What do you prefer for infants - a bucket seat or a convertible seat?

[arivecchi]

Just wondering. I used a PPV for both kiddos but moved them quickly to convertibles and found that, oh so much easier!

[mommylamb]

I voted infant, because I think DS would have just been too small for a convertible in the beginning. But, we did move him to a convertible on the early side (he was 5 months) and I was very happy to do so. He was already really heavy in the infant seat and I didn't like the one I ended up with (Baby Trend Flex Loc).

[SnuggleBuggles]

I like how they fit in an infant seat but I really could take or leave it. I like convertibles better. Had my Snugride expired before ds2 I would have just skipped the infant seat all together but I used the Snugride for the 2 months till it expired.

Beth

[jjordan]

I really appreciated the infant seat with #2 because at that point #1 still needed to be lifted in and out of her own carseat, into grocery carts, and such. I couldn't safely do that while I had the baby in a sling/carrier, but with the baby in an infant carseat, I could manage pretty well.

I also live in a place that has cold winters, so I appreciate having a bucket to get through the coldest months.

[codex57]

We need infant seats. The ability to move them without waking them up is priceless to us.

[AnnieW625]

I didn't vote because I don't honestly know. We had an base model rear adjust Graco Snugride 22 for DD and it worked fine, but 98% of the time we just used the seat in the car and moved her to the stroller for errands. The main reason for this was that we didn't have a stroller frame, and our Peg stroller didn't take the carseat. I never got attached to being able to take it every where. Even when DD was at daycare DH had a separate seat in his car so we never had to leave the seat there. We don't live in an area where it gets very cold so the boot and transporting in uber cold weather isn't necessary for us.

Now with #2 on the way and the fact that the Marathon is now suppodly unoperable because of 5 mph rear ending accident we need a second convertable so the budget girl in me is saying that we should just buy two convertables like the Cocorro (or even the True Fit if it will fit RF in the Corolla) and then #2 would be able to use those until it is ready for the Frontier at about age 3. (Elisa's old Triumph will only make it until #2 is just over 2 so not long enough to get it into the Frontier)

[o_mom]

If my choice was a PPV or a convertible, I would also choose the convertible. ;)

I love a good infant seat - had a rear-adjust Snugride(20) with DS1 and DS2 which was OK, but they outgrew it way too early (around 4 months). I had a SafeSeat with DS3 and loved it. If we have another, I would love to spring for a Keyfit, though I like the lockoff on the SafeSeat better.

[zukeypur]

I'm planning on skipping the bucket.

[elektra]

I like the bucket in the very beginning. When the LO is so floppy, squishy, and light, I like to just schlep the seat back and forth vs. holding the baby each time. It's also easier that way when you have an older child who doesn't like to stay close by.
But now that DS seems so heavy at 5 mo., I am just keeping the seat in my car. I want to try to hold out a little longer before I spring for a new seat, but I may just take this poll as a sign that I need to start researching convertibles for DS or for DD to move into. :tongue5:

[ThreeofUs]

Convertibles all the way. So much easier. But I guess I have to say that; both my guys grew out of the infant seat within about 2.5 months and NEITHER could sleep in the infant bucket.

[smiles33]

It totally depends on the baby, but both my girls sleep well in the car and moving them while asleep in the bucket is/was priceless. Plus, my commute is east/west, so the sunshade is much better at blocking sun than even professionally tinted windows.

I almost always leave the bucket in the car when she's awake. She's a little over 17 pounds at 4.5 months old, so that plus the 10-15 pound carseat weight makes a heavy load to carry more than a few feet!

Both my girls were born with normal weight but quickly went up to 95th percentile for height/weight. Thankfully, I opted for the Safeseat which worked out fine for us. I'm hoping to get away with not moving DD2 to DD1's Boulevard until next year. The only reason I'd move her earlier is because the Safeseat's fabric isn't very breathable and makes her really hot.

