Am I the only one with babies still in infant carriers?

I know it sounds silly, but I'm a little self-concious of the babies tininess. :blush: Does anyone else have small babies that are as old as mine and still in infant carriers? I expect them to be in them for quite a while longer too, since they might be 16 1/2 lbs (IF we count wet diapers)

 

No! We just switched 2 weeks ago to convertible seats. My DS outgrew it for height, not for weight. My DD is probably still okay height wise in the infant carrier and she's just 17lb 12 oz at 14.5 months, so she's pretty small. But I was using the double snap and go and once I switched one child, I switched the other and converted over to a side-by-side. Enjoy those infant car seat days while they last, so much easier than the convertible seats if you ask me.

Sotto

 

My peanuts were in their infant carriers until 14 or 15 months. At 28-months old, we are just now weighing in at 24 & 25 pounds (still rear-facing).

The real reason I kept them in the carriers so long was b/c I LOVED my doubel snap n go stroller. I literally cried when I had to give it up...it was twin-mom nirvana.

 

First of all, infant seats go by weight AND/ OR height. So I would make sure they weren't past the height limit. My boys were out of infant seats at 4 months, because one was over 20 inches I mean 26", even though neither one was near the weight limit.

 

QUOTE(sharongl @ Jul 12 2008, 07:31 AM) [snapback]872779[/snapback]
First of all, infant seats go by weight AND/ OR height. So I would make sure they weren't past the height limit. My boys were out of infant seats at 4 months, because one was over 20 inches, even though neither one was near the weight limit.


Exactly. I think my carriers went to 26" (I think some of the new ones go to 29") so we were out of ours at 6mos for the girls and FOUR months for Alex. I would check your height limits. I get so upset when I am out and see kids who are too tall for their carriers riding around in them.

 

Thanks, Jennie, I meant 26"--one was almost 20" at birth. Sorry for the wrong number!

 

QUOTE(sharongl @ Jul 12 2008, 08:38 AM) [snapback]872821[/snapback]
Thanks, Jennie, I meant 26"--one was almost 20" at birth. Sorry for the wrong number!


LOL - you know, it didn't even occur to me about the 20". I just figured your boys are 3yrs older than the girls and they just had different limits then (like how they make carriers that go to 29" now). hehe.

I think ALOT of people don't realize that there are 2 limits (weight AND height) that can cause a child to outgrow their carriers. Just like there are many, many people who don't realize the rule for forward-facing and weight AND height, not weight OR height.

 

What Sharon and Jennie said!

 

The boys aren't to tall either. My seats go up to 29". They might be 27 1/2" by now. I guess it might be a while still.

Thanks for all the comments though. I'm always getting really strange and surprised looks when I tell people how old the babies are. Almost like I'm lying to them. :huh:

 

QUOTE(sharongl @ Jul 12 2008, 04:31 AM) [snapback]872779[/snapback]
First of all, infant seats go by weight AND/ OR height. So I would make sure they weren't past the height limit. My boys were out of infant seats at 4 months, because one was over 20 inches I mean 26", even though neither one was near the weight limit.



Just an FYI, the height limit is vague, because (as a general rule) the main concern is the head height against the back of the seat (child's head should not come within an inch of the top of the seat while rear facing). You could have two kids who were 29" and one (all torso) need to upgrade while the other (all legs) would still be safe in that seat. It is not a safety hazzard to have a child with long legs rear facing even if their legs are bent while in the seat. Of course, there may be specific restrictions based on various manufacturer's/models, but, as a general rule, a 1" buffer zone between top of head and top of seat is what's important.

Source: I got this information from the (certified) folks at the fire department who installed both our infant carriers and our rear-facing convertibles. However, you can find it echoed at car-safety.org as well.

 

Hmmm that's very interesting! Thanks for the link. Really, the boys are still tiny and fit the seats in every way.

I was just frustrated with all the "they are so small" comments I get. I realized that I'm starting to say it before anyone can get it out of their mouths, just to head them off. I don't know why they are so small. I feed them. They seem pretty contented (although they are teething). Maybe the Doc will help on Tuesday, when we go for that weight check.

Thanks for all the car seat info girls!

 

Yes, excellent point about the 1" buffer for the head! Very true.

Nini - I know it's frustrating. As long as they are staying on their growth curves and your Dr isn't concerned, I would try not to worry. Easier said than done, of course. Also, you CAN move them to convertibles before they outgrow the carriers, you know. They need to be rear-facing but they can be in most convertibles starting at 5lbs.

