Can anyone help me choose a baby car seat?
We’re about to have our first child. We don’t have a car but we live in a city and will need to travel by taxi once in a while. This means we need to get a car seat for the baby. We would prefer a seat that is strapped in the car just using the seat belt – don’t want one that needs a base as we’ll only have to store the base in our apartment. Can anyone recommend a car seat like this? It would also be good if the car seat could be used in a stroller frame as our ‘everyday’ stroller. Any advise would be much appreciated.
15 Responses
laceyluedwards
16 Jul 2010
Doodlestuff
16 Jul 2010
I think most of the infant seats that set in a base should do this. Check for instructions on the box. Graco Snugride is an example that for sure works for this.
BeThAnY
16 Jul 2010
All of the carseats now come with a base because they make the seat sit right on the seat of your car. You can buy one and if you don’t want to use the base, sell the base on ebay, but I think that the seat is safer with the base. The Graco Snugride is one of the safest and you can use with a Graco stroller. The Britax infant seat is a great seat but is about $200 for the car seat alone.
cris
16 Jul 2010
Go ahead and by a travel system, almost all car seats now come with the base, but also have the slots to be used with a seat belt with out the base. I like the graco literider, it is a compact system, great for what you need. And it is as cute as can be, its winnie the pooh.
And don’t worry about not using the base, it isn’t going to fit good in the back of a taxi with it, unless your in a minivan. (we own a cab company)
hhh
16 Jul 2010
You can strap any of the carrier car seats into with just using the seat beat without the base, but most car seats come with the base anyway. Thoses stroller frames are pretty much univeral and any car seat will slip right in.
sara432134
16 Jul 2010
try walmart, all seats come with bases
heartlostangel
16 Jul 2010
Well, unless you want a stroller that you can use later, you’ll have to get the frame and see which brand of infant car seats will fit in it. If you want a stroller for later use, I reccommend the Graco travel system. Hehe, you could always send me the base that goes with it, mine got repoed along with my car, lol. The car seat can be used without the base, which is not the case with all evenflo seats, and snaps right into the stroller too. Plus you have the extra basket below and the two visors can completely enclose your infant in case of bad weather, with a see through window so you can see baby and vice versa. When your baby gets older and sits up unassisted, s/he will want to sit up so s/he can look around more, which is where the stroller alone comes in handy as well 
Good luck!
BraxOwl
16 Jul 2010
I highly recommend the Graco SafeSeat. We are expecting our third child, and this is the seat we decided to go with after much review. Graco has a frame that their infant seats fit into, which would be perfect for your living situation. The frame (it is similar to the Snap & Go, but less expensive) easily folds down to nothing. It also has a basket for storage.
Most infant carseats do come with a base, but all of them (that I know of) have the option to use them without the base. I know that the Safe Seat is one that does.
Check out http://www.GracoBaby.com for more information about their products.
Congratulations on the impending birth of your first child! How exciting!
EDITED TO ADD: Here are direct links to the Safe Seat and the frame stroller I am referring to, on the Graco Baby site:
http://www.gracobaby.com/products/subcategory.asp?N=41+10417+108&act=A20
http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/product.aspx?modelNumber=6001BCL1&CategoryID=2
mystic_eye_cda
16 Jul 2010
I would get the Graco Safety seat for one reason only: its upper weight is 30lbs and almost all other infant carriers are only approved for 20lbs.
You will get a lot more use out of the safety seat, and the infant seats are much easier to install then the convertible seats. If you get a standard infant seat there is a fair chance you will need to replace the infant seat long before your child is one year. (My son was 20lbs at 4 months). If your baby is older than 1 year when they outgrow their infant seat you could conceivably then use the built-in carseats that some vans have -I presume some taxis have them.
The graco carseats fit graco strollers, and probably most other strollers. As for the really small sort of wire frames that hold infant seats I am sure they are compatible.
Yarro Pilz
16 Jul 2010
I’m going to contradict all the other people who have posted here, and I hope you’ll hear me out.
