Newborn in Stroller

[HeatherW]

I have decided to pass on purchasing an infant carrier car seat...I don't see myself lugging the heavy seat around and find them impractical. I plan to purchase a convertible car seat and a Zooper stroller since I have read that the Zoopers accommodate infants well. Has anyone done this, and are there any special accessories needed when toting an infant in a stroller?

[emilyf]

I have a zooper z-street, it reclines almost all the way, although not perfectly flat. You can also zip up the bottom to make a little box for the baby-we did that a lot. We love this stroller and it works great for us, even when he was an infant. The only drawbacks are it is kind of short (we are tall and bought handle extenders which solved the problem) and the basket is very difficult to access when the seat is reclined. A lot of people really love their infant seats though- I loved mine in the winter, I could keep him in his bundle me and take him in and out of the car without fussing with coats. It is also great for using with shopping carts when you don't want to have a stroller-although you could use your bjorn. I did love my infant seat, but in retrospect certainly could have lived without it.
Emily
mom of Charlie born 11/02

[memedee]

Love that infant seat and it is a good extra place to put baby down in your house or others for a few months at least.

[kristine_elen]

I just have to say how very convenient it was to have my son in an infant seat when he was younger. I could just pop the seat out of the base and he would remain sleeping in it, completely oblivious to the errands we were running. (Infant seats are also supposed to be a bit safer for little babies than convertibles.) I agree they are a pain to lug around, which is why I always put the seat on a Kolcraft car seat carrier and pushed it like a stroller. It is very easy to fold/unfold and it made life much easier. Hope that helps.

[C99]

Do you plan to wear your baby in a sling a lot? I have one friend who skipped getting an infant seat for her daughter. She didn't (doesn't) go out a lot, but wears her daughter in a sling when she goes to a store -- it's pretty much impossible to go shopping anywhere that requires a cart (grocery store, Target, etc.) with just a baby in a stroller, so I'd say that you should either plan to wear your baby in places like that and/or around the house, or plan not to go out a lot!

[MomTo5]

When a baby is young they really don't fit in a convertible car seat very well. The infant seat is a MUCH safer place for them to be. I know that it is a pain to have to buy another car seat once the baby outgrows the infant seat but it is worth it. When my first DD was born we said the same thing..until I saw her in the convertible car seat. It sort of swallowed her up and was WAY to big for her. And she was not a small baby (over 9 lbs). Please rethink not getting an infant seat. They are the safest way to go for a baby.

Melissa :)

[MamaKath]

We did this with our first child and loved it. We had a sling which was indespensible, a Britax roundabout, and a stroller that laid completely flat. It was great, and there weren't all the warnings about infant seat overuse at that point, but saw a nephew and a friend's child have to wear headgear because of it.

Our son was born in the winter, and we decided to use an infant seat since we already had a toddler to chase, and could bundle him more easily. We still used the sling a ton, since we only really used it to carry him to the car and on the ride! So it definitely can work. Best of luck!

[shall85296]

It doesn't seem like there are a lot of us out there that are in support of not getting an infant seat- so I wanted to post and tell you that it worked out very well for us.
First, I want to point out that I had previously read on these boards that the infant carriers have not been proven to be any safer than convertible seats for newborns. Based on that fact we decided to skip the infant carrier.
During grocery shopping trips I used the bjorn- which my son loved, and when he was little would go straight to sleep in. He was born in July in Phoenix, so I was a little worried that it would be too hot- but it really wasn't.
We use the Britax Advantage, and now at 10 mos old he is as comfortable in it as he was as a newborn. I think the real advantage to the Britax is the rear facing tether straps. When used, they create the perfect recline to the carseat.
We also used the Perego - Venezia - which reclines completely flat.
The best advice is to make a decision that you are comfortable with, and when baby arrives feel free to change your mind.

[parkersmama]

I have always used the infant car seats but will admit that I HATE them! That said, I do think they have their purpose. When we go to the mall or any other place that requires much walking, I use our stroller. When I'm grocery or Target shopping and most other places, I use my sling (my dd is happier in it that anywhere else!). The one place we use the infant carseat as a carrier is in restaurants. It is very hard to eat dinner with a baby in a sling and a lot of restaurants really frown on people bringing strollers in because space is tight. Our original infant seat needed to be replaced this time around and I really debated whether to even get one because I think they are such a pain but after talking it over with dh we decided that when you need one, you need it and it would be hard to do without in those cases. Therefore, we ended up with one but I honestly can't wait to stop using it!! LOL!

[debsw]

I bought the Kolcraft carrier and used it all of the time. My daughter is almost 10 months old and I just bought the Atlantico stroller that I love. She is just about to ourgrow the infant seat, but I still use the two on occassion.

I found that having the infant seat was great. I could pop her in and out of the car to run quick errands instead of taking her out and putting her in a stroller.

The infant seat is also great as a place a put them in the house. Sometimes, my daughter would fall asleep in the car and I would bring her in and let her sleep out the rest of her nap in the seat. This was fantastic.

Once she tarted eating, I used the seat to feed her in when we were out someplace that did not have a high-chair that reclined. The handle on my seat went back all the way and it made the seat more upright. Now that she is bigger, this is how I sometimes feed her.

Good luck. Hope this information helps.