Do you use your car seat with your stroller?

[arivecchi]

Wondering how most people feel about using car seats with strollers/stroller frames. Poll coming. :D Wait for it.

[arivecchi]

Sorry option 3 should be car seats are for CARS. Can you tell I am exhausted? ;)

[jacksmoma]

i'm guessing this means "when your baby was in an infant car seat?" i used my bjcm with adaptor/snugride when my second was under 7 months for quick errands...it was a lifesaver! for my first i put him in a carrier or straight in the stroller but with a 19 month old and newborn i did not have the same luxury of time so the car seat/bjcm combo was a lifesaver :) it really bothers me though when i see someone obviously out for a long day (like disney) with a baby in a car seat...

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1- I did it less than 5 times. I wore him more often than using a stroller at all so I had no use for the carseat/ stroller combo. It was a pain to deal with a stroller, imo. I hated having to look for elevators. :)

Ds2- I found that the stroller was a bit more useful when I had 2 because we'd be out and about so much more. I wore him a bunch too. But, I also used the stroller without the car seat and just reclined the stroller. With him the choice not to use the carseat was because I really think that the carseats are overused and not so great for babies to be in that position so long. Every so often I carried him around in his carseat but it was really rare. I figure that I would rather ds sleep at home and be awake when we were out so waking him up didn't bother me. If he was tired he always fell back asleep. No big deal at all.

Beth

[GraceH]

I popped in the car seat alot when DS was 0-3months, mostly because he was sleeping often and trips were shorter -- I still used it for late-night errands or stops under 20 minutes until age 2 (I had the SR35 equivalent), as the frustration of DS to 'tease' him with being out of the seat for a few moments wasn't worth it

[scrooks]

I'm not sure what qualifies as newborn. We are still using the car seat in the stoller with DS and he is 6 months old. Granted we probably only do this once a week for short shopping trips. We did the same for DD, probably until 7 months or so. DS is just now getting to the age where I feel comfortable putting him in the stoller without the car seat.

[WatchingThemGrow]

DD - several times on the Bugaboo, but not past 3mos. We put her directly into the stroller full-time then. When walking from the house before that, we used the bassinet. Used the car seat/adapter for dr. appt., lactation appts, feeding specialist appts, etc.
DS1 - maybe for a couple appts, but we used the Ergo a TON, plus the double stroller w/the Snuzzler.
DS2 - Ummm.... surely we used it once(??) I need to sell that adapter. Ergo, double, bassinet, so maybe never the carseat..

[Carrots]

I used my car seat with our snap & go and with the travel system when DD was a newborn. However, this time around all the double strollers we are looking at are not compatible with our car seat. I think I am going to do a lot of baby wearing with the new baby, keeping the car seat in the car. :)

[salsah]

with dd1 i didn't know any better and i liked having her face me, so i did put the car seat in the stroller occasionally. but that was the only reason that i did it, so that she could face me. with dd2, i never took the car seat out of the car. and i never put the car seat in a shopping cart (or anywhere other than the car or stroller) with either dc.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

DS is almost 3 months and all we've used is Snugride 22 + Snugrider base. LOVE IT. i never want to disturb DS so if he falls asleep in the car we can just let him be once we get somewhere. didn't want to deal with unstrapping him out of carseat and re-strapping him in a stroller. plus, i really like how it's so easy to just pop into the car.

soon though, we will have to get a standalone stroller once he outgrows his infant seat.

[bubbaray]

Very very rarely. Like, pretty much only when I was still healing from my c/s's and had dr appts. Maybe 5x with each child?

Car seats are for CARS, not strollers. JMHO.

[DebbieJ]

I didn't do it much with DS1. We lived in a different climate at the time, so babywearing was easy.

Now, with DS2 born in September, we had to brave a Chicago winter schlepping DS1 to/from school and all our various activities, so we do the SR in the SnG a lot. That way I can just pop on the cover if it's too cold.