"Travel systems" are NOT ideal for everyone. Do you have to walk up and down stairs to get to where you live? How much storage space do you have? How much do you plan on using your stroller? (i.e. will you use it all day long every day, both to get places and to do errands? or do you need it just to do the grocery shopping or to walk a mall?) Do you use a lot of public transportation besides taxis? How heavy of a stroller are you willing to deal with? What’s the pavement like where you live? (i.e. lots of curbs, cobblestones, or broken pavement to negotiate?) The climate? (i.e. do you deal with snow?) What else do you like to do? Do you anticipate any off-road use?
I ask all this because most of the travel systems (the Graco MetroLite, which is one of the smallest, included) are very big and bulky and heavy. They are definitely NOT ideal for public transportation or for hauling up and down stairs all the time. I also don’t think that they steer very well, and they can be tough to maneuver through crowds or narrow aisles. They are awful in snow, and horrible on cobblestones or rough pavement.
Most strollers now come with adapters that allow you to use just about any infant seat on them.
So pick the infant seat that fits your budget and your comfort level (check Consumer Reports), and then shop for a stroller that meets your specific needs. Infant seats come with bases, but they can almost all be used without the base. So you can just toss it if you don’t need it.
An infant seat is only useful for 4-6 months, but a stroller is good for years and years. Definitely put some thought into its purchase! If you’re not ready to do that, get a Snap’n'Go to use for the first months, and then get your real everyday stroller after you’ve stopped using the infant seat. (Almost every infant seat will work with the Snap’n'Go.)
Also, I don’t recommend the Safe Seat. By the time your baby weighs 20 pounds, infant seats are heavy and hard to deal with. You most certainly won’t want to haul a baby that big around in an infant seat over long distances. 30 pounds is just unthinkable! And the solution you propose means that you’ll have to use the car seat all the time.
I recommend joining Yahoo!’s StrollerSwap group, and posting your question there. The moms on that board know EVERYTHING about strollers. They’ve road tested everything on the market, world-wide, and they can make recommendations that fit YOUR life. And you might be able to score the perfect stroller for you for a lot less than retail price. They will also be able to recommend a car seat.
Don’t just walk the aisles at Babies’R'Us!
If *I* won the lottery and was in the market for a car seat and stroller again, I’d definitely check out the Orbit! But I got a Phil&Ted’s E3 with a doubles kit when my second child was born (for about half price through StrollerSwap), and it was a great purchase. (And it works with a SnugRide car seat.)
Good luck.
headermarie
16 Jul 2010
We got the graco safe seat in the roxy style for a shower gift. It does not "come" pre-packaged as a travel system, however there is a stroller that goes with it. Our son is 9 months old and I strap him in the without the base when I travel in a relatives car and he is so snug. Just be sure that you get the seat tight so god forbid you do get into a collision, baby will be safe and sound!
L A
16 Jul 2010
I highly recommend the Graco SafeSeat – it is an infant "bucket" style seat, with a weight limit of 30 lbs.
It is WONDERFUL.
It does come with a base (I think all infant seats do), but can be installed with a seatbelt also.
hellox
16 Jul 2010
I got a car seat that can be used from birth til bub needs a booster, i dont think that there are car seats that just use the seat belt, its not that safe.
Not sure about the stroller conversion.
I have a SafeNSound seat, costs 500 australian dollars.
Best bet would be to go to your local baby store and ask them.
Tina
16 Jul 2010
I currently have a Graco car seat for my daughter……….it has a base but can be strapped into a car without it……….it also has a stroller that it attaches to as well!
Big Ed
16 Jul 2010
Graco Metrolite system, great, light, safe, highly rated, easy to clean, can be used w/or w/o the base and fits on almost anything.
used for two kids
you’ll never use it as much as you think you will, don’t overspend
I love my Graco Heirloom car seat (the black and cream one)and matching stroller (sold separately) It will hold them up to 30 lbs. My husband has a base for the seat in his car so we can just move her from one car to the other without moving her from seat to seat. 5 stars in my book!!!