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This may sound like a really dumb question but I just want people's opinions on the logisitcs of constantly changing one car seat between 2 cars? I know car seats can generally be easily switched from car to car providing they have the right anchor points etc, but my partner and i each have a car and no doubt we'll need to move a car seat lots if we only buy one. Do people find it a pain in the bum and recommend buying two, or is one plenty and easy enough to move??
Thanx!
Lolly
One is easy enough to shift I would think.
Having said that however, we have two seats for DD - and one for DS. One for DD in my car, then both car seats for them in our other car.
Reason for this - we both work in different directions of the coast - and each daycare is in a different direction - so we both take a child to daycare closest to our work - and then we use the bigger car (with both seats) when we are all going out.
We only have one set of car seats and 2 cars. TBH i wondered this when pg too. But over time we have stopped changing car seats realising its easier just to use my car as the family outing car. If DH ever goes out alone he takes his. If we want to take one child each then we have to take one out and move it but this rarely happens as if he takes DD1 out i tend to stay home with DD2 to catch up on house work etc and then he just takes my car anyway. I do have a 2nd set of car seats that my sister gave me when her girls out grew them but i leave them in my PIL's car as they often baby sit so for me thats easier. I dont think you NEED 2 but its an individual thing iykwim.
Hoody
We have two in each purely because I got them professionally fitted and don't want them moved by anyone else. Maybe I am overly paranoid, but this is not something I am willing to compromise on. I have watched friends move theirs and they are nowhere near as thorough or careful. If we didn't have this setup, we would just use one car for family outings.
We had one seat and it was in my car, as we use my car for all our outings/trips as well, but we have just purchased a second seat as a spare, we will be putting it in DH's car, but it can then also be transferred to grandparents/other cars. We are also planning more children so thought it was worth the investment,, but got the second seat second hand, it was in excellent condition though.
We have the Safe and Sound Meridian in my car and we just bought the Safe and Soud Compaq Deluxe, both are reversible to 12kg (which for us was very important). Now we just have to get the anchor point for the second seat in DH's car ;)
We only have 1 car so one seat but my dad bought a seat from ebay for his car which is really handy when we go out with him and when he minds DS on a Friday.
We have a car seat in each car for Master M and the one booster for Master J but when this bubs is born we are going to need to get another 2 seats as bubs would be reward facing and Master M will still be in his car seat as he only weighs 11kgs.
Ideal it is upto you! if you think it would be to much hassle to keep swap and changing then get the 2 if you can afford it!
We have 2 seats in two cars - actually 4 seats in 2 cars. One for each of my sons in each car. It's so much easier than having to work out the logistics of who's where and who's taking which car. Or if I've gone out alone in one car with the car seats and my DH spontaneously decides he wants to go out with the other car and take the kids somewhere - he can. But it's all about budget really. If you can afford it, I'd do it.
we have two cars and 2 car seats, that will change to two cars and 4 car seats!! couldnt be bothered moving seats as we i use my car during the week and DH's car on the weekends!
I got a second car seat off eaby for hubby's car. It was too much of a PITA to change one seat over. But maybe i'm just lazy! :lol:
we have 2 seats in each car.. I do the day care drop off and head to work and hubby picks the kids up as he is home before me...
I had 2 but then I hated changing the seats, and I had 2 to move. So I just brought another 2 when they were on special. Now I have 4 car seats and 4 boosters lol
We had an extra seat for DD when she was younger which came in handy when it came to DH needing one in his car & also when the grandparents watched her they used the spare one which was always available for them in our garage. We now have a spare booster for DD (safe n sound pegasis deluxe) & we have the safe n sound maxi rider AHR in my car.
No sparie for DS atm but it would have come in handy the other day when PIL were babysitting & we didnt realise they wanted to take the kids to the park. We were running late to be somewhere so didnt have the time to get DS's seat out of my car so MIL stayed home with DS while FIL took DD to the park in her spare seat. So we may look at buying a sparie for DS.
