When did you stop using the carseat carrier? My son is three months
old today and I find the carseat very difficult to carry especially putting
him in and out of my SUV. It's so much easier just to carry him out to
the vehicle. My b/f thinks it to soon. He's afraid I might trip and fall which I suppose could happen but I would be very careful. I've been having alot of
back problems lately and carrying him in the carseat throws my hole body
out of line and he's very heavy. My boyfriend can lift the carseat easily just using his arm strength but it's not that easy for me. Am I being selfish or does anyone else think it's not to early to starting carrying a three month old.
Thanks - Lynn

Well he is to young/little to stop using the carrier carseat (rear facing), but you could leave the carrier in the car and carry the baby. I too had a Suburban (which I bought prior to getting pregnant) and thought how nice it would be. That was before I had to start lifting my son and carrier up and over into the base, UGH!! It would kill my back. He finally out grew the carrier and we had to get another rear facing (that can be forward facing too) carseat cause he got to long and heavy for the other. But it was still hard to lift him up and over into the seat. I am currently pregnant again and with gas prices, and I couldn't imagine going back to lifting that carrier everyday a couple times a day, so we traded in for a minivan, and it is so nice cause I still have to lift my 15 mo old DS into the van but atleast I don't have to lift him up, just into it. I don't blame you, it is murder on your back.

You can either leave the carrier in the car and take him in and out without taking the seat out of the car. Or you can buy a convertible car seat which you rear face until a year and 20 lbs. It is important that your baby stays rear facing until then. Then after that it (the convertible car seat) can be turned to forward facing.

My DS is almost 4 months and 16lbs. I feel your pain. If I am home by myself and going out with him alone. I carry everything out to the car, purse, diaper bag, carrier, etc. I put things that have to go out to the car in the carrier, like my purse and diaper bag. Then lastly I come back in for DS. Also when I put the stuff in the car I also adjust the heat/air so it will be comfortable when DS goes in. Then when I get home I bring him the diaper bag and my purse in and leave the rest, carrier and bags for when I get to it. Like when DS is napping. We live in an apartment and I have to do this up and down 2 flights of stairs. When DH is going out with us he carries DS in the carrier.

DS actually outgrew his first car seat carrier and I ended up buying him one that held up to 35 pounds, 32 inches to get me thru the winter. Rather than purchase a snow suit, I got him a nano bag, which I put him in, inside the car seat carrier and then put a hat on his head to keep him nice and toasty and so I didn't have to deal with blankets flying around on windy days or bulky snow suits. I made sure my purse had a shoulder strap, so I wouldn't have to hang on to a purse either, or used a diaper bag with shoulder strap to keep my hands free.

My son is 2 months and has almost outgrown his infant carrier. We bought a 3-in-1 (rear facing, forward facing, booster), but have not used it yet. I have back problems too, and know what you mean about the lifting. Today I had a lot of running around to do, and my hubby needed the truck. So I was stuck with the 2-door Cavalier. I had to take him in and out of that car 4 times. OMG, NEVER AGAIN!! Don't feel selfish! You have to take care of yourself as well. If he hasn't outgrown the infant carrier, it may be a good idea to just leave it in the car for yourself, and your boyfriend can still take it in and out if he wishes. Might as well get as much use out of it as possible!

We stopped using ours when DS was around 4 months becasue he grew out of it. I liked that he fell asleep in it when driving then all I had to do was carry it inside and let him finish his nap. I was bummed when we had to switch to the convertable seat because of this. It was nice not having to carry that heavy thing around though. It threw my whole body out of whack also.

Oh my gosh, don't feel bad, leave the damn thing in the car, you can use one of those baby bjorn carriers to make sure your baby is nice and safe. It leaves your hands free to carry all the other things. Initially took me a while to figure out how to strap him in, but now it's nice and quick. I'll only leave my son in the car seat carrier if I go grocery shopping and carts are nearby, otherwize forget it. My son is not even 2.5 mo old and already weighs 15lbs, my back was killing me too.

DD outgrew her infant seat at four months so we had to buy a convertible car seat. The seat said "up to 26 inches" and at 4 months, she was taller than that. The infant carrier was heavy and awkward for me too (I am 5'2 and about 100 lbs when not pregnant) but I loved being able to take DD in and out of the car and take her places while she continued to sleep since she would fall asleep in the car. With the convertible carseat, it stays in the car so I have to wake her up to take her out. The only other drawback is that she can't sit up on her own yet, so she can't sit in the grocery carts (I think the ones with the built in baby seat are disgusting). She is on the verge and sometimes she will sit in the seat with a seat pad with a velcro strap that I bought at Babies 'R Us but she still leans in that and doesn't like it for very long. The infant seat has it's obvious disadvantages, but I didn't realize all of the advantages until DD outgrew it. I just wanted to point out some of the things you will need to compensate for if you do decide not to use the infant seat.

Forgot to mention restaurants. Those are a pain too since DD can't sit up in the high chair yet and it's too much of a pain to bring her reclining high chair everywhere.

You're telling me!!! My DS is not even 4 months old and he already weighs 17 lbs and is 27 and 1/2 inches long!!! I had to stop using his baby carrier 2 weeks ago because my back was killing me and I had bruises everywhere from it...I also bought one of those confertiable car seats and I love it...It does have some disadvantages like not being able to clip it into a shopping cart but I also bought one of those baby holders that you stap on around you and it works great...I just leave it in the car and strap it on before I go into the store so it is really helpful...