Anyone use it instead of an infant car seat? Has anyone done this and what has your experience been?
885671
I used Britax convertibles with both of my kids from birth just because infant seats are not safe! They were fine and my children were not big(my daughter was 6lbs 11oz and my son came home 4lbs 12oz-he was 3lbs7oz at birth). We have the new advocate for the upcoming baby ;-) The advocate even has an "infant insert" that can be purchased to improve the fit. Yes, they look small in the seat, but it does not affect the safety of the seat-at all. Think about this, a piece of plastic that goes through constant stress of in and out of the car(we have a materials engineer in the family and he was very adamant about it not being safe-too much stress on plastic). The studies about this have been buried time and time again, but there is some evidence if you search the net. Unfortunately, we were hit by a drunk driver when my daughter was only 4 mos, she was just fine in her Britax seat! When my son was 9 mos, our Corolla was sideswiped by a semi-truck, both kids were fine(they slept through it), my son in his convertible, my daughter in her Britax booster. We drive A LOT(40k miles a year) and I have never felt uncomfortable with the convertibles from birth and after our second accident we were told by the investigating officer that the Britax saved my son major injuries! I think you will be just fine going with the convertible from day one, we were and ours were "tested."
1809916
Yep! You can remove the pillow and safely use the seat once your child gets a little older. We have this car seat and now that our daughter is seventh months old and has much better head control we have removed the infant inserts from the seat. For more information on this seat you can look at the manual online http://download.gracobaby.com/ProductInstructionManuals/PD261464A.pdf Page 18 has the information about the infant insert. We really like this seat - it is easy to adjust and is light/easy to carry. However, one thing I'd like to warn you about is that the click connect sometimes does not fit adapters made for the Graco classic connect seats. For example, we have a BOB stroller and the Graco car seat adapter works only with the classic connect and not with the click connect. So if you have existing gear that you plan to use the car seat with, you may want to get the classic connect model. Good luck!
725748
William- I returned this seat but if I remember correctly, it loops "up" & secures around headrest. Try that & see if it works. We couldn't use it, our 3 lb. baby got all twisted even with the harness in use. Good luck!
1892706
Our little one was born 6 lbs 18 inches and we have used this car seat from the day we left the hospital. She is now 6 months and we still use this car seat and have even used this car seat to help calm her down when nothing else would work and I am not just talking about the 2:00 a.m. car rides, we just strap her in and carry it around....she just feels comfortable in the car seat I guess....but as I have quickly learned some things will work for you and your little one and others might not...so if you think it has to acute of an angle, don't buy it b/c if your little one is upset in the car seat all your going to think about is "its that stinking acute angle and that darn car seat making him/her uncomfortable", even though it might not be.
2147115
I think it depends on the size of your infant seat and how big your older child is. I know one of my friends couldn't use hers with the infant seat because her car seat was large and her older child was too big to sit comfortably in the back with the front seat reclined, but I've also heard of people not having any issues with that arrangement. I don't have any personal experience with it as I started using it when my younger was 1 yr and older was 3.5 yrs.
83527
I'm not sure, but go to www.car-seat.org and ask there. I'm sure someone's tried it.
137102
Yes! I used the exact one until my baby was almost 12 mos. make sure you strap the car seat really well, I highly recommend it as it is a great buy!
1826705
You can use The First Years Via infant car seat without the adapter and some other carseats with the adapter. I have Via infant car seat and it weights alot about 10 pounds is very heavy i would not recoment it i weight 110 an im 5"1 an my back hurts the next day from carrying my daugher in it thank God shes one now and i take her out off the seat all the time and the stroller is very uncomfortable when u put it in a seating position and also there is no tray snack to go with it. But if after all this you still wanna buy it and not spend that much on a new one i would love to get rid of mine. Let me know this is my contact info KBarahona@pccc.edu You can use The First Years Via infant car seat without the adapter and some other carseats with the adapter. I have Via infant car seat and it weights alot about 10 pounds is very heavy i would not recoment it i weight 110 an im 5"1 an my back hurts the next day from carrying my daugher in it thank God shes one now and i take her out off the seat all the time and the stroller is very uncomfortable when u put it in a seating position and also there is no tray snack to go with it. But if after all this you still wanna buy it and not spend that much on a new one i would love to get rid... » Read More You can use The First Years Via infant car seat without the adapter and some other carseats with the adapter. I have Via infant car seat and it weights alot about 10 pounds is very heavy i would not recoment it i weight 110 an im 5"1 an my back hurts the next day from carrying my daugher in it thank God shes one now and i take her out off the seat all the time and the stroller is very uncomfortable when u put it in a seating position and also there is no tray snack to go with it. But if after all this you still wanna buy it and not spend that much on a new one i would love to get rid of mine. Let me know this is my contact info KBarahona@pccc.edu « Show Less
2114808
Not really. It is very big and moreover, you can't take it out of the car - unless you remove the straps and that is senseless. You should get an infant car seat for the first year, and move the baby in / out of the car with that car seat. Babies are fragile and you don't want to be pulling and tugging too much at them.