Spring is here now, so we'll ditch the SR/SnG and do more wearing soon. I just ran to the grocery store tonight and wore DS2 in my new Ergo. :D

[Smillow]

I kept the car seat on the stroller frame in our foyer for the first year and strapped DS into his Snugride32 in the nice warm/cool house (keeping the carseat out of extreme temps). We park on the street, so I could gather all the necessary items for our outing into the basket below so I only had to make one trip to the car. DS is a heavy boy - 25+ lbs @ 12 months (when he graduated to an XTSL), but just swinging him from the frame to the base in the van wasn't too bad (no worse then trying to open the van door while holding him)! I liked being able to make sure he was secure in the seat when I could access it from all angles in the stroller frame. I did not use it much as a stroller substitute - I kind of hated keeping him strapped in the car seat for a minute longer than necessary.

[MamaBear]

VERY rarely. I'm also of the belief that carseats are for cars. Both of my strollers have bassinets, which I believe are best for newborns. (#2 is nearly 5 months now, and still happy in the bassinet :yay: #1 wanted out at 3 months.)

That said, I do have the carseat adaptors for my strollers. I use them basically when I have to run an errand that is so quick that it would take me less time than it would to transfer the baby to the pram, or that I'd just carry the baby in the bucket but he's too heavy for the distance. Think preschool drop-off/pick-up, running into a bakery to buy a loaf of bread, etc. Definitely not for outings of any length.

[ebjw]

I vote for: IF the baby is sleeping, I snap the carseat onto the stroller.

Sometimes you just have too much running around to do to sacrifice a nap just to transfer to the bassinet/seat, so I would never want to be without this option!

[arivecchi]

I have never used a car seat with a stroller. The entire concept is kind of strange to me. I never had a problem moving a sleeping baby to a baby carrier or stroller bassinet/seat. They pretty much always fell asleep right away! Granted, I've never had to do school drop-offs, I can see how it would be useful for that.

[HIU8]

I used the carseat in a snap n go for quick trips to the store or to take DS into preschool. OTher than that, no.

[PGTB]

I have never used a car seat with a stroller. The entire concept is kind of strange to me. I never had a problem moving a sleeping baby to a baby carrier or stroller bassinet/seat. They pretty much always fell asleep right away! Granted, I've never had to do school drop-offs, I can see how it would be useful for that.

What do you do at the airport? If you must travel with the car seat and will be taking it to the gate what do you do? do you carry the car seat separately as extra piece of luggage given that you also want to take your stroller to be checked at the gate?

[salsah]

Granted, I've never had to do school drop-offs, I can see how it would be useful for that.

i haven't either (dd2 was 1 when dd1 started school), but i see other moms at drop off/pick up and they just carry the baby (w/ or w/o a sling or carrier) or put the baby directly into the stroller. i think it is just like any other quick errand.

[AnnieW625]

I voted other.

We didn't have a frame when DD was an infant so I don't know how it's going to work with #2. We now have an Uppa Baby Vista with the Graco frame and I plan to use it for quick trips into the drs. office, library, and maybe the store (the Vista has a huge basket). For any other extended trips like the mall, walks, beach, and airport we'll just use the regular stroller. DD never had a problem falling back asleep if I moved her from the carseat to the stroller.

We did use the car seat on top of the shopping cart, but I was always right next to the shopping cart. I was soo happy though once DD could sit up okay and I could use the floppy seat though.


What do you do at the airport? If you must travel with the car seat and will be taking it to the gate what do you do? do you carry the car seat separately as extra piece of luggage given that you also want to take your stroller to be checked at the gate?

I always check the carseat at the gate just in case that there is space on the plane for the extra seat. We were lucky and didn't need to travel with a stroller when DD was an infant because we just borrowed my parent's neighbors stroller, so yes DD would stay in the infant seat while in the airport and then if needed we'd gate check the infant seat and she'd end up being a lap baby. It was pretty easy. Now with #2 we'll most likely do the same thing and again my parents will most likely have our Maclaren Triumph at their house so we won't have a need for another stroller. Baby items do not get charged as extra pieces of luggage, they are baby gear and as far as I know I have never heard of anyone getting charged extra for them. We only have flown Jet Blue, or Southwest though.

