CR withdrew the seat findings fyi:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...f110638S37.DTL

 

Yep, Consumer Reports manipulated the tests. The bastards!

 

Thanks for the great info everyone! We're adopting soon and need to start getting ready. I apreciate reading your opinions/experiences.

 

Like I said in another thread, this way of loading the baby in is great. It is a lot easier then trying to bend in the back, plus you get all kinds of wierd looks from people and people telling you how "CUTE THAT IS". We used this method while he was in the carrier (still had to unload from the front though) and in the regular car seat that was turned around. He's facing forward now though, so it doesn't do much for us.

As for us, we've went Graco all the way (don't remember which ones though).

 

Yup, I really suspected the CR tests were bad science and BS. Shame on them for the terror they caused loving parents!

There is some great advice here and I appreciate everyone who posted suggestions about infant seats.

We're off to look at seats, strollers, and cribs yet again today, tomorrow paint for the baby's room. Yes, the wife's nesting instincts kicked in late, but they are running at super strength now.

I'll also be off to Target for the blue foam and Borders for Best Baby Bargains

For those of you who folded the rear seat down for a stroller, did you put the seat belt through it or use anything else to tie it down? Just wondering if I'm being to paranoid about it being loose and a safety hazard?

Since I'm going to be doing most of the carting of our little girl, I'm also looking for a diaper bag that's not so girly foo-foo. Need a manly man's diaper bag. Was thinking about this one and also noticed that Griots is having a sale on a Ferrari bag (Edit: now out of stock?) that may also work. Any other suggestions from the fathers?


Samuel Clemens AKA Mark Twain. I like this one from him too "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. (Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.)"

 

i might get one of those Recaro ones too myself later on since
they look pretty cool.

 

To keep the stroller planted, I use a ratcheting tie down (arrhhh!). You could try a bungee cord.

As for the manly diaper bag , I used this one. Though the latch did rip from the flap top. It did hold much more than the girly bag my wife bought to replace it. Bjorn makes a nice one as well, but it doesn't seem to hold much. There is a fleece jacket that is designed to hold bottles and diapers. Can't remember where I saw it.

 

We did the first road-trip from KC to Eureka Springs back in October, about 200 miles each way. Had my 5 year-old on a booster seat in back on the passenger side behind my 5' 2" tall wife, and my 11 month old daughter in a front facing Graco seat behind me on the drivers side.

I am not quite 6 foot and the drivers seat was far enough back that my 11 month-old had already run out of leg room. Granted she is a tall little girl for her age, nearly 31 inches already. Still, after 500 miles of near constant kicking on the back of the drivers seat, there was little doubt that my Mini's days as "the family car" were numbered.

With that in mind, I wouldn't spend a lot of money, whatever solution you come up with will be futile in a few months anyway.

As for strollers, we crammed one of the cheap $15 collapsable spider strollers on top of the luggage in back. Not an entirely safe arrangement since it would probably fly in an accident, but at least we could get it crammed in there.

 

For the stroller we usually just put it in there. Some people might say that's a bad idea but that's what we did.

For the diaper bag we have this one and still use it as the primary diaper bag:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...entPage=family

We got this one because we have a little boy and didn't want a foo foo sissy one. Plus I don't mind carrying it because it looks just like a book bag. If you need more pics then on the site and can't find one at the store to look at then PM me and I can get some pics.

 

Yep, same here. And the grace rides up high enough that even if it were to slide around, it would hit the side of the seat, and not our Ben.

As for the diaper bag, I got a Skip..hop..dash.. I, too, did not want a girlie bag or one of those darned Kate Spade bags, and well, also, I was having a boy. But here's a pic of the skip hop dash. It's been a GREAT bag...

 

Alright, no need to get rude here.

 

We put the five year old behind me (driver) and the 11 month old behind my wife. The trick is that the five year old is in that intermediate stage where her knees aren't located at the edge of the seat. We're experimenting with whether or not to use the back of the booster, not using it moves her back but then she can't bend her legs at the edge of the seat.

She needs to grow about 4 -6 inches and we'll be in business. Right now she usually just kicks off her shoes when she gets in the car, and gets comfortable.

(our 'family' car is an audi a3, it has more room but only marginally so. right now everyone always wants to take the MINI, but it is new, so we'll see what they think this summer.)

 

Thanks again everyone!

In the interest of thread completeness and an update on strollers that fit into the boot...

I tested the Peg Perego Aria and a Combi Torino DX strollers this past weekend. IMHO, the Combi is a bit more feature rich and the Peg is KISS in design. I did find however that if I put the Combi in the boot with the wheels facing out, I would be able to easily fit my tire repair compressor and tool bag, big honkin' laptop bag, and a diaper bag also in the boot. I was really surprised how much room it left. The Peg also fit fine, but didn't leave as much room in the boot for other stuff. I also fiddled with a Combi Cosmo EX in the store and it folded up extremely small, but I didn't try a test fit in the boot. Looked for the Quinnie Zap stroller, but none of the local shops had one.

