Car seat question

Let me preface this by saying I reallllllly hate infant car seats. I had trouble lugging them around with my three singletons, I can't imagine carrying around two. I would much prefer buying two convertible seats and then strollering or wearing them when we visit the dr or are out and about.

I know twins are typically smaller, but I've grown large babies all three times and all of my kids were out of infant seats by the time they were 3-4 months old. It seems like a big expense to buy two infant seats, then two convertible seats on top of maybe a couple strollers.

That said, which did you prefer for newborns? Are convertibles doable, or am I crazy for even thinking about it?

 

I prefered the infant seats, but that's my preference. If you don't like them, or don't think you would get your money's worth, a convertible seat should work in your situation, with one caveat. Make sure that the lowest weight is low. Like 4 or 5 pounds. My two didn't do any NICU time and they came home right at five pounds. They would not have passed a car seat test with the first set of buckets we bought, we had to go buy new ones with a lower weight limit while we were in the hospital.

 

We bought Radian seats. They can be the only car seat you'll need and they're the only ones that stand a chance to fit 3 across in our car. I'm not sure what the lower weight is. Radians don't have a bucket seat that comes out. I rarely used that with my child, usually just took her out and put her in her sling/wrap.

ETA: I looked up Radian wt. it's from 5 lbs to 45 rear facing, convertible 5-80 and then up to 120 as a booster. http://www.us.diono.com/en/car-seats/radian-rxt

 

I agree with Bex. I prefer the infant car seats (don't have to wake a sleeping baby!) But it is just that - a preference. I also agree though that you should make sure that the lower limit is low. I went to 39 weeks and my girls were 6 lbs 8 oz and 6 lbs 3 oz at birth (losing a little weight before discharge). I know I have seen convertibles that will work for tiny babies though so it is doable.

Ps - at 9 months, my girls are still in their buckets. We take them out if we are going somewhere like church where we need to *ahem* restrain them (so they don't jump off the pews) or we leave the seats if they will be in the stroller and use the bucket like a regular car seat.

 

I can't imagine not having the infant carseats with twins. I don't know how I would have gotten my twins out of the car...and yep I carried both infant carriers and it really wasn't too hard once you figured it out, without them. Plus it's so easy to just put the infant carriers in the snap and go or the duoglider or whatever stroller you get that fits them. :good:

And with having an older child already I had to go a lot of places with my DD, so I had to take my twins with me as well. And having the infant carriers and being alone sure came in handy. And many times I would bring them in the house and if they were still sleeping I would just keep them right in their carseat until they woke up.

 

Yeah, I'm feeling a little wonky about it, like a gut instinct or something. Second guessing.

The convertibles I have picked out go down to 4 lbs. I just don't know.

 

My double snap and go saved my sanity. The day my girls grew out of their infant seats was truly sad because I couldn't use the sng anymore. I also used the infant seats in the house too as an extra seat for them to watch the world.. Instant change of mood when they got to sit in their seats in the kitchen and watch me cook, or look out the French doors. Mine didn't grow out of them until they were over 12 months, but really those first 4 months made those seats worth the money.

Edited to fix all the autocorrect typos!

 

If you know you hate them I would skip them. They are heavy with 2 but the weight balances out. Do you prefer to use a stroller or wear your baby? I'd have that option nailed down as you will need your hands occasionally.

 

I much preferred the bucket seats as well, for the reasons already listed! I will say, how will you get both babies out of the vehicle for just something as basic as getting into the house? I think you'll find it's more of a pain to try to get one into a sling and then get a second baby out of their convertible seat, or having to strap them into a stroller every.single.time you get them in and out. There's really no possible way to hold one baby and unbuckle the second one, you need 2 hands to get them out, especially convertible's since they have higher sides than a bucket seat does. I liked being able to carry them in when they were sleeping (or into wherever we were going), and they'd continue sleeping in their seat for awhile.

We switched to convertibles at 3.5 months old, my twins were 6.4 and 7.2 respectively at birth. By 3 months I was tired of hauling them in their bucket seats, and we borrowed a second convertible seat from a friend to use for them. Getting them out to the truck and back into the house was an ORDEAL! I had to carry them out to the truck one at a time (leaving one in the house alone or with one of my older children). And then carry them into the house one at a time. And once they were mobile I had to be sure the baby in the house was restrained in a bouncer or exersaucer or packnplay so they didn't get into trouble in the house. It was challenging.

 

Danielle said exactly what i was thinking.
I don't know how I would have managed if i had had to buckle and unbuckle two babies in and out of the car at each stop.. not to mention the waking them up.
Without the bucket seats i wouldn't have left the house. My two used them until they were 7 months.. by then I usually left the seats in the car when we got home (unless someone was sleeping), but always left them in the seats when we were out and about.

 

You all raise good points. I've got older kids (6, 8 and 11) and my husband to help, but I know there will be times I'd need the infant seats.

I prefer babywearing over a stroller, but I'm not sure my back can take wearing two. When my hubs is with me, we can both wear them. I'll have a stroller too, which is another bear to figure out. The snap and go has pros, but I don't want to buy two strollers either.

I think we're going to go for the infant carriers. I found one that goes from 4 - 30 lbs and up to 30inches. That should buy me some time.

UGH, this is SO hard.

 

The DSNG has a good resale value- I bought and sold mine for the same price on Craigslist.

 

Good to know! I just added infant car seats and a snap and go to my list.

*sigh*

 

I also bought and resold mine for the same price, bought it used for $30 and resold it for $30. So I wasn't out a penny I did end up buying 2 more strollers, I really think that's just a hazard of having twins, one stroller looks "perfect" for what you need, but once you use it a bit you realize it's not as "perfect" as you thought! But I resold one of them for half price, and my double jogging stroller will be resold for a little over halfprice as well. Resale on all things twin is GREAT, since most parents don't want to have to pay full price for expensive twin things

 

We never had an infant seat for our first baby. I don't plan on using them for the twins either.