Having a debate about car seats- infant carry vs. convertible?

Question

I've read that a lot of people had gotten the convertible seat but weren't happy because they wanted the infant carry seat for the baby. However, I have also read that people did not like the infant seat because the baby outgrew it so quickly and preferred the convertible seat.

So my question is which one do you prefer? AND
most importantly how did you carry your newborn-4 month old baby if you used the convertible seat and didn't have the carry seat???

Answer 1

It is a matter of personal preference, mostly. But it's important to remember that when rear-facing, straps should be at or below the baby's shoulders. Many convertible seats (the kind that can be rear-facing until 30, 33 and 35 pounds depending on manufacturer and then can be used forward-facing usually to 40 pounds, but Fisher Price Save Voyage Deluxe goes to 55 pounds, Sunshine Kids Radian, Britax Marathon, Decathlon and Boulevard to 65 pounds) have very high bottom slots, placing the harness above baby's shoulders. In a crash, baby will "ramp up" the carseat shell until the shoulders come in contact with the straps.

This used to be a bigger concern with 3 point harnesses, but now that 5 points are becoming the norm the lap straps help hold baby down even if straps are above shoulders.

Most convertibles just are not good fits for most newborns. A 4-month-old, however, should fit perfectly fine in a convertible carseat.

Important things to note:

infant carriers, even though they go to 20/22/30 pounds depending on the seat, are usually outgrown by height before weight. And I'm not talking about stated height limit. All kids are built differently and a kid with a short torso will fit in seats longer than a kid with a long-torso. In the infant seat, a child is too tall and must be moved out of the seat when there is less than an inch of hard seat shell above his/her head.

Babies rarely make it to a year old in the infant seat before getting too tall (except for the Graco Safeseat 1), but it is important to keep them rear-facing to at least 12 months and 20/22 pounds (some carseats have a minimum forward-facing weight limit of 22 pounds).

Rear-facing longer than 12 months and 20/22 pounds is safest, though, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended for at least five years now to keep kids rear-facing to the maximum weight limits of a convertible carseat. As I stated earlier, all convertible seats in the US today rear-face to 30, 33 and 35 pounds.

Kids under age 2 are four times more likely to die or be seriously injured in a crash if they are forward-facing.

Once a kid moves to a convertible seat rear-facing, it will be outgrown when the child either reaches the rear-facing weight limit (30 pounds for Graco and Evenflo, 33 pounds for Sunshine Kids, Fisher Price and Britax, 35 pounds for Cosco, Safety 1st and Eddie Bauer) OR when the child's head becomes even with the top of the seat shell (a couple seats say within an inch of the seat shell, so it's important to read the manual).

Forward-facing, a harnessed seat is outgrown by height when the shoulders go over the top slots (straps must always be at or above shoulders when forward-facing; the opposite for rear-facing) OR when the tips of the ears go over the top of the seat shell, whichever happens first.

Lots of info, I know, and I'm sorry about that!

Answer 2

I have always preferred the infant carry seats until they outgrow them. It is way to hard to push a shopping cart through a store while trying to watch your other children and carry a baby in your arms all at the same time. Some stores have shopping carts with infant seats attached, but they are hard and you never know what kinds of germs are on them. Or if you are in a store and have to use the restroom. I would much rather my baby be in a carry seat than have to try to hold them. I suppose it would be ok if you have someone with you doing the shopping, but most people don't. I know that I'm going to be doing the shopping with 4 children and an infant and no other adults, so whatever makes it easier for me.

I switched to a convertible when they outgrew the infant seat, which generally was at an age that they could sit up in the cart seat without help and it has always worked for me. I do wish they didn't outgrow the infant seats so fast though.

Answer 3

I like them both, I think the infant carrier is much more convenient when they are newborns, you can move them from a-b w/o having to disturb them and they are not big enough to sit in grocery carts yet so you can just set the seat in the cart. When they get a little older I like the convertable seat better, those infant seats are heavy enough on there own then you put a heavy baby in there and its a whole lot of weight. My first was in her infant seat till 4 months (she was a big baby and grew out of it then weight ways) but she was in the convertable seat from 4mo to 3 years, they are nice because they grow w/ your baby. My second got a little more use out of the baby seat she was in it til 6 months and is still in her convertable seat. (note: my 3 year old got to big for her convertable at that age and went into a booster which she is still in, not no carseat at all.).

