Back to the Drawing Board July 26, 2008
Posted by Dad in Baby Gear.Tags: car seat, peg perego, stroller
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After we found out we were having a little girl, we headed over to on of the Baby Stores (not to be confused with Baby Place, which is where Baby’s comes from 
). The thought was to buy something pink. While we were there, we decided to take the information we received while on vacation about the non-compatibility of Britax car sats with Maclaren strollers. We have some pretty straight-forward requirements.
- Car seat can’t be ugly
- Needs to fit in the MINI
- LATCH system compliant
- Have side-impact protection
- Work with a stroller
So we have gone away from the idea of buying just the Maclaren XLR and back to the idea of buying a more heavy duty stroller and, possibly an umbrella stroller, if needed. It seems like the Peg Perego infant car seat and Skate stroller perform those features.
So why didn’t we decide to go with the Britax infant car seat and their matching stroller? Apparently, the Britax infant car seat is being replaced in December… after we will have use for it.
Car Seats June 4, 2008
Posted by Dad in Baby Gear.Tags: britax, car seat, graco
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A car seat seems to be the place to start. Initially, this made sense to me as it is probably the first thing that you will actually need so that you can get the baby from the hospital to the home (yes, friends, S. is very upset that the stork doesn’t deposit said baby on the front step on Saturday morning). Little did I know that several other purchases hinge on this choice.
The first choice to make is how will you approach the whole car seat thing. The economical way to handle things is to buy what they call a “convertible” care seat. This is a car seat that can face forward or backwards. Additionally, it not only takes a toddler but also has an “insert” for the seat so that an infant can fit in the seat, safely and snugly (is snugly a word?).
Even though my checkbook was really liking the idea of purchasing a convertible seat, I was quickly persuaded to consider purchasing both an infant car seat and a toddler car seat. Here’s why: the infant car seats are basically baby carriers that lock into a pedestal/ base attached to the car. What’s the payoff? You don’t have to wake the baby to get it in from the car. Simply unclip and go.
So it seems that there are two hands-down odds-on favorite:
The Britax Companion:
They are both lauded as safe. The determining factor seems to be that if you have a long baby, go for the Britax. I’m 6′4″.
Done.
Or so I thought. Stay tuned…
And the Search Begins June 4, 2008
Posted by Dad in Baby Gear.Tags: baby, britax, car seat, gear, maclaren, pram, stroller
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Dear me. I must confess, for the past week, I’ve done some reading on the internet about different “baby gear”. The advantage of the “Googles” is that you can alway turn the computer off when you hit your saturation level.
Yesterday, S. and I made our first excursion to the stores to actually look at gear. Oh my. There’s so much stuff to think about. Good thing we’ve got 6 months to plan all this stuff. Otherwise, we’d be up the proverbial creek.
We went to two different places. It painfully obvious that our tastes and demeanor for how we like to shop far outstrips our budget. So we have to set a process and prioritize. What do we buy, what do we register for, what can we buy used, and what must be purchased new.
I don’t really know where the process goes.. so I guess I’ll start posting stuff by priority.
S. is well into week 13, now. She’s doing okay. I still find it uncanny how her sense of smell has come out of nowhere.
