As people are confused to pick between an infant car seat vs convertible car seat is getting stronger day by day. Some of you are probably thinking why would two car seats be rivals? It’s very unfortunate that we have made them like that. This whole section will be a discussion on this matter.
Before you get to know about their revelry we think that you should be properly introduced to them. Let’s take a look at two types of the most important car seats of the market.
Infant Car Seats
This type of seat is for the cutest type of babies. They are so much beefy and have a caring kind of essence to them.
The best infant car seats have some special kind of features. They are rear facing and can house babies up to the age of two.
Often these seats come in different parts like the carrier and the base. The carrier can easily be detachable from the base and be carried around anywhere by hands. They provide the ultimate safety and protection for the newborn or little child.
Convertible Car Seats
These seats are called convertible car seats because it can convert into rear facing to forward facing and vice versa.
Convertible car seats are for children up to two to six years old. Up to the fourth year of a child it should be provided rear facing and then from four to six a child can have the luxury of a forward facing seat.
Infant Car Seat Vs Convertible Car Seat!
Now, let the fight between these two begin. At first let’s take a look what people do. Then we’ll gradually come down to our verdict.
Personal Standard
In this section we’ll discuss people’s attitude toward these types of seats. We have talked with many parents and read a whole lot of user reviews to pile up this information. We felt the necessity of including it in this article because people often overlook their own errors.
Why People Are Buying One Instead Of The Other?
Some people are buying convertible car seats instead of infant seats for car now-a-days. There are two key reasons for this. These are related with money savings and life span of the seat. We should bear in mind that car seats are not less expensive compared with other components in a vehicle.
Now… It is a question, who does not want to save his money?
Yes, it has a good answer. Most of the people want to save their money. There are pros and cons on both sides. It is a high time to make the right decision before purchasing a best travel car seat for your kids.
Infant seats are more convenient in transporting a newborn baby. The infant seat can easily snap into a floor of the car which makes it easier as well as quicker to get newborn baby in the car and out of the car. There is another convenient aspect for best infant car seat, which is linked with the handles.
The infant seats for car allow you to carry the baby around in a breeze. Some infant seats for car can snap into the strollers. There are a few downsides for infant car seat. There is a strictly rear-facing option. Your child can sit in this seat only for the 1st year.
Many parents find a good seat when their baby needs a bigger seat. Sometimes it becomes more difficult job to move your child in outside of the car. That’s why many parents expect to use infant seat for the age of first 6 or 7 months children.
Some best convertible car seat for small cars are manufactured from forward to rear facing. These seats are very efficient for 4 to 5 years old children or more than that. Thus, these seats are more practical & cost-effective. The limits of the weights of these convertible car seats are in between 5-80 pounds.
Few convertible seats for car may extend beyond the maximum weight limit. Some convertible seats have rear-face which is very suitable for 35-40 pounds weight children. The forward face of the convertible seats can hold up to 80 lbs in weight.
Many people think that if they use a convertible seat, it will secure their child for a longer period of time. If you have selected to think about the long term benefits, then the convertible car seats exceed the opportunities of infant seats in the vehicle.
You are already familiar with various types of car seats. You know that car seats are more expensive than other baby equipment’s. If you enter into online stores, the cost of infant seats starts from $50 to few hundred dollars.
It depends on the size of the infant car seats and shape of the seats. Sometimes, the average cost of the infant seats for car depends on the design and models. In some infant car seats, there are many safety features which are essential for your growing up child.
Again, average cost of the convertible car seat starts from $50 to few hundred dollars. It also depends on the shape, size and models of the seats. You are already informed that convertible seats for car are more efficient than infant car seats. The facilities of the convertible seats are more than infant seats.
These convertible seats are easy to attach with your favorite vehicle. In the long run, a convertible car seat cans save your money. If you have thought about the durability and utility, then you should choose the convertible seat instead of infant seat.
Convertible seats have many options to extend its utility. You can attach extra accessories with this easily. If you see the infant seats, these have lack of options to attach extra features which are important for your child. Some people prefer to use convertible car seats instead of infant seats.
After this detailed discussion you have gather the main points of difference between these two types of seats. Once again let’s overlook the personal attitudes and come to a more professional standard.
Professional Standard:
This section will deal with the professional facts and most of it would be written from a distant view of the product. Let us begin by taking a look at the benefits and disadvantages of both types.
Top Five Benefits Of Infant Seats:
Infant seats are for children up to two years and they have their own pros what you may not find in convertible seats. Here’s a short introduction.
