Claire's New Ride!

The last few months especially as Claire has gotten increasingly more advanced with her developmental milestones I noticed she wasn't as happy in her infant car seat (Chicco Keyfit 30). We love her infant seat, it fit her when she was a tiny 4lb peanut and has grown with her as she has grown. But even though she is nowhere near the weight limit of her seat and had a couple of inches left height wise, she just didn't like being at such a recline anymore and didn't like not being able to look around and see out. Plus it would be much easier to get her in and out in a convertible seat.

I began my research on convertible car seats. There are so many out there on the market it can be quiet overwhelming. I made a list of requirements that I wanted in a convertible car seat; safe (of course), compact especially front to back space (I drive a Volvo S40 and Christian has a 135i), easy to install with premium LATCH connectors and good height and weight limits.

On my short list for seats to look at once I eliminated what didn't meet my criteria was the Diono Radian RXT, Graco MySize 70/Size4Me 70, First Years True Fit and Britax Roundabout 55. The Radian is a fantastic seat it has very high height and weight limits, has a steel frame and its very compact but because of the high height range the seat is very tall and it is not a user friendly install. I felt it would be to big of a seat for Claire since she is so small so I crossed it off my list. I was really leaning toward the Graco MySize 70 for awhile it also has a very high height and weight limits and it's very easy to install, but the buckle can be a bit tricky and it had big head wings. This seat also seemed like it would swallow Claire. The True Fit was a nice seat but I didn't like that it didn't have much of a base to it, it has such a recline to it I felt it wouldn't be much of a difference when rear facing than Claires infant seat. Finally the Roundabout 55 I was really surprised at just how compact this seat was, installed rear facing I was able to put my front seat back all the way. Its steel reinforced, has great side impact protection without having massive head wings, the quality of the material is amazing, very easy to install, the height and weight limits are good especially with Claire being so small, made in the USA and one of the added perks to this seat is you can buy replacement covers (with Claire's reflux this is a great feature).

After comparing all the pros and cons of each of  these seats we decided on the Britax Roundabout 55 and couldn't be happier with our decision. Oh and Claire loves it too! She looks at herself in her car mirror and chats away and I see her looking out the window all the time.

Baby Registry Musts

Registering for your baby shower can be overwhelming if you have never been into a Babies R Us or been around babies for longs periods of time. There are so many things they need or are just nice to have because they will make life much easier for you. I have worked with babies and children so I had a pretty good handle on everything we needed, but my husband had never really been around babies.

We finally had a weekend that we had time to go and register and when we sat down with one of their associates and went through the registry guide my husband immediately was overwhelmed. My first recommendation for registering is to do your research about the major items you will need i.e. bottles, monitor, glider and crib ect. My second recommendation, if your not sure about what something is or the difference between two products, go ahead and ask. The associates are actually very knowledgable.

I thought I'd share my favorite items that I use with Claire that I highly recommend. If you have any questions about an item feel free to ask. Also since I have worked in a child care center as a lead trainer I have used many different products, especially bottles so if your looking for more information on a particular kind chances are I have used it. .

Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Sensitive Tummy Bottles: I cannot express how much I love these bottles. We have 10 9oz and 10 of the 5oz sensitive tummy bottles. Claire has horrible reflux and these have really worked wonders for her. I also love the shape of them, she is already holding her own bottles. They are easy to clean and very durable.The biggest reason I love these bottles is the nipples are just like a breast, Claire switches between the breast and the bottle with no problem.

 Motorola MBP33 Wireless Video Baby Monitor: Its worth every penny to have a video baby monitor. We have a 2200 sq ft 2 story house so we needed a monitor that would have plenty of range since Claire's room is upstairs on the opposite side of the house from our TV room. Its wonderful having a video monitor, babies make so many little noises when they are sleeping especially when they are brand new so it was nice to be able to look and see exactly what she is doing on the monitor. Its been very handy as well now that she is older and sometimes wakes up, I just look and see if I really need to go into her room or if she'll go back to sleep. The monitor also has a two way intercom which we have used quite a bit, it can play music and shows the rooms temperature.

Woombie: Most babies love to be swaddled. Its a calming effect for them, reminding them of the womb. Claire absolutely loves to be swaddled. After coming home from the NICU she would sometimes wake up at night because she broke out of her receiving blanket swaddle and we would go in her room and re-swaddle her and she would go right back to sleep. Then I found the Woombie, it swaddles the baby but the baby cannot break out of it and wake up from their startle reflex. Not only that, but Woombie also makes a convertible Woombie that has arms holes that you just unsnap so they baby can feel swaddled but have their arms out and it becomes more like a sleep sack. This was wonderful when Claire started to role over. We weened her to sleep arms out one arm at a time and it only took about a week. We are a firm believer in the swaddle especially since Claire slept through the night at about 2 months old.

Fisher Price Rainforest and Melodies Deluxe Gym: Claire absolutely loves this activity mat. She has used it for tummy time since we brought her home and the older and more curious she gets the more she uses it. It plays music or rain forest sounds, has lights that coordinate with the sounds, has multiple different toys, sounds and textures and you can add your own to it as well. Its also easy to clean.

  

Chicco KeyFit 30 Infant Carseat: One of the best rated infant car seats. It has multiple safety features and its very user friendly.  You can also adjust straps as your baby grows, its easy to clean and you can buy a separate base as well for a second car. Read the whole manual it has several tips.

Chicco KeyFit Caddy:Our car seat (see above) has a coordinating travel system but I personally am not a fan of them. They are huge, don't fold down very small and the amount of time that you need to use a car seat on a stroller is not long. We used this caddy and loved it. You could open it with one had and the car seat just snapped right in. It has the under seat storage bin and a cup holder. It rode very smooth and collapsed pretty small, which is great for trunk space.

Chicco Liteway: We used our KeyFit Caddy until Claire was about 3 months old. Then I felt bad when she was awake and still in her car seat. So we switched to her Liteway. She loves it! It has a 5 point harness and you can add in head support if you want or need to. She was able to sit up and look out at everything and she never tires of being in this stroller. It fully reclines so she can nap or if I need to feed her on the go I can recline it to a better angle,  it has the under seat storage and a cup holder for me, it rides very smooth, and it folds up very small and takes up almost no space in our trunk.