Did you get a Graco or Chicco infant seat? Why?

[kijip]

I purchased a used Chicco KeyFit (from a friend, totally trust worthy, we share seats all the time) for my younger son. I chose this because I did not like the Graco SnugRide I had for my older son much. But it was an older model- he was born in 2003.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

got a graco snugride 22 because that's what Baby Bargains suggested. i got the Pippin (brown/green with elephants) theme to match our Graco PnP. after looking around, DH though said he wished he got a Chicco since that one seemed "nicer" looking. oh well. at least the Graco went well with our Snugrider which we used as our only stroller for first 3.5 months.

i personally don't think it's worth getting the higher limit Snugrides (35, etc). i imagine at that over 15 lbs, it's a monstrosity and super-heavy to carry. we got rid of our infant seat at 4.5 months (where DS was about 17lbs and 26") partially bc at that point it was just too uncomfortable for him, especially in the heat (and yeah, he was getting ridiculously heavy). i CANNOT imagine lugging around twice that weight (35 lbs) in a seat!! at that point it's just easier to put them in a convertible seat IMO.

[Beth24]

I purchased a Chicco Keyfit this time. I had Snugride for my other three I think it is a close call but I was very impressed with how easy the Chicco bases are to install. And got the seat with an extra base as a gift so the cost difference wasn't a big factor to me.

[scmama]

I don't think you can go wrong with either a graco or a chicco car seat. Both are great car seats. I also got a graco snugride since that what's the baby bargains recommended. My best friend had a chicco keyfit and loved hers, but the graco seemed fine to me and that's what we got for DS. We got the snugride that went to 22 lbs and loved to just snap it in our snap n go frame. We only used the car seat until DS was about 5 months old. I think one of the pp was right, it just got way too heavy to lug around! We switched him to a convertible car seat around 5-6 months. My SIL ended up getting pregnant and having a baby 10 months after DS was born and we just sold her our carseat.

When we found out that I was pregnant again, I had planned on getting another infant seat by graco. Another of my best friends gave me her graco which was almost the same as my old car seat and hers was only 7 months old. I feel comfortable this time around using a used seat because I know that my friend has never been in an accident and like me, she took really good care of her car seat. If I didn't get a car seat from my girlfriend, I would of just bought another graco snugride brand new.

[DebbieJ]

Graco cuz it was FREE! I love hand me downs.

[crl]

Got the Graco because it seemed like more other stuff is compatible with them. And because I didn't want to think about it a lot. It's fine. DD is big so I'm sure she'll outgrow it early.

Catherine

[lorinick]

I would be fine with either seat. I like the look better on the Chicco. Hate the sun shade on the chicco though. I've never had a problem installing either seat. Though the install on the Chicco is easier. You can't go wrong with with seat imo.

[ourbabygirl]

Thanks, Everyone!
We stopped at BRU tonight to look through what they had. We also looked at the Peg Perego, Combi, and Britax which I really like the looks of, but they all seemed awkward in taking them off their bases, etc. I picked up the Keyfits and the Graco whatever-they're-called (up to 35 lbs.), but they seemed *really* heavy, and I don't like the canopy on the Keyfits. I think I'll stick with a smaller Graco since it worked fine the first time around, and we're fine moving the baby to a convertible when he outgrows the infant seat. Since the kids will be ~24 months apart, and DD won't be able to start pre-school until she's 3 (fall of '11), I won't need to worry about pre-school drop-off until he's 11 months or so. And even then, I'm sure he won't stay napping in an infant seat; DD stopped napping in hers pretty early.

Thanks for all the feedback!

[newg]

honestly I didn't look at Graco seats. I read in the BBB that the chicco seat was the safest and easiest to install, so that's all I did. I also looked at the consumer reports write up (even though the reports were slightly faulty)
We went with the keyfit 30 based on the higher weight and height limit........since DH is 6'5''.
I carried DD to and from the car/store/stroller 'till she outgrew it at 12 months. She was 30'' and 19lbs.
And then we just picked the color we liked the best.................the green/gray combo.

[satchnbucky]

Sounds like you made a good choice. I have the KF30 - love it, mainly because of the easy install, infant insert, and quality of materials. However I think the graco is a great seat as well. I stopped taking the seat out of the car when DS hit about 16 lbs (16lbs of baby and 9lbs of car seat is too much!). We stopped using the seat when he was about 11 months - 28 or 29 inches and 21 lbs-ish. I don't think the weight limit matters at all - your baby will most likely outgrow in height before weight.
Good luck!
Also, we bought one extra base - got it on sale at target.com so it was only $50 (vs $35-40 for a graco base). If you are going to need 2 extra bases though, it could add up.