What kind of car seats does everyone plan to use?

Well, originally we planned to just get a Marathon, Roundabout or Wizard and use it from newborn on, but someone here (sorry, don't remember who- it was awhile back) went on at some length about how newborns just aren't so safe in convertible seats. SO... we went ahead and got a Britax Companion (for only $150, I have to brag) AND a Wizard (for about $240) We have more $$ right now (well actually a few months ago) than we will when we need the Wizard, so I wanted to go ahead and have it on hand. It came down to the fact that we weren't buying most big ticket baby items and we just couldn't bring ourselves to choose a carseat based on price alone. I really like the Companion- it has some safety features that no other infant seat does and we decided on the Wizard for two reasons- 1. the side impact protection and 2. the knob to adjust the straps (without re-threading them)

So- there you have it We were a little concerned about fitting the Wizard in our Honda Civic rear-facing, so we tried it out at the store- no problem at all. Fits great and goes in easy and super secure.

-Angela

well, i bought a century celestia (graco bought out century, no clue what the new name is...) when i was pg w/ shelby and used it about 4mos, so we'll be using it again this time...i found it on sale from 119 down to 40! it was the floor model w/ no box/instrux's but i just called graco and got them anyways, once he outgrows it - ideally i'd like to switch him to the convertible shelby's in and buy her a 5pt booster, but we'll see...the convertible shelby's in will be 5yrs old this fall and we bought it new and evenflo doesn't see a problem w/ it since it's not been wrecked till 7yrs, but i don't know how i feel about it yet...either way, we'll be buying 1 or 2 new seats sometime...

We'll be using the infant carrier / seat that we had with Boo - it snaps onto a base in the car, and hooks onto the stroller as well.

I like it because I don't have to wake a sleeping baby if we're getting out of the car (if baby is already awake - into the sling they go )

It's Graco and came with the stroller.

After that - we'll need another convertible seat.

I am using a Britax Roundabout too. It does look big for a newborn so I also bought a head cushion thing that goes around his/her whole head to offer more support. For 10 bucks I think it was worth it and I think it will work well. (It seems to work well for the teddy bear in there now )

Cheryl

Well, we broke down and bought a travel system. Graco's Sterling System, comes with the Snug Ride 5 pt harness.

I have such prejudices against these, really. I hate seeing people carting their babes around in a bucket. So detached, so lonely for the kiddo, and bad for their heads! But, there are times that you just *need* a place to put a tiny one, and I'm thinking that will happen more now that we'll have two.

I had really hoped to use our Roundabout for the newborn, but I've been reading a lot that says they're really not a good choice. The harness height from rump to harness slot is 10 inches, and for a proper fit, the baby's shoulders need to be at or above the harness slots. Now, DD was a pretty big girl, 20 1/2 inches, but I really doubt she was all of 10 inches from rump to shoulder, so she would have been too tiny. And, I remember how little she seemed when we finally got the RA, and she was over 6 months!

So, we'll use the infant seat until this babe outgrows it, sometime in a year or so, and maybe by then, DD will be ready for a booster, rather than a Marathon or Wizard. We'll see.

I hate that this choice HAS to be made before you even meet your baby. They don't let you leave the hospital without a safe car seat, which is wise, but man it makes planning tough!

Hey Caroline it looks like we have the same spacing between our kiddies. That's cool.

~Daednu

The free kind LOL.
A friend is bringing her carseat to me in a week...........i don't know yet what kind it is other than no cost to me

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This is pretty much our situation (except we don't have the stroller). I figure I have at least a few months to find a convertable seat so I can watch the sales. DS outgrew his infant seat by the time he was 3-4 months old.

Hey Caroline, I think you're babe should be fine in the RA since you said you tend to have big babies. Yes babe will probably swim in it at first, but maybe you could just use your current infant seat for a few weeks and then switch. I don't see a reason to buy another infant seat.

We got the Baby Trend Latch Loc for baby boy, because I have small babies and my beloved FP SIV is being used by the 5th or 6th baby to have it passed down to, so we went ahead and bought a new infant seat. We should be able to use it for 6-9 months, and then we already have two RAs that we'll be using, one for Kymera and the other for Raiden. Right now Kymera is in the RAs, and it's nice to just be able to swap seats when the cover gets dirty, but I already have one extra cover and plan to get another for easy, fast cover changes. We'll probably go with an Ultra or Platinum Cargo for Kymera once she outgrows the RA since she's such a lightweight and will definately outgrow the RA by height rather than weight. If Raiden turns out to be a BIG boy we'll probably get a Wizard or a Husky for Kymera and then pass it down to Raiden when he's too heavy for the RA and get Kymera a dedicated booster.