 

Nini, my oldest was always really small and still is today but he is growing fine according to my doctor and I think it's just that he is a little person. My twins are much bigger so really, it's all just genetics! I know it is hard and I used to worry a lot about John because all my friends' kids were much bigger than he! He was still wearing 12 month clothing at 24 months!!!! :icon_eek: Trust me when I say they will be little but ok. :good: :hug99:

 

I'm sure that gets hard for you! They are just petite! :hug99:

 

I wished my boys lasted longer in their infant bucket seats! I borrowed some 2 year old ones from a twin mom and they only went up to 26 inches. And Josh got that long pretty quick - 6=7 months I think! So I did have one in RF Marathon and one in infant seat for a few months until I could afford another Marathon. they technically did not outgrow them even though they were 27 inches or so until 9 months or so. As like the other poster said, I have short torsoed boys so their head was not beyond guidelines. HTH

OH I too cried when Ihad to give up my double SNG. I loved it!!!! but was still happy to be able to snap on carseat into the tandem stroller and put the other in the front. they fought much less....lol

 

It's funny that everyone mentions how much they loved their Double SNG. I never bought one, and I would have gotten so much use. I had a tandem duoglider from my first 2 boys, so I just used that. I didn't find the need to buy another stroller. Then I learned that they needed to be able to touch each other, so I bought a SBS. :lol:

Thank-you for all the encouragement. I finally got the courage to put them in the walkers room at church today. Of course everyone else looked HUGE compared to them. And that room is only for 13-23 month olds. But they held their own I guess. I was so concerned they would get plowed through.

 

my girls are 18 months old and tiny!! they are just 16 and 18 pounds! I switched them to convertible carseats because they sit up higher in them and can see around better! I bought Britax boulevard seats and the girls do much better in them!

 

It's been a blessing in disguise that they are still in the carriers. We have a minivan and the big boys needed to be seperated for their own good (getting into huge trouble all the time in the car, together). So we have one baby in the back with my 6 yr old and the other in a captains chair by my 8 yr old.

Heather- I see that you have older children. Do you mind me asking what kind of vehicle you drive? We've been waiting to even look until we absolutely have to. The minivan gets better gas mileage than the larger vehicles. But we already know that our little minivan isn't big enough. My older sons play hockey, and with all the equipement and a stroller it leaves no room for us. :lol: And once we loose the stroller, I know the little ones will have their own hockey bags.

I thought it would be way too hard to use a convertible car seat in the back rearfacing. It's already hard with the carrier. Once they are big enough to turn around the back with be more easily accesible.

Thank you girls for all your input.

 

the only reason I took mine out of the infant carriers at 6 months was because I could no longer physically carry them!! At 26 months DD is still just 23 lbs so I could have gotten more use out of the buckets...

oh and I second the clothes - at 26 months DD wears 12 month bottoms and 24 mo tops!

 

QUOTE(SweetpeaG @ Jul 12 2008, 08:35 PM) [snapback]873741[/snapback]
You could have two kids who were 29" and one (all torso) need to upgrade while the other (all legs) would still be safe in that seat.

This was our issue. Our boys are of the "all torso" variety, so we had to switch them out of their infant seats even before they were over the height limit, because their heads were too high in the seats. (BTW, to give you a picture of what I mean by "all torso".....the pants that fit them the best are girls capri pants.....meanwhile they have always had trouble wearing onesies because they are rarely long enough to actually get the crotch snaps done)

As for the 'they're so small' comments, I just wanted to add that there is such a wide range of 'normal' but everyone is prejudiced by their own experiences. For example, last week, we had a woman comment on how our twins were so small and they must have been born early yada yada yada. Well, our twins are actually just under 50%, not too small.....but this woman's 10 month old was a giant. So really our twins are average and hers was not, but to her, her baby was the 'right' size, so ours must be small. Does that make any sense? I guess the message is just to take all those comments with a grain of salt...most people don't have any idea what the heck they're talking about anyway!!

 

I thought I would paste my update here as well.

Ok.......Here I go, I'm completely in tears right now. I don't know what to do anymore. Jesse has completely stopped growing and Josh only gained 6 oz in 2 months. He grew slightly in length. I'm talking less than 1/2 in. I'm so very, very concerned!! I fought so hard to keep these little guys in me as long as possible to give them the best start to life. I could have lost them at 20 wks when I went into preterm labor. And again anytime in between, but God was good and I was able to keep them almost 14 more weeks. Why couldn't I hold on any longer??? They eat, they are still nursing. They can't take milk, soy, and who knows what else. So we are getting referrals to the nutritionist and allergist. We are holding off on the GI until we know if we can get them gaining with those Docs first. But honestly I'm really starting to get really concerned that they are failing to thrive....really and truthfully.

Jesse- 15 lbs 12 oz and Joshua- 16 lbs even

Joshua has gained 1 lb since he was 9 months old. And Jesse even less.

I just don't know why this is happening. My big boys were huge and continued that way for years.

 

Nini,
I'm really sorry for the worrisome growth report. Not to the same degree, but we are going through this with mandi. She actually fell on the growth chart at her 3yr check up. She gained 1lb between her 2yr and 3yr checks and not much height. We've been pumping Pediasure into her and trying to push her. We are supposed to go back in September for a recheck. If she hasn't made some leaps, they want to put us through the same testing and stuff you are facing.

I hope the specialists can help you guys. Your little men will be in my thoughts.

 

Ugh, so sorry you are going through this. My friend took her little girl to a dietitian (sp?) to see if he could make some suggestions on how to get her to gain weight. He was very helpful and gave them lots of good info, in there case there daughter was always snacking and never having a big meal or full bottle. It has been a long road for them but their daughter is now slowly gaining weight. Although the changes were helpful for them I do believe that genetically she is just meant to be a small girl and she is very healthy smart and active.

My nephew who is also on the small side was drinking pediasure and having protein powder put in his food........my sister didn't really notice much of a difference though.

Good luck

Erica