1 baby, 2 cars - 1 car seat or 2?

Anyone care to share their thoughts on getting a car seat for each car or an extra car seat base? I'm guessing that they price the base alone at almost as much as the carseat with the base. Perhaps it makes sense to buy two full set-ups and just use one car seat and both bases? Your thoughts, experience requested....

For infant car seats I would definitely buy just one seat and then get an extra base. The bases only cost about $30 while a whole seat costs anywhere between $60-$100. We used the Graco SnugRide DX5 and it was great. My dd rode in both my DH's car and mine plus my parents on a regular basis. We got one seat and two extra bases. I highly recommend the DX5, it has a five point harness, up front adjustor, level indicator, two way canopy and built in head support (the ones you buy separately are not recommended by certified car seat technicians).

Good luck making your decision! The car seat board at parentsplace.com has a lot of great information on car seats.

Laurie

[sarsah]

Infant car seats (at least the Century Smart Fit Plus I had for my son) can be used without the base. The base was more of a convienence thing (and it was very handy). We thought about buying a second base for my husband's car, but never did. We just strapped the car seat in without the base. We also did this in the grandparent's cars and a few of my girlfriend's cars. My son was only in his infant seat for 6 months, so I'm glad we didn't spend a lot of money on extra bases that wouldn't get a lot of use.

Sarah....

We have a 4 month old and we purchased the extra base for my husband's car. It has been really convenient and worth every penny of the +/- $30 for the extra base. I love the Graco infant seat that we have (snugride) the only "beef" I have is that it is a bit heavy even w/out our baby in it! Another good purchase is the Snap & Go Stroller which the infant seat snaps into. It is very lightweight and convenient vs. a larger stroller. Especially for the first few months.

We bought 2 seats and only ended up using one seat and the extra base. I had trouble finding the base only because it was sold out several places I looked and that's why I decided to just get a second seat. I did use the second seat in our bedroom as a seat for the baby when she was young, but we didn't need it.