Why We Skipped the Infant Car Seat

Picking a car seat for the baby you’ll soon be bringing home is such a stressful choice - so many options and opinions out there! Ultimately do your homework and pick the car seat that you feel is safe, fits your lifestyle, and fits correctly in your car. For us, we decided to skip the Infant Car Seat completely (don’t worry, we still used an appropriate car seat, I’ll explain) and I’ll tell you why we did… | This post contains affiliate links |

When my sister had her first baby I remember helping her carry the baby in her Infant Car Seat when she was about one or two months old and thinking (excuse my language) “this sucks!” It was exhausting, and extremely awkward to carry the weight of the baby and carseat (probably around 25 lbs total) by a handle away from your body, trying not to let it bump into your legs or anything else around you. Depending on the model of infant car seat you buy the seat itself can weigh 11-20 pounds, then you add the weight of the baby which will be an average of 6-9 pounds at birth and quickly get heavier as time goes on. That’s a lot of weight to awkwardly haul around.

However, my sister-in-law had decided to skip the infant car seat all together for her kids, and opted for a Convertible Car Seat from day one. I thought this was genius and we decided to do the same. A true Convertible Car Seat is one that’s good from birth through a particular weight limit, typically fairly high. For us the seat we chose was good for 4-65lbs, which meant that it would be rear-facing and perfect for bringing home the baby from the hospital and could grow with us and eventually convert to a forward-facing carseat up to the 65lb weight limit (which will take them into elementary school-age most likely) - and some Convertible Car Seats even go up to a 120lb limit!

By going with a Convertible Car Seat from day one, we only had to purchase one car seat instead of two, as most babies will outgrow their Infant Car Seat well before the age of one. Rather than buying a car seat that would only get used for several months, we invested in one that would grow with our baby and our needs. This saved us money in the long-run, and was less wasteful on the environment.

Since the Convertible Car Seats stay in the car (they don’t disconnect from a base and get carried around like an infant seat), I chose to wear our baby whenever we got to our destination with a Soft Structured Baby Carrier. I found this to be far more convenient and easier than lugging around an Infant Car Seat. Wearing your baby is also great for bonding, can help keep them healthier (they’re closer to you and less likely to be touched by strangers), and so much better ergonomically for your back and body than carrying an infant seat.

But what about waking up the baby, people ask? Yes, you tend to rouse the baby a little when you take them out of their car seat. But they reality is, it’s not recommended for them to sleep in their car seats for any signifiant amount of time as it can supposedly increase their risk of SIDS. Anyways in our experience with our two kids, they often woke up when we turned off the car, before I even tried to take them out of their carseat. And if they are tired enough, you should (hopefully) have no trouble getting them to go to sleep in their crib once you get home.

*Disclaimer: I am not a car seat expert, and my opinion should not be taken as fact. I am simply sharing our opinions on why we preferred a Convertible Car Seat over an Infant Car Seat. Before making your carseat decision, do your homework and discuss your options and concerns with your pediatrician and car seat experts like Car Seats for Littles.*

Bottle Feeding Tips with Nûby

Introducing a bottle can be difficult at first, especially if your baby had been exclusively breastfed.  Here are a few quick tips on ways to make bottle feeding easier.  | This post contains affiliate links and an honest review on products provided by Nuby |

When our little one was about 3.5 months old we had no choice but to make the switch from exclusively breastfed to formula fed because she was unable to digest my breastmilk (if you'd like, you can read more about that HERE).  Going cold turkey from breast to bottle was hard on everyone and I definitely learned some lessons along the way.  

Bottle Feeding Tips

Use a "natural-shaped" bottle

In the beginning we tried a lot of different kinds of bottles to see what our baby would take. It was a lot of trial-and-error at first but we quickly found that she took best to bottles in a natural shape that mimics the shape of a breast, like Nuby's Natural Touch Bottles - rather than the traditionally-shaped narrow bottles. For her, latching on to a natural bottle was easier and more instinctive.

Use bottles with fewer pieces to clean

One of the first bottles we had tried was a specialty bottle that literally had 7 pieces to it that had to be taken apart and cleaned every time you used it.  It was such a daunting and tedious process and ain't nobody got time for that!  Thankfully using a simpler bottle system (like Nuby's Natural Touch Bottles), was a lot easier since they only have three easy-to-clean pieces - the bottle, the nipple, and the collar.  

Find a comfortable and consistent place to feed in the beginning

When we first introduced the bottle, our baby just wouldn't have it.  I initially tried bottle feeding her in the rocking chair I always nursed in but it just made her so mad because she was reminded of nursing.  I quickly realized that in our case she needed somewhere new and comfortable to be her new feeding spot so we switched to a little bouncy chair on the floor which really helped.  She sits in the chair at a comfortable, somewhat upright angle that's perfect for her and I sit on the floor facing her to feed her.  

Introduce the bottle when baby is well rested and not starving

When you first start introducing a bottle to your baby, it can be very overwhelming to them so it's best to set yourself up for the highest chance of success!  Your baby will likely get easily frustrated because it's something new, so try not to push the matter when they're overtired or starving.  A calm baby will be more likely to try to figure out the bottle rather than just melt down at the first sign of frustration.  

Be Consistent

Consistency is key.  Even if your baby hates bottle feeding, keep trying and keep offering it regularly until they get the hang of it.  It can be so hard in the beginning but hang in there!  

- I received this item for review from Nûby but all opinions expressed are my own.  Please read our full Disclosure Policy for more information - 

Nûby's Natural Touch Infant Bottle with Easy Latch Nipple can be found at Wal-Mart, Babies 'R Us, and Amazon.