What car seat/stroller system do you recommend?
Monday, March 15th, 2010 at
4:03 am
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I would take a look at a Graco Snugride 35 Travel system. It will probably last your child until the baby is around 32 inches. Please make sure to go to a store and test the car seat out in your car before you buy it because some car seat do not fit well in certain cars. Baby’s R Us will usually let you try out the car seats in your car.
Please stay away from the Evenflo car seats because they did a crash test a couple of years ago and the car seat flew out of the back of the car during the crash test. Not only that but they have had many recalls on them some were there handles broke while baby was in the seat being carried, so baby fell to the ground.
I have three children, ages 12, 9 and 2, and am expecting my fourth. With the older two, I went through multiple car seats and strollers.
When I had my youngest (for the time, anyway), I got the Graco Quattro Tour Deluxe travel system. I was so happy with both the car seat and the stroller that I never used another one, and will be reusing it again with this baby.
The carseat is the Graco SafeSeat. It is very safe, and has a higher weight limit than most infant car seats which is good because many children outgrow the weight limit of their infant carriers before their first birthday. It might allow them to ride rear facing past their first birthday, which is recommended now anyway (much safer). It IS a little bulky/heavy, but usually you are just carrying it from car to the stroller/cart and back anyway. This did not prevent me (short and petite) from using it, because I loved it so much.
The stroller- many would refer to it as the baby cadillac. We spent a LOT of time at the ball field, and when she was younger we could put up the "boot" that velcroes up to keep tiny feet from hanging out when it is in the fully reclined position, and we would put her in it backwards and she would play like it was a mini playpen. It steers easily, folds with one hand, the basket is huge, it has cup holders and two other cubbies on the handlebar, etc.
I HIGHLY recommend this stroller and car seat. I could go on and on about what I like about it. You will NOT be disappointed! We have the G Galore print, which has now been discontinued, but there are many prints available that are not too girly (though some are).
There are 2 I like. Chicco, and Baby Trend. Realize that because you don’t want your baby to sleep in an inclined position (that means not leaving them in the car seat if they’re asleep and putting the car seat in the stroller) you want a stroller that lays back well, or avoid it entirely for at least 3-6 months by carrying the baby in a front carrier (not a sling, those have been having problems.) The reason is that when a baby sleeps at an incline their chin will droop into their chest and can cause breathing issues. The current safety recommendation is to limit their time in a car seat to 2 hours a day if possible, and to avoid most inclined-seat baby items at least until 3months, preferred to 6.
SO… Chicco I love because the car seat is top of the line, and the stroller lays fully back and puts their feet up. That means you can use the stroller from newborn up! You can use it as a bassinet. You can keep it in the house and let your baby lay flat on it while you vacuum or cook or clean or whatever. Because they’re laying flat, it’s safe for them to sleep in, so you can take baby for a walk to help them fall asleep.
If you DO have to use the car seat with the stroller (say you’re at the airport or something and don’t have a choice) then the car seat faces you and the hoods of the stroller and car seat meet so that the baby is protected.
Baby Trend. The car seat is top rated, but has an annoying buckle system (try it before you decide to get it.) The stroller though is nice in my opinion. It lays back far enough that it’s approved for 2 months up in use. However, I still wouldn’t use it until I could make sure my baby was holding his head better. It’s a jogging stroller, but you can use it just as a walking stroller (which is how I use mine.) It’s thin, it’s maneuverable, it can go through sand, dirt, etc to get to the park, it can go through any doorway I’ve found (even narrow openings, if a person can walk through it straight on the stroller can too.) It’s easy to push, not that heavy in my opinion, and when you take off the easy detach back wheels it folds down well to go in most trunks. Negative is that it doesn’t have much of a spot to carry a baby bag. When you put the car seat on it, then the baby is facing you again and the hoods meet to protect baby.
Both of these don’t look girly at all. I wouldn’t recommend the Graco, the strollers are so hard to push. I would recommend going to a Baby’s R Us if you can and trying out their strollers. And… I would also recommend just buying them separately. Like the Graco 35 is a great car seat in my opinion, but I’d never get it with one of their strollers even if the stroller was being given away. And there are very nice strollers I’d choose where the car seats I wouldn’t want.
Add: Just to say, for long-term use I’d say that the Baby Trend stroller would give you the most use. I can’t imagine pushing a normal stroller to the park anymore. Normal small wheels tend to catch on cracks, hard to handle on curbs, and a million other problems with them. The Baby Trend uses bike tires, so it’s a bit cushioned and large enough that it just goes right over obstacles. I think it goes to like 55lbs too.
The Chicco has the smaller wheels, and much as I love the design for a newborn, I worry that it would give the same trouble that the Graco gave me. I’d have to try it out on sand or something before I could trust it.
As far as long-term car seat use… after 6 months they can be put in a convertible, and the Graco My Ride faces back to 40lbs, then forwards to 65lbs, so it would last most kids until 5 years old or more. I wouldn’t plan on using an infant seat beyond the first year, they get too cramped for the baby. You could just go to a convertible though, if you can make sure that the car seat will lean back far enough. It’s safer to go infant seat then convertible after 6 months though.
We have used baby trend carseats and LOVE them. The triangle handle is really great.
We also have the baby trend sit n stand deluxe (which you won’t need for just one child) but had the jogger stroller as well and loved it.
As for convertible carseats, we have alpha omega’s for all 3 children.
Good luck and congrats!!
As far as car seats, I have had both graco and evenflo, and I prefer evenflo. I bought a travel system with my first son, and I didnt use it as much as I thought I would. The strollers are way too big to push through any aisles and stores in the mall. If you live somewhere where the weather is pretty warm, and like to go for walks alot, or plan to do a lot of outings with your little one I would recommend getting a travel system.
For my daughter, I just bought an infant car seat, a little sling to carry her in, and a little travel stroller for when she was able to sit up more. I found that it was a lot cheaper, and the stroller was very light weight and tons easier to walk around the block with and through malls with.