[MamaBear]

What do you do at the airport? If you must travel with the car seat and will be taking it to the gate what do you do? do you carry the car seat separately as extra piece of luggage given that you also want to take your stroller to be checked at the gate?

Yes. I carry the carseat (with the base - not light!) and use the stroller. I've even done this while travelling alone with my kid.

[PGTB]

I always check the carseat at the gate just in case that there is space on the plane for the extra seat. We were lucky and didn't need to travel with a stroller when DD was an infant because we just borrowed my parent's neighbors stroller, so yes DD would stay in the infant seat while in the airport and then if needed we'd gate check the infant seat and she'd end up being a lap baby. It was pretty easy. Now with #2 we'll most likely do the same thing and again my parents will most likely have our Maclaren Triumph at their house so we won't have a need for another stroller. Baby items do not get charged as extra pieces of luggage, they are baby gear and as far as I know I have never heard of anyone getting charged extra for them. We only have flown Jet Blue, or Southwest though.

How did you carry the car seat to the gate, on your arm? Did you have your baby in a baby-carrier or in a car seat at the airport? I would think it would be incredibly heavy to carry the baby with the car seat on your arm through the airport, but I guess if you have two adults, one carrying a seat empty and the other one the baby it could work.

TIA!

[Sweetum]

i'm guessing this means "when your baby was in an infant car seat?" i used my bjcm with adaptor/snugride when my second was under 7 months for quick errands...it was a lifesaver! for my first i put him in a carrier or straight in the stroller but with a 19 month old and newborn i did not have the same luxury of time so the car seat/bjcm combo was a lifesaver :) it really bothers me though when i see someone obviously out for a long day (like disney) with a baby in a car seat...
Hmmm, I understand your concern about a long day like disney, but I don't understand everyone's concern about the baby being in the car seat - well, if you were going on a long trip/drive, wouldn't the baby be in the carseat the whole time? So, what difference does it make if the baby is in the carseat on a stroller the same amount of time. I understand that it's not good to keep the baby in the carseat for long, but if you have to, being in the stroller (in the carseat) is the same as being in the car. Or is it not? Am I missing something?

That said, we didn't do much outings in the first 6 months with baby, so barely even used the carseat! Other than the important trips, of course. And when we did, if there was any place we could not carry the carseat, we would use a stroller. And that was when the baby was sleeping. If DS was awake, we would always carry him - nicer for him to be able to look around. And after he was 6 months, we would use the stroller frame on a need basis, which was not that often, in my opinion, and definitely not for long periods. The carseat would typically stay in the car - too heavy from that age onward!

-SunshineAndMe

[PGTB]

Yes. I carry the carseat (with the base - not light!) and use the stroller. I've even done this while travelling alone with my kid.

Wow, you must be strong. I can't imagine carrying a car seat with the base and then strolling the stroller. Did you push the stroller with one arm and carried the seat in another?

Sorry for stupid questions, I just always assumed that whoever travels with the car seat at the airport would have the seat on the stroller with the baby in it. I am a former jet-setter (before PG) and have seen tons and tons of people at the airports lugging tons and tons of heavy baby stuff. I was always terrified of ever having to do this myself... There has to be an easy way and I find snapping the car seat to the frame of the stroller (that can be used as a real stroller once the car seat is off) is the easiest. Something like PP Si would be perfect, a full stroller, no need to use metal adapters or unsnap the seat. Or even BJCM..

I also understand that at your destination (especially if you travel for a long trip or have work related travel or secondary residence) you may want to have a nice stroller. That's why I was so obsessed with the Bee. I was thinking of using the frame with car seat adapter to get through the airport and check the seat into luggage (since it folds in half and is lightweight and compact).

[pastrygirl]

Only when my baby was a newborn, and only for quick errands. I never used the car seat if I was walking from the house. It makes me sad to see people walking around the neighborhood with their babies in a car seat. :(

[AnnieW625]

How did you carry the car seat to the gate, on your arm? Did you have your baby in a baby-carrier or in a car seat at the airport? I would think it would be incredibly heavy to carry the baby with the car seat on your arm through the airport, but I guess if you have two adults, one carrying a seat empty and the other one the baby it could work.

