Why would I want a carseat adapter for my stroller?

Some people buy those baby car seats, and think this is a safe way to travel with baby. Thousands of babies are injured every year while carried around in those car seats plus you CANNOT put them on top of a shopping cart (like you see done all the time). Add to the fact, the car seat + newborn baby = 20 pounds of weight to begin with! and more as the baby grows! Skip that infant seat and leave the car seat in the car. We never used the infant seat. We only had a reclining stroller and a convertible car seat (Evenflo Triumph 65 from day one home from the hospital).

and it is FAR BETTER to move baby in and out of the car even sleeping, they get used to this and soon this is part of their 'routine'. We carried our baby in a ring sling, and we now have an Ergo carrier. The lil ones always snuggled back to sleep when we took them out of a car and into their sling.

http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/22/baby-essential...

Having a car seat that attaches to the stroller is for covienience so that if the baby is sleeping then you don't need to disturb them when you take them from the car, you can just attach the car seat to the stroller, you don't have to use it but it can make life a little bit easier if you drive and have a sleeping baby.

Britax Car Seat Adapter

It sounds like that would be something that you just take out of the stroller and put straight into the car?

It's a convenience thing, so you don't have to disturb the baby and have to pick it up and unharness and all those things. Aka if it's sleeping, less need to wake it up.

It's a great option especially when the baby is asleep, you don't have to wake the baby up just move them from the car to stroller

its just for your convenience. Makes it easy to transfer baby from the car to the stroller and gives your arms a break from carrying it. especially if you are at the doctors which can take a while. I didn't have one and it was fine but it sure would have been easier.

Personally, I don't like travel systems for babies- it is much better for their health to lie flat on their backs. Many hospitals issue car seat tests- where they strap your baby in the seat and make sure the baby's heart and oxygen level is normal. It is hard on a baby's body to be in a reclined position. I would buy one that allows it to fold flat for the baby.

You don't have to buy an infant car seat for an infant. They are for convenience- it is nice after all to take a sleeping baby in the house. You can use a convertible car seat from birth- many convertibles have weight limits of 5 lbs. Just make sure the convertible you buy comes with an infant insert in them or has a low harness height. This is because when rear facing, the harness straps need to be at or slightly below the shoulders to prevent sliding upwards toward the top of the car seat.

Infant inserts are easy to use- they are just a foam wedge that you place under the car seat's cover. This lifts the baby up for a better harness fit.

The Britax Chaperone and Britax B-Safe are excellent car seat choices for smaller babies. This is because of their low minimum weight of 4 lbs and their low harness height positions.

You will have to buy a convertible car seat anyway for your child. Many kids grow out of infant seats rather quickly, within the first year or so. By the time your child is 6 months old, you will probably just leave the infant car seat in the car- it is very heavy. The handle on the infant seat may require to be in the down position; this may or may not mean it could be parallel to the car seat. For the Britax Chaperone or B-safe, if I remember correctly, lets you have the handle up.

To keep your child safe in the car, make sure that you rear face them up until at LEAST their 2nd birthday. This is a minimum guideline set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). It is 5 times safer for a child to rear face up to age 2. The AAP also recommends to rear face a child as long as possible. This means after purchasing an infant seat (if you choose to use one), use a convertible car seat in the rear facing position. Many children in the US can get up to age 3 rear facing, and some small kids to age 4 rear facing. If you were to forward face your child at age 1, I can guarantee that in a crash of low speed, that your child will suffer extreme injuries. Your child may break their legs or neck! Your child may not die, however, may suffer from a life long disability.

In other countries, such as in Sweden, kids routinely rear face up until their 4th birthday. In the United States, fatalities for children in car accidents are extremely high, while in Sweden, fatalities are close to non-existent. In fact, car crashes are the leading cause of injury, disability, and death for children under 12 years of age in the US! It is so rare for a child rear facing to be injured in an accident. Laws set by states are absolute minimums. They are only there to guide parents and do NOT represent best practice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg4zBeU7md4

Above link: Video from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) about rear facing for babies and toddlers (the toddler girl at 0:32 can be positioned more upright as upright as 30 degrees; the 45 degree recline rule only applies to infant and babies without head or neck control).

There are 2 ways to install a car seat- one way is with the seat belt and the other way is with the LATCH system. Never use both LATCH and the seat belt- it could cause too much stress on the car seat. The LATCH system refers to the lower anchors and top tether in vehicles. Vehicles made after 2002 are required to have them factory installed- vehicles before this date may not have them. You cannot use the lower anchors in the center seating position in your vehicle, unless your vehicle's owners manual says specifically that the lower anchors can be used in the center. If it doesn't say anything about it, then that means you cannot use it. On the outboard seating positions the lower anchors are reinforced by a metal bar. In the center, that metal bar may not be there, which is why you cannot use it. Since this is your first child, I would highly recommend that you find a car seat that installs in the center seating position with the seat belt. http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/rear-facin...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvyIv9QVRBE

Above link: Video showing pictures of kids rear facing in convertible car seats; many kids are over age 2!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8

Above link: Joel at 18 months and 33 lbs broke his neck while in a front facing car seat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULJ8Vx79Vv4

Above link: Video about the AAP recommendations about how to keep your growing child safe in the car