U.S. Mommies To Be

[MissFox]

Hey ladies! My BFF showed up last night to cheer me up and it worked! She brought me flowers, a baby shower planning book AND a BOPPY full body pillow! I LOVE LOVEL OVE my pillow! My hips don't hurt at all this morning!
Hope you all are doing great.

 

[Chantibug]

I was pregnant during the worst of the heat here in Florida twice....... one baby in july and one in september... the one in july was in 2004, when we were hit with way too many hurricanes, and i remember being worried about making it to the hospital in one.. Luckily, he was born in july and the 'canes came in late aug/sept. so then i was freaked about a newborn and a tornado coming through... then with the one born in sept it was the same worry, luckily only a tropical storm came through i think... (idk they all mesh together in my head..lol)... so we totally planned this one to be born before hurricane season and for me to be huge when it's still under 95* out..

 

[Chantibug]

Hey ladies! My BFF showed up last night to cheer me up and it worked! She brought me flowers, a baby shower planning book AND a BOPPY full body pillow! I LOVE LOVEL OVE my pillow! My hips don't hurt at all this morning!
Hope you all are doing great.

Wow! If you wanna share your BFF... that's cool with me

 

[Chantibug]

I do think getting the travel system is super convenient. I just didn't personally like being restricted on my choices... if one stroller had X feature that I liked but I didn't like that carseat etc... you can't mix and match for the exact one you want. But its a heck of a lot cheaper!!!

My big concern with living in a warm climate is the sweat factor. Graco carseats seem to be notorious in the reviews for making babies sweat. And with the sensitive skin I'm sure I'll be passing down, I don't want my baby to end up breaking out in rashes because the car seat material doesn't breathe (and all the Graco seats I felt at the store felt plasticy to me). But if I lived in a cooler area, I wouldn't worry about that as much!

totally understand the choice restrictions.. It all depends on what you personally need to get from the system. For me, as long as there is a cup holder for me and baby and a basket underneath and it folds, I'm good on the stroller.. lol. anyway, i hadn't seen any reviews when i got my carseat previously and didnt know people had problems with that.. interesting. I live in Florida and like I posted before, had mine in the middle of summer and no issues there with sweating/overheating. .

 

[lisaf]

Chanti - I've heard the Graco sweating factor depends largely on the specific fabric used. I've been told if I go to the store I can feel the different ones and will be able to tell which one will be the most breathable. And it depends on the season, the weather that season, the baby too....
I just know that as a child I had to wear cotton socks and only natural material shoes (leather, cotton etc) because if they didn't breathe, I'd break out in horrible rashes... I think it was that way from infancy for me. I still get heat rash in the crook of my elbows if I'm hot and have my arms folded or something.

Rosie -
I don't know much about the Chiccos... I was considering Maxi Cosi myself.
BUT, I have heard some great things about Peg Peregos. They seem to have the street rep for being the safest. BUT they do get a lot of complaints for being much much heavier than the other infant seats out there.

 

[rottpaw]

Thanks for the welcome southern gal!

I haven't actually thought of carseats yet but we will most likely go with a travel system. What do you ladies think about Chicco? I live in new York so we actually have all 4 seasons. The only time that we really have humidity is in the months of July and august.

hi Rosie! We just bought the Chicco Keyfit 30 and love it (haven't used it yet as this is our first, but very excited to bring it home ) I looked at several other brands but felt it was overall the best choice for us. We are in Georgia so also get all 4 seasons here.

 

[southerngal2]

rottpaw- just checked out the Chicco Keyfit 30, it looks very nice. Added it to my list of maybes.

 

[rottpaw]

The things I liked about that particular stroller system were safety (it's also reputed to be consumer reports' #1 rated travel system, but I have not independently confirmed that since I am not a CR subscriber), size (slightly smaller/lighter than other competing models like Graco), features (the carseat is rated for infants as low as 4lbs I believe, and has padded inserts to cushion smaller little ones the first few weeks/months), and the recommendations I got from friends. The only real argument I heard against it is that the 30lb rating may not hold "true" if the child grows taller than the seat before he or she is 30lbs, but I'm less concerned about that issue. We'll be buying a convertible seat eventually anyway, and it's not like we'll still be carrying the child in the carrier or anything once he's that size I also just felt the Chicco was more solidly put together when we handled both at the store, but that's JMHO.

Enjoy shopping! There are definitely lots to choose from and many good options!

 

[lisaf]

I have a current subscription with CR... it does appear to be the top rated car seat!
Its overal rating was at the top of the very good range for the infant seats over 22lbs
It got excellent for fit with the LATCH system and ease of use, got very good on crash protection and seatbelt fit.

The next best rated one for over 30lbs is the Combi Shuttle

Chicco Keyfit (under 22lbs) is the top of that range too.
The next best one is the Maxi Cosi Mico (under 22lbs) .. highest rated one to get an Excellent crash protection rating... it got very good on ease of use and LATCH fit, but only got a good rating for seatbelt fit.
(This is the one I am considering)

I have to say the LATCH and Seatbelt fit rating kind of depend a little on the car, don't they?

 

[lisaf]

oh, and for some reason they list Orbit as a safety risk but don't rate it for crash protection etc... wonder why?

 

[JNA]

Im really glad I found this site because I had no idea how to pick a car seat or stroller

 

[rottpaw]

Interesting on the orbit - they are so expensive you would think there would at least not be safety issues (?). Thanks Lisa for sharing the consumer reports info!

 

[lisaf]

so I looked further and the G2 they came out with got their approval..
The regular Orbit is still being sold but not made anymore.

Apparently they did their own tests and the seat came out of the base during a 30mph crash 2/6 times. The company was upset with their rating, insisted they passed government standards etc. But CR won't change their findings (understandably!)
So there is the NEW one thats better!

 

[lisaf]

if you guys want me to look anything else up, let me know!

 

[RosieCheeks]

thanks Lisa for the info.

 

[rottpaw]

Wow thanks Lisa! Geez I hope there are not any others that pop out of the base. That is super scary! 30 mph is not even that fast considering a lot of crashes happen at faster speeds. Yikes!

I may try to put our stroller together today. It's been so cold here for two weeks that hubby's been cooped up, so he's playing golf today LOL. We'll see if I get around to it; have friends coming over later so I need to get the house ready for that first.

Happy weekend all!

 

[lisaf]

Well one reason CR tests the carseats its to check for separation... and no other car seats got the 'do not buy' rating!
I think its true that most carseats are safer than many other products because they're so closely monitored by the government.

 

[southerngal2]

Thanks so much for the consumer report info lisa!

 

[Chantibug]

hey ladies, happy monday... :/
I am literally about to fall asleep at work, and it doesn't help that I have a neck pillow at my desk (I use it to sit on when my spd acts up)... so I'v ebeen eyeing it and considering laying down a sec........ lol

hope y'all had a good weekend though - we took the kids to the parade in dowtown and I spent yesterday cleaning and resting in equal parts

 

[RosieCheeks]

Chantel - Tell me about the taking a nap part. I just want to close my office door, turn off the lights and put my head on the desk. I thought that the second trimester was supposed to be better energy wise.