Infant car seat--22 lbs or higher weight limit?

[Anonymous]

First time mom here and trying to figure out which infant car seat to get. Are the traditional ones with a 22 lb weight limit the way to go or has anyone found the seats with higher weight limits (30-32 lbs) really useful? When I read reviews of seats, some parents say that you're not going to want to lug around your kid once they get past 22 lbs. I don't think I'm so concerned about this since you can just leave the seat in the car. I am wondering if by the time my DB get to be around 7-8 months, will he or she be "mentally" ready for the bigger convertible seat so that he/she can sit up/look around a bit more? Or will that not happen until much later?

To the extent that one can predict these things, I'm guessing this baby will be pretty average or maybe a bit smaller than average at birth (based on its parents). Also, I'd like to get a seat that's compatible with the BOB stroller adapter which I think only accomodates Graco and Peg Perego infant seats. So if anyone has any thoughts on either of those I'd love your feedback.

TIA!

[Anonymous]

I think the ones with the higher weight limit are not the infant carriers, but the convertible, correct? If that is the case, I would recommend the lower weight carrier to start, especially if your child will be in the car a lot. My daughter always fell asleep, and it was nice to just bring the carrier into the house so she could remain sleeping. If she were in the convertible, I would have had to wake her.

We switched to the convertible at about 8 months, when she was outgrowing the carrier, even though she was not at 22 lb (now she is 15 months and still under 22 lb, but would no way fit in the carrier). She was on the small side when we came home from the hospital (5lb12oz).

I also use the BOB, which I love!!! With #1 I didn't get it until she was old enough to sit up, but we just got the double with the adapter for #2 who will be here next month.

[Anonymous]

I love the BOB too. Probably could have skipped getting our Bugaboo Bee and just stuck to the BOB from the start.

For the infant seat, I believe the Graco SafeSeat has a slightly higher weight limit than 22 lbs (but not absolutely sure). For this baby, we'll probably buy a Graco because the buckle is easier on the wrists than the BabyTrend we had previously.

As a side note, I hardly ever took the infant seat out of the car because a developmental specialist told me that it's better for babies to not spend too much time in the car seat. We starting use the convertible seat around 4-5 months. In hindsight we could have just used a convertible the whole time, except for the first 2 weeks when my DH was too little weight wise.

Hope that info helps!

[Anonymous]

The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) used to recommend that infants be seated in the rear facing position until they turn 1, which is why some manufacturers made infant car seats up to 30-32 lbs so that infants could be rear-facing until they turn 1. The rear facing position is the safest one. The AAP recently changed its recommendation and is now saying that kids need to be rear-facing in a car until they turn 2 years old. There are some convertible seats that allow the child to be rear facing until that age (I think Britax has seats like that). So whatever you choose, make sure your child is in a rear-facing position until he or she is at least 1 years old (which usually translated into 30-32lbs) and ideally until he or she is 2. Basically, the longer the better since rear facing is the safest way to go.

[Anonymous]

I had the Chicco Keyfit in 2007, which was one of the top rated for safety. It only went to 22 pounds. Now, it goes to 30 I think. I definitely would have gotten one that went to 30. I prefer infant seats to convertibles for young babies. When I was reading up on them in 2006/2007 they were safer for young infants than convertibles. Things may have changed since then, though.

[Anonymous]

We just bought a Graco SnugRide 32 for our second baby, due in a month. Weight and height limits are 32 lbs, 32 inches. Our first outgrew the infant seat (w/ 22 lb/29 inch limit) pretty early on and we ended up having to buy a convertible carseat at about 4 months. I'm thinking our second will be too heavy to carry around in the infant seat at 32 lbs, but I'm trying to get as much use as possible out of the stroller frame because I love that great, big basket it has!

[Anonymous]

I think it is a tough call. By the time your baby is 22lbs, you might get tired of carrying the weight of the baby plus the carrier -- it just gets awkward. Note: that the infant carseats with the higher weight ratings also weigh about 2lbs more. On the positive side, the carrier is nice if the baby falls asleep in the car. Also, when looking at stroller frames -- you need to take into account the weight limits on those and need to include the weight of the baby and the car seat in your calculation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) used to recommend that infants be seated in the rear facing position until they turn 1, which is why some manufacturers made infant car seats up to 30-32 lbs so that infants could be rear-facing until they turn 1. The rear facing position is the safest one. The AAP recently changed its recommendation and is now saying that kids need to be rear-facing in a car until they turn 2 years old. There are some convertible seats that allow the child to be rear facing until that age (I think Britax has seats like that). So whatever you choose, make sure your child is in a rear-facing position until he or she is at least 1 years old (which usually translated into 30-32lbs) and ideally until he or she is 2. Basically, the longer the better since rear facing is the safest way to go.

