Britax Carseat (please read if you've used one)

[Cookiebaker]

Wow, I seriously never heard of this kind of thing being a 'controversy'....but then again, I don't know much.

Seriously though, before I had a baby I thought that it was easy peasy to get the baby to sleep, because that's what babies do, right? Wrong, especially after the first few weeks! And when they finally fall asleep, you do NOT want them to wake up and start howling again!! Like Missy said, I found the infant carseat to be worth its weight in gold and was sad when we had to switch to carseat that we couldn't pop out of its base. (Now, we resort to sitting in the car until naptime is over sometimes because she still will wake up if I try to transfer her to her bed).

but at the end of the day, its what WORKS FOR YOU and your baby. No two babies are alike, and you could be a lucky one.

[finn's mom]

Wow, I seriously never heard of this kind of thing being a 'controversy'....but then again, I don't know much.

That's why I put it in quotes, because it's not really a controversy. I've joined (mostly just read, not much conversing) several forums dedicated to pregnancies and babies, not to mention the classes David and I have taken, and through all the reading and listening, I've heard so many different things on so many different subjects. I haven't had any practice on anything baby related, so all I've done is listen and learn. And, that's one of the subjects I've heard the most varying responses to.

If Clara doesn't respond well to being removed from the car seat and carried in my arms or in a carrier/sling, we'll adjust accordingly. I hope that's not the case, though. We took a "Happiest Baby on the Block" class together, and David and I (neither of us having ever held a baby before) have been able to quickly calm screaming babies with the techniques we've learned. I hope they work for Clara, they definitely worked with the babies that didn't know us at all.

I think another issue I have is that it seems like the babies just go from a crib/bassinet to a swing to a car seat in the car to a car seat in the store/restaurant to a stroller etc. Seems like they spend a lot of time flat on their backs. And, the women and men I've seen with slings/carriers generally seem a lot more comfortable than those with car seats. Again, I've just been observing and taking mental notes. I'm not against any mode of transportation for the most part, just have my preferences.

I also had my preferences on breast feeding and bottles and pacifiers and have since changed my mind and exchanged the products I've purchased for different ones. Who knows if I'll change my mind again?

[JenBKR]

Wow, I seriously never heard of this kind of thing being a 'controversy'....but then again, I don't know much.

Me neither! I have never heard anything bad about it. It was truly a lifesaver so many times!

I should have said in my first post that I didn't like convertible car seats for little babies. We do have one, and Ty started in it when he was around 10 months.

I am totally with the other moms who loved the infant car seat. I can't imagine life w/o one! Carrying the baby around or using a sling is nice and all, but you will still be put in the position of waking a sleepy baby. And they do NOT like to be disturbed if they are sleeping soundly! I learned that one the hard way

Seriously though, before I had a baby I thought that it was easy peasy to get the baby to sleep, because that's what babies do, right? Wrong, especially after the first few weeks! And when they finally fall asleep, you do NOT want them to wake up and start howling again!! Like Missy said, I found the infant carseat to be worth its weight in gold and was sad when we had to switch to carseat that we couldn't pop out of its base. (Now, we resort to sitting in the car until naptime is over sometimes because she still will wake up if I try to transfer her to her bed).

That was me! I read all the books before having Ty and thought I knew what I was doing. There are tons of methods for getting babies to sleep, right? It would be easy, right? Well, no...Ty was a cluster feeder and didn't sleep for more than an hour or two at a time. Several times we drove him around in the car until he fell asleep, carried him in in the car seat, and let him sleep in the car seat. It's amazing what you will do for sleep when you don't get any!

[Cataholic]

Hi Kari. I just wanted to share MY thoughts/opinions on carseats with you. My boy was a bigun' 8.6 at birth, and was in the top of the charts for a while. I used a travel system carseat, installed by a certified person, prolly until Jones was around 4 months??? My memory isn't what it used to be, forgive me. I stopped using the travel system thing when he outgrew it. To me, as a smaller sized mom with a big boy, losing the travel system was not a big deal. It really got to the point where I could not navigate the thing, comfortably.