Answer 4

I have a four month old baby and have a carrier seat. I would never want a convertible seat at his age unless you want to carry a stroller around everywhere you go! My son always falls asleep in the car and when I go to a store I just take his car seat out and put him in the cart. I would at least wait until he can sit up in a shopping cart to get a convertible seat.
I plan on getting a different seat when he is 1 and I am just fine with spending a little bit more money to make my life easier

Answer 5

My answer is that I liked them both at different ages for different reasons.

I started with the infant carry carseat. I found it invaluable for the fact that if she went to sleep in the car I didn't have to unbuckle her and wake her up to take her out, and it could snap into the stroller or be put in the basket of a shopping cart if I needed to do more shopping than would fit in the little area under the stroller.

I just switched her to a convertible seat at 5 months because although she has not outgrown the infant seat, it had gotten to heavy to carry 15lbs of baby plus the seat weight.

The bonuses of now using the convertible at this age are that 1) she is much more alert and not often falling asleep in the car much anymore so that's not an issue, and 2) the convertibles are higher up on the seat so she can see out the windows better and is more occupied with things to look at.

I could not afford the britax but I have the Evenflo Triumph convertible now and I really like it, but would not have liked to use it at the earlier ages.

When i have another baby i will again use the infant seat for the forst 4-6 months then switch to the convertible just like I did this time.

----------EDITED to add the following:

If you use an infant seat be careful if you decide to put it up on the handlebar area of a shopping cart. I see so many people do this and might have myself without thinking about it had I not worked at a retail store and seen firsthand that it creates a top heavy cart that can tip over and injure the baby. Poor kid had to be life-flighted out with a cracked skull.

Also, in regards to the post above, NEVER EVER put a child forward facing before 1 year old. The rule is that they have to be both 20 lbs AND over 1 year old, whoever said that was okay was misinformed.

Answer 6

i had the car seat that came with my stroller my son out grew it about 2 months ago when he was just under 9 months. we had to go to the convertable one that he still sitsrear facing until he is 1 and 30 pounds then i will put him forward facing i got the eddie bower one and its a pain cause sometimes it doesn't sit right in the mini van. but when i do get it right after fighting with it my son is more coftable in it and when its time for a booster i can turn this into it but when he was around 41/2 month in the car seat i had to start carring him because he got to heavy . if my car seat had not come with the stroller i would have just gotten the convertsable in the first place and used that and just carried him around
autally about the whole forward facing car seat thing my son dr sai d that it is 1 year and 30 pounds but some baby are to long and have to be forward facing before this because if there was a car accident the child leg could get broken and cause seriouse problem so i alway say ask your dr before turning a child who is under 1 and 30 pounds before forward facing
thats just what my dr had said so i guess either every state is diffrent or some dr give out diffrent advice

Answer 7

We used the carrier seat that went with the big stroller until ours were too heavy to carry (which was before they outgrew them). Now we have convertable seats and a small folding stroller in the trunk in case we end up somewhere where my kids probably won't be able to walk the whole time. My oldest is now 5 and we have him in a really small booster seat so he can buckle and unbuckle himself. We never bought the really pricey seats, because we knew our situations and tastes would change.

There are convertables that can be front facing, and rear facing (for babies under 1 year).

Answer 8

Personally, I like the carry carseats. They have so many uses, you can take them everywhere. They are recommended. Also, now Graco has a new carseat that fits newborns to up to a year old! I recommend that. The carry ones I think are generally safer... they don't have all the excess space so you're child will be safer in case of an accident. As for the 4 month old, get a carry carseat. The new one by Graco would suit the baby well, considering she can use it for another good 8 months. You will realize how much better carry carseats are for such infants. My niece used her carry carseat until she was 7 months. The prices range from about $30-125 depending on the brand. Good luck!

Answer 9

I used the infant car seat so that I had something to carry the baby in. If you buy the convertable car seat there are baby carrier that are similar to a infant car seat. It is really just a peronal choice

Answer 10

We have both for safety reasons. We researched all of our purchases and made certain it met certain standards for safety. We chose the infant carrier because it was more secure in it's base for the baby up to whatever weight it was. I also bought a carrier stroller which was AWESOME for shopping. Then we bought a proper car seat with 5pt harness that he stayed in until he hit 50lbs. No he's in a proper booster. My second born will be here any day now and will use the same seats we purchased before. The investment overall was well worth it.