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kirakagome
After being let down by the fact that I cannot, puchase the Graco Alano 22 SnugRide Travel System from Amazon.com- as I live in Canada. I am quite unsure which way to go for strollers/travel systems.
My runner-ups include, 2) Graco Spree Travel System, and 3) Evenflo Aura Select, but, I'd like to get the top-rated Graco Snugride Infant Carseat, and I like this carseat, the most out of all of them. How does compatibility work? If I buy the car seat alone, how do I know which Strollers I can use it with?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Answer
We have the Baby Trend Expedition ELX travel system and LOVE it! I also have several friends that have the exact same one and say they love it too. It is a jogging stroller, but you don't have to go jogging. It is great at maneuvering and the car seat is so easy to get in and out of the car.
I am not sure about the buying a different car seat and stroller. :( Sorry...that is why I just went with a travel system.
We have the Baby Trend Expedition ELX travel system and LOVE it! I also have several friends that have the exact same one and say they love it too. It is a jogging stroller, but you don't have to go jogging. It is great at maneuvering and the car seat is so easy to get in and out of the car.
I am not sure about the buying a different car seat and stroller. :( Sorry...that is why I just went with a travel system.
Buying first stroller/car seat/travel system?
Dorkus
So my first baby is due in May, and I figured it's time for me to get things started and buy our first car seat, stroller, travel system.
Right now the brands I'm looking at (that also fit my budget and seem to be pretty popular) are Graco, Chicco and Safety 1st.
So here are my questions:
1) I noticed there are some car seats that are meant to hold infants up to 22 lbs and others up to 30 and even 35 lbs. Is there really a benefit to sticking to a bigger or smaller car seat, ie. the bigger car seat seems like it allows more future-proofing as the baby grows, but does the smaller one (which will have to be replaced sooner) fit infants better?
2) I was building my own travel system as it seems the largest amount of complaints for current travel systems are that they are quite bulky/heavy. So I was thinking about getting one of the lightweight infant strollers and then getting a different stroller when the infant outgrows that stroller. However, I noticed the infant strollers tend not to have canopies, also do not have nice features like shocks? are those really important?
Anyway, this is my first baby. My budget is fair, I can probably spend about $300-$400 on the travel system/stroller/car seat combo. What would you recommend? just getting a travel system (or building one), should I bother with the lightweight infant car seat stroller?
Thanks
Answer
1) The current recommendation is to keep a baby rear-facing to 2 years old. So either you would want to go with a car seat that will accommodate to 2, or older, from the get-go (which would be a convertible and won't work with a 'travel' system) or you would want a baby seat that rear-faces to that higher amount. The bigger seat is tested to hold the baby safely to 35lbs in a collision up to 30mph if I remember right. The smaller one is only good for up to 22lbs, then it fails the tests. Both fit fine. Even the huge convertibles fit a newborn fine.
2) The recommendation for SIDS prevention is that babies do not sleep in their car seat or at an incline until they are able to sit up. So a stroller for a newborn shouldn't use a car seat, but should lay flat (like the Chicco strollers.) I find that most strollers in travel systems have small wheels that don't go up and down curbs well or handle sand, grass, gravel, etc. So I personally like the large wheeled ones (Baby Trend Jogging Stroller for instance) but those shouldn't be used until they're about 4 months old (not for jogging, just for walking.) Personally I'd skip buying a travel system and 'build your own' as you are talking about because then you can pick and choose what you want. And I'd honestly look into the Ergo baby carrier instead of a stroller.
My personal experiences...
With my daughter I bought a Graco travel system, snugride-22lbs. My daughter was very small, so she was 15 months before we replaced the seat, and the stroller was hardly used. It was bulky, hard to maneuver, control, go up and down things, go into a playground, etc. It was recalled eventually so I got rid of it then. I got the BabyTrend Jogger Expedition for about $80 and it was able to go through the gap in the fence around the playground by our house rather than having to walk around to the bigger gate, we were able to walk in any store and walk around the aisles, it was narrower, quieter, more easily controlled, and the big wheels made it so I could go anywhere! It was SO light to push as compared to the old one too. The instructions say I could have used it from 2 months on, but I feel more comfortable with 4months up. The car seat... my daughter was 15 months and we decided to replace it with a bigger one before a vacation. We bought a Britax Decathlon because it goes to 33lbs rear-facing and like 65lbs forward facing, so I figured it would keep her rearfacing a while. She's still rear-facing in it at 4 years old (she's small, in the 2%) which is REALLY good.
Now, with my son we bought a Graco-snugride-35. The infant seat is more of a shell than a convertible and I believed it would protect him better, but I was wiser about car seats and left his seat always in the car because of the dangers of taking it in and out of the car (shopping carts are not a place for a car seat, every time you take it in and out you risk it bumping or not working as well, babies shouldn't sleep in the car seat...) Instead I would take him out, put him in the Ergo Carrier, my daughter in the shopping cart or Baby Trend stroller, and away we'd go! It was SO much more convenient and easier, plus he was facing me (this has proven benefits on speech and language as well as helping them calm). He fit in the car seat fine, and at a year old about my sister was ready to have a baby so we bought the Britax Boulevard and put him in there. I'll tell you right now, in the long run it's cheaper to get something like that. It rear-faces to 40lbs and then forward faces to 70lbs, so it's going to be pretty much the only seat he'll need until he's like 7-8 years old (which is when the seat would expire.)
