If you are just beginning your research on car seats for your infant, you may still be trying to decide if you should just buy one convertible car seat that you can use from birth through toddler, or if it is also worth investing in a separate infant car seat.
I am here to tell you that I don’t want you to miss out on the opportunity to be mobile and flexible when you have an infant and an infant car seat will afford you many of those opportunities. I haven’t met a single mom who regretted buying their infant car seat. In my case, the infant car seat basically had to be pried from my hands when my daughter was 16 months old and 30 inches long.
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Convenience
My experience as a new mom would have certainly been a different one if I didn’t have my infant car seat. The convenience of our Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat and its ability to easily and quietly be clicked into the base in our vehicle was a win that all moms and dads need and deserve!
Our baby was so comfortable in her carseat that I could nap her on the go and take her carseat along into the grocery store or on any errand. We brought it in to many restaurants and had a place for her to sit or sleep without having to take up too much space with a stroller. I honestly didn’t skip a beat, I was able to do so many things when we had our infant car seat.
Too Heavy?
I have read the argument that the infant car seats are too heavy to carry around, so parents would rather just take the baby in and out of a car seat. I want to remind you that carrying a carseat around is a choice. Why carry it when you can snap that carseat into a stroller frame instead? The simple keyfit caddy was my choice but there are many strollers that are compatible with the popular Keyfit 30 carseat. I didn’t want anything fancy here, just something easy that could carry the car seat. I already had a jogger that I loved to serve all other purposes. This was a perfect solution for us.
Great for Travel
Having an infant car seat is also ideal when traveling by plane assuming you plan to get your baby his/her own seat. When we flew across country with our 11 month old baby, we purchased her a seat and having the infant car seat with us for her to sleep in, for us to carry her around in and snap into the stroller and go, and to easily install without a base in cabs and rental vehicles was a lifesaver. We realized just how good that little car seat was for travel once we flew again with a toddler and had to bring a convertible car seat with us. Not as straightforward, but you’ll make it work if you have to. Read my post on how I travel with a Toddler.
More on the transition
You don’t know how good you have it until your kiddo grows out of that little dream of a carseat and you become restricted by a convertible car seat. Let’s just say it has slowed me down a bit in my everyday life. If I didn’t have options like Walmart Grocery Pickup available to me I don’t know what I would do. (Read my full review on Walmart Grocery Pickup here) I now have a 6th sense for drive-thru windows and curbside pickup options. Work smarter, not harder, right?