We have 2 bases for our capsule which was great for when he was younger so PIL could use it in their car but now he's in DD's old meridian.
I think if you mainly use the one car for family outings & grandparents etc dont have your child/ren much then one should be perfectly fine but if you're planning on using different cars ALOT then I would get a spare seat.
I hope that made sense!
haha i must be lazy too!!!!:
we got two car seats 2nd hand in good condition, had them checked out by the red cross safety office, it's very convenient having one in each car. i am not confident of changing them over at all, dh is (hmmm), but i end up going to have the seat checked once he's done it (by the red cross). If we had any babysitters (e.g grandparents) that were regularly transporting bilby, i would want one for their car too.
we rearfaced until 11kg, i wish we had a carseat that would rearface for longer.
I got a good one from baby store for the car we do long trips in and a cheaper model from big w both standard etc for the one I duck to shops in, mind you if I lived in a town with freeways etc I would have bought 2 of the good ones (my town got its frist roundabout the other week we have no traffic lights so small)
we just got a maxi rider put it in the one we do most of driving due to the fact he has nearly outgrown car seats so we will end up with 2 cars one seat but we wont swap we will just use the car with seat in if we are going anywhere
We only have the 1, but then there aren't many times that DH has the kids alone, and if he does then I take the car without the seats in it. Works for us but like I said, either I have the kids or we are all together. Maybe just stick with the one and if you find that you are having to swap all the time get another? We find it easier to swap cars! :rofl:
We definitely have two-- one for each car. We just bought this new bubs two seats as well. There are many times when I drop DS off somewhere, and DH picks him up and vice versa. It would be impossible to leave DS AND his car seat every time.
if you will regularly use both cars, i'd be getting two seats - having seen my SIL stranded at home when bro took the car with the car seat in it, not realising she needed to go out, i decided if we were in that situation there would be a seat in both cars. we have a 4wd and a ute, so no, we won't put a car seat in the ute, but my folks are buying a seat for their car in case i go out with mum or anything, and SIL has kept one of their seats just in case it's needed.
luckily the day SIL was left stranded, i was still living just around the corner, and had bought a car seat for my car, so i took her where she needed to go... sometimes you won't have that back up though!
Yep I just rememebered, that my Mum regularly picked Mason up from day care when I was working so she bought a car seat for her car too. I also bought a 2nd hand one to keep at my Dads place in case of emergency if he had to pick him up
With DS1 we just had 1 car seat. We didn't need to change it very often.
This time with DS2 we have 2 seats cause we bought a new one for him. DS1's old baby seat is handy when I go with my sister or whoever while DP is at work.
It's not that hard to change seats over, but in the end if you're constantly doing it then maybe getting a second seat would be handy and timesaving.
xx
We also have 2 car seats as it's so much easier than having to shift it all the time.
The days I work we go to work together in DH's company car, the days I don't work I use my car and on weekends we use DH's car again so we'd be constantly changing every day otherwise!
I guess it depends on whether you have a primary car or you use both cars equally?
Hope this helps!
ETA - my mum has DS while I'm at work and also has one in her car so I guess we have 3 lol
We have 1 car seat and 2 boosters that get transferred between 2 cars. Doesn't bother us any.
We started out with just one but got a spare and I must admit it is heaps more convenient having two. Plus, now DH drops DD off at CC and I pick her up, so the two seats are now essential.
I'm thinking we will get another one for this baby, but only the one as if I am not working we'll likely always have the newborn just in 'my' car (i.e. the one I use the most). But if DD continues to go to CC (we haven't decided just yet) then DH will still need a seat in his car as he can drop her off in the mornings still.
We have 2 cars with 2 car seats in each. Our main reasoning is that whenever DH is at home (evenings, weekends etc) we always use his car even for small trips as his company pays for all his fuel and it is worth us trying to save money that way. If we had to change the seats for every small journey it would do my head in. :lol: