child car seat sales

child car seat sales
Question about this car seat?

I’m having my first child in march and since it’s black friday soon i just saw on amazon lots of sales on baby things including car seats…i always knew i would spend a few more dollars on a convertible car seat and i really like this one. it has awesome reviews. but my question is does the seat come out? like will i be able to carry my infant son in it or i would have to get an infant seat regardless of purchasing this one?

http://www.amazon.com/First-Years-True-Convertible-Seat/dp/B000YBM2V0/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1227570418&sr=1-10

thank you, and if you know of any other seats that are better plz let me know…im green at this so any kind of help is great!
In your opinion is it better to:
1- get a travel system
2- get the seat i have on here + another stroller
3- infant car seat + stroller
4- the seat i have here + sling
5- other (please explain) LOL

The Compass True Fit is a great seat – same as First Years True Fit, is great too. 16.5 inch top harness slots, half inch shorter than the Britax Marathon and Evenflo Triumph Advance. Rear faces to 35lbs, forward faces to 65lbs, has built-in lockoffs, and you never have to rethread the harness to change harness height. The headrest is removable to fit better in smaller cars. But it is not an infant carrier – baby would have to be unbuckled each and every time from the seat.

But I would get a convertible and skip the infant carrier stage.

It is really completely up to your preference, but, here’s my 2cents. Personally, I’d pick out an awesome stroller (since the ones that come in a travel system often aren’t all that great!) b/c the stroller is the part that you will be using for the next 3-4 years. You really need to like it, and have it be quality so you don’t find yourself with a busted stroller in a year. Also, you can save money by purchasing a high quality used stroller, whereas if you buy a travel system, you can’t get it used b/c it is not safe to get a used car seat. You could however, get a used stroller and check its compatibility, and get a car seat new that would work with it. That’s what I did.

All that said – as a single parent on a seriously limited income, I now realize I should’ve completely skipped the infant carrier stage. Its not a ‘needed’ stage in car seats, its just a convenience thing, and a recent – as in the last 15 years or so – invention to have a stay in car base and separate carrier. Here’s why I think its a waste: doesn’t last babies very long at all. You spend $60 and up on this carrier that is only going to last 5-8 months! And then you have to purchase a convertible car seat, and somewhere down the line a booster seat. If you skip the carrier phase, you just eliminated one seat. There is now one carrier on the market that promises to fit 99% of babies up to at least their first birthday – Graco SafeSeat1, goes to 30lbs. However, there are limitations to this awesome seat. It really will fit most kids that long, but that’s a catch-22. You really going to carry your 25lbs baby in a carrier?! My son was a BIG baby (still is a BIG kid!) and outgrew his carrier at 4 months. And, after baby gets above 10lbs or so, they are a pain in the butt to carry – quite awkward. So its not as convenient as it may at first seem. And some of the ‘convenient’ ways people use them aren’t good.
Carriers should NEVER be placed on grocery carts. It makes the carts unstable and they can tip over, seriously injuring the baby. Also, not all car seats fit all carts, and they don’t lock on, they’re just sitting there, posing an obvious threat. And some of the carts are shaped or sized in a way that it puts the carrier at an unsafe/uncomfortable angle for the baby. I’ve seen babies laying in carriers on carts with their head lower than their feet – not a good idea for digestion or spit up.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says Parents and caregivers should never Place an infant carrier on top of the shopping cart. “Many infant-only car safety seats lock into shopping carts, and many stores have shopping carts with built-in infant seats. This may seem safe, but thousands of children are hurt every year from falling out of shopping carts or from the carts tipping over. Instead of placing your baby’s car safety seat on the cart, consider using a stroller or front pack while shopping with your baby. ”

Also, we are seeing rampant developmental delays becuase babies are in these carriers (and swings, and bouncy seats…) so much. Look around everywhere you go and instead of holding their babies, people have them in these carriers. When on their back and harnessed (and any time a child is in a carrier, he needs to be harnessed, even though its not in a car!) they can not work the muscles they need to develop to crawl, sit up, and walk. In the manuals for these carriers, it even says specifically ‘for use in cars and strollers only’! But we all seem to miss that part.

