Last weekend, we bundled up Tam and headed over to babies r us to check out car seats in person. Tam still fits in his infant carrier, but he is starting to look a little cramped. We figured we may still have another month with it before REALLY needing to upgrade. So of we went to the store to play with the demo models.
If you haven't ever entered Babies 'r' us on a Saturday...Don't! Just picture a mega store with only baby crap, a gazillion women who are pregnant and/or mommies, a handful of crying babies, and a few lost dads. Dear Lord, all the baby stuff they have! Everything you could possible need, everything you could ever want, as well as stuff you didn't know you wanted, and stuff you didn't even know existed! I get overwhelmed even with just checking out pacifiers...of which there are at least 10 different brands, and several different kinds among each brand. Do I get the blue nubby one for teething? Or the green ones that are shaped more like the nipple? Silicon or plastic or rubber? And Brian pretty much refuses to go with me, citing that he trusts my decisions. (Wimp).
And then there are the clothes! Too cute and too pricey! I swore I would not buy many clothes off the rack 'cause of the price and the fact that he'll only wear them for about 3 months. But they are too cute! Oh, the manufacturers market their wares very well! At least much of the winter items were on sale, even though we'll still have about 2 more months of winter here.
Okay...back on track...car seats. The store is great in that they have a real seat from a car that you can attach the demos to. This allows you to see how easily they are to install, and how your baby fits in them. I first try the Britax brand. These are the pricey ones, BUT they are currently on sale at 15-20% off (they go on sale twice a year) BUT they are not on sale at babies r us and I would buy them through Amazon. Britax easily install with the Latch system and go from a basic model to something resembling a posh Lamborghini. Well, peanut here fits really nice and the suped up model and I especially like the extra padding to help keep his head from bouncing around while I'm driving here in Michigan. Hmm... but the cost?!
I also checked out the Evenflo brand, but had a bugger of a time installing it into the "car." Peanut also didn't seem very comfy in that style and the bottom belts crossed right over the middle of his thighs.
However, the one I ended up purchasing was not available as a demo at the store. It seemed to be fairly similar to the the Britax, but way cheaper ($100 less). Bought it online and hopefully will be able to try it out later this week. I'll post the photos :-)
