Being Sara

When we had Xander, we were given a hand-me-down infant car seat to use.  It was a Graco seat, and came from a good family who I knew had never been in an accident.  The seat was still under warranty, and it was a relief to have one less thing to buy.  Well, now the car seat is outside of the warranty period, and since we have much less to purchase this time around, it was easy to justify buying a new car seat.

I did lots of research (as usual) and decided to buy the Chicco KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat.  From all the reviews I could find, it sounded like this was a seat that everyone was happy with – ease, comfort and safety were all sighted as excellent features.  After I settled on this one, I searched around for the best price.  Amazon had it listed for $169.99 with free shipping (though as I write this post, I notice that it’s gone up to $179.99…).  I’ve always had great success with Amazon and it’s affiliates, so I didn’t give it another thought, I purchased the seat.  I planned on putting the seat in the car early – perhaps next month, so that it would give Xander some time to get accustomed to the change gradually.

I placed my order with an Amazon Merchant, LittleFolks, on September 30th.  On October 6th, a package from LittleFolks arrived.  I was excited to check out this new car seat, but when I opened the package, I noticed wheels.  I thought that was strange, most car seats don’t come with wheels…  Upon closer inspection, I discovered that Littlefolks had sent me a stroller, not a car seat.

It was just after 2pm, so I immediately emailed Littlefolks, explaining the mix up, and asked for some suggestions on how to return the stroller and get the car seat I ordered.  I never heard back from them.  The following morning, I researched them on Amazon.com.  They have a good seller rating and feedback.  There was a phone number listed, so I called.  The man I finally got on the phone took my name, and then told me that his computer was down, and I should call back in 10 minutes.  This was the first weird thing.  In my experience, the seller usually offers to call back once the equipment is back up and running, and doesn’t make the customer call back.  But ok, I can be agreeable for a while, I’ll call back in 10 minutes.

I call 10 minutes later, and I’m told they are still having computer trouble, but they finally are able to locate my information, and will call me back in “5-10 minutes”.  So I wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Finally, 2 hours after they were supposed to call, I call again.  I’m told they have contacted their shipping department and are trying to figure out who might have recieved my car seat, and whose stroller I have.  They tell me they’ll call when they have more information.

Finally, a few hours later, they call to tell me they’ve figured out where my car seat went to, and that they have arranged for UPS to pick up the stroller tomorrow.  Perhaps it’s just the pregnancy hormones making me this impatient, but I also think that Littlefolks could have handled me better.  If they had called me when they said they would, or reassured me that they would resolve the issue to my satisfaction as soon as they could, I would have been fine.  Instead, I had to keep calling and asking for information, and even then, they wouldn’t give me anything to go on.

I think once I finally recieve the car seat I’ll be very happy with it, and since Littlefolks did make arrangements so that I don’t have to bring the stroller anywhere, or pay for anything, I am happy with the resolution they provided.  I did remove my negative comment from Amazon, but I’m still slightly frustrated with the customer service they provided me.  Since I don’t have the option of updating feedback at Amazon, I decided the next best outlet was to blog about it – I can’t even compete with the traffic of Amazon feedback, but I know at least a few people will read about my experience here

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Those of you who know me know that I’m the “type A personality”, the planner, the person who needs to have a schedule, a backup schedule, and contact numbers for every outing (ok, that may be a bit excessive, but you get my point). For a while now I’ve been thinking about what we might need to purchase in order to be prepared for baby # 2. Since Xander isn’t very big yet, we’ve still got lots and lots of baby stuff, which is a big plus on a tight budget. However, I have paid attention and learned a great deal in my first attempt at motherhood, and I can see some things that might be useful this time around that I didn’t have the opportunity to make use of the first time. For those of you (family/friends) who are interested in the whole list, please check out my masterwish list.

