Recommendation for Infant Car Seat and "Snap N' Go" System

I LOVED the graco snugride infant seat travel system. The snugride was the only infant seat to get the highest rating in a consumer safety test at higher speeds and on side impacts. My son loved it and I am still using the stroller from the set (my son is 2 and a half). I haven't known anyone to use the snap n' go, so I can't say anything towards or against it, but everyone I've know loved their travel system. Congrats on the baby!!

Hey there! First of all congrats...you are almost there. Hang on! :-) My daughter came a month early and we didn't even have a car seat yet for her so while I was in the hospial, my boyfriend's mother and my boyfriend had to go shopping for one. Our main concern was safety (of course) and convience. We got a Graco Infant Safe Seat (check out the link here: http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/product.aspx?modelNumber.... It is excellent and is a snap and go seat AND there's a stroller you can buy to go with it and the car seat snaps right into the stroller. The snap and go is more of a conveinent thing for parents and as long as it is installed correctly (most of them have the LATCH system on them now, too which are straps with hooks on the end of them that if you have a newer car...usually have the places available in the back seat to hook them into which are welded into the FRAME of the car and won't go anywhere). I liked the snap and go idea because it is certainly better than reaching in and over the baby and running yet another strap overtop of them to strap them in. Plus, like I said, the car seat also snaps into the stroller, too which was awesome, too. The other good thing about the car seat is that most of them are rated to only 20 pounds but this one was rated to 30 pounds which means a bit more use out of it. We didn't make it up to 30 pounds with my daughter because she got too tall to be turned around with her feet facing the rear (of course she was of age to be in a forward facing seat anyways). If you have any other questions about this system, please feel free to E-Mail me at ____@____.com this helps. I'd recommend this one definitely. My boyfriend did well. :-) Good Luck!

I had a snap and go and a graco snugride. I liked the snap and go b/c it wasn't heavy. Also I didn't intend on using a big stroller when we went out when she didn't fit in her infant seat any longer. I don't regret my decision. Snugrides are also very higly rated, come in a lot of different colors (which seems petty but hey, we all want cute baby gear) and is very easy to adjust.

I love our Chicco travel system. Very high safety ratings, easy to install in our cars, more affordable than other high-end strollers, lightweight compared to most travel systems and modern colors to pick from. I have heard that the travel systems are only used for the first few months and then your baby can transition to more of an umbrella stroller so you definitely should consider the snap & go system to save $. However, we love our Chicco and would probably do a travel system again. Have you taken a look at the book Baby Bargains? Great resource for new moms!!

I've asked lots of moms and checked out consumer reports. It sounds like Graco's snap n go is the way to go for infants. You'd have to buy another car seat and another stroller after the baby is about 25 pounds or so, but the infant snap in frame is cheap, so it's not too much. The Graco frame is really light, so it's easy to transport and it's easy to snap in and out. That's the news I heard. We just registered for it ourselves. GOOD LUCK!

Pros of the Snap n Go- It's lightweight, easy to get in and out of the car, easily transports an infant car seat, has s big basket.

Cons- can only be used with an infant carseat. if your baby is a chubster like mine, he/she will outgrow both of these items pretty quickly.

Travel Systems are BULKY! But you will have the stroller to use later on if you like having a bulky stroller. I sold my travel system with my first son. And got a Combi stroller and a convertible carseat when he hit 9 months. He was tiny. Now with my new little boy being only 2 months old, he's almost grown out of his infant carseat.

I'll be selling my combo in Feb. When are you due? I have a Graco Snugride carseat in "Darius" and the Graco Snugrider (Snap n Go). Selling together for $100. My son will be only 4 months old at the time. Originally paid $99 for the carseat and $60 for the Snap n Go.

I loved the graco snugride car seat and stroller combo. I still use the stroller constantly with my 16 mo old and don't see giving it up any time soon!