2147116
have not tried that yet, bec my 1 yr old can sit in front w/o the infant car seat. Without the infant car seat, my 3 yr old girl sits comfortably..it has straps too so it is safe esp when your kid decided to stand up while your crossing a street. just the compartment below i found it small BUT its not a deal breaker for us.
2120221
No, this seat is bulky and heavy. It is meant to stay in the car. You are thinking of an infant car seat (like the chicco keyfit 30). The infant seat is useful for the baby's first 6-12 months or so (because you can snap it in and out of the car and into a stroller). After the infant is around 6-12 months, you'll switch to a convertible car seat like this one. If you don't want to buy two separate seats, you can skip the infant seat (this convertible seat accommodates infants and toddlers--but you need to buy the version with "tiny fit"--it's a separate Amazon listing and cost about fifty dollars more) but you lose the option of toting the baby around in his seat. Good luck! No, this seat is bulky and heavy. It is meant to stay in the car. You are thinking of an infant car seat (like the chicco keyfit 30). The infant seat is useful for the baby's first 6-12 months or so (because you can snap it in and out of the car and into a stroller). After the infant is around 6-12 months, you'll switch to a convertible car seat like this one. If you don't want to buy two separate seats, you can skip the infant seat (this convertible seat accommodates infants and toddlers--but you need to buy the version with "tiny fit"--it's a separate Amazon listing and cost... » Read More No, this seat is bulky and heavy. It is meant to stay in the car. You are thinking of an infant car seat (like the chicco keyfit 30). The infant seat is useful for the baby's first 6-12 months or so (because you can snap it in and out of the car and into a stroller). After the infant is around 6-12 months, you'll switch to a convertible car seat like this one. If you don't want to buy two separate seats, you can skip the infant seat (this convertible seat accommodates infants and toddlers--but you need to buy the version with "tiny fit"--it's a separate Amazon listing and cost about fifty dollars more) but you lose the option of toting the baby around in his seat. Good luck! « Show Less
1884036
I probably would not recommend this seat for an infant even though is comes with an infant insert. We started out with the Chicco KeyFit 30 and loved it. He was in it until he weighed 30 lbs and it was very easy to get him in and out and with the base, made it particularly easy to take the entire seat out if he was sleeping without waking him. The Britax Advocate 70-G3 seems to be working out very well for him at this stage. We have it rear facing at this point but may have to turn it forward facing soon if he grows much taller as his legs seem a little cramped in the rear facing position.
667254
I have the City Jogger "Elite" and I got the infant car seat adapter bar. It never "clicked" for me on the adapter so I never felt too comfortable using it so I only used it once or twice with the strap that was on the adapter. With that said, I read and looked at YouTube videos and it seemed to work for them, but not for me. However, I loved the car seat especially with the snap and go stroller. I felt it was more convenient to use the strap and go stroller anyway.However, I come from a tall family and my little one is tall so in some ways I wish I would have gotten a car seat that went up to 35 inches because my girl grew out of it by 8 months. So many opinions and things to think about but it will all come together! Good luck!
2236968
It didn't work for my 26 pound two year old, honestly they are safer to use an actual car seat or have the child sot in your lap. They sell straps that can attach a car seat to a rolling carry on that make them into a stroller that work great. My suggestion is to get one of those.
982094
I am using it for my newborn...now almost 3 mo. I originally used it in the convert able car seat, since we did not have an infant seat. He is nearly 16 lbs now, and it us getting a but snug. Also, I was thinking of altering my original post to add that the top and bottom should be able to be adjustable , since you can take them apart with Velcro. However, if you do try to separate the top from the bottom and extend the length, the harsh part of the Velcro goes against the baby's back.
1200659
I have not tried the car seat. I have used headrest insert from car seat with my 3 month old. The belts tighten down nicely including waist. I've ran 6-8 mi several times with 3 and 20 month.
1892705
Until very recently (and my son is now 8 months old and rather long for his age), my son often fell asleep in this car seat for hours (well after we were out of the car). It's hard to say if babies would find it uncomfortable, but he certainly doesn't seem to mind it :-)