[arivecchi]

If my choice was a PPV or a convertible, I would also choose the convertible. ;) Ouch. LOL. I think I would have felt the same way about any infant car seat. I like convertibles so much better and I am even less inclined to use them after that rebound footage from TC. Give me my convertible with rear tether over infant car seat any day of the week! I think most people feel about PVs the way I feel about Peg strollers. :wink2:

[HIU8]

I voted bucket. I had a PPPV for DS and hated it (he did and I did) and we moved him to a MA at 11 weeks. For DD, I really wanted the bucket as preschool dropoff and pickup was a nightmare (long walk from car to building and once in building--long walk to classroom). It made it so much nicer in the winter as well to have DD in the bucket. We had a bare bones safeseat and DD was in it until 14 months when I could no longer get the harness around her even when it was as long as it could get (she was and is a big girl). I would use a bucket again in a heartbeat.

[BayGirl2]

I only got the infant seat because I think it fits them better when they are newborns. DS dropped down to 5lb12oz and he was swimming in his SnugRide. But he hated the seat and as soon as he had good head control I tilted him more upright. He's still only 12.5 lbs and on the lower strap position so I can't justify getting a convertible yet, but I kind of want to. The convenience was nice once or twice, but we leave it in the car now.

Plus I'm developing a big pet peeve about babies who live in their infant seats everywhere they go. I have acquaintances whose babies I have never seen out of the seat, after hours of socializing. I just don't see how they are developing their gross motor skills in those things. (Sorry - I have to vent here because I hold myself back from doing Mommy drive by's on this issue IRL. Hope I don't offend anyone.)

[wencit]

I only got the infant seat because I think it fits them better when they are newborns.:yeahthat:

I know MA are rated from 5lb and up, but I put DS2 in it when he weighed about 14lb, and the shoulder straps were a little too high for my comfort. I can't imagine a teeny tiny 5lber being able to fit in a convertible very well.

I was going to say that I like the convenience aspect of the infant seat, but DS2 is always screaming in his, so we're always taking him out. No convenience in that, LOL! DS1 was the same way -- we moved him to the MA by 4 months, and I think DS2 is headed down the same path. So much for buying a nice expensive, plush, padded infant seat!

[o_mom]

Ouch. LOL. I think I would have felt the same way about any infant car seat. I like convertibles so much better and I am even less inclined to use them after that rebound footage from TC. Give me my convertible with rear tether over infant car seat any day of the week! I think most people feel about PVs the way I feel about Peg strollers. :wink2:

Did you ever see Splash's quote about the PV?

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1211755&postcount=8

As scary as the rebound on those videos, the video of the rebound on a tethered seat is not really comforting to me either.

[hellokitty]

Well, if you live in a cold weather area like I do AND you have to pick up two kids from preschool and K several times a wk, then yeah, the infant car seat makes things WAAAAY easier. If I lived somewhere warm, I don't know if I would do the infant carseat or not. At the least, it is helpful when the baby falls asleep and I don't want to wake him getting him in and out of his seat

With DS1 ands DS2 though, I barely used it, b/c I could just stay home all day if I wanted to. I had nowhere that I HAD to be.

[KrisM]

I voted bucket. I could have done without it for DS1 and DD, probably just fine. DS2, at 15 months, is still in it because it is so much easier! He nearly always falls asleep on the way to preschool drop-off and I'd hate to wake him for the 8 minutes I need to get DD in the school. I am hoping he'll get to Feb at least in it just to be easier. I normally take him out of it for shopping, etc, but it's great for the cold, icky days when I'm out with 3 kids :).

[arivecchi]

Did you ever see Splash's quote about the PV?

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1211755&postcount=8

As scary as the rebound on those videos, the video of the rebound on a tethered seat is not really comforting to me either. Holy cow. That is some serious hatred right there. LOL. Kind of similar to my hatred of Peg strollers. ;) Where is the video with the RF tethered convertible? I'd like to see it.

P.S. OT: Why does the PV get an A or A- rating from Baby Bargains? That is why I bought it - that and the fact that I just did not like how the Graco infant car seats looked. I know - very shallow. But I was not a parent yet. :)

[stillplayswithbarbies]

P.S. OT: Why does the PV get an A or A- rating from Baby Bargains?

Because Alan and Denise don't read these boards. :)

I don't know how they come up with their car seat info, but it sure isn't from reading the real-life info posted on this very board.

[o_mom]

Holy cow. That is some serious hatred right there. LOL. Kind of similar to my hatred of Peg strollers. ;) Where is the video with the RF tethered convertible? I'd like to see it.