- Premium Protection – The level of protection and safety that an infant seat offers in unmatched with any other seats. Even convertibles surrender in this field. Involvement of various and modern safety mechanisms make the seat best protecting one. Features like the five point harness, LATCH system, side impact protection everything is common in both the seats. But infant seats are more reliable because they are deeper and more caring and you’ll feel it when you take a look at the seat.
- Lightweight – Infant seat are designed to be lightweight. Their being lightweight doesn’t mean that safety was hampered. You can easily install and remove the product for its being lightweight. Also it adds a whole lot to the portability.
- Portability – An infant seat is not only lightweight; it’s very much portable too. To make the seat portable features like handle bar, easy one click install and unplug, ergonomic design and many more things like this were added.
- Wide Compatibility – Have you seen anyone plugging a convertible seat inside a stroller? Certainly not. Because they can’t be plugged into a stroller where infant seats can be easily equipped in a stroller. Not only that, the infant seats can also be equipped on aircraft seats. This wide compatibility is only the unique feature of an infant seat.
- Better Side Protection – An infant seat is best at protecting the child form sideways. No other seat provides this level of side protection.
Top Five Benefits Of Convertible Seats:
Convertible seats have both rear and forward facing sitting positions and many more benefits. Here are the pros of a convertible car seat –
- Has both Forward and Rear Setting Position – Perhaps it’s the best feature of a convertible car seat that both the sitting positions can be equipped in a convertible seat. When your child outgrows the rear facing position you can shift it to a forward facing position.
- Longer Utility – This feature makes the convertible seats so much popular. The seat can be used for at least four years where infant seats have the validity for 1.5 years or a few months more. So, in terms of usability the infant seats have a greater and long lasting value for money.
- Wider Weight Capacity – A convertible seat has a lot higher weight capacity than an infant seat. Sometimes this extended weight capacity makes the infant seats unnecessary. This is where all the revelry begins.
- Comes With a Skeleton – A convertible seat has a steel or aluminum framing hidden inside it. The framing makes the seat strong and supports the child on event of a crash. These type of frames are absent in infant seats. They can tolerate enormous amount of pressure before it reaches to child.
- Saves Money – This should be another prominent benefit of a convertible car seat that it saves money. As you get a longer usability the product can be a real money saver comparing to infant seats where infant seats cost almost the same but usable for only two years most.
These are all the good things of both the seats. When you compare these two features between infant vs convertible seat they both can be winners but we have to select one.
In that case we’d select the infant seat as winner of safety section and the convertible seat as value for money. Now it’s up to you, would you compromise the safety of your child for hundred dollars?
But this comparison is incomplete without knowing the disadvantages of both models. Here are the disadvantages for you.
Top Three Disadvantages Of Infant Seats:
Infant seats are best at serving protection but are they really a complete sort of car seat. Come, let’s see it in brief.
- Shorter Usability – An infant seat has the maximum usability of two years. This limited time span doesn’t bring too much value for money. It’s a big drawback of the infant seat.
- Doesn’t Come With a Frame – The infant seats come with good foaming but most of them don’t have a frame. That’s why they can’t stand greater impact forces.
- Some Features Backfire – Some of the prominent features of an infant seat backfire on it. Features like the lightweight, compatibility creates a lot of problems.
Top Three Disadvantages Of Convertible Seats:
Just like the infant seats convertible seats also have many disadvantages. Among these disadvantages there are…
- The Given Weight and Height Limit is Not Accurate – You will be dazzled with the wide weight range. But don’t be too dazzled with it as a newborn baby is never suitable for a convertible seat.
- Not Portable and Weights a Lot – A convertible seat is not portable at all. Even the weight of convertible car seat is very much. Once you install it in your car you can’t remove it that easily.
- Can’t Be Carried Inside a Flight – A convertible car seat is not FAA certified. So that if you are willing to go aboard with a child you have to have an infant seat.
Final Call:
So, what is our final call?
It’s not a matter of debate actually. You should provide your child an infant seat at the initial stage.
A convertible seat is really unsuitable for a newborn child. So, what you need to do is know the perfect time of changing the car seats and provide them accordingly.
That is, provide the child with an infant seat for the first two years of its life and from two to six years old, give it a convertible seat. If you don’t know on how to pick the right car seat for child safety then checkout our car seat buying guide for proper instruction.
Hope that from above discussion you’ll get proper idea to pick best one within infant car seat vs convertible car seat.