Be definition a convertible seat can be used rear facing. That's what makes it convertible--you can convert it from rear facing to front facing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) used to recommend that infants be seated in the rear facing position until they turn 1, which is why some manufacturers made infant car seats up to 30-32 lbs so that infants could be rear-facing until they turn 1. The rear facing position is the safest one. The AAP recently changed its recommendation and is now saying that kids need to be rear-facing in a car until they turn 2 years old. There are some convertible seats that allow the child to be rear facing until that age (I think Britax has seats like that). So whatever you choose, make sure your child is in a rear-facing position until he or she is at least 1 years old (which usually translated into 30-32lbs) and ideally until he or she is 2. Basically, the longer the better since rear facing is the safest way to go.

Be definition a convertible seat can be used rear facing. That's what makes it convertible--you can convert it from rear facing to front facing.

The issue is about the weight limit for rear-facing. Yes, convertible seat allows for rear-facing but sometimes only until 30lbs, other times up to 65lbs. I guess what I meant to say is that if you want your child in the rear facing position until he or she is 2 years old you need a convertible seat with a high weight limit in the rear facing position (such as the Britax seat).

[Anonymous]

Isn't 30-32lb quite a lot for a 12 month old? My 15 month old is 21lb and just under the 50th percentile, and we plan to keep her backwards facing until 2 years. I can't even imagine she would be up to 30lb by then!

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a big baby, I would definitely go with the 30lb versions if I had to do it over again. DD grew out of the 22lb infant seats before 9mo. If you think there is any chance you could have a big kid (talk to the grandparents) I'd consider getting the larger size . (For the record I'm all of 5'2" and was never a large child. She gets it from her dad.)

At 2yo, she's 30lbs (but 35" tall) which isn't quite as large but still 75%ile. Before 1, she was always in the 95% or bigger. The weight gain slows a lot in that second year. So the 30lb versions could work till almost 2. But I'd guess that between 1-2 you would be unlikely to carry the kid in the seat like one does when they are small. Both for weight issues but also because they get to be independent little buggers with minds of their own.

[Anonymous]

I stopped carrying the carrier when my daughter was about 6 months-- just too heavy. She was probably about 15lb at the time. I still used it to snap into the stroller though... just didn't carry her around in it. Moved completely out of the carrier at 8 months. Even though she wasn't at the weight limit (20lb), she just seemed too big for it.

[Anonymous]

We had the SafeSeat, and ultimately I'm glad I had it - DD just grew out of it around 15-16 months. When she was younger I wondered if I should have just gotten the lighter infant carrier, but in the long run we found it useful to have her in the infant seat a bit longer for 2 main reasons:

(1) We traveled a LOT since DD was born, and the infant seat is easier for that, and a lot easier for transferring between vehicles.

(2) When she was transitioning from 2 naps to 1 around 11 months or so she started falling asleep in the car again - especially on the way to her in-home daycare - but would wake if transferred, and then would NOT go back to sleep and could get grumpy. In the SafeSeat I was able to leave her in the seat and carry her into daycare. yes it was *dang* heavy by that point, but worth it.

Oh - and just FYI, most kids outgrow most seats by height long before they hit the weight mark. The SafeSeat limits are 32" and 30lbs, and are daughter hit the 32" at just shy of 24 lbs.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to agree with PP, for us the issue with the infant seat was the height limit way before it would have been the weight limit. At 9 mo, my tall son is only 22 lbs but he's been too tall for his snugride since he was 4 months old (much to our disappointment!).

[Anonymous]

We bought the Graco Safeseat but I wish we had gotten the Snugride. First, it's true that your baby will most likely outgrow a Safeseat or similar model by length far before weight. My 22 month old is 28 pounds but would've outgrown the Safeseat in length long ago. I had several issues with the Safeseat. First, my son hated the carseat. So he cried when he was in the car and cried when we tried to use the seat on the stroller or in restaurants, etc. The Safeseat is also slightly wider/bigger/heavier than the Snugride. It didn't always fit in places (especially at restaurants) where it was expected to fit, like in booths or on an upside down high chair or on a shopping cart as easily as the Snugride. I originally bought it because I thought it seemed like a good idea to put off buying an expensive convertible seat as long as possible, but we ended up switching to a converitible at 7 months since the Safeseat was heavy, didn't fit in certain places and my son hated it anyway. I'm sure he would've hated the Snugride too, but at least it would've been less expensive, a little lighter, and fit more places.