Infant or convertible car seat??

Question

Ok so I'm navigating all this for the first time and have gathered that the main benefit of an infant car seat is the travel system and for the convertible it's its longevity/frugality. Knowing that, is it more *practical* to get an infant seat for the travel system? Or would I be better of with an convertible and just using the carrier or wrap whenever it's time to get baby out of the car? I'm also considering how this factors into purchasing a stroller re the infant seat. Help! This is all so confusing!

Answer

Yeah so this is the stroller we picked out. Light weight and holds child up to 40 pounds and accepts graco infant car seats which like I said we don't have but don't need and I'm sure other strollers accept car seats of the same brand if that's what you're planning to do. Just for us our son will already be out of the infant seat when we use this.

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We bought a travel system that came with a stroller and infant car seat with a base for the car. We got ours on sale at walmart for $90 because one of the flaps on the box got slightly bent up. They usually run about $127. So glad we bought it, in the winter time when we went grocery shopping or to the mall, etc. It was so much easier to pop his infant seat onto the stroller so we didn't wake him. And the best part is, even after you're done with the car seat, you can still use the stroller! Our seat is good up to 25 lbs, the stroller is good for even longer. The car seat has little metal clamps inside of it, and usually attaches to the bar on the front of the stroller with a little clip on the side to hold the car seat in place. I'll post the kind of system we got below. It was well worth the money in my opinion, especially in winter time so we didn't have to carry him in and out of the cold (we used blankets and had a cozy cover for his car seat. Both pictures are listed below.

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I am also having twins but chose to get convertible seats. I didn't want to have to carry and move around two infant carriers, especially if I have to have a c section.  I'd rather just wrap them up and wear them if I need to run errands. But I also chose a stroller with a bassinet option as well as really researching types of convertible seats since not all of them will fit a small newborn.  I've accepted the fact that if they come early and weight less than 5lbs I'll just have to buy two infant seats, but on the bright side, at least I'll have the next stage seat for them already

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I ran into the same problem haha after researching everything I decided to go with infant car seats/ travel system. I'm having twins, and I just think it will be easier. Then later on I will get convertible seats, and they can continue to use the same stroller. I also plan on using wraps to wear my babies. You kind of have to decide what you think will best for you. Because they are both good options

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This was a major concern for me too. We bought the Nuna Pipa infant car seat and Nuna Mixx stroller, and were considering returning the Pipa and getting the Maxi Cosi Pria 85 convertible instead.

I don't like how the Pria doesn't attach to a stroller, and will always have to be in the car. I asked my mom, who has had four kids on a tiny budget, and she said the infant seat is a life saver.

I think it's different for everyone's situation though. My husband and I live downtown Seattle and have to park up to six blocks away from our building sometimes, so we kind of have to have the infant seat to carry our girl to the car, especially if it's raining. She's due in December so it will always be raining!

We also considered the fact that we plan on having another baby about two years after our first, so we'd end up having to purchase two car seats anyway. So we're keeping our Pipa and will purchase the Pria when our girl outgrows the infant seat.

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I researched a lot into this also and was also trying to determine what would work best for us. Our son will be born at the end of December. If I have to take him somewhere it would not be practical to carry him in a carrier and I would have to bundle him each time whereas in an infant car seat I can keep him covered with a blanket. Children need car/booster seats for quite a while so I found a convertible car seat. I can't remember what pounds it goes up to but I plan on switching to that around 8 months or so and then using that for a while. By that time it will be easier carrying him until I can get him into a shopping cart or whatever and won't really have to worry about waking up a newborn. That's another reason infant car seats are great- you don't have to worry about waking the baby up. Hope I helped.

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I'm pretty frugal, but I'm going with infant so I don't have to move baby as much and getting compatible stroller.

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I have both. The infant seat came with my travel system which I will have installed in my car since I'll be the one home with her the most. The convertible will be in the other car and eventually I'll switch it over to mine when she outgrows the infant

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We bought a convertible car seat and baby carrier to wear him in and my mom bought us the travel system. We told her we didn't need a stroller but the hospital we are delivering at requires baby to go home in an infant seat so she bought the whole system. It was her big gift to us after we received nothing at the baby shower.

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I love the infant car seat as my daughter falls asleep in the car so I can just take her and not have to wake her up. I'm not looking forward to the convertible car seat when I'll end up waking her up to get her out of the car