Comments on: Baby Essentials That Aren't, Part 2: Infant Car Seats

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:22:07 +0000

You forgot how no infant bucket seat has ever been made to sit on a shopping cart. And no shopping cart is made to hold an infant bucket seat. There have been warnings about using them like this for decades now, but go into any store and you’ll see the idiot parent with their baby up on the shopping cart in the bucket seat. Bucket seats make it easy to do that, and it makes parents more likely to do it. I hate them for that. Parents think “It’s raining, I better leave him in where he’s safe” and carry him in, then “Oh, I’ll just put it up on the shopping cart” and boom, baby is in the most dangerous spot he can be at. Ugh.

By: CaliOak

CaliOak — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:23:11 +0000

If not a sling, what about a snuggly or a Mayan style wrap? The wraps seems more flexible and people tie them on the back so the kid is upright and out of the way…Maybe that’s better for older babies?

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:29:22 +0000

I completely agree with Chandra & Amy – not a necessity, but definitely useful. My 6 mo little girl has been carried in a sling for a large part of her life both at home and away, but her infant seat has been a huge help. While she is just now almost ready to sit in a high chair while we are out, and I have eaten while holding her in my lap or in her sling many times, the bucket car seat was a great place for her to sit at the table with us, and sometimes sleep in, while we ate. Sometimes you want to eat something messier than a sling will allow

Also, when she was a newborn there were a few trips to the store – either in the cart or her stroller – that she slept through entirely because we were able to safely and cautiously keep her in her car seat while shopping. Now that she is older, she will wake up whether or not we take her out of her seat, so I go ahead and wear her, but as a brand new mom needing groceries in hurry, the car seat was a huge help.

I have to admit, we do still carry her in the house in her seat so that we can easily buckle her in inside on our next trip, but even at only 14 lbs, this is becoming more work than it’s worth if my husband isn’t here to do the toting. I don’t keep her in her seat when we get in the house, except for the occasional quick bathroom trip, but I suppose setting her in her co-sleeper would also suffice.

And while I know I am a couple years behind in reading and posting on this topic, I have trouble due to my large breasts but have found 2 wonderful carriers: the Becco
Gemini and the Balboa Baby Sling. The sling is easy, fast, and very portable, and the Gemini is so supportive and comfortable, unlike the Baby Bjorn, making it great for long periods. My Moby was great for the first month, but once it went over 90 degrees, I was ready for less fabric and less time spent in the hot sun wrapping up.

By: 1busymommy2

1busymommy2 — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 03:44:31 +0000

It seems there are so many “essentials” with babies these day. We have found one we simply can’t do without, Sleepy Bee. (sleepybees.com) He’s a little stuffed bee with ocean wave sounds that fastens to the car seat, stroller or the crib. Sleepy Bee drowns out the busy world noise so out baby girl can sleep anywhere. Definitely a must!

By: Krissy

Krissy — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:27:48 +0000

I really never understood the “OMG you must have these!” mentality of the infant seats. They’re a relatively new invention. Our parents did without them. I never had one for my son, and people thought I was crazy for actually carrying my son around in my arms or Ergo versus the infant seat. We did absolutely fine without one. We saved money and we don’t have a big chunk of plastic sitting around catching dust in case we have another child before the seat expires (or worse — sitting in a landfill). And my son was born in November in New England. We had a stroller with an incline that we also used with a Snuzzler, and that was fine as well.

By: On Baby Gifts and Registries « A Life in Season

On Baby Gifts and Registries « A Life in Season — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:07:16 +0000

[...] They just may make you reconsider the need for some pretty standard-issue baby items, like cribs, infant car seats (note: they advocate using a convertible car seat, so that separate infant and toddler car seats [...]

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 02:53:07 +0000

I like the idea of reducing waste. The one (IMO the most important) topic that has remained over looked in these threads is the amount of toxic chemicals that are in car seats (bromine, lead, etc). There are ratings on healthystuff.org but they are very limited in scope and often brands will have very different ratings within the same model. The PBDEs are on the fabrics that touch skin and can attach to dust particles to be inhaled. It would be great to know more about the chemicals used on the recommended convertible seats.

As for autism being linked to spending too much time in a car seat…well, there is a recent but intensive study that is showing strong evidence of a DNA link for autism.

I think it is safe to say most parents, especially ones concerned enough to be on a green parenting web site use carriers primarily for what they are meant – transport. There is nothing wrong with finding the method of transport that works best for parent, as well as baby.

By: baby slings

baby slings — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:56:46 +0000

I always found my son’s infant car seat quite awkward to carry, especially as he got bigger which didn’t take long at all because he loved him some milkies.

By: L

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:56:11 +0000

While I completely agree you don’t need an infant carrier (I had one for my son and hated it, he went into a convertable at 4 months. My daughter has always been in a true fit) it is DANGEROUS to use any add-ons that the car seat manufacter does not sell for that seat. These add-ons are NOT tested with every seat and there is no telling what they will do to their performance!

By: Sonja Milsom

Sonja Milsom — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:02:13 +0000

I did not have a “bucket” seat for my first who was a March baby, but did use one for my 2nd who was born in Dec, but only until spring. (We live in Canada with sometimes severe winters.) But the best purchase I think we made was a strolex – it was a convertible 5 point harness car seat that was good for 5-40 lbs and could be converted into a stoller in moments. It wasn’t great in the winter as the wheels weren’t meant to go through snow, but all the rest of the year it was amazing and it took many trips including New York City (great for in and out of cabs). Plus it was also FAA approved and thus could be used on airplanes. I had to order it online – originally I saw it in the SkyMall catalog (the shopping catalogs on airplanes), but that was over 6 years ago and I have since seen it at Costco online and also at “one step ahead” – also a catalog company with great baby and kids items. It was about $200 but worth every penny.