TIA!

Oh yeah arm carried the baby. It wasn't that big of deal either as I did it all of the time for quick trips to the drs. office, dime store, or library. We travel out of a pretty small airport though so it wasn't a huge deal for us.

[citymama]

Well, it's a little hard to vote "yes, all the time!" when you have a 4 yr old! LoL. But we did use it for several months when she was a baby, and esp. for travel. So I couldn't really check "all the time" or "only newborn." We used the Graco Snugride with our Zippy, and now have a Snugrider frame for #2 because the times we borrowed the frame for travel with baby 1, we LOVED it.

[salsah]

Hmmm, I understand your concern about a long day like disney, but I don't understand everyone's concern about the baby being in the car seat - well, if you were going on a long trip/drive, wouldn't the baby be in the carseat the whole time? So, what difference does it make if the baby is in the carseat on a stroller the same amount of time. I understand that it's not good to keep the baby in the carseat for long, but if you have to, being in the stroller (in the carseat) is the same as being in the car. Or is it not? Am I missing something?



being in the car seat all day is not good for a baby. for a long car trip, you don't have choice. with the stroller, you do have a choice, you can put the baby directly in the stroller. also, many people use the stroller daily and even all day long (or at least for hours at a time). most people do not do long car trips with babies on a daily basis.

[MamaBear]

being in the car seat all day is not good for a baby. for a long car trip, you don't have choice. with the stroller, you do have a choice, you can put the baby directly in the stroller. also, many people use the stroller daily and even all day long (or at least for hours at a time). most people do not do long car trips with babies on a daily basis.

:yeahthat:

[mommylamb]

I voted car seats are for cars, but I wasn't considering the snap and go as a stroller. I used the car seat with that when DS was an infant, but as soon as I started using the regular stroller, he went in that without the car seat.

[MamaBear]

How did you carry the car seat to the gate, on your arm? Did you have your baby in a baby-carrier or in a car seat at the airport? I would think it would be incredibly heavy to carry the baby with the car seat on your arm through the airport, but I guess if you have two adults, one carrying a seat empty and the other one the baby it could work.

TIA!

Baby in stroller, carseat hooked over my elbow. (Love the Bug's one-handed push, LOL!) The time I did it alone, I flew from one end of the continent to the other (St. John's to Vancouver), which a change at a major airport (Toronto). Upon landing in Vancouver, the gate was one of the furthest-flung, and thankfully a flight attendant took mercy on me and offered to carry the carseat part of the way. (By then I'd been flying about 8 hours, plus time in transit, and I was knackered.) I also had the diaper bag and a carry-on. It wasn't easy, but I managed.

Then there was the time I did it with the Marathon - ugh!!! Makes the SafeSeat feel like a feather! But that's another story :wink2:

[MamaBear]

Wow, you must be strong. I can't imagine carrying a car seat with the base and then strolling the stroller. Did you push the stroller with one arm and carried the seat in another?

Sorry for stupid questions, I just always assumed that whoever travels with the car seat at the airport would have the seat on the stroller with the baby in it. I am a former jet-setter (before PG) and have seen tons and tons of people at the airports lugging tons and tons of heavy baby stuff. I was always terrified of ever having to do this myself... There has to be an easy way and I find snapping the car seat to the frame of the stroller (that can be used as a real stroller once the car seat is off) is the easiest. Something like PP Si would be perfect, a full stroller, no need to use metal adapters or unsnap the seat. Or even BJCM..

I also understand that at your destination (especially if you travel for a long trip or have work related travel or secondary residence) you may want to have a nice stroller. That's why I was so obsessed with the Bee. I was thinking of using the frame with car seat adapter to get through the airport and check the seat into luggage (since it folds in half and is lightweight and compact).

No, I'm actually pretty puny, although since having kids my arms are the strongest they've ever been :rotflmao: I just believe that this is what is best for our kids, and followed through.