So, at some point, maybe around 4-5 months, Jones moved to a Britax marathon. Hands down, they rock- safety, ease of install, etc. Expensive? No doubt. But, I felt safest with Jones in the safest seat. Yeah, it stunk, cause Lillycat needed one, too, but, safety first. So, I never contemplated putting Jones in a Britax from birth. He sat in that Britax Marathon from 4-5 months until one month ago- nearly age 5! LOL.

Just last month, I went and bought two Graco seats. They, according to the research, were the safest things on the market. Five point, high back boosters. They were around $150 each. They will last him to the point where he will go to a no back booster, I think 100 pounds. Again, for me, safety first.

I have watched one too many videos with the effects of an inappropriate carseat for weight/height. It is simply heartbreaking. I can tell you to do the research, look at what the non-seat manufacturers sites tell you, and go with that. I do remember using a 'noodle' to safely install the travel system seat. I had it checked by TWO certified inspectors (after being told by a new mother AND a police officer (who had a child himself) that it was correctly installed). If they haven't sat through the 40 hour course- they don't know what they are talking about.

Be safe. Be cautious, and double check.

[finn's mom]

Thanks for all the replies on the Britax. It's as I thought, no way is it a good seat for a newborn. It's still irritating that they can put it out there as being safe for a 5 pound baby. Ah, well, we have the smaller one already.

[JenBKR]

I have watched one too many videos with the effects of an inappropriate carseat for weight/height. It is simply heartbreaking. I can tell you to do the research, look at what the non-seat manufacturers sites tell you, and go with that. I do remember using a 'noodle' to safely install the travel system seat. I had it checked by TWO certified inspectors (after being told by a new mother AND a police officer (who had a child himself) that it was correctly installed). If they haven't sat through the 40 hour course- they don't know what they are talking about.

I'm with you on the safety. I was in a bad car accident with Ty when he was only 2 months old. Scariest day of my life. My car was totaled, I was sore and bruised, but Ty was perfectly fine thanks to a properly installed car seat. Always better to be safe!

[finn's mom]

Always better to be safe!

I get the feeling some thought I was going to use the Britax for Clara at birth, regardless. Maybe I was misreading...but, there was no way I was putting her in that seat, I was just asking if there was something I was overlooking with the seat's recline feature.

I chose the Britax for the safety rating, and am getting any car seat I use installed by certified personnel. Just want to make sure I made that clear.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I don't have time to read through all the replies and reply myself, so I apologize if I say something other have already said. This is what we did with Nathan...

Nathan was in an infant seat until he was 11 months (give or take a little). Then we moved him to his Britax seat, rear-facing. We kept him rear-facing until he was 20 months old, then we turned him around.

As I skimmed the other replies I noticed someone mentioned the infant seats that can come out of the base. That's what we used with Nathan, but we never used the carseat out of the car. I think we maybe one or twice, because of bad weather, brought the carseat into the house to strap him into the seat so we didn't have to do it out in the rain with our backs getting wet. It's just a personal preference, but we never used that feature. If/when we have baby #2 I may not even use the base.

[finn's mom]

That's what we used with Nathan, but we never used the carseat out of the car.

What did you do instead of removing the car seat and using it as a carrier? When you were transporting him outside of the car?

[BitsyNaceyDog]

What did you do instead of removing the car seat and using it as a carrier? When you were transporting him outside of the car?

I just carried him. Actually now that you're getting me to think about it, I did take it in to Target with me once and put it on the cart. And I still ended up carrying him. I tried using a sling and a snugli, but I just preferred carrying him. Really it's just going to boil down to what works best for you and Clara. When we have a second baby I'll probably rely on a sling since I'll need a third hand with 2 kids.

[Cataholic]

I echo the comment about remaining rear facing until 20 months (or even longer!). It is safer....

[finn's mom]

I just carried him. Actually now that you're getting me to think about it, I did take it in to Target with me once and put it on the cart. And I still ended up carrying him. I tried using a sling and a snugli, but I just preferred carrying him. Really it's just going to boil down to what works best for you and Clara. When we have a second baby I'll probably rely on a sling since I'll need a third hand with 2 kids.

That's what I usually saw at work. Moms with car seats, carrying the baby. And, yeah, it's just going to come down to whatever works for us, and I'm sure that might change even daily. Some days we may use the car seat, some days we'll use the carrier (I chose a Baby K'Tan). Ah, a second baby... David's already talking about that.