• Bumbo Seat – this is a handy little invention of foamy-type plastic. Before baby is big enough to sit on their own (but after they have head/neck control) this seat is great – you can plop them in it, and then they can see and watch you, but you’ve got two hand free to fold laundry, make dinner, etc. Bumbo seats are also handy for slightly older kids because you can purchase add ons such as trays – then they’re great for things like a little light snack or lunch, etc. I didn’t learn about these cool little seats until after Xander was sitting on his own. Had I known earlier, I would have put it on a wish list for my baby shower.
• Graco Snug Ride Infant Car Seat – With Xander, we received a hand-me-down car seat. I was a little nervous about using it, but we knew the family, knew they had not been in any car accidents with that car seat, and it was still within the 5 year limit, and when I looked up the seat, there had not been any recalls on that particular brand. Since they’re expensive, we used the free one, and it worked out just fine. Unfortunately, it was made in 2001, so now it’s outside of the 5 year limit of “certified” car seats, so I’m in the market for a new one. We’ve been very happy with Xander’s Britax Decathlon seat, so I originally researched infant Britax seats. Unfortunately, Britax is quite a bit more expensive than other brands – especially for something that we’re only going to use for six months or so. From there, I moved onto the Graco site and found a similar seat for $50 less. When baby # 2 is ready for a seat that doesn’t detach from the car (I love the removable ones for infants – especially when they fall asleep!), then we’ll probably buy another Britax, but that’s about a year away from now.
• Mother-to-be Maternity Support – When I was pregnant with Xander, I discovered back pain the likes of which I have never known before. My doctors suggested a support band, but at that point, I was about 7 1/2 months pregnant, and I had a hard time justifying spending $30+ dollars for something I would only use for a moth and a half… This time around though, the back pain is starting early – I’m only 4 months, and I think I’ll buy this sooner rather than later.
• Made by Moms Pumping Band – I breastfed and pumped for the first six months with Xander. He decided then that he was done with breastfeeding, and after I got over being hurt at not being involved in the decision, I was relieved. One of the things I disliked most about pumping (aside from the eerie feeling of being a cow…) was loosing the ability to do anything but sit and hold bottles for 15-30 minutes at a time.  It was boring, and uncomfortable and I couldn’t do much to distract myself, or even scratch an itch on my face.  This time around, I’d like to have some more freedom to at least flip pages in a book – I think it’ll make the whole process a lot less tedious.
• Quick Clean Breast Pump Wipes – while we are on the subject of breast pumps, I was always struggling with how to quickly clean mine when I was done pumping – I put the parts in the dishwasher pretty much every day, but sometimes not until later in the evening, and I usually had someone else (Xander) distracting me by the time I had finished pumping.  This time around, I’ll be pumping more at work than at home, so it’ll be even more important for me to be able to clean my equipment quickly and easily.  I’m not sure why these are any better than the wipes we buy for changing diapers, but I’d like to at least try them out – even if I end up using regular wipes, that’s a heck of a lot easier than manually washing everything after every use!
• Pacifier Sanitizer - One of my biggest concerns about having a baby in January is that it’s going to be very challenging to keep our house relatively germ free.  Xander was 4 months old when he started at day care, and he had 3 ear infections in his first year.  However, in his first 4 months, we managed to keep him relatively healthy – no colds, coughs, ear infections, flu, etc.  This time around however, Xander will be in day care, and bringing home germs daily.  As he still uses a pacifier occasionally (mostly just to sleep) I can picture him whisking a pacifier out of the baby’s mouth and plopping it into his own.  Sure, I could boil that pacifier again, but that takes a while, and then takes time to cool down, etc.  I’m hoping that a pacifier sanitizer might help to minimize germ cross contamination, and if we actually find it useful, then perhaps we’ll start taking it places with us for those irritating times when babies drop their pacifiers on the public bathroom floor, etc.
• Wipes Warmer – When I had Xander, I thought this was a nice luxury item, but not something that I needed.  I still don’t think it’s absolutely necessary, but I’ve noticed that on cold mornings Xander gets quite irritated with me when I change his morning diaper.  The wipes are cold and of course uncomfortable, and he gets pretty squirmy.  Since we’re not going to need to buy tons of things for this baby (hopefully!) then maybe we can splurge for a “luxury” item for the two diapered members of the household…
• Peek-a-boo Mobile - Mobiles are expensive.  I can’t remember if I had one on my baby registry for Xander, but I didn’t end up with one before he was born.  Then he was in a bassinet and by the time my mom and sister gave us a mobile, he was almost too old to appreciate it.  He preferred to stand up and try to pull it down…  Unfortunately, I broke that mobile a few months ago when cleaning Xander’s room…  I think this time around I’d like to buy one ahead of time.  I’m also picky about the mobile I choose.  Lots of them look great when you’re looking at them, but when you stop to think about what the baby is seeing laying on his or her back, often it’s just the bottoms of those cool things spinning around.  I like this mobile because the interesting stuff is facing the baby.  It also has some fancy features such as a remote control, a night light feature, and it’ll play up to 15 minutes of music.  It requires a significant amount of battery power (3 C batteries for the mobile, and 2 AA for the remote) so it’ll be interesting to see how long the batteries last with regular mobile use.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things that I need/want for the baby as the months go on, but as with every parent, I made plenty of mistakes the first time around, and I plan on learning from those and making all new mistakes this time around

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As Xander started getting closer to the one year mark, I began wondering about car seat arrangement. The law in New Hampshire (and from what I can gather, it’s similar in many places) is that children have to be at least one year old, and weight at least 20 pounds before they can ride in a front-facing car seat. That seemed to be a pretty simple rule, and I was looking forward to seeing how Xander reacted to the new perspective.