Thanks for the additional diaper bag suggestions too. I'll be investigating them next.

Cheers!

 

My son will be 6 months tomorrow, and we just changed him from an infant car seat to an convertible. We had the Graco Snugride, which, though it pushed the passenger seat forward pretty far, fit much better than it did in the center of hubby's Focus.
Today, we switched over to the Britax Roundabout, which fits well, using the seat belt, NOT the LATCH, with a lot of work. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend having your car seats checked by a professional. 70 to 85 percent of car seats are installed improperly. That's a staggering statistic.

As for strollers. Yes, the Aria fits, but it's a heaping pile of trash. Go for the Inglesina Espresso instead. It's about the same price, but MUCH more sturdy and just a higher quality stroller, overall. This stroller will hold the SnugRide carrier, plus, it folds compactly, and fits completely in the boot, so you don't have cargo flying around with the seat folded down next to your baby. It's just not a safe scenario to have a stroller just laying on the seat next to your child's car seat. *shudder*

-Jen.

 

I had a Graco Snugride for my daughter, but I ditched the base and used the seatbelt to secure it. I also had a Peg Perego Aria stroller and the Snugrude will lock into that stroller even if the manufacturers are different (did not knomw this until someone at the store demonstrated that!) Now that she is bigger, I have the Britax Roundabout convertible seat, attached using LATCH.

Somehow there is this mentality that you have to go out and buy a bus after you have kids. While it is good to have a "people hauler" when needed, a baby and a MINI are not mutually exclusive.

 

Hi Adam! I saw that you are adopting from China! I checked out your blog. The Graco Snugride will not be right for you, because your daughter (most likely girl, right?) will most likely be too big/tall for it. Just in case you didn't know that! You will need to go straight to a toddler seat. I *think* most Chinese adoptions are finalized after the child is a year old, right?

Congratulations on your pending arrival!

 

in for good info

 

Thanks for stopping by our blog!

Yeah, we're torn on which seat to get just yet, because we don't know for sure how old they'll be. You're correct, most of the children adopted from China are girls. We've requested either, so we won't know until we get our referral (which we're hoping is May!). As far as the age...also up in the air. You can request a specific age group if you like, but it's ultimately up to China. We requested as young as possible and have seen families ahead of us adopt children as young as 7 or 8 months.

We went to Babies R Us to look at our registry and see things in person. We've totally switched strollers and are sold on the Peg Perego. That thing is FUN! It's so easy to fold/unfold, I love it. Thanks again everyone!

 

Bump. Part of me feels like this should be a sticky because it sure seems there are a lot of us here with young kids.

I just wanted to share my Motoring-with-young-kids experience...

I have two boys, ages 5 and 2. My wife and I like to take them on top-down day trips when the weather is nice. In LA, that's, like, every day.

It used to be that we would put the 5-year-old on a booster seat behind me and the 2-year-old in a Britax behind my wife with her seat jammed way forward. This not only killed her knees, it also wasn't very comfortable for little Henry. Another problem with the Britax is that it rode so high, which always seemed a bit dangerous to me.

However, I recently found a car seat that seems tailor-made for the Mini. It's the Safeguard Go. It's absolutely incredible - it's a 5-point, Latch-compatible seat that basically molds into the shape of the back seats and takes up very little room. A friend of mine just bought one for his 07 MCSc to take his 18-month-old daughter on a road trip from the Bay Area to LA. He said she had a ball.

One nice thing about the seat is that it collapses down into a bag (inlcuded) that measures about 15" x 8" x 18" (D x H x W). Two of them easily fit into the boot of a Cabrio, and they are also very easy to use for plane travel. They only weigh about 8 pounds without the bag, maybe 10 with.

This seat is not meant for kids younger than about year or so. And it also isn't all that cheap at about $175. But in my opinion, it's worth every penny.

Apologies if someone has already brought this up somewhere. I just wanted to share because it's made motoring with my boys much more enjoyable, if that was even possible!

 

What is the trick to inserting a photo in a post on this site? I've tried everything with no luck. Would seem simple enough to click on the icon with the postcard above the dialog box where I am typing at the moment, but all it does is open another dialog box asking for an internet address where the photo is located. How do you get a dialog box to appear asking to browse your My Pictures folder in Windows on my PC????

 

 

Managed to get a little thump nail attachment that will expand if you click on it. (previous post) Still no clue how to get a larger image in a post. Thanks for any advice.

 

Right click the larger image and Copy Image Location. Then use the Insert Image button above the comment box to add the address. The Insert Image button is yellow with what looks to be mountains.