25 weeks: car seat decisions

I'm 25 weeks pregnant and I think we've found our car seat! It seems so simple, doesn't it? Just pick something decent off of Target.com and go with it.

Then there's the safety ratings, user reviews, logistics of use, size, durability, how well it fits into your car....oh, and the price. Initially, I fell in love with the Graco "days of hunny" travel system from Walmart. Who doesn't love Winnie the Pooh? It is an adorable system, don't get me wrong, but then I decided to do more research. I couldn't just put Jamie in something because it was cute.

For convenience, the car seat clips onto the stroller. Once Baby is big enough, you can just use the stroller to haul him around. Then I thought....how well does the stroller fit into the trunk of a car? Scott drives a Honda Civic (hybrid) and I drive a Toyota Yaris (the 3 door hatchback). We're not talking SUV's here. I didn't want to get a travel system and then not be able to actually use it. Ugh!

I decided to look through the forums at Babycenter.com, to get some honest feedback, and read the reviews on the Graco models. I was pretty positive that I wanted a Graco system, because I know the brand is well trusted and their products are made well.

Then I found this little gem:

It's the Graco Snugride 32. The 32 means that the weight limit is 32 lbs, which is better than the 22 lb weight limit for most carseats, including the Winnie the Pooh seat. Other parents seem to love this car seat, and while it costs a little bit more, I love that you can get more use out of it. We'll need an extra base for Scott's car, but that's a no-brainer. Now, what about a coordinating stroller?

Graco also makes stroller frames to work with their car seats. Genius, isn't it? Finally, we can get something that will fit into our compact cars. And the price isn't bad at all, compared to some of the travel systems. Once we need an actual stroller, we can look at umbrella strollers, which are also lightweight and easy to pack up.

I'm so relieved, you have no idea. Everything else is just gravy, right? Bottles are bottles and onesies are onesies. Although, I'm still not completely clear on the world of swings and exersaucers. I just don't know.