Hi A.,

My daughter is now 4 months old and I have a Graco travel system as well as a Britax car seat. There are definitely pros and cons to both. If you want the travel system definitely go with Graco for they have the best crash test ratings. The problem I had with the travel system carrier is that you cannot adjust the angle very well and my daughter constantly brought her head forward while riding which was a huge worry for me especially since I am a therapist. She also had less room in the carrier and I felt that she got uncomfortable. They also get heavy after a while and your baby may or may not remain asleep while putting the carrier in or taking out of the car. So after quite a bit of research I bought the Britax. I absolutely love it! I believe it is definitely worth the money. She has more room in it, she is more comfortable and she doesn't bring her head forward. The only bad thing right now is that I have to keep the carrier in the back to use with the stroller when going places until she gets a bit older. But I am pleased with the Britax.

The Graco Snug Ride worked great for us with our first.

I am a fan of the travel systems, specifically Graco. Graco is my #1 choice for baby gear. I am pregnant and registered for a Graco Quattro travel system. The car seat that comes with it can be used with a baby up to 30 pounds, unlike the 22 pounds the others max out at. Since most babies exceed that 22 pound mark before their first b-day you then have the added expense of another car seat that can be rear facing, as they must remain rear facing until the 1st bday and 20 pounds.

The snap n go is nice is you don't have room for a larger stroller and if you intend to keep your child in the carrier. But, once they get to be a couple months old babies love to be able to sit in a stroller and be able to watch everything. The snap n go strollers don't really have the nicer features of the full size strollers - large basket, cup holders and parent trays (at least not as nice as the others).

With either stroller you can take the carrier right out of the car and sit it in the stroller so not to disturb a sleeping baby.

I highly recommend the Kolcraft Universal Car Seat Carrier. This is a light, flat-when-folded frame for the bucket car seat. Perfect for preventing carpal tunnel from carrying the bucket around… this is easy to use and smaller than a travel system. The basket is huge too! I don't think the travel systems are that great. Too heavy and bulky, and the toddler strollers aren't that great for a lot of use. I prefer the Maclaren Techno XT for after the baby outgrows the Kolcraft Universal stroller.

I researched quite a bit for my first baby this year and decided on the combi connection carseat/stroller-- they have a ton of different selections. go to their website and check them out. i really like mine. the carseat itself is heavy to carry, but i think all of them are. i love how it just snaps into the stroller. also it's one of the only ones i found that wasn't a cheesy print. i remember it is rated great safety wise too. GOOD LUCK!! i didn't like the snap and go idea because you can't use it as a stroller later on...

I have always loved the Graco snugride/safeseat infant car seats. We used it with our first daughter and just bought another snugride since we are expecting twins in April. As a matter of fact, we also bought a double snap-n-go. I had heard rave reviews from friends about how easy, compact etc. it is. When you are running errands, it is quick and easy. The travel systems are nice, but definately bulkier. The pro to the travel system is it will grow with them until they are toddlers. The snap-n-go maxes out at 10 months or so or when you baby outgrows the infant seat at 1 year. You'd have to double check. I'm doing the snap-n-go when they are infants and then transitioning them to an umbrella stoller-maybe a maclaren lightweight when they are older. So that's my advice. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

Hello,
We had the Graco SnugRide carseat which was pretty highly rated and loved it! I had the Graco Stroller that went with it but it also fits into the snap'n'go frame. We liked the travel system because we still use the Graco stoller even though my daughter hasn't been in her infant seat since last summer. A lot of my friends really liked the convenience of the snap'n'go but I never saw the need for it. We loved our Graco travel system and now that she is in her "big girl" Britax convertible seat we simply use the Graco stroller as our main stroller.
Best of luck with the end of your pregnancy and delivery and enjoy mommyhood!
~S.

the snap & go is nice b/c if your baby falls asleep in the car you dont have to disturb them by taking them out of the car seat & putting them into another stroller. my husband & i had one of the large strollers that grows with your child [lays back so they can lay down, can put the car seat in it, etc] and we never used it. we use it now, around the neighborhood but we have never taken it with us anywhere. we use an umbrella stroller alllll the time though. but when our daughter was young we had the frame of a stroller that your car seat fits into. that wasn't so bad b/c it was relatively lightweight. also, the graco snugride is the best carseat that i know of. we used it & we loved it. happy hunting!