P.S. OT: Why does the PV get an A or A- rating from Baby Bargains? That is why I bought it - that and the fact that I just did not like how the Graco infant car seats looked. I know - very shallow. But I was not a parent yet. :)

I'll have to find it, unless Julie does first... I'll try to do that during naptime. :)

[AnnieW625]

Holy cow. That is some serious hatred right there. LOL. Kind of similar to my hatred of Peg strollers. ;) Where is the video with the RF tethered convertible? I'd like to see it.

P.S. OT: Why does the PV get an A or A- rating from Baby Bargains? That is why I bought it - that and the fact that I just did not like how the Graco infant car seats looked. I know - very shallow. But I was not a parent yet. :)

You don't want to know how many times I've almost committed a mommy drive by in BRUS or the baby store near me (Bergstroms), or read a registry of a friend who has registered for one by trying to tell them the seat is no better than the Snugride. I have never used the seat myself, but it was nice and uber popular here when DD was born, but the price was what soured us on the seat. Thank goodness Chicco finally started marketing their products better (I don't remember seeing even the Key Fit 22 at BRUS) with a much better product for those first time Mommies who swear they are better than Graco!

I too am wondering when the BBB authors will get a clue about the PPV, and some of the other Peg products.

[codex57]

We should start an e-mail campaign. They're wonderfully responsive to e-mails (I talked to them a few times, altho I can't remember about what anymore). If they get a flood of e-mails showing the hate for the PV, maybe they'll downgrade it.

[arivecchi]

This thread could just be posted in their suggestion box.....

[o_mom]

I'll have to find it, unless Julie does first... I'll try to do that during naptime. :)

Here's a slo-mo one: http://www.esnips.com/doc/f7c18149-9f4a-4e32-b0be-e366982367fc/swedish

I don't know which is worse - rebounding into a seatback or having a newborn's neck strained forward like that. Any of them are safer than forward-facing though. :)

[Swimfreak78]

Now with #2 on the way and the fact that the Marathon is now suppodly unoperable because of 5 mph rear ending accident we need a second convertable so the budget girl in me is saying that we should just buy two convertables like the Cocorro (or even the True Fit if it will fit RF in the Corolla) and then #2 would be able to use those until it is ready for the Frontier at about age 3. (Elisa's old Triumph will only make it until #2 is just over 2 so not long enough to get it into the Frontier)[/QUOTE]

Have you called Britax to verify? There are a set of conditions which render the seat inoperable. Also -- the person that rear ended you should pay for the new seat under insurance. I'd check into it.

[JBaxter]

I had late fall/winter babies. Bucket seats were a savior not having to get a baby out in teh wind and snow. DS4 was never a great napper so I hated to wake him for any reason.

[kijip]

For T, a summer baby who was huge (back when infant seats had a 20 pound, 26 inch limit) and a sound sleeper who did not mind being moved from car to sling to stroller to house etc, the infant seat was a colossal waste of our money. We were 22 and 23 then and in college and my husband worked at Macy's and I worked as an admin at a non-profit, frankly spending $80 or so dollars on the cheapest new Snugride was a real burden and the single most wasted baby purchase we ever made. He outgrew the thing by October after a late June arrival. And, not learning our lesson we were pennywise and pound foolish again and got a Roundabout instead of a larger Britax :ROTFLMAO:

For F, a Christmas week baby who was tiny, an infant seat was a nice to have item for the first 4-5 months. However, even though he still fits in his infant seat (Key Fit 30), we are happy to use the RA. He really does not like the infant seat. And I find it easier to move him just on his own and not with a bucket. Also, like his big brother he is a heavy sleeper and if his is still sleepy will go right back to sleep after being moved in arms from the car (or just stay asleep). My opinions might be radically different if we did not use the Ergo or if my kids were light sleepers.

[sariana]

DS was less than 5 lbs when we took him home from the hospital, so a convertible was out of the question. DD was around 6 lbs, but we still preferred the Graco SnugRide. I actually dreaded moving to the convertible because I would no longer be able to carry the baby into the house, leave the seat (with baby in it) on the floor, and get the groceries out of the car.

DS used the SnugRide (the old one, with the really low limits) until 7 months. DD lasted until 11 months. I have small babies.