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“Ain’t nothing gonna break my stride // Nobody’s gonna slow me down // Oh no, I’ve got to keep on moving.” About 3 weeks postpartum at home with baby, this song creeps in to your head and you’ve got to get out of the house. Getting baby from Point A to Point B, herein referred to as baby transportation, is one of the most important baby “must have” categories; you literally HAVE TO HAVE a car seat and stroller. There are a couple other things that make it easier to get around with a little babe. Here are my baby transportation faves:
Baby Carrier Baby wearing is the best way to get anything done or go anywhere when you have a little baby. This is the carrier I WILL get if/when there is a Baby III.
Pumpkin (Infant) Seat Go to the store, pick these up, see what you like. We have a Britax B-Safe and it is effing heavy. But safe. I’ve seriously heard them called Orphan Makers. Register for an extra base (or two!) so you have one in each parent’s car, or give one to Grandma or whoever will be driving baby regularly. In a pinch, you can just use the seatbelt to secure the carseat but the base makes it much steadier.
Car Seat Cover These are great to have for a multitude of reasons: they protect baby from snow, sun, rain, and nosy onlookers at Target. Get one that has elastic around the edges (like this) so that the cover doesn’t blow up in the wind.
Convertible Carseat While it will be a while until you actually need a convertible carseat, might as well register for one while people are willing to buy you things ;). Choose one that will fit your needs; some are better for tall kids, others are slim if you have to fit 3 across the back seat at some point in the future. Others are easier to adjust or have more cushioning. We the Britax Marathon in each car for Quinn because of the excellent safety ratings and the ease of adjustment. We recently upgraded Cooper from infant seat to convertible seat and I got a great deal on the Diono Radian RXT seat – it’s 28 lbs and literally made of steel. If you get the Diono, be sure to also get this adjustment wedge, otherwise you will have to move the seat in front of the car seat up all the way. Not comfy. Sidenote: kids should be rear facing, even in a convertible carseat, until at least 2. Hops off soapbox.
Stroller If you plan on having another baby 4 or less years after your first, get a stroller that can convert to a double. If you’re going to space ’em out, get a single stroller that has whatever it is that’s important to you. Take a couple for a test drive – Target and Buy Buy Baby have floor models that you can practice with in the store. Fold them up, adjust the bells and whistles and go with whatever you like. We have the Britax B-Agile single AND double because I wasn’t planning ahead with the single. If I had to do it all over again, I would have gotten this stroller.
Stroller Organizer If you stroller comes with a cupholder, great. If not, make sure you get the add on. The Britax stroller organizer has 2 cup holders so momma can have a coffee AND a water at the same time. Yesssss.
Car Mirror Babies like to look at themselves. I like to look at my babies. Get one of these so everybody wins.
Travel Bag If you ever plan on air travel with a baby or toddler, it’s a good idea to get one of these pretty little red nylon bags to store your car seat in while it goes through whatever abuse it will endure at the airport. Seriously, we used one on a trip and it came back with holes and stains – I was just happy it wasn’t our car seat with that damage.
Seat Protector Obviously a seat protector is not essential but it is nice to have if you don’t want permanent dents in your seats. Or your seat cushions to smell like spoiled milk in the middle of the summer. A little added layer between baby and vehicle seems like a good idea, yes?
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Here are all my transportation essentials – just click on the image to shop or add to your registry.
Other Registry Must Haves: baby feeding essentials // bath time essentials // sleep essentials // breastfeeding essentials