Andrea’s Weblog

I left the travel system discussion out of my previous post, because I’m reevaluating how we used ours. A recent article in Mothering magazine titled “Car Seats are for Cars” states that “children who are consistently carried in car seats instead of held in arms suffer adverse physical and psychological effects.” (Mothering. May-June 2006. p32) Babies can suffer from Plagiocephaly (flat-head syndrome), which has prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics to “suggest that infants ’should spend minimal time in car seats (when not a passenger in a vehicle).’”

The article goes on to list poor positioning, physical strain for parents, the burden of carrying too much baby stuff, and lack of touch as other adverse effects of baby carriers.

I have to confess that it was good to see this in writing. I still remember a baby I saw at a wedding reception who spent the whole time in a carseat, on the floor, with everyone walking by. I never saw him being held, despite the multitude of open arms. I’m sure the baby woke up at some point, but they probably just popped a bottle in his mouth and he went back to sleep. The parents were so removed from their baby - the total opposite of our attachment parenting approach.
So anyhow, here is my experience with travel systems so you can make your own decision:

• The stroller was the only one Elizabeth could ride in until she could sit up better (Jog and Umbrella strollers are for older babies).

• I loved being able to transfer Elizabeth from the car directly to grocery cart in her carseat.
• We mostly retired the stroller that goes with the infant carseat because we didn’t want it to get worn out and not have a stroller for the carseat with the next little McPherson.
• Elizabeth only fit in the carseat until she was 4-5 months old.
• I can count on my hand the number of times we used the carseat with the stroller. (Mostly at the mall, but I could have just transferred her to the stroller)

My thoughts:
I would say that if you’re on a budget and don’t have space to keep a large stroller in your home and/or car, use a sling in the early days. (Hold off on buying a travel system stroller until/unless you need one).

I still like the idea of the infant carseat that doubles as a carrier, but they’re HEAVY. Thinking back on it, in a lot of cases I would have been better off just to carry Elizabeth in a sling rather than awkwardly lug her in the carseat/carrier. You only have one hand if you’re carrying the carseat. I did like being able to put her in a grocery cart, but that’s probably the only time I’ll use it as a carrier with the next McPherson. (In a grocery cart she was at face level and seemed to like that.) If you’re on a budget, that might not be worth it for 5 months of use. You can buy a carseat that you will use longer.