Car seat recommendations ... car dock seat or regular car seat?

Question

Ideas and suggestions for car seats. Wondering if anyone with the car seat that is the carrier and dock wished they got a 1 piece car seat and vice versa?
First time mommy 🤰🏻

Answer

Having the piece for the car where you can grab the newborn out and just click them in is the best. You don’t want to be taking a newborn in and out of a car seat in a car. Plus when they fall asleep in the car you just unclick it and bring it in without disturbing the babe. ☺️

Answer

A slightly different perspective from the other posts.....
I’m Mommy to a big baby. 9lb6oz at birth. Never fit in newborn clothes even at the hospital. He turns 1 next week and wears 2yr old (2T) clothing already. 
We had the infant car seat for him that clicks in to a base and a stroller. And yes it’s super convenient when they are small. Easy to move them from place to place and also to put a blanket over them while it’s cold out. 
BUT....
Our guy got so big so fast, by around 6 months I hated moving him in the seat from the car to the house a little walk. He was a few oz shy of 22lbs at 6months.  Add the weight of the seat to that and it was a lot especially if I had anything else in my hands. I started leaving the seat in the car on the base. 
Then he outgrew it with his feet against the backseat by around 7-8 months. He’s been in a rear facing convertible seat that will grow with him ever since. 
So for us it felt wasteful, money wise, to have and only use really for 6-7months. Looking back he could have fit our rear facing convertible seat as a newborn by weight. That would have saved some money as the infant seats and matching strollers are expensive!!
Probably wouldn’t work for every baby but it’s an option with some convertible seats depending on the specifications. 
Another thing to consider some cities/states make you bring the car seat into the hospital and have baby all buckled in and they test to make sure the fit is correct and baby is breathing properly before you leave. Not sure if you can do that with a convertible seat. But also may not apply depending on where you live. 
Last thing to consider is car seats have expiration dates. So remember that when buying or accepting any gifts, especially hand me downs even from close family. 
Our first baby and this September baby ended up closely spaced so we will use the same seat again. Which I guess that makes it feel a bit less like wasted money at least. And we will see how big this baby is... maybe we can get more use out of it. ;)
Sorry this got so long...

Answer

definitely get an infant seat with a base! I have an almost 15 month old and we are just now looking at convertible seats because he’s reached the height max for his infant seat. But honestly being able to take him in his car seat in and out of the car with just a click when he was a newborn was amazing.

Answer

We LOVED our Chicco key fit car seat and stroller system. We purchased the bravo stroller to go with it. You can buy extra bases so my husband and I each had our own and we bought one for my mom too. That way you leave the base installed and just click the car seat in. Also helps when baby is asleep - you just take the car seat in the house and they can stay asleep! 
Also- like someone else said- I cannot imagine putting my newborn in a giant convertible car seat. I’m sure it can be done but it would be hard for me personally.

Answer

Seconding all the infant car seat recommendations! I also recommend a car seat stroller frame like the Chicco Caddy - very portable and the infant seat clicks right in! I used that a TON until my son was old enough to ride in our jogging stroller!

Answer

Definitely an infant car seat first! Our chick was tiny and I couldn’t imagine taking her home in a convertible seat. We used her infant seat until she was 14 months and she still fit comfortably within the height and weight limits.

Answer

Definitely get one where the car seat can click in and out of the base/dock easily. That way you can just lift the whole carrier out. SO helpful when taking your baby places because you can keep them in the carrier while they sleep (we were able to go out to lunch and dinner this way and have baby next to us). Ours also came with a stroller - just unclick from the car and click into the stroller. So easy! 
The only downside is that they typically grow out of the newborn carrier by the time they are a year old, so you will need a different car seat at that point. When my son was 13mo we switched to the Graco 4Ever convertible seat that will grow with him until he no longer needs a car seat or booster.   It’s technically made to accommodate newborns so you could go that route if you really wanted to. Def recommend getting an infant carrier tho

Answer

Don’t have any advice yet but am following. We’ve just started having the stroller/car seat talk.

Car seat recommendations ... car dock seat or regular car seat?

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