We've done heaps of travel with #1. He was 4.5 months on his first trip (from Vancouver to Germany and Austria, for just a week - kinda crazy!), then at 9 months we moved to Europe and did plenty more travelling there. In between, we did a cross-Canada trip; my husband had to return earlier than planned, so I flew back on my own with the baby. In just over a month we'll be back to Europe again, then Ontario and Quebec, this time with 2 kids. (Well, #1 will be skipping the Quebec part; he'll be 'vacationing' with his grandparents :applause:, so the train journey will be with just the one kid. If #1 ever finds out we're travelling on a train without him - nevermind that we're staying at 2 Fairmont hotels! - he'll never forgive us :ROTFLMAO:) I've definitely realised that taking the Mutsy with the Duoseat will be too tough. I'm trying to convince my husband that we should get the new Bee, and phrasing it as a way to save him the humiliation of having to drive a minivan on the Autobahn :bouncy: It might not be released in time. Anyway, we'll be taking the infant carseat with us on that trip. We can borrow a seat for #1 in Europe, and left one at my parents' place in Ontario; we could also borrow one for #2 in Europe, but will still need it in Ontario so we'll just schlepp it along. We're getting used to this.

Oh, and we *are* that family at the airport. I realised it with utter horror when we were checking in for our flights while moving to Germany. Full luggage allowance, carseat, stroller, carry-ons... Nightmare!! I don't know what we'll do now that Lufthansa has quietly cut the checked baggage allowance in half...

(Sorry, that was *long*!)

[edurnemk]

I voted other, because I would use it only when DS fell asleep in the car (until we go the Blvd at 12 months). If he was awake, I'd transfer him to the stroller.
For walks, always just on the stroller.

[KrisM]

i haven't either (dd2 was 1 when dd1 started school), but i see other moms at drop off/pick up and they just carry the baby (w/ or w/o a sling or carrier) or put the baby directly into the stroller. i think it is just like any other quick errand.

I needed it for preschool because I had to hold DD's hand while we dropped DS1 off. Two kids was easier than 3 for that.

But, DS1 was in it a bit. We didn't have another stroller at first, but I carried him a lot instead. DD was in it more, but still not too much. DS2 was in it the most times, but probably less over all time. I used it 3 times/week for a while for school, but that was about 5 minutes twice a day.

[Sweetum]

I voted other, because I would use it only when DS fell asleep in the car (until we go the Blvd at 12 months). If he was awake, I'd transfer him to the stroller.
For walks, always just on the stroller.
:yeahthat:

[newg]

I did it all the time when DD was a newborn...........and then when the weather was bad, or I was doing my stroller-fittness classes. It was just so much easier and faster for quick trips and errands to keep her in the carseat.
I plan on doing the same thing this time around as well.

[arivecchi]

What do you do at the airport? If you must travel with the car seat and will be taking it to the gate what do you do? do you carry the car seat separately as extra piece of luggage given that you also want to take your stroller to be checked at the gate? I always use a baby carrier at the airport. With DS1, I would travel with him in the baby carrier, a Baby Sherpa on my back and the car seat on my Mac Triumph. I'd gate check the stroller and use the car seat on the plane. With two kids, I use the Ergo for the one year old, the Baby Sherpa on my back, the 3 yo in the Mac Triumph and the baby's travel car seat (a Scenera) hangs off the Mac handle. I have never used a car seat in an airport. I actually just naturally gravitated to that because my kids are so much happier in baby carriers/strollers and I hated lugging infant car seats around. Having said that, now that I know that it is harmful to leave babies in car seats more than necessary, I cringe at the overuse I have witnessed. I wish they did not make them compatible with 1,000 other items.

