My twins are 9 1/2months old. My son weighs 19lbs, & is 31inches tall & my daughter weighs allmost 17lbs and is 28inches tall. When should I stop using the baby carrier and start using the regular car seat? Both of their feet do hang out of the carriers. Their heads are close to the top but not yet poking out. My daughter sits great, my son isnt as steady sitting up by himself, he usually does a face plant after a few minutes of being upright and not completely supported. Iam tired of lugging baby carriers but Im not sure about what to do when I go to the store & need to use a shopping cart. Any ideas????
*Edit* Both carseats were checked by the fire dept W/kids in them a few weeks ago. The infant carriers have a weight limit of 30lbs. I guess Im looking for more of an age to transition them. The regular carseats will be installed rear facing when we do start using them
I stopped when my daughter was 3 months old and my son was 4 months old. Once their feet are hanging over the edge, you are not supposed to use them anymore.
A-Teams Mommy,
I have always been told by my pediatrician that when the head is getting very close to the top to stop using the infact carrier and start using a regular car seat. My second baby started using a regular car seat at 10 months. I hope that this helps!
I. K.
Each car seat has it's own height and weight parameters. You need to check those!
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WEight wise they are fine, but length wise they probably need to be moved soon. You will need a convertible car seat to keep rear facing as long as possible.
As for the lugging carriers, you can get a wrap or a carrier like a Bjorn, ergo, or Baboa. So your daughter that sits can be in the cart and your son can be worn on you. :D
We had to switch when the straps became too short to buckle her in. My daughter was long and lean and she outgrew the straps long before she reached the weight limit.
They must stay rear facing by law until they are one, but it is better to keep them rear facing as long as possible, even if their legs are a little cramped.
You can switch to a rear facing convertible seat at any point, but be warned, those seats are pretty much permanently installed in your car and you no longer have the convenience of carrying a sleeping baby inside.
I never used the carrier much to carry my daughter around, but though that is was very convenient that I could strap her in and take her out in the house instead of buckling her in the car....
Good luck.
You can switch them to the rear facing convertibles any time now - you don't have to wait until they max out the height or weight limits, and they can stay in the infant seats as long as they're within the weight limits and there's at least 1" of hard plastic shell above their heads (this link has a lot of helpful info on how to measure the 1" as well as a good overall summary/review of child safety seat usage:
http://carseatblog.com/9416/confused-about-the-new-aap-ca...)
For the first few months after my twins outgrew their infant carriers, I still used them as "lounge chairs" and "shuttles" - we had no off-street parking and about 10 steps down the front porch to the sidewalk, so for a while I still carried them down to the car in their infant seats and then buckled them one at a time into their convertible seats, and when they got to be too big for me to carry both at once, I'd have one sitting in the infant seat by the front door while I carried one down, buckled her in, and ran back up for the second one (I never got the hang of babywearing but I know many other twin moms will use some sort of babywearing wrap/sling to bring their babies to the car)
For shopping - I used to use my Maclaren double side-by-side stroller and hang a hand-carry basket over two of the handles as well as numerous canvas shopping bags for carrying lighter weight stuff to the checkout. A number of twin moms I know also swear by the Graco DuoRider side-by-side as a great "grocery shopping" stroller b/c it has huge storage baskets
I would check the height requirements as well on the specific seats.
I wouldn't worry so much about what age is appropriate to transition them but more on what is safest for them. They need to be in a seat that fits them properly.
Both of my boys were very large babies. They each outgrew their infant carriers at about 4 months old. I went ahead and got the convertible seats and installed them rear facing. They were so young that they couldn't sit up yet so we did have issues at places with shopping carts, etc. I would either put them in a stroller or bring in a big blanket and tuck it around them in the shopping cart to help support them and hold them up. I also still carried my infant seat in the back of my car. I would have them in the convertable seat when I was driving and then when we were going into somewhere that they would need a seat in I would grab the infant seat out of the back and put them in it. Not the most convienent but at least they were safe while I was driving and then I had a place to put them while we were at a store or restaurant.
Please, please, please go to a seat inspection site with your kids, your seats and your car! Find O. near you at:
www.seatcheck.org
You don't say what kind of seat you have but the max length for our snugride is 29 inches. Your son may already be too big for his seat. If your daughter can sit in a cart just fine you could get a carrier to put your son in and make shopping easier. How are you going to sit both of them in a cart anyway?
If you are interested in a carrier there are lots of options, but I highly recommend the ergo (it can be used front or back). I have one and love it. I can still carry around my 30 lb 2 year old without back pain.
Keep them in for as long as it is safe. We had to transition our twins out at six months because they both were over 29 inches, which was the max for our carriers. I missed the days where I could get them ready and strapped in while inside. I see that you know the weight limit. Do yours have a height limit? Check that, too, since they are 31 and 28 inches. They might already be exceeding the height limit.
I go by size rather than age. Your son may be out of his first since he's taller. My daughter is 20 months and she still fits in her carrier. Although we just use it for a back up in my parents and I put a convertible rearfacing in my car a month or 2 ago. I think my infant seat says an inch between top of head and top of seat.
I doesn't look like anyone has given ideas about going out on trips without the carrier. Experiment with the cloth baby carriers to find something that works. Carriers like slings or wraps can be used for awhile. From my experience the wrap is more comfortable for me. (There's even a twin carry with the wrap, but your kids are prob. too big.) So you'd prob. carry your son and put your daughter in the shopping cart since she sits well.
Feet hanging over,height reaches the top of the seat,unable to carry them with ease,I transeferred my kids before they were 10 months old to a rear facing car seat had to stop using the infant carrier to much of a strain on moms back.
It really goes mostly by size. Check your specific seat but I have never seen any that have weight limits under 20 lbs but you need to check height too. You may be able to wait a little longer until your son is sitting better. When you shop keep in mind the new recommendation is to keep kids rear facing until age 2. You can probably find lots of info on this site by looking at past car seat questions.
Usually when their head is about an inch below the edge of the car seat headrest.
I got my son's car seat (Proper toddler seat) when he turned 18 months as he is a big boy.. it depends on the size of your child. You could check with your fire dept also, they can tell you.
good luck
