Outgrowing infant car seat

So DS is getting to be a big boy at 6 months he was 18 lbs. DD was only 14. So he doesn't fit his infant seat with his winter coat on. It says 30 lbs and 30 inches!!! Yeah right! But he is very broad. So what did oid everyone do? I don't know how I'm going to get them in to our apartment!! We live on the basement level and we have to park in a parkinglot! I now carry both car seats at the same time to the door and down to our apartment.... Any tips for how I can carry the babies in? I am also worried about when it starts to get icey! My husband said I may have to carry one in at a time when he's not with me. Plus any recommendations for the next car seat to get?
Thanks in advance!

 

First, maybe ditch the winter coat. It actually isn't recommended that they wear winter coats, especially bulky ones as you are essentially buckling in the coat, and not the baby. Something I did not know prior to these forums! So-to keep them warm-dress them warmly-onesie, shirt/sweater/sweatshirt. Then grab some blankets to cover them up with.

As for up and down stairs, two babies, I would get a carrier of some sort-like the Baby Bjorn or something similar. Put one in the bjorn or something similar, and then carry one baby in the seat. As for icy conditions-is there a way you could keep sand/salt in the car, or is it provided in the garage and are you able to be near the car and sand/salt the walkway(assuming the apartment complex doesn't-but I imagine they should be liable to)?

I was right next to the door, so I didn't have a problem with carrying them in/out of the house. Or you could always leave their bucket seats in the car and bring them in/out on your hip.

As for their next seat-we got the Graco Nautilus-but that's only good for forward facing-so 20 lbs and one year. We got another Graco one that was in-between. If I were you, I would look for a seat that can be rear facing and forward facing convertible up to 100 lbs. Who knows if anything like that is on the market, but I know since the four years I've had my boys, there have been a lot of changes!

 

I agreed with pp, no coat, jackets in carseats. you should get rid of the coats, adjust all the straps. Your son should still fit in it.

And for coats, we never had coats in the first yr. your kids might not be fully protected if they wear thick coats/jackets when something happen. I usually dress them in sweaters. When I carried them outside, I use thick blankets to keep them warm. And we always have 2 more blankets in the car for them.

As for transferring them from house to car, warm up your car, get ready for the kids, carry the first one out then the second. I would lock the car when you come back in get the second baby. Also I would transfer them in the carseats. That keeps them warm and safe.

For the convertible carseats, we have a set of Britax marathon 70 (believe they can rear facing up to 40lbs, front facing up to 70lbs) and a set of evenflo symphony all in one ( fit kids up to 100lbs). However I strongly suggest to keep hem in infant carseats this winter time. It's more convenient for you and safer for them. Good luck!

 

I also agree with the no winter coat thing. I put Easton on one of those blanket like sleep sacks (over his clothes) that is not as thick a jacket and cover him with a blanket - I also have winter car seat cover that goes over the car seat but he hates it so I took it off. as for carrying them in the house, I always just carried both babies in and then ran out to get anything else.

 

Like pp, I would suggest getting rid of the heavy winter coat. I used (and still do) one of those Land's End fleece things that is lightweight but very warm, and then put a blanket over them. But my boys were out of their infant seat at 7 months - DS1 had to come out, so I went ahead and switched both of them, and it definitely made it harder getting them to the car, but I learned to manage.

 

My kids outgrew the infant carriers at 7 months - length wise but I kept them in those at least another month or two because I wasn't emotionally ready to give up the double snap and go. I think as long as the head stays under the line - so 1 inch under the top rim, you can still have them in those carriers, but the legs may look like a pretzel . It would be so more convenient for you to keep them in the carriers during winter. I never used heavy coats in the car either, as everyone said, it's not safe, plus it gets hot in the car anyway. The only time we used the heavy bountings was when we took rides in the stroller and it was REALLY cold.

 

Now that you guys mention it, back long ago when I was preggo i do remember coming across the fact that they aren't supposed to be in heavy coats in their car seats. So I have lots of jackets and tons of blankets But our apartment is pretty good at salting but it always seems I come home when the weather starts ( it scared me to death when I was preggo that I was gonna fall) I am super clumsy! i am thinking if it happens I just might have to do one at a time and have them in the car seat I thought the same it would protect them if we fall.
And thanks for the recommendations for seats, I guess its time to atleast start looking at them.
Thanks guys!!

 

Ditch the winter coat. We have (my twins are still in their carriers)Bundle Me's. They are about 45$ but so worth the money. They are a 2 piece blanket type thing. the 1 pieces are connected with a zipper. one part lays in the carseat and has holes in it to fit the seatbelts. The top part goes over the baby and then it zips up. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009VE5O/?tag=mytwins02-20

 

We used Bundle Me's too. For the apartment stuff I did both if it wasn't icy, 1 at a time if it was. Living in an apt. with two LOs is tough!

 

We just switched out of the infant seats, and I have the same worries that you do -- we live on the third floor, and I don't think I can lock my car with it running, so I'm super nervous leaving one in the car as I have to open the garage door if the car is going to be running and the garage opens on to an alley (we live in Chicago). I haven't had to do it yet since we ditched the infant carriers so I don't know exactly what the heck I'm going to do if I have to. We went with the Britax Marathon, BTW.

 

I carry both of mine (10.5months). I use a baby hawk buckle carrier on the back and the beco gemini on the front. It takes a couple min to get all hooked up but amazingly really balanced. See if there is a baby wearing group in your area or a store where you can go and try on carriers and see how it feels. Definitely not a solution forever, but maybe at least until they are walking.

 

We also lived in an apartment and even after moving to our house we have to find parking on the street, usually within a 5 minute walking radius. That is hard with two little ones. I never left one alone in the car or apartment and I kept them in the infant car seats for as long as possible. Luckily, mine were toddling by the time they outgrew the infant seats.

On icy days or once they grew too heavy I would carry one a little way and put the seat down and then carry the other a little way; because it took longer to get them to the car this way I always had an additional warm blanket over the whole carrier in winter and then took that off in the car, leaving a baby in many layers (no coat, but a thin fleece suit as the top layer) plus a blanket tucked over the fastened seatbelt. I agree with PPs, the alternative to the infant car seats are baby carriers or wraps or slings; I figured out how to use a long (!) wrap and tie it so that I could have both babies in the hip carry position, one on each side - perfect for short distances. However, I will say that I did not like carrying them in the wrap or two carriers in icy conditions, it changes your balance quite a bit and falling with two babies was my personal nightmare.

 

I live in upstate New york where it snows and ices all the time, and my boys are now in the convertable car seats since 7 months because at 7 months there wer 30 inches, 23 lbs a piece, with no winter gear on. I have to get them out of the car a lot by myself because my hubby works out of town and you can only do the best you can do. Granted my car is parked right outside my house. I take one out put him inside the play pen which is next to the front door in my living room, than grab the 2nd. You can only do so much. I learned to stop stressing so much. And just be careful with ice. Salt as much as you can even if it means doing some of the sidewalks. I salt before I walk out of the house and before i get in the house after work.