Infant Car Seat vs Convertible Car Seat We Have a Winner

In that world common to car owners and people with babies, a debate has gone on for ages as to which is better – an infant car seat or a convertible car seat. Today we will try our best to give a definitive answer to that question. We will start out by listing the positives and negatives of each option.

We will link to actual customer reviews of the infant car seat and popular products of both types and give our verdict at the end so you can make a highly informed choice.

Infant car seat:

What is it?

As the name suggests, this car seat is specifically designed for infants who are up to 32 inches long. For infants, it is imperative that they fit snugly in the car seat. The head and neck need to be well supported as at this age they are very fragile.

This also means that they can only fit babies for a limited time and once your baby’s head no longer fits inside the seat it is pretty much useless. They usually come with a base that can be fixed to your car’s seat and face the rear of the car.

The top part which holds the baby is detachable relatively light in weight and can be used to carry the baby. It can also be fixed to strollers which means that the baby doesn’t have to constantly move around from one seat to another.

Here is a list of the top selling convertible car seats on Amazon.

It’s positives:

– Very safe and ideal for babies in the first year
– Can be carried around quite easily.
– Versatile as they can be used in cars as well as strollers.
– Relatively cheaper.

It’s negatives:

– Very short operational life as babies will outgrow them in a year.
– Taller babies will find it very inconvenient and in some case even unsafe.

Convertible car seat:

What is it?

These are the more long-term option when it comes to baby car seats. They are a lot heavier and consequently more expensive. They, however, can be used for a longer duration as they can be attached in both a front-facing manner for older babies and rear-facing for smaller babies. Owing to the heavier dimensions, it cannot be moved around easily and can take up a lot of space inside the car. The great thing about this option is that they can be used for children right from their birth all the way till they weigh about a 100 lbs.

Here is a list of the top selling convertible car seats on Amazon.

It’s positives:

– Long operational life
– Better build quality
– Safer and more comfortable for the child

It’s negatives:

– More expensive
– Cumbersome and heavy making it quite a handful to maneuver around.

Final verdict: We give our vote to the convertible car seats as they are more versatile and last a lot longer while also being the safer option.