but.

We were in a terrible accident, rolled 3 times & landed upside down.  I crawled through the upside down car to unbuckle my son hanging upside down and smiling. 

We had the cheapest bucket seat possible.  All carseats meet a minimum safety requirements.  I know you don't want to spend a lot on a seat you won't use long, but...

We did use hand me down seats from trusted sources - good friends who could tell us the whole history, and seats were still years from expiring.  Perhaps someone you know has a seat gathering dust in the garage that you can be confident in for that short time.

good luck!!!!

[lalazap]

Thank you for the heads-up, mamas! I am definitely reconsidering our plan based on your warnings. So, no craigslist. Maybe a used seat from someone in our network.

Back to the original question, then. Of those three seats that are compatible with the stroller we're being gifted, are there any clear pros and/or cons for any of them?

Do other mamas really find it to be useful to have the car seat/stroller combo? I really don't want the baby to live in that bucket, y'know?

[Maedze]

If you get a used one from a person you know (and presumably trust with the life of your child) these are the questions you should ask

1.  What is its date of manufacture?  Is it expired?

2.  Have you called the manufacturer with the model number to see if it's been recalled?
 

3.  Was it ever in a car accident, even a minor one?

4.  Did you ever soak the harness in water, or put the harness in a washing machine or clean it with anything more vigorous than a baby wipe or warm washcloth?

5.  Did you ever check the seat while you flew on an airplane? 

If it's expired, recalled, been in an accident, been checked on an airplane, or had its harness laundered, it's no good and shouldn't be used. 

Honestly, I'm going to strongly recommend you avoid all three.  The Peg Perego infant seat is a nightmare.  Parents like it because of the brand name recognition, but it's heavy, doesn't install well in many vehicles, is outgrown early and doesn't fit newborns well. 

The Graco Snugride 22 does not fit newborns that well and is outgrown early. 

The Mico fits newborns reasonably well but is outgrown early.  

Honestly, compatibility with a stroller is not a great criterion to use to pick a child restraint.   Child restraints are life saving crash devices that you need to work PERFECTLY in your situation, if you need them at all.   

Car seats that fit newborns well, install well in a large cross variety of vehicles, and aren't outgrown supremely early include: Chicco Keyfit 30, Graco Snugride 30 or  Graco Snugride 35, the Safety First Onboard Air 35, and Combi Shuttle 33 or 35.   You'd do well with any of those seats. 

[LauraP29]

We have a Graco Snugride 35 and it has been a good seat for us.  I have a toyota matrix as well, and it fits, but the front seat can't be all the way back.  It is a bit of a bigger seat (heavy to carry around) but my son is still fits nicely in it at 1 year.  I liked having a seat that fit on my stroller, especially in the early months, but it probably wasn't an absolute necessity.

[Mom2M]

We loved our Graco 35, it fit till DD was 18 months and it was great to have it in the stroller sometimes.

[jes h]

Originally Posted by lalazap 

Thank you for the heads-up, mamas! I am definitely reconsidering our plan based on your warnings. So, no craigslist. Maybe a used seat from someone in our network.

Back to the original question, then. Of those three seats that are compatible with the stroller we're being gifted, are there any clear pros and/or cons for any of them?

Do other mamas really find it to be useful to have the car seat/stroller combo? I really don't want the baby to live in that bucket, y'know?

For DS #1,  We had a Graco Snugride 22 (I think).   but I never really used the seat in the stroller; mostly out of convenience sake as there really was no where to store it in our apartment and he was so easy to carry in a sling when he was that little.  Also, he was a pretty sensitive, collicy baby and did not like the stroller, anyway.   We also had an Evenflo something or other, and an aunt had something else (Like I said, we used a lot of trusted hand-me-downs for that first seat as well.)  The Evenflow had the crooked handle deal, which I hated.  Otherwise, I saw no real difference between the brands/styles. 

However, what was very convenient was the ability to buy extra bases and just plug the seat back and forth between our cars.  Grandma (who was our childcare for the first year) could buy an extra base, which was much more cost efficient than buying her own seat and we never had to deal with moving/reinstalling seats or buying more seats, which we have to do now that he is older.

However, we are about to get a couple babies in our home and need to buy carseats.  I am going to avoid the infant bucket seat for them and go right to something that we can use as infants till forever since I won't need to move them from car to car as much want something more versatile.

[nia82]

We had a Maxi Cosi Mico for the kids. But they outgrew it quickly (20lbs and or 28 inches is the limit). DS weighed 20lbs at 4 months... DD was over 28 inches by 6 months (and had less than 1 inch to the top). It was overall a well made seat that fit into our stroller (though I never used that feature).