Infant travel systems, are they worth the money?

Question

Are the infant travel systems with the car seat and stroller a good buy? My only worry is that my baby will grow out of the car seat too fast, and I won't be able to find a toddler seat that will snap into the stroller base. Should I just purchase a car seat that will work for any age and a nice stroller? Anyone have an opinion?

Answer 1

I would get the travel system. I have to say it is the single best most convienient item I use for my baby. I am a resident manager and I am always running around this apartment building and nothing is so convenient as a seat that can lock in and out of the stroller. ITs excellent and easy to fold up my stroller and just put the baby out and into the car into the car seat attatchement, so I can put the baby in there and then unfold the stroller (which has got to be easier then anything to do up and undo) and put her directly into the stroller from the car. I love it. My model is the EURO GRACO model and its fantastic. When I am done with the set I have now because she gets to big, I still have a fantastic stroller to wheel her around in.

Also the stroller is not big and bulky its actually smaller then most travel systems so its not a huge pain, also be careful with umbrella strollers when a baby is young because it has been known to cause retina damage in babies.

Answer 2

Check the weight on the carseats before purchasing. Most of them will hold children up to thirty or fourty pounds. By the time your child is big enough for a toddler seat, you will not be moving the carseat with the child. You'll be leaving the seat in the car full time and just putting the child in the stroller's seat.

Basically, you'll want to get a regular stroller that comes with an infant car seat. I wouldn't reccomend getting one of the sytems that is basically a stroller frame with no seat that only holds a carseat - better to go with the first one which will last you from birth to three or four years.

Answer 3

In the beginning I used the stroller in the travel system. It holds an infant much better than an umbrella stroller. Once my child was out of the infant car seat I really didn't use it much. I actually call it the "Big Boy" b/c it's so big and bulky compaired to the umbrella stroller. My daughter could ride in an umbrella stroller at about 2 or 3 months with out any probs.
I still use the big boy for zoo trips and other big walking trips. But not at malls or shopping b/c it's so big you can't get into many stores with it.
Anyways I say skip the big stroller it or buy a used one off of craigslist or ebay.

If you do buy a big stroller I'd say to buy the travel system. No matter what the base will change at 1 yr for your child. It's much easier when they are little using the carrier and base than a reversiable infant/toddler seat. When the baby's asleep you bring the whole thing in instead of waking baby to unbuckle and bring in to the house. Heck we let my daughter sleep all night in it if she fell asleep. (Not good to do it every night b/c their head will form to the seat and they will get flat head)

HTH
Lisha

Answer 4

The infant seats HAVE to be used (Facing backwards) until they are at least 1 year old AND 20 pounds, so it is definately worth the money. I got lucky and my boss had a baby just a little over a year before I did so she gave me the one she had and my son is now 2 and I still use the stroller. It is really nice because if baby falls asleep in the car while you are running errands you can take the car seat out of the car and clip it into the stroller without having to jostle them and waking them up.

Answer 5

I loved my travel system with both boys. There are times now that my son has out grown his infant seat that I just use the umbrella stroller,but if I am going to be out for a while I still take the full size stroller so I have a place to carry the diaper bag and anything else I might get if we are out shopping or at the zoo.

Answer 6

YES!!!! it is SO worth it!! Its so much easier to just take out the car seat with baby already in it and snap it right onto the stroller. If your baby is anything like mine he'll sleep through your whole outing without noticing a thing because you wont have to wake him up to take him out of the car seat then strap him into the stroller blah blah blah etc... and you'll get at least 6 months out of the travel system, so that 6 months less of a hastle!!

Answer 7

I would do that. Only because that big bulky stroller really drove me insane. Plus they have lots of car seats that can be rear facing for up 20 lbs and forward up to 35 which saves you money in the end. I thought it made since until she got older and I had difficulty putting that stroller in the car. It barely fit in the trunk of a Nissan Maxima. So now we have that and an umbrella stroller.

Answer 8

The infant seat is well worth the money--if your little one falls asleep in the car (which they almost always do when they're young) then you can just unsnap the seat and continue on. I never had one of the travel system strollers, we always used a snap and go:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2327597&cp=&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2255957&origkw=snap+and+go&kw=snap+and+go&parentPage=search

They've been great to us, easy to snap the seat in and out of and easy to fold up. After our baby has outgrown the infant carseat we've gone on to the Britax carseat which will continue to be their seat until around 3.5 years old (it says until 6 years):

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2404099&cp=2255957.2273443.2255983.2256187.2256196&parentPage=family
**it comes in other patterns aside from the cow :)

As far as strollers go once our little ones were out of the snap and go set up we either used a maclaren or our double jogger:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2336775&cp=2255957.2273443.2255983.2256189&cp=2255957.2273443.2255983&fbn=Brand+Name+Secondary%7CMaclaren&f=PAD%2FBrand+Name+Secondary%2FMaclaren&fbc=1&categoryId=2256189&parentPage=search

*this is a great stroller, our daughter loves going in it and it's easy to fold up and pretty light weight. as far as the jogger goes, we love it for going on walks and when we have long distances to cover because we can put the baby in as well as her 3 year old sister. great if you plan on having more kids, you can also purchase an attachment that allows you to clip an infant seat into the jogger.

http://mountainbuggy.sycamorekids.com/urban_double.html

*they are a little pricey but well worth the money, especially since it fits through a standard doorway. you can always look on ebay or craigslist to see if you can find one second hand.

Hope this was helpful!

Answer 9

They were a Godsend to me after my 2 miscarriages. And by the time the child grows out of the carseat they will be ready for the stroller part .

Answer 10

OH yes!!! your child will grow out of the car seat no earlyer than about 10 months, so spend it now, they will not grow out of the storller that quick, untill they are 3-4 years old or even older. Good luck, and yes spend it!