Infant Carrier Help

[Anonymous]

Hello. Expecting in a few months and overwhelmed with the choices of infant carriers out there! I drive a Honda Accord. Any recommendations on infant carriers and car seats? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I love the bjorn for the young ones and the moby wrap for when they grow older.
we're going for a convertible britax since we don't like the snap and go concept - carrying the child around in a bucket and letting them spend all day (sometimes night) in it.

[Anonymous]

Graco Snugrides are the best (safety, price, etc.) -- but get the regular one not the "32" or "35". Unless you're a pro weightlifter, you're not going to carry a 30+ pound baby around in an infant carrier.

[Anonymous]

Graco Snugrides are safe, but if I could do it all over again we would have just skipped the whole infant seat and got the Britax Boulevard to start with. Both my sons outgrew the Graco by 6 months, and never really slept in it anyway. Big waste of money.

For the infant carriers, I loooove the Moby for infants and the Bjorn for bigger kids.

[Anonymous]

We have a Graco Snugride and I find it very convenient...and I would also like to say that we never allow her to spend all day and all night in it as a PP noted. The car seat is for going places -- if she is at home, then she is not in the car seat.

As far as carriers go, we got the Jeep brand one two weeks ago (after trying an Infantino sling that we returned) and love it! When they are smaller they face the parent and when they get older they can face out. DD has been very happy in it and it is MUCH cheaper than the Bjorn.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

We like our Chicco Keyfit. I recommend going to Buy Buy Baby sometime when it's not too busy and spending time asking questions and checking out carseats. We found their staff in that section to be really knowledgeable and helpful.

For carriers, I didn't love the Moby (couldn't get the hang of wrapping all of that fabric) but love the Baby K'Tan -- same holds, but it's pre-wrapped. We're now transitioning to the Ergo as my DD is bigger.

[Anonymous]

I second the Chicco KeyFit. You can save a little money by buying it on Amazon, though. We got the "Miro" version there. It's the top seat recommended by police and EMTs. My sis is an EMT and she said every woman who works there with her owns a Chicco.

I would steer clear of the Maxi Cosi. The Gracos are the most common and a friend of mine has a Britax that she loves.

[Anonymous]

We had a bucket seat and it was great for us - but our DD liked being in it / liked car rides, so that helped. We also went for the one with a bigger size limit, which was heavier as an infant, but paid off in the longer use. Since we travel a lot (planes, trains, other peoples cars, etc.), it was very helpful to us to be able to keep traveling with the infant bucket seat until a year + (our DD didn't  outgrow it sometime around 13-14 months). While we now have a Cosco Scenera as a travel seat and it's great, nothing is as easy as the infant sea + snap 'n go.

As for actual baby carriers, we went the Moby wrap followed by Ergo route. I tried slings, but really prefer the equal weight distribution across both shoulders. Loved the Moby once we got the hang of it, but it does get warm, so we're looking at some other options for the newborn phase for #2 (due in May.) But we love, love, loved our Ergo. DD didn't like it as an infant and I was really disappointed, but once she could sit comfortable with legs spread (around 5 months), she was very happy in it, and I wore her in it on my back probably every day for at least a while for the next 8 months. She's now 2+, and while it's not as comfortable as with an infant, I can still carry her in it easily. And since she's an anti-stroller kind of kid, I'm actually planning to stop carrying a stroller around with me on a regular basis, and just leave the Ergo in the trunk for times where I really need to keep her contained.

[Anonymous]

As far as baby carriers go, we are getting the Ergo baby mostly because I have a bad back and several people have told me it's the best one for support, etc. Plus, one of my best friends has one and she says she *still* carries her 4 year old around in it! It's a little more expensive but if you can use it that long, I think it's worth it!

[Anonymous]

I suspect that some baby carriers/slings are better for infants, some are better for older children... hated the Bjorn, because it is not ergonomic for babies' hips (they splay too far apart) or backs.
I wanted to love my minimalist Hotsling because my small baby was very happily snug inside, but since it was a one-shoulder thing, it quickly gave me backache... especially when he grew heavier!
So this time around I am going to try a Baby K'tan which is a two-shouldered, somewhat pre-wrapped sling, and I feel it might "grow" with my child.

For the car seat, I strongly feel babies are safer in an exclusively age-appropriate seat - just for infants! Despite the hate-love relationship many people have with the european Maxi-Cosi Mico, because some seats take some work to lock properly in their base (important thing to check!) and the belt is an IQ challenge for some harried parents, I really appreciate the safety rating and the fact that the fabric is not as sweat-inducing as other car seat fabrics in the same price-range. Both of my babies are/will be Spring babies and the overheating issue over the course of the summer is a real one. I hated my old Graco Snugride because of the sweating fabric, and cannot buy heavier/"better" car seats like one of the Peg Peregos (can't remember the model) because I am very petite and my non-existent muscles cannot carry so much weight!

I second PP who recommended going to Buy Buy Baby when it is not crowded - their car seat department is quite knowledgeable. Of course, most of the staff is huge, and they could not understand why I needed the lightest car seat on the market! But all the car seat specs are easily readable from stickers at eye-level, and you can quickly compare prices and weights, feel each car seat fabric, etc... they even have a mock back seat so that you can try installing base and car seat yourself, which is very practical.

[Anonymous]

We got a Chicco Keyfit carseat, which we are happy with, although it goes up to 30 lbs, but I cant imagine carrying the kid in the seat at that weight. We didn't get the matching stroller, but did get a Mclaren snap and go with it. for carriers, I was given used infantino and kangaroo carrier, both of which are okay for when they're really little, but I woudlnt' buy the infantino new--it feels cheap. The Kangaroo was good the first couple weeks as it was warm, but its one shoulder design doesn't have alot of support for a bigger kid.

When he's a bit bigger, we're going to splurge on the Ergo.

[Anonymous]

We've used the same Graco snugride for both kids, with a universal stroller frame. My son outgrew the infant seat by about 6-7 months, but my daughter is 10 months now and still fits fine it it--she's a lot lower on the growth charts than her brother was.

We live in a suburban area, so it's great to be able to move her in and out of the car while sleeping. For a while the only way she would nap was in the car (had a double ear infection that wouldn't go away and it really affected her sleep) and I was so glad she was still fitting in the infant seat then.

[Anonymous]

Please DO NOT buy an infantino.
http://babyslingsafety.blogspot.com/

Ring slings and pouches are safe because the baby is not hanging so low chin to chest behind the deep fabric.

Carrier wise I would consider something like a beco butterfly -- has an internal harness and can be easily worn from newborn well through toddlerhood.

Moby -> Ergo is also a good choice.

I dislike bjorns. They become uncomfortable quickly and there's a lot of discussion on whether they're harmful for baby's hips. I prefer to see babies in a seated position rather than hanging.

[Anonymous]

To follow up on my mention of infantino, there have been deaths as of late. Very sad. The babywearing community has been vocally complaining to Infantino and companies making like carriers but unfortunately no changes were made and now babies have died.
http://quirkybaby.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/consumer-reports-warns-of-infant-deaths-in-infantino-sling-rider/

[Anonymous]

Ideally the stretchy wraps are best for < 6 months. People do wear them longer but when you have a heavier child they begin to really sag and you lose comfort over time. That's a good time to move on to either a woven wrap or a more structured two shoulder carrier like a Beco, Ergo, etc.