What's better, to buy a infant car seat travel system or a stationary car seat and seperate stroller?

I still have Abbys car seat and stroller but I need something new, and safer.

So what are you ladies getting or have and what do you recommend?

We have the whole deal - Eddie Bauer style. The little pumpkin carseat that either snaps into the base in the car or snaps into the stroller. The stroller is bulky, but easy to maneauver. It may depend on if you plan to 'wear' your baby a lot. Like if you're going for a walk with your kiddos, will you just pop your little one in a Mei Tai (or other wrap) or will you put it in the carseat and stroller? I tend to think that this time around I may wear my little one more and thus be able to hold ds's hand as we walk or go to the park or mall.

I'm thinking on these things too, Esther!

Also: if you're going the baby-wearing route and you've decided you need a new carseat, you may just want to get a Radian 80 or Britax 80 so the carseat will last through all of your child's growth. Both of these options are for 0-80 lbs. I'm on the verge of buying the Radian 80 for ds. It's slimmer than the Britax. Both are quite expensive, but Tara tells me they are worth the investment, right, T?

yep...Britax all the way if you can afford it....
I DO however prefer an infant seat the first 4 to 6 months depending on their weight and how long they can use for sanity....it was soooo much easier to have a seat to keep them in and let them sleep and keep them covered in and out and such and keep them from touching the cart for germs when that little and let them rest while eating out......I couldn't make it without an infant carrier seat ....but after they meet the weight/height requirement for that, we switch first thing to an infant to toddler seat from Britax, we prefer the marathon version. (birth to 65 lbs)

Well, generally speaking, the separate infant car seat is going to fit a newborn better than a convertible. Only a few convertible car seats actually have shoulder harness slots low enough to properly fit a newborn of the average 7# range. Then there's the convenience factor. Even if you'll be baby wearing. Do you *really* want to disturb a sleeping baby to tie them on?

I'm not a stroller user myself, so I just don't get into all the hub bub over these 'systems'
However...Graco has a good line for their SnugRide or SafeSeat which are both great seats. The SafeSeat has a 30# limit..which is awesome if you have bigger/fast growing babies..but the seat itself is heavy and you won't want to be toting it around much. Chicco I believe also has a nice system and their KeyFit is a good seat. They now have a 30# limit seat as well. And this seat has some of the lowest shoulder harness slots, great for those smaller babies.

Any of those seats are great and install well in a variety of vehicles. And it's my understanding that their stroller systems are nice too.

And yes the Britax and Sunshine Kids seats *are* great seats...but not in my list of recommendations for this age ;)
The convertibles that is.
There IS the Britax infant seat..the Companion. But really, the others mentioned are very nice and easy to use seats as well..less expensive on their own or with the travel system. I don't know that the Britax Companion is sold as a travel system..they have a stroller that fits it, but I don't know that it's sold as a 'system'. But, the others mentioned are less expensive, equally good options :)

When the kid has outgrown the infant seat..then we can talk Britax or Sunshine Kids convertibles (or whatever else may be out then..Recaro may have made substantial improvements by then ;) )

We used a travel system for Goober 1 (Evenflo) and it was GREAT. Then with Goober 2 I was adept at the whole babe wearin thing (and Goober 1 was into walkin rather than riding) so we used Graco's Snugride that was stationary. By Goober 3 I just used the stationary seat (again Graco Snugride). Not sure if that helps ya Esther. Good luck! ~Kerri

Even though it means getting more than one carseat, I would only get an infant carseat for an infant (not one of those newborn - school aged seats).
We got a Graco Snugride set* bec the Snugride is highly rated by Consumer Reports for safety and is reasonably priced. Even if you just buy the carseat and not a system initially, Graco makes sure that most of its carseats are compatible with its strollers - my Snugride fits in the single stroller it came with or in the double stroller I bought to take both boys out. I would imagine other manufacturers do something similar ?


*Our set was the carsear and a "real" stroller, not one of those things that is just a frame that holds only a carseat but not the baby when he or she gets older.

I always have had separate systems because I wanted to only get one stroller, that I could use even after my babies had outgrown the infant seat. But there may be options for that, that I don't know about. However! I've often thought that it would be nice to simply transfer the whole carseat to a stroller, rather than waking the baby up and having to unstrap and restrap in the stroller, esp. when it's cold outside.