completedly confuzzled
i am soooooooo confused by the sheer quantity of babyshiz that is out there. IT IS A GIANT SCAM, PEOPLE. and as per the usual, i am in danger of being taken in by said scam, but i love good packaging and people who think for me.
right now in particular, i am completely confused about carseat/stroller systems. a very nice someone is lending us what i think is an infant carseat with base and a stroller frame this is attached to. methinks between the two ... that's probably about $180 in baby gear.
what i don't get is ... what do you do with said child after he is 20+ lbs? i know that you're supposed to get a bigger carseat, but what i'm realizing is ... i don't think there is a corresponding larger baby carrier thing that you pop into the base. SCAM! you have to buy a larger carseat sans base until child turns 40 lbs and then i think you have to get yet another larger one.
so ... even though we have infant carseat w/ base and stroller, i'm realizing that it's going to be no good to us once baby gets to the 20 lb mark. if his father as an infant is any indicator, he is going to blast out of that thing fairly quickly, which means new carseat AND we'd need to get a new stroller ANYWAYS because the one we're borrowing is only a frame. SCAM!
so NOW the question is ... do i get suckered into one of those travelling systems (infant carseat with stroller and base -- does anyone have comments on the Graco Metrolite?), return the borrowed set, know that i have a biggerbaby stroller locked up, but no biggerbaby carseat OR do i carry on with the borrowed stuff and avoid thinking about biggerbaby for now entirely? OMGEEEEEE. THE WORLD IS JUST TRYING TO MAKE ME BUY MORE BABYCRAP. what is the best solution for baby #1? what is the best longer-term solution if we decide baby should have siblings?
** new info: just buying a stroller that is compatible with current infant seat runs about $120. if you buy the whole system, it's $200. essentially, you might as well buy the whole shebang. SCAM! **
hideyo has passed out during the course of these musings and is snoring on the couch. i am going to give up today and ask the women at church tomorrow.
*scowl*
posted by Unknown @ 11:15 PM
2 Comments:
Here goes. My two cents on baby gear...maybe more like five cents.
For the sake of convenience I say go with the infant carseat and frame, especially if you're borrowing it. (I also think you might as well borrow as much as you can as long as the gear is in good condition and safe for baby. I'm realizing that there's plenty to spend on with baby gear...for example all the carseats and booster seats we'll have to get over the years.) I personally didn't want to carry around a carseat + baby + heavy stroller. My mom got us the quattro tour stroller which is the heftier version of the metrolite. We looked at the metrolite recently b/c our current stroller barely fits into the trunk. Neither fold up very compactly. The good thing about Graco though, is that they are thoughtfully designed with cup holders, easy basket access, reclining seats, straps that make it easy to get baby in and out, reasonable cost, etc. The downside to Graco products is that they aren't necessarily the most compact, lightest, etc. If you go with the travel system, I say still use the frame and save the stroller for later when baby graduates into the larger carseat and you have to use the stroller.
Carseats...well, infant carseats and those for older kids are designed differently. Infant carseats recline b/c babies need to develop head control and they sleep a lot. It's a nice perk that you can carry baby to and from the car without waking the usually sleeping baby. This is actually a nice convenience developed recently that moms didn't have before. When baby graduates then the carseats only stay in the car and you have to use a stroller, especially if they're not walking. That's the stage baby J is in now. There are carseats you can get that will accommodate a child up to 65lbs. or so. That's what we got, so we're hoping it'll last that long. There are stollers out there also that will accommodate a child up to 55 or 65 lbs. So, once past the infant stage you an get gear that will potentially last you until the kids outgrow them.
The best longer term solution... I could go into all kinds of scenarios, but I won't. I do think that there's no telling what your needs will be in the future though, so in a lot of ways it saves some time and energy to think about what would be best for now. Whatever you do decide will probably work for later as well. Also, for me, once I had baby, my mind changed about the things I thought I wanted/needed, and I just knew better what I really wanted/needed to take care of baby. It ended up being less than I thought.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you want a sounding board or another 2 cents about anything. Happy to help! - H
LOVE the Chicco travel system!! Very highly rated car seat for safety, and the stroller is SO easy to use! We just had our baby days ago and he is already loving it - and we're loving the convenience!
Post a Comment
<< Home