With my next baby we will go directly to a Britax Boulevard. The way they're built I believe is as safe as an infant seat, and in the long-run it's cheaper, and definitely safer than most of the Graco Snugrides (and infinitely more comfortable.) I like the Boulevard because you can adjust it, so I've actually put my nephew when he was 6lbs in it and tightened the belts and everything and he was very secure and comfy there. Then adjusted it just like that to put my son back in it, or even my daughter. It's a much more convenient seat, and I love how the LATCH is set up on it compared to the Graco My-Ride, Snugride-22lbs, Snugride-35lbs, and Britax Decathlon we've tried over the years. The ONLY negative I can think of is that they typically cost close to $300 (but remember, you're not replacing it in a year, 2 years, or even 7 years. The next seat you will get literally will be the booster seat.) And note, next to last link is the one I've got (except mine looks like a bunch of cows died to make the cover...) for $239. And the last link is our stroller for $80 (but again, I'd really recommend the Ergo for the first year then get a stroller.)
1) The current recommendation is to keep a baby rear-facing to 2 years old. So either you would want to go with a car seat that will accommodate to 2, or older, from the get-go (which would be a convertible and won't work with a 'travel' system) or you would want a baby seat that rear-faces to that higher amount. The bigger seat is tested to hold the baby safely to 35lbs in a collision up to 30mph if I remember right. The smaller one is only good for up to 22lbs, then it fails the tests. Both fit fine. Even the huge convertibles fit a newborn fine.
2) The recommendation for SIDS prevention is that babies do not sleep in their car seat or at an incline until they are able to sit up. So a stroller for a newborn shouldn't use a car seat, but should lay flat (like the Chicco strollers.) I find that most strollers in travel systems have small wheels that don't go up and down curbs well or handle sand, grass, gravel, etc. So I personally like the large wheeled ones (Baby Trend Jogging Stroller for instance) but those shouldn't be used until they're about 4 months old (not for jogging, just for walking.) Personally I'd skip buying a travel system and 'build your own' as you are talking about because then you can pick and choose what you want. And I'd honestly look into the Ergo baby carrier instead of a stroller.
My personal experiences...
With my daughter I bought a Graco travel system, snugride-22lbs. My daughter was very small, so she was 15 months before we replaced the seat, and the stroller was hardly used. It was bulky, hard to maneuver, control, go up and down things, go into a playground, etc. It was recalled eventually so I got rid of it then. I got the BabyTrend Jogger Expedition for about $80 and it was able to go through the gap in the fence around the playground by our house rather than having to walk around to the bigger gate, we were able to walk in any store and walk around the aisles, it was narrower, quieter, more easily controlled, and the big wheels made it so I could go anywhere! It was SO light to push as compared to the old one too. The instructions say I could have used it from 2 months on, but I feel more comfortable with 4months up. The car seat... my daughter was 15 months and we decided to replace it with a bigger one before a vacation. We bought a Britax Decathlon because it goes to 33lbs rear-facing and like 65lbs forward facing, so I figured it would keep her rearfacing a while. She's still rear-facing in it at 4 years old (she's small, in the 2%) which is REALLY good.
Now, with my son we bought a Graco-snugride-35. The infant seat is more of a shell than a convertible and I believed it would protect him better, but I was wiser about car seats and left his seat always in the car because of the dangers of taking it in and out of the car (shopping carts are not a place for a car seat, every time you take it in and out you risk it bumping or not working as well, babies shouldn't sleep in the car seat...) Instead I would take him out, put him in the Ergo Carrier, my daughter in the shopping cart or Baby Trend stroller, and away we'd go! It was SO much more convenient and easier, plus he was facing me (this has proven benefits on speech and language as well as helping them calm). He fit in the car seat fine, and at a year old about my sister was ready to have a baby so we bought the Britax Boulevard and put him in there. I'll tell you right now, in the long run it's cheaper to get something like that. It rear-faces to 40lbs and then forward faces to 70lbs, so it's going to be pretty much the only seat he'll need until he's like 7-8 years old (which is when the seat would expire.)
With my next baby we will go directly to a Britax Boulevard. The way they're built I believe is as safe as an infant seat, and in the long-run it's cheaper, and definitely safer than most of the Graco Snugrides (and infinitely more comfortable.) I like the Boulevard because you can adjust it, so I've actually put my nephew when he was 6lbs in it and tightened the belts and everything and he was very secure and comfy there. Then adjusted it just like that to put my son back in it, or even my daughter. It's a much more convenient seat, and I love how the LATCH is set up on it compared to the Graco My-Ride, Snugride-22lbs, Snugride-35lbs, and Britax Decathlon we've tried over the years. The ONLY negative I can think of is that they typically cost close to $300 (but remember, you're not replacing it in a year, 2 years, or even 7 years. The next seat you will get literally will be the booster seat.) And note, next to last link is the one I've got (except mine looks like a bunch of cows died to make the cover...) for $239. And the last link is our stroller for $80 (but again, I'd really recommend the Ergo for the first year then get a stroller.)
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