Need help choosing a carseat

[janetplanet20]

I want a Graco snugride, but I can't decide between the 22 or the 35. The 22 is about $45 less than the 35 (on Amazon) and has a higher weight limit, but from what I've read, babies usually outgrow the height restrictions before they outgrow the weight limits.

I am so confused on which one to get. What do you guys think?

[6fsn]

You won't want to lug 35 lbs in a carseat so the carrier feature will be useless. I'd say put the $45 to a better convertible down the road. For reference my 21 month old is 22 lbs. My 4 yo is 39. Granted they are on the small side, but still.

[arch01]

We got the 22. I saw no need to get the 35-there was no way in hell I was carrying around a baby that weighed that much+the car seat.

We stopped using the infant seat right at 6 months. He was 16lbs. That was enough for me. We had no issues with him outgrowing the height first.

ETA: DS turned 1 yesterday and is right at 22lbs. He has been in the 50-60th percentile for height and weight since 2 months.

[speckledfrog]

It really depends on what you want. From reading the other carseat thread it sounds like a lot of ladies would prefer the 22. That's about how big DS was (21.5 lbs) when I moved him out at 9 months due to his height. He is 60% for weight and 73% for height at 29 inches. I kept him in as long as I could and would have kept him in longer if possible. It's true that you have to stop hauling them in and out while they are in their seat because they get so heavy, but I loved the convenience of having the option of popping his seat into a shopping cart if I was running errands and he fell asleep. It's definitely more difficult now that he's in a convertible. I would go with the 35.

[CloudBee]

I would opt for the 22.

[MamaMaui24]

22

[dcrunnergirl]

22

[Deleted]

22

[Becca]

Team 22

(my 4 yo doesn't weigh 35 lbs yet)

[janetplanet20]

Thanks for your thoughts, looks like the 22 is the one to get!

[jena]

I've only ever had 22 lb limit seats, and don't regret it, but while dd1 was 21lb at 1yo, ds was 21 lb at 6mo. This wasn't a problem for me as my kids were unhappy in the infant seat and I moved them to convertibles by 6mo, but just be aware that it might be a necessity get a new seat in 6mo.

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using proboards

[whitepicketfence]

I'd go with the 22.

FWIW, we had the SnugRide 32 for our kids since it came with our travel system. We only kept DD1 in it until 7-8 months and DD2 in it until around 11 months. Neither one of them ever even came close to hitting the weight or the height limit. For reference, my 16 month old is 20 lbs and my 3 year old is 26 lbs.

[Deleted]

Save the $$ and get the 22. We had a Chicco KeyFit 30 and there is NO WAY I could have lugged him around in it if he weighed 30 pounds. He got too heavy when he was 6 months old and 20 pounds. He's 26 pounds now at 10 months old, he's 99th percentile for weight.

[Deleted]

35 is great if you travel - I've lent my 35 to people going to Jamaica, Mexico, and Thailand. Taking a convertible overseas blows if you can get away with an infant.

[londoncalling]

Just make sure that the 22 you buy has the front adjuster. The rear adjust is so difficult and in not sure why Graco still makes them.

[Becca]

Dec 23, 2012 18:44:23 GMT -5 londoncalling said:

Just make sure that the 22 you buy has the front adjuster. The rear adjust is so difficult and in not sure why Graco still makes them.

They still make those?!?! Ewww!

[Tea-rific]

We just switched DS into a convertible in DH's car.

He is 10 months and weighs 21lbs.

I would go for the 22!

[vanillacourage]

I will be the line dissenter and say that I wish we'd gotten the higher-weight seat, only because my second son was big (moved out of the infant seat at 5 mo/22 lbs) and it sort of upset our timeline of when we would get new seats for my older son. DS1 was not ready for a booster, but DS2 needed his convertible. It would have been worth a little bit of extra $ to have longer in the infant seat - we would have left it stationary in the car like a convertible once he was over 25-ish lbs. So, think about what your long-term family plans are in making the call on which seat to get.

[janetplanet20]

Dec 23, 2012 18:44:23 GMT -5 londoncalling said:

Just make sure that the 22 you buy has the front adjuster. The rear adjust is so difficult and in not sure why Graco still makes them.

Oh, thanks for the tip! I will make sure to choose one with the front adjustors. I'm all for ease of use.

[janetplanet20]

Dec 23, 2012 20:18:54 GMT -5 vanillacourage said:

I will be the line dissenter and say that I wish we'd gotten the higher-weight seat, only because my second son was big (moved out of the infant seat at 5 mo/22 lbs) and it sort of upset our timeline of when we would get new seats for my older son. DS1 was not ready for a booster, but DS2 needed his convertible. It would have been worth a little bit of extra $ to have longer in the infant seat - we would have left it stationary in the car like a convertible once he was over 25-ish lbs. So, think about what your long-term family plans are in making the call on which seat to get.

Thanks for the thought. Ideally I'd like to have a 2nd kid, but this one was a surprise after years of IF struggles, so who knows what will happen.

[bugandbibs]

We had the 32 and loved it!

We mostly used a snap-n-go, so the extra weight wasn't an issue. She fit in it until 13 months and it was a sad day when I packed it up. DD2 loved to sleep in the car, but if you take her out of the seat she wakes up. Being able to just put her whole seat in the SnG made running errands a thousand times easier.

[cosmowife]

I think my Britax went to 30 lbs. I know that I kept DS in the seat until about 13 months. You don't have to carry the kid around in the bucket seat, but at least you still have that option if really necessary. I wouldn't get an infant seat that I only planned on using for 6 months - they are
still tiny babies at that point!