Newborn's Car Seat

I'm a big fan of the Chicco Keyfit. It was super easy to use and worked well with a universal stroller.

I used the Snugride as well and had no problems. The new thing is the snugride that goes up to 30 lbs or something?? The "regular" limit is 22lbs and I think I would prefer that. The carrier itself is at least 5-10lbs and then when you add the baby it can get really heavy! My neighbors have the bigger one and their baby is almost a year old and they still carry him around in it, honestly, I don't know how! I guess it gives a good arm workout!

I think the carrier is a fantastic investment just because it gives you so much versatility, but if your budget is really tight you can always do just fine with a regular convertible carseat. That way you only have to buy the one and your child will be able to use it until they move to a booster, most likely. The standards on the car seats are all so strict that most of them are pretty comparable regardless of price. Congrats!

I have a Graco snugride. She's still in it at 18 months (small baby!) and it's held up real well! The daycare I work at is at a Rehab hospital and a few of the moms have been trained to install carseats. They suggested to not spend so much $ just to have the higher priced carseats that a lot of parents are buying so that the $ could be used later for the next stage! Try to find a store in your area that will let you see how they fit in your car. It may not matter so much with an infant car seat but when you get to the next size depending on your car it may! And if you can get it installed correctly too!

We loved our chicco keyfit 30. We used it with our daughter for 13 months. Easy to install, easy to click in and out of the car, loved that it tell you that you have it installed properly.

love our chicco keyfit 30. I am kinda sad our son is outgrowing it soon.

Just replaced my Graco (it was over 5 years old) with a Chicco Keyfit 30 and I LOVE it...it has a lot of great features and should work with my newest little one for quite awhile!

Love the Chicco keyfit. I was torn between that and the Graco snugride, but the chicco was a little more narrow. We will be having 2 in carseats so that was important, plus I just liked them more... very easy to install in the car!

We got a wonderful car seat given to us once upon a time. It did the rear facing then turned around for front facing and eventually could be used as a booster. The problem was that once we tried to put it in the backseat it was too tall. It hit the back of the passenger seat or the drivers seat. We had to put it in storage until we used it for front facing.

We ended up going with a cheap Walmart infant carrier and then switched at 1 year to the other car seat and put it front facing. The carriers are convenient when you are going shopping or are using a stroller set. They are made to carry around and not disturb the baby. The baby can be asleep and never even know he went anywhere because the carriers are comfortable and sleep right through everything.

When the baby gets older the carriers do get awkward and cannot be carried anymore. So, it becomes a personal choice. What do you want to do? The convenience of carrying your baby in their own seat is very often wonderful. The cost of not buying several car seats is a good idea too.

If you're planning on more children then that also plays into it. If your baby is in a carseat that will fit them for extended years then each child will have to have their own, new, carseat. We re-used the ones we had for each child. The infant carrier, then the forward facing 5 point harness, then the tall booster. When a new one was born I put them in the carrier, it can have a home sewn cover that makes each child different than the others, then they moved up and the carrier went into storage until the next was born.

We really like Britax, but I think you also have to considerate your car and maybe if your stroller would hold your car seat, if you already have a stroller.

I bought a Britax convertible right off the bat-5-65lbs. Kept my little one rear-facing till she was over 2.5 since you can go rear-facing up to 33lbs. She is now almost 3 and won't out grow it soon.

Look for a seat that will give you the most bang for your buck. While the Graco infant seats will now go up to 30lbs most babies will get too tall for the little infant buckets seats (as I call them).

Know that you need to plan for your new little one to remain rear-facing up to at least age 2. Beyond is preferred since they are infinitely safer rear-facing in the event of a crash. The only reason I turned my daughter was she got close to the weight limit for rear-facing. And she was in the 95ht percentile for height so don't let anyone tell you they won't fit or will be cramped up rear-facing. Garbage advice.

When my daughter out grows this seat we will be going into either her brother's Britax that goes to 80lbs with a 5 point harness or she'll get her own Britax Frontier 85 that goes up to 85lbs with a 5 point harness and then converts to a high back booster up to 120lbs.