Car seat question ... infant shoulder straps

[Keeping up]

So putting my car seat together but don't know which shoulder strap slot to use. Who has an 8lb approx 21inch baby out there ... what shoulder strap slot did you use? I have a Peg Perego car seat (not sure if that makes much of a difference). The lowest one seems so little but the second one up seems way too big for a newborn. I have really long lean babies with HUGE heads (or at least have in the past!)

The strap should be below the shoulder correct (i.e. the highest possible but below the shoulder) - hope this makes sense. I will most likely have a baby in the hospital but leave within 2hours so would rather not have to fiddle with my carseat (dh can't do it - not his skill set!) if at all possible.

[CalebsMome]

I would put it on the lowest setting. My son was born at 9 lbs 8 oz and was 22 3/4 inch long. He was on the lowest setting of his SnugRide. It has to be at or below their shoulders so even if the lowest setting is below instead of at the shoulders, the next setting may be above. Having said that, the Peg Perego is really and EASY adjustment, so I would check and adjust if you need to. It really just takes a second, even with the baby in the seat.

[kblackthorne]

What Caleb's Mom said!

With rear-facing, you want it below the shoulders.

If it really is too low, it honestly takes a maximum of about 5 minutes to remove a car seat & re-adjust the shoulder straps... But they're not gonna be too low.

Remember -- those slots have to last him all through his first year. I know the first ones look low, but that's what you're going to need.

[Keeping up]

I did leave it at the lowest - are they really that small??? I was looking at pictures of my last baby and the sleeper he came home in ... and maybe he really was that small.

My infant car (the bucket ones) seat won't make it beyond 4 months so I never get to the top rung regardless - this car seat has a 26 inch height limit and my babes are born at 21 inches (+) and hit that 26 really quickly.

It is easy to switch so I guess I will do that in the hospital if it comes to that ... but 2 hours after birth and battling a carseat isn't exactly my description of fun (I am a bit of control freak!)

Either way, base is installed - learned something new today (kneel on the carseat closest to the back of the car 'chair' not the part where your knees bend, i.e., away from the back of the seat) - you can get that seat base in really really tight. I have always had problems with the infant bucket carseats not being as tight as my Britax (either RF or FF) ... just an FYI. Then, just imagine a 38+ week pregnant woman kneeling on a carseat in a minivan and you will see my control freak of carseats!

[CalebsMome]

Remember that that 26 inches is an estimate. If the babe carries their length in their legs, they'll last longer in the seat, and if they carry it in their torso, they won't last as long. The test is where their head is. When you don't have an inch of plastic above the baby's head, the seat has been outgrown. The feet have nothing to do with it. I mistakenly took my son out of his infant seat a full 6 months before he outgew it, because I thought they had to be taken out when their feet went over the end. I was wrong. :-D Oh well, such is life. It really is nice to be able to leave them in until they can sit up really well on their own. You will probably get a lot more time out of the seat than you think if you just watch the head and wait for there to be only about an inch of plastic above it. They really are that small when they're born. I looked at a sleeper from DS when he came home and held it up to him. The feet came to his tush. Wow, what a difference 16 months makes.

[wombatclay]

When we strapped Rowan into the bucket it just didn't look right (it was though). I'd gotten so used to how a toddler looks in a "sitting up" seat that the baby bucket seemed...well...too BIG for my 9lb little girl.

They grow so fast in the first few weeks/months!

[Keeping up]

Definitely needed the straps at the lowest settings - I even had to tighten up the straps considerably when we put him him - unbelievable how small they are. My kiddos are all torso and head so we run out of space very very quickly in these bucket seats so it won't be too long.

I have to promise myself to take more pictures - I am in awe of his tiny size. I agree - toddlers fit so much better into their carseats than these little mites.

[nadia105]

My ds was 8 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches and the lowest setting is just barely below his shoulders. I had to adjust his straps tighter when I put him in too -- you really do forget how tiny they are!

As far as the hugely pg lady kneeling on the carseat base, I think I was sitting on my older kids Britaxes to get them really tight at 38 or 39 weeks -- I am sure it was quite a picture .