[PGTB]

I always use a baby carrier at the airport. With DS1, I would travel with him in the baby carrier, a Baby Sherpa on my back and the car seat on my Mac Triumph. I'd gate check the stroller and use the car seat on the plane. With two kids, I use the Ergo for the one year old, the Baby Sherpa on my back, the 3 yo in the Mac Triumph and the baby's travel car seat (a Scenera) hangs off the Mac handle. I have never used a car seat in an airport. I actually just naturally gravitated to that because my kids are so much happier in baby carriers/strollers and I hated lugging infant car seats around. Having said that, now that I know that it is harmful to leave babies in car seats more than necessary, I cringe at the overuse I have witnessed. I wish they did not make them compatible with 1,000 other items.


I think I would totally use the baby carrier if that is the only thing I would carry, no strollers and no car seats. I would actually prefer just to use the baby carrier, I always noticed people travelling like this, and they didn't carry much stuff. But if you must use the car seat and you want to have your stroller why not just plop the car seat with the baby on the stroller and you don't have to carry tons of heavy stuff on your body. Having a baby carrier is great, but from what I heard and seen on the TSA video you still have to remove them and put them through the x-ray just like the strollers and they don't let you use them on the airplane for take off and landing. So, you have extra item to deal with in addition to the stroller and the car seat and whatever baby necessities and luggage you must put through the x-ray.

[PGTB]

I think some people overuse the car seats and use them completely as one and only option for strolling their infants because they don't have anything with the bassinet or a flat seat and are not fans of baby-carrying. Some people also use the car seats indoors as baby chairs and there are even contraptions like swings for car seats. I agree that in these cases when you consider your car seat almost like a day bed for your infant and the only strolling option it's an overuse.

But I don't think it's a big deal honestly if you have to use the car seat for quick errand if your baby falls asleep to go in and out of the store or if you are travelling by plane and don't want to carry a bunch of stuff strapped to your body and just want to plop the seat on some compatible stroller frame to have it carry the heaviest loads for you. After all you have to bring these things if you must and why not use them and take the load off your shoulders. I mean, how much harm can extra couple of hours cause for a baby to be in the car seat at the airport when he/she already is spending quite a few hours on the plane in it anyway. Plus consider all that time the baby would spend travelling by car (taxi) in addition to it and there is nothing you can do about it. Also, nothing prohibits you from taking the baby out of the car seat during the long layover.

The other thing is, I am more worried about overusing car seats for the reason that all car seats must be heavily saturated with flame retardant chemicals which aren't that great for a newborn and have been linked to SIDS. As far as the position that the baby is in in the car seat, a lot of strollers out there have bucket seats too, and we are ok keeping our 3 month old or older babies in them. So, yes, I would think using your car seat as a bed for a baby for many hours a day is really a bad idea, but having to lug a bunch of stuff through the airport because you don't want your baby to spend extra hour or two in a car seat is an overkill IMO, especially given the fact that nobody really travels weekly with kids on the airplane, a few trips a year won't kill anyone.

In our personal situation I am not too worried about overusing the car seat because we don't have a car and baby won't spend much time in it. But in the situations where we need to take a cab/zip car somewhere to go visit friends in the burbs or for some special errand, I wouldn't bring a stroller seat with me knowing I won't really be strolling. If during these non-frequent trips the baby will have to spend extra hour in a car seat, I am not worried about it. If I end up buying something like PP Si, and the baby is easy to transition from the car seat to the stroller, then great, I would move him. But I would definitely want to have the option of the car seat compatible stroller in case I don't want to move him as long as I can still lift the baby in the seat ;)

[Sweetum]

I think some people overuse the car seats and use them completely as one and only option for strolling their infants because they don't have anything with the bassinet or a flat seat and are not fans of baby-carrying. Some people also use the car seats indoors as baby chairs and there are even contraptions like swings for car seats. I agree that in these cases when you consider your car seat almost like a day bed for your infant and the only strolling option it's an overuse.

But I don't think it's a big deal honestly if you have to use the car seat for quick errand if your baby falls asleep to go in and out of the store or if you are travelling by plane and don't want to carry a bunch of stuff strapped to your body and just want to plop the seat on some compatible stroller frame to have it carry the heaviest loads for you. After all you have to bring these things if you must and why not use them and take the load off your shoulders. I mean, how much harm can extra couple of hours cause for a baby to be in the car seat at the airport when he/she already is spending quite a few hours on the plane in it anyway. Plus consider all that time the baby would spend travelling by car (taxi) in addition to it and there is nothing you can do about it. Also, nothing prohibits you from taking the baby out of the car seat during the long layover.

