Moving out of infant car seat?

[Anonymous]

I am looking for some advice on switching car seats. My son is almost 5 months and is about 17lbs. 26 ½ inches. Whenever he spends a significant amount of time in his infant car seat he gets really fussy. He is easily overstimulated so I think part of it is just that we are out doing things, but I notice he spits up more and has more rattling and respiratory symptoms when he is in his car seat for a while. I think he would do better in a convertible car seat where he could sit up more and not be so scrunched up.

I was reluctant to switch seats because he takes many short naps throughout the day so he could just nap in his car seat while I was shopping or whatever. But lately he has been waking up whenever I get him out of the car anyway.

The only real problem is that he is still to small to sit in the shopping cart or the high chairs at restaurants. I have seen people using those cloth things in the shopping carts would that work for a baby his age? He sits up with his boppy and can sit on his own for about 30 sec. So he has pretty good upper body control, but he still needs a lot of support.

Sorry if this is kind of a weird post. I am just hopping some of you more experienced moms might have some tips to pass on.

[Anonymous]

I use the Floppy Seat for my babies and started at around 5 months with all of them. It has a strap that you loop around the back of the shopping cart and then tighten around the baby. For my babies I would put rolled up blankets on each side of them to help keep them upright until they were sitting up well enough on their own. *My babies always loved this transition from infant carseat in back of shopping cart to sitting up in the seat like a big kid!!

http://www.floppyseat.com You can also get something quite similar at http://www.onestepahead.com I don’t remember what they call theirs, though.

As for the convertible carseat, remember he should still be rear facing until he is at least 20 lbs.

Hope that helps! I’m glad you are getting out and about with your little guy. Myles just loves, loves, loves to go shopping and out on errands. With him being the third, he doesn’t get out nearly as much as his sisters did when they were babies, so for him it’s a big adventure!

[Anonymous]

Thanks Christine, I have seen people using the floppy seats but did not know what they were or where to get them. it looks like Babies R us has them, so now i have an excuse to go there Dh has tried to ban me from that store. I always find things that Sebastain just can’t live without.

Wow three kids under five. I can see why you are not getting out too much!

[Anonymous]

It’s a good thing we don’t have toys r us here! We only have walmart and k-mart and my kids still have more STUFF than they could possibly ever need. Before I had the third we went shopping probably three to four days a week. In fact, one of Ellie’s first full sentences was, “We go Walmart today, mommy?” What else is a SAHM supposed to do all day in a frigid state like ND?

The first one is so much fun!! I used to absolutely love the baby department. Have fun at toys r us with Sebastian and hope you find a floppy seat. They’re great for keeping his little hands and mouth away from all the germs on those shopping carts, too.

[Anonymous]

I can relate. I am in Michigan. It is finaly getting nice enough to get out for a walk everday. It was a long winter being stuck in the house with an unhappy baby

[Anonymous]

For the trips into the store, why not use a sling or some type of babywearing and for eating out maybe a Bumbo seat. The Bumbo seat sits them up and it can just sit right on a bench in a booth.

http://www.bumboseat.com/orderbumboseat.html
Janice2006-5-3 19:28:39

[Anonymous]

http://babyemporio.com/cartcovers/index.html

Check out this site & you can compare all the different types of covers. We do have the floppy seat, if I had to do it over again, I’d purchase one with a pillow. Emma still has some low-tone in her trunk area, so a pillow w/ the cover would help when she is tired & needs to lean on something.

With her low-tone, which was much worse early-on, I always wore her in a sling when we ran errands. Or, as I do now more often as she gets bigger, I use the stroller (you can squeeze A LOT into a basket or 2 at the stores!! LOL!).

We have the Bumbo & still use it. It is great! Emma didn’t like it much at first, because of the positioning (she sits forward), but loves it now & we take it to restaurants, etc. http://www.bumboseat.com/ or you can find it in LOTS of stores now.

[hellbennt]

sling & pouch, & when jonah got heavier, Mei tai for errands:

here’s ‘Babywearing Condensed‘

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4404&a mp;a mp;PN=1&TPN=1, so you see what all the terms are

[Anonymous]

I have a snugli which he loves, but it gets really uncomfortable on my back now that he is getting bigger. He is a very active baby and has to be facing out where he can see everything and kick and bounce. I could not even use the snugli until he was big enough to face out. At two months he would screem if he had to be facing in.

I know another mom just posted about the same problem. I would love to try different carries but they are too expensive to buy if they are not going to work. Any Idea?

I did see the bumbo seat at babies R us when I was getting the floppy seat. It looked pretty cool. I will see if they have any of ebay

[Anonymous]

Ok Laura, I checked out ALL the babywearing stuff. I am pretty much cross eyed now! I think Sebastian might do well in a hip carrier. He is almost 5 months and about 17 lbs. Is he big enough to be carried on the hip? I like the look of the ABC carries and the fact that they can be used in more then one position. but I am worried they may be too confining for him. How much freedom do they offer for arm and leg wiggling? I could only swaddle Sebastian for the first two weeks and then he hated it!

The wraps look cool, but I don’t know if I would be able to figure out how to do them or not.

I think babywearing would be a big help right not. Sebastian is still pretty needy and he is so wiggle and getting heavier every day I don’t know how much more my arms can take.

[hellbennt]

he’s big enough to be carried on your hip and on your back…where do you live? maybe you can meet up with some folks who have various carriers who live near you…

[Anonymous]

That would be great!! I live in Grand Blanc MI, about an hour north of Detroit. It is not a very “progresive” area so I wont hold my breath but it would be great if there was someone near by.

Also my sister lives in Ann Arbor (a much better chance of finding someone there I’m guessing) so I could always hook up with someone there when I am visiting her.

[Anonymous]

Katey,

My 5 month old child hated being in a sling and sometimes tolerated being outward facing in a baby bjorn. I got a mei tai to use, thinking I would put him on my hip or on my back. The hip hold worked very well and he liked it. However, he is in somesort of hair-pulling stage right now. . .so even though he likes being on my back, unless I want to be bald back there I don’t do it. Interestingly enough, I recently went to the grocery store and decided to use my mei tai with him facing in on my front. I was ready for the tantrum, but it never came. He looked all around , moved his hands and legs a lot, and eventually turned in and fell asleep. I now almost always strap him on my front, facing in, which I never thought he would do. I always roll up the bottom of my carrier a few times to make the body of it smaller. This way he can see out the top well and his arms are totally free.

So in sum, I have had a very positive experience with the mei tai, plus it is super comfortable. I went to a babywearing website and was able to find a gal in a nearby town who let me try on all her different slings/carriers and showed me different holds/positions for each. This was very helpful. I hope you can find someone near you.

Ruby

Henry, 5 months old, reflux, MSPI

7.5 mg prevacid 2x a day

[hellbennt]

I just sent a PM (Private Message) to posters over at TBW…

http://www.wearyourbaby.com/Default.aspx?tabid=87#Michigan

http://www.michiganmommas.com/

MICHIGAN

Detroit

MotorCity Babywearers meets the first Wednesday of each month. Email cbmr777@gmail.com or check out the MotorCity Babywearers Website for more information.

hellbennt2006-5-5 19:28:37

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