So I highly recommend skipping the carrier phase. I think they are more a pain than a blessing, and a wasted of money if you don’t have a lot to throw around. Instead, get a convertible car seat that will fit a newborn (more on that later) and a sling, pouch, or wrap. Not one of those silly snugli or infantino carriers, but something like a ringsling, moby, or maya wrap. Wearing your baby gives everybody what they need. Babies get much needed closeness to mom (or dad, or anyone else for that matter!) and you get your hands free to do what you need to do, as well as you can even breastfeed in one! They offer many different positions to use them in, too, and go higher than carrier car seat weights (20-22lbs). Most go to at least 35lbs, so you will get much more use out of it for your money.

OK – so if you choose to skip the carrier phase, be careful about the convertible car seat you choose, b/c not all will fit newborns well. You want it to have low bottom slots.
Perfect options:
The Evenflo Triumph Advance (not the original Triumph, make sure it says Advance) is a great seat. $150 version at Babies R Us has padding similar to Britax seats, top slots of 17″, harnesses to 35lbs rear facing, and 50lbs forward facing. $120 Walmart version just has little less plush padding. Wide open belt path, easy to install, though it doesn’t have built in lockoffs. The harness adjusts at the front of the car seat, you don’t have to take the car seat out of the car just to raise/lower the straps. and it has infinite harness adjustment so the harness always fits perfectly until its outgrown. You tighten and loosen the harness using knobs on the side of the seat. It can be used in a recline position even in forward facing mode.

Cosco Scenera – $50 at Walmart/Kmart/Target. Great seat for the price. Goes up to 35lbs rear facing, 40lbs forward facing. Great rear facing seat, but is outgrown very quickly forward facing b/c of short top slots and short shell. You’ll still get you’re $50 worth out of it, though, as it will last most kids to at least 2 years, quadruple the amount of time of an infant seat!

Britax convertibles (Marathon/Boulevard) are great seats, but they do NOT fit newborns well. Babies don’t fit into them until 2-3 months old b/c the bottom slots are too high.

As you’re shopping, remember these rules about seats:
1)the BEST seat is the one that fits your child, fits your car, and will be used correctly 100% of the time. (This is why convenience features DO make a difference and ARE worth the money! If its easy to use, you’re more likely to use it correctly.
2)Children should stay rear facing AS LNOG AS POSSIBLE!!!! The 20lbs/1 year rule is outdated and provides a bare minimum for turning kids forward facing. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration both recommend keeping kids rear facing as long as possible, up to the limits of their seat, preferably until at least 2 years of age. For good reason: A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 4 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than a rear-facing child of the same age. A child’s vertabrae do not fully fuse until 3-6 years old, before then, she is at great risk for internal decapitation. The spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches in a crash BUT the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 inch before it snaps and baby is gone. In other countries, rear facing 2 – 3 – 4 year olds is standard, they understand that its safer.
3)Once you do turn them forward facing, they need to stay in a 5 point harness as long as possible. 4 years/40lbs is the minimum for riding in a booster, and most 4 year olds have no business using one yet. If they can’t sit upright for an entire trip, they need the harness of a car seat still. And, even if they do sit properly, a 5 point harness is safer, so you want to keep them in one as long as possible. This is important to consider b/c most car seats only forward face to 40lbs.
If you choose to go with an infant seat I would pick the seat you (stay away from Evenflo infant carriers, too many recalls, crappy recall fixes, overall a very cheap seat) and get a universal car seat stroller like Baby Trend Snap n Go, Combi Flash EX, Kolcraft makes one, too. That way you can spend a little less, sell it when you’re done, and get a higher end stroller that will last better.

DANGEROUS ON SHOPPING CARTS:
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/aug06shoppingcart.htm
http://www.medem.com/search/article_display.cfm?path=n:&mstr=/ZZZT24LYQMC.html&soc=AAP&srch_typ=NAV_SERCH
SLINGS:
http://www.thebabywearer.com
TOO MUCH TIME IN SEATS:
http://www.oandp.org/jpo/library/2003_03_102.asp
http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/child_health/car-seats.html
http://stonyfield.typepad.com/babybabble/2008/02/bouncy-chairs-a.html
WHY REAR FACING:
http://www.carseat.org/Resources/633.pdf
In the foreground is a forward facing seat, in the background a rear facing seat. You can see how much trauma the forward facing dummy has to endure. The rear facing child simply rides it out.
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/frontcrash/maxicosipriori.mpg

Here’s another video. You can see how there is NO trauma to the baby, it simply sits there waiting for it to end.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/jen_nah/carseats/?action=view&current=video06A_MGA_213_RearFace-Convertib.flv

The story of a child who suffered severe injuries from being forward facing when he could’ve been rear facing:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=59783