The other thing is, I am more worried about overusing car seats for the reason that all car seats must be heavily saturated with flame retardant chemicals which aren't that great for a newborn and have been linked to SIDS. As far as the position that the baby is in in the car seat, a lot of strollers out there have bucket seats too, and we are ok keeping our 3 month old or older babies in them. So, yes, I would think using your car seat as a bed for a baby for many hours a day is really a bad idea, but having to lug a bunch of stuff through the airport because you don't want your baby to spend extra hour or two in a car seat is an overkill IMO, especially given the fact that nobody really travels weekly with kids on the airplane, a few trips a year won't kill anyone.

In our personal situation I am not too worried about overusing the car seat because we don't have a car and baby won't spend much time in it. But in the situations where we need to take a cab/zip car somewhere to go visit friends in the burbs or for some special errand, I wouldn't bring a stroller seat with me knowing I won't really be strolling. If during these non-frequent trips the baby will have to spend extra hour in a car seat, I am not worried about it. If I end up buying something like PP Si, and the baby is easy to transition from the car seat to the stroller, then great, I would move him. But I would definitely want to have the option of the car seat compatible stroller in case I don't want to move him as long as I can still lift the baby in the seat ;)
:yeahthat:
Like I said earlier, long hours for a long time - I don't think that's right. But for short stuff once in a while, totally ok IMHO.

SunshineAndMe

[arivecchi]

I have not had to remove DS2 from the baby carrier when going through security yet. That used to be the case when DS1 was a baby. Perhaps they are easing up on that? Maybe I have been lucky with DS2 so far. In any event, I need the car seat, the baby carrier and the stroller at the destination, so I need to take everything with me. I check our bags and DS1's car seat. Yeah, travelling with two is loads of fun....

[o_mom]

I have never used a car seat with a stroller. The entire concept is kind of strange to me. I never had a problem moving a sleeping baby to a baby carrier or stroller bassinet/seat. They pretty much always fell asleep right away! Granted, I've never had to do school drop-offs, I can see how it would be useful for that.

Yeah... if I had a baby that would go back to sleep after a transfer, I might have been more willing to not use it on quick in-and-out errands. Never happened for me, though.

[hellokitty]

DS1: Used a SNG only for a month.
DS2: Hated his carseat, he could not tolerate his carseat even in the car, there was no way in hell he would have tolerated being in the carseat snapped into a stroller.
DS3: No choice. This time this baby had to get dragged to and from school pick up several times a wk. He hated his carseat for the first 4 mo, but eventually got used to it. I basically got the SR32 in order to make sure we could make it through the (cold) winter. Now that the weather is warmed up, I will probably sell my SNG. If I lived somewhere with mild weather, I probably wouldn't have gotten a SNG and just take my child in and out of the carseat. So, I have used my SNG that most with child #3, b/c my older two have activities and school, so the baby gets lugged around a lot more.

[lareigna]

I only used the carseat for quick errands for the first few months. My dd never stayed asleep in the transfer of me lifting the carseat out of the car anyway, so it seemed pointless almost to keep her in the carseat all the time. Not to mention my SR22+a 15 pound baby=hernia. I don'tknow how supermoms can lift bigger babies in SR32's and 35's. Because of the weight and the fact that she wouldn't stay asleep anyway, I nixed the carseat in the stroller idea when my dd was like 3 months and bought a hotsling for those quick trips. Any trip that was going to be longer than 30 minutes I would put her in the stroller.

I honestly think some (not all) people who keep babies in the carseat all the time are unaware of bassinett/reversible stroller options. I think people really like being able to see their baby and the fact they sit so high up. I can't tell you how many times I have been in the mall with my Bee/Contours/Frog/Skate and some woman comes to me to tell me how nice it would have been if they had a reversible stroller for their baby.