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In our car seat safety class, we were told that convertible car seats are perfectly safe with newborns. The only difference between an infant car seat and the convertible car seat is the convenience factor-- infant car seats are easier to take in and out of the car. So if your son is 4.5 months, I don't see why it wouldn't be fine to switch now if he's outgrown the infant one. Especially if your car can fit the Britax Marathon facing backwards.
By the time DS was 5 months it was easier to just take him out of his infant carseat when we got to where we were going and either carry him or wear him so I would think you'd be fine to have the convertible carseat as long as you'll still have it facing backward. We plan to switch to a convertible carseat around 11 months old and continue to have it facing backward.
@red_seattle: That's really interesting because I was told the opposite in my carseat safety class (i.e. that infants are safer for infants, although convertible car seats are acceptable).
ETA: I think I misread your post. I think you're saying that you learned convertible seats are acceptable for infants? That's what I learned, too, but our instructor stressed that acceptable does not equate best choice.
We switched at almost a year simply because we were going on a really long road trip, and we thought the convertible seat would be more comfortable. We still had some room on the weight and height requirments, though.
Personally, I think I would wait until my baby was at the max weight or height before switching. Babies grow a lot in the very beginning, and then level out some, so your son might actually have a couple months left before reaching the max. By the way, you DO have a big kid on your hands! Wow, lol!
@Pelikila: I do this about half the time. Sometimes it is easier just to leave him in the seat and others it is not.
@Mrs. Spring: I would feel more comfortable if he could stay in it up to a year, but I know that is not going to happen. At 18 weeks he was weighing 18 lbs!!! (I want to cry, he is too big in my opinion and very heavy to carry. He's EBF and vomits all the time, so I don't know how this is happening lol) He only has 4 more pounds to go before he outgrows his current seat and I don't see him slowing down enough that I will get an another 7.5 months out of it! No matter what I'm not switching until he has outgrown his current seat though.
@red_seattle: I always thought that while you could use both types of seat since birth it was still safer to use an infant seat. He has excellent head control, etc., but as a new mom who worries about everything, I think I would still feel safer with an infant seat.
We're probably going to have to switch soon too. Our carseat goes to 22lbs and 29in as well and babygirl will probably outgrow height before weight. She's only about 14lbs right now so I think she'll be alright in it but she's 25.75 inches and has averaged about an inch a month so I assume I only have 3 months left. We're going to see what her stats are at her 6 month check up and then go from there. Like you I'm kinda nervous about putting her in a convertable carseat already.
@LpCutiPie: I'm glad I'm not the only one expressing these concerns. I think DS and your little one were have the same birthdays...Easter babies :) My son is also averaging about an inch a month, so based on that we should be able to get 2-3 more months out of the seat as well, but it really does not look like that will be the case...
DS officially does not fit in the seat! He still has 4 lbs to go before he reaches the maximum weight, but after cleaning the padding and readjusting the straps to fit him tonight, they do not get big enough! I'm even using the loop for "larger" babies and the straps just fit! I think I might be able to get a few more weeks out of the seat as long as it does not get really cold...there is no way we could fit a winter jacket/bunting or even a heavier hoodie under those straps!!
So can anyone recommend a good infant seat for heaiver (for lack of a better term) babies?! I would love the Britax, but that has a 30 lbs limit and now I'm wondering if I should go for a Snugride 35 or even something with a 33 lbs limit?!
I have the Graco snugride 35, and I really like it. With such a big (little) guy, I think I'd err on the side of caution and go as big as I could find, lol!
We have the Graco SnugRide 35 Infant Car Seat and it still fits our son. He was 20 lbs at 4 months, and at his 6 month check up he was about 23..so we have a little while until we have to switch :)
@Mrs. Spring:@abnorris: We have the Snugride 22 now so I know what they are like. I think the Snugride 35 is the only seat that goes up to that high of a weight compacity. I'm hoping he'll make it to his 6 month in his current seat and then I can ask our pedi's opinions on switching or now.
@Mrs. Spring: Haha I know! He doesn't look overly chunky IMO. He is only 90th percentile for weight and when combined with height he drops down to something like the 75th-80th for an EBF. The doctors are always so pleased with his weight gain. I make sure to ask about it at every appointment and they always spend so much time going over the charts and explaining that it is a good thing, especially with his allergies and GERD, but I still ask again and again. lol
@abnorris: Oh it sounds like your son slowed down between 4 and 6 months! There is hope :)
@pansyshell: So I'll be the odd woman out here and say that we started out using a chicco keyfit 30 with my son and we switched when he was 2 months old to a convertable seat and we haven't looked back since. I think our sons are close in age/size. My son never liked the infant seat.. he was always too hot, couldn't look around, and would SCREAM the entire time we were driving. We switched to the convertible seat which reclines a little bit and has an infant insert and it has been great for him.
@jubyju22: Oh wow! That's good to know. When you use a stroller do you just put him in it without being in the infant seat?
Argh, I had a long response but accidently closed the screen and now I have to hurry on out soon (i got permission to go to my child birth class-- hooray)-- so I'm being brief here.
@Mrs. Spring: and @pansyshell: I'd go with whatever you feel comfortable with and whatever you learned in your car seat safety class, but according to our instructor and my research, the reasons that some say infant car seats are safer are fit & ease of installation. It's not because they behave differently in a crash. (Both surround the infant & child in a crash, and if the child is strapped in correctly, both will prevent spinal cord injuries.) Some convertible car seats don't have straps that properly fit a newborn or small infant, and generally, infant car seats are easier to install. But pansyshell can pop her son into the Britax Marathon she owns to see if he fits (so that problem is easily solved). And as for ease of installation, you can have the car seat inspected, and of course-- read the car seat manual & your car's manual to be sure you get the installation correct.
So is one safer than the other? In this instance, not from what I've found. But if you feel more comfortable with the infant car seat (and thus, you're more likely to use it properly), then by all means, I'd opt for the infant one.
@pansyshell: yup! we do. I replied on your other post, but we have a chicco liteway that reclines and we use that (we used to recline it more and use an infant head stablizer when he was around 2 months).
@pansyshell:Just FYI it isn't safe to bundle a baby up in big coats and then buckle them into a car seat. Down coats will compress in an accident and the straps will be too loose.
Here is a great link with pictures of how car seats should be used...
http://dailymomtra.com/2011/03/30/the-picture-guide-to-car-seat-safety/
Hope that didn't sound preachy or criticizing but I've learned more from pictures of car seats than just reading the directions.
@Derbybride: Thanks for that.. it makes sense, but i hadn't thought about it. I love that picture link you posted!
@red_seattle: I think it all boils down to ones comfort level. We initially purchased the convertible seat to use from birth, but as it became closer to my due date panic began to set in and I was no longer comfortable with using it so young. When we do switch, I am going to make sure I have it installed at a check point, so I think that may ease my mind a little.
@Derbybride: Thanks for the reminder. I know you are not supposed to place anything between the seat and the baby as it influences the seats performance and puts the child at risk, but I must have forgot that includes clothing!
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For those of you that used an infant seat and later a convertible seat, when did you make the swtich? Did you wait until your little one reached a certain age, milestone, or simply outgrew their infant seat to decide?
DS is 4.5 months old, but he has nearly outgrown his infant seat by weight. We got the Snugride 22 because I never thought I would have a huge baby (he was only 7lbs 7oz at birth, but really grew since), but he is only a few pounds away from being too big for the seat. We already have a Britax Marathon for him, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with him being in a convertible car seat at such a young age. I know the only other alternative is to buy another infant seat and I'm not sure that is something that we want to do either.