Then I started to notice things. For example, the two babies who go to Xander’s day care who are 6 months and 1 month older than him both still sit in rear-facing car seats. This confused me a bit. The car seat we have, a Britax Decathlon convertible seat can hold up to 33 pounds rear facing. Why would that extra 13 pounds matter? I also found a few websites that talk about the benefits of keeping kids in rear facing seats as long as possible. CarSafety.org is an excellent place for information on this subject. They talk about why rear-facing car seats are better, and what can happen during car crashes in rear vs. front facing seats. This site also says that the American Association of Pediatrics recommends keeping kids rear facing for as long as possible. The AAP recommends that kids be at least 20 pounds and 1 year old. They say that IF your seat allows for higher weights, and your kid’s head is at least an inch below the top of the seat, then rear facing allows for “optimal protection”.
Finally, I spoke with our doctor. He said that it is fine for Xander to sit front-facing, as children’s center of gravity becomes lower after they reach 1 year and are the appropriate weight. He explained that the higher center of gravity is the concern for babies, but as that lowers, the need to sit in a rear-facing seat also lowers. He also said that if possible, the center back seat is the safest.

Since Xander is now 23 pounds, and almost 30 inches tall, we decided to flip his seat around to front-facing. He meets all of the requirements, and his legs were starting to scrunch up in the rear-facing position. Xander seems to enjoy the front-facing position, and we can certainly interact more easily with him this way. He has truly become a toddler in the past few weeks, and the change is amazing!

Just a quick comment about this picture – this was taken after Xander’s birthday party – he slept for maybe 45 minutes that morning, and this was 5pm with no nap, and we were on our way to another party – he was worn out, but his mood was still happy!

toddler, baby, parent, parents, parenting, mother, mothers, motherhood, car seat, car seats, rear facing car seats, front facing car seats, car safety, American Association of Pediatrics, Britax

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We recently had to purchase a new car seat for Xander. As with most parents I have met/observed, we started out with a Graco SnugRide Seat. However, as Xander grew heavier, it became quite a project to lug that seat with him in it. For a little while we just left the seat in the car, and removed Xander, but he was quickly outgrowing the seat. So, I started to research new car seats. We decided to get a convertable seat – one that we could use rear-facing until Xander is old enough, and then flip around to use as a front-facing seat.

At first, I assumed that I would purchase another Graco seat, as we had been quite happy with our first seat. However, as I began reading reviews, and looking at seats, I discovered that there were lots of other brands out there, and that the reviews on the Graco prducts were not always the best. After several days of research, we settled on a Britax. I have not read a single negative review about these car seats. I initially planned to purchase the Marathon seat, but just before I made the purchase, I decided to splurge the extra $20 and get the Decathalon seat.

These seats are rated to hold children from 5 to 33 pounds rear facing, and 20 to 65 pounds font facing. The pasing is soft, and the fabric is warm and fuzzy. The main body of the seat has an easy to wipe fabric on it. The Decathalon comes with several pads one could attach for a smaller infant, but since Xander was already 8 months old when we got it, we removed the extra head support, etc. These seats also come with the LATCH system, which is really just a fancy way of saying that it’s got some nice clips to hook to your seat (assuming your seat is equipped for the LATCH system, which most vehicles are these days) instead of using the seatbelt. It’s supposed to make the seat more secure, and less likely to jiggle in case of an accident.

I also did quite a bit of price shopping before buying this seat. I looked at several online stores, but as often happens for me, I found the best price at the BabyCenter store. This was not a cheap seat, but when considering your child’s safety, I think that parents tend to worry less about cost.

Overall, we’ve been quite happy with the new seat. The straps tend to twist when removing Xander, but it’s not hard to straighten them out for the next use. It is black, so it tends to get a little warm in our summer weather, but the Decathalon comes in a variety of colors/patterns. My biggest regret is that Xander wakes up immediately when we take him out of the seat, so we no longer enjoy the luxury of putting him to sleep on a car ride, and continuing that sleep when we get in the house. Unfortunately, and seat we purchased would have that drawback, so until car seat companies include drop-down wheels on the removable seats, I guess we’re out of luck

baby, babies, infant, infants, parent, parents, parenting, mother, mothers, motherhood, car safety, car seat, Graco, Britax, Baby Center

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