My "little" baby was too big for his infant car seat before he was even four months old.  He had exceeded the weight and though he was about an inch off the height it just didn't fit right anymore.  But the convertible ones look so scary.  Seriously, they scared me, to think of putting my little guy in there.  He looked like he would be swallowed whole.  They were so upright, he couldn't sit up on his own, he could barely sit upright supported.  I know the convertibles ones say from birth onwards, but I just couldn't see it.  But I knew I had to do something, so the search started.

I read reviews, reviews and more reviews.  I started a spreadsheet to compare the maximum weights and lengths, features, safety standards, prices.  It was a mess <lol>  I started to obsess about the safety reports.  One site would say car seat x was the safest, another site would rank it in the middle (But they are all really, really safe right?  The minimum standards are pretty high, don't you think?).  There were product recalls after product recalls.  Parent reviews of how the strap adjusters stopped working properly rendering the seat unsafe, or this part breaking.  Seats only lasting a year, but other people said the same seat lasted through two kids. 

I know from experience how badly designed some car seats are.  Our infant seat is a nightmare, it was a hand-me-down.  And while I am sure it is perfectly safe, almost everything about it annoys me.  I can barely get the handle up or down.  To adjust the harness straps takes a pair of pliers, 15 minutes and brute strength.  Really they should be adjusted before each trip, particularly in the spring where one day baby is wearing a snowsuit and the next day just a t-shirt. Buckling the harness is also a pain.  It can appear to be in, when it is not.  Sometimes it trips into locked when the belt isn't in, so you can't get the belt in until you press the release button again.  Also, I find it hard to lift the seat straight up while pulling the release on the base.

I also firmly believe that if 70% of car seats are installed incorrectly, 100% (or close to it) are designed incorrectly, because I really doubt that parents don't care.  My friend had her infant seat installed by the police (a free service here).  It took two grown men to push down hard enough and tighten the belt enough to get it in properly.  That is nuts.

So here I am looking for the safest, perfectly designed car seat, with the biggest weight allowance and the lowest price without leaving the house.  (Which is impossible because really how do you know how easier it is to use the latches/buttons etc without using them yourself).  When someone threw a wrench into the works. 

There is one infant seat on the market that doesn't have an upper weight limit of 20/22lbs.  It goes up to 30 lbs and says it fits 97% of babies at one year.  However when you read the fine print that statement is based on the growth charts and the growth charts do not cover a lot of babies it seems to me.  I know Disco-Baby has gone from 50^th percentile to off the top of the charts, but will probably slow and end up back on the charts again, because breastfed babies do that compared to the old charts based on formula feedings and early introduction to solids.  However I also have this fear that he will continue to grow exponentially leaving the charts further and further behind.  (And no I don't think he is too fat, though he is pretty chubby, he is also off the chart for length).  This infant seat also has some other cool features, like a level adjuster so you don't have to use towels and a level indicator so you know when it is at the right level (Duh!  Why don't they all have this!!!!) 

So then I stopped, I couldn't decide what would be better.  This infant seat and hope it would take him through to when he can go front-facing.  Then get a front-facing only seat that are a) often cheaper than convertible ones, b) have bigger upper weight limits, and c) will fit him comfortable at a year when he is more of a toddler size.  Or to get the convertible one, which will probably fit him comfortable for a years and if it doesn't I can always replace it. (Because I am made of money after all)

So I gave up and waited for a sign from God or someone (like hubby) to make up my mind for me.

It is more than a month later, and Disco-baby can sit up more or less now, so we will probably get a convertible one.  However, I still have stage fright about it.  But hopefully this week me, hubby and my mom (who is paying for it yaaaaaaaaaaaaay.  Oh likes she one of the Eddie Bauer convertables) will find a store and go sit Disco-Baby in a bunch of them.  Adjust the straps, use the buttons, and see if they fit in the back of our little car.  Hopefully one will leap out as the obvious best for Disco-Baby (because babies are all different, like Disco-Baby's cousin who is almost two and weighs only a pound or two more than him and happily fit in the same infant seat we are using until she was walking.  I know because I happened to be there when they installed the anchor)

So, any last minute advice?  (And do you think I am neurotic?  Honestly, at least I haven't rushed Disco-Baby off to the ER and doctors repeatedly and I don't care when dogs lick him or he puts weird things in his mouth…. That makes me not neurotic right <lol>)