Skipping the bucket seat?

[MamaMolly]

So I bought a cheap-o Safety 1st bucket seat for DD2 and I'm hating it. :bag The crotch buckle is a total PITA, she has explosive poo up her back all the way to her armpits each time she sits in it, and I'm leaning towards ditching it.

Anyone out there NOT do a bucket seat? What do you honestly see as the advantages/disadvantages? Oh, and DH is onboard for replacing it and DD1's seat with Radians FWIW.

TIA

[Joolsplus2]

All that matters is that the seat you use is installed properly, the recline angle is appropriate to keep her head from flopping forward (which may or may not be possible in your car and still allow you to use the front seats, depending on the convertible you use, Radians are particularly suited to newborns, the harness is great, but holy moly do they take up some front to back space when reclined that much!). Maybe a cloth diaper cover over the sposie to keep poo contained? It's even more annoying when a diaper leaks in a convertible, and convertibles don't prevent blowouts.

Congratulations on your new little one!!!! :)

[lorinick]

I don't think it has to do with the seat your using. This use to happen with my ds1 often. In both seats, infant and conv. I think some children are just more prone to explosive diapers. Never had this issue with ds2.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds2's (previously ds1's) seat expired when ds2 was 2mo so we barely used it. Before it was expired I used it a handful of times. It was nice because ds2 was a winter baby so I could get him in the seat before going out to the car otherwise I didn't need it.

I stink at diapering and had plenty of messes. I kept a towel in the seat.

Beth

[bubbaray]

Both of my girls H.A.T.E.D. the infant seat. HATED it. Did I mention, they HATED IT with the heat of a 1000 burning suns. The police showed up on our doorstep one day as a result. NOT kidding. DD#2 would scream so hard that on a trip home from the dr's when she was about 2w old, we had to stop at a local park. It was pouring rain. DH took her out and walked into the forest with her so she would calm down and we could continue home. I saw a nosey-norman mom in the van beside us and I KNOW it was her that called the cops. B!tch.

Anywhoodle, DD#1 moved to the convertible at 4m and DD#2 moved at 2m. Frankly, I should have skipped the infant seat entirely with both of them.

FWIW, I sometimes used a chux pad underneath them in the car seat. Very very thin, highly absorbent.

HTH

[doberbrat]

we have the explosive poops too. we put a piddle pad in the car seat - I forget who makes them but they're pretty thin.

when its not clean, I just lay a prefold neatly in the seat. its a little thicker but it also goes higher.

for outtings, we do tend to stick a cd cover over her sposie. when we dont, we always end up w/the stripping baby in the back of hte van or worse .

[pastrygirl]

If we have another baby, I'm skipping the infant seat. Both of mine have HATED it -- and I even had different brands both times! They also grew very quickly and were way too heavy to carry around by 3 months old.

As for explosive poops, have you tried sizing up? That worked with my older son; we always had to size up several pounds before the next size. This baby, though, blew out of everything no matter what, so I switched to cloth diapers a few weeks ago. The Flip system is very easy to use and has the option to use disposable inserts! The gDiaper inserts fit better than the Flip disposable inserts. Not a single blowout since then. So, instead of washing poopy clothes, swing, car seat, my clothes, etc., I'm only washing a poopy diaper. It's SO much nicer!

[ThreeofUs]

We didn't use a bucket at all. Bought the whole schmiel, of course. :rolleye0014:

We used Britax convertibles, rear-facing. One of us was always carrying the baby, but we didn't find that to be a problem.

[mom2binsd]

If you decide to use a convertible right from birth, make sure it's suitable/fits a newborn, most of the Britax are too big for newborns (the lowest harness slots aren't low enough).

I know the Radians and True Fits are very good for newborns.

[AnnieW625]

My lone friend who skipped the bucket seat for her second child used a Britax Diplomat and had no problem with it (however most people here don't care for that seat because it is outgrown rear facing quicker than other seats). With her first child I think she tried the bucket for a month or two (her daughter hated it) and then went to a Britax Decathlon.