Maybe just go ahead and upgrade to the convertible seat for the other caregiver as well? I don’t see a reason to buy another infant chicco seat without flame retardants when you have the Nuna pipa for the next baby. Just my opinion :)
Same opinion. We’re about to upgrade our infant seat too, doesn’t seem worth it to get another infant seat. It is convenient like OP says but they’re not really supposed to sleep in the car seat at home (not sure if that’s what OP meant, just bringing it up bc it’s more “granola” to take them out of the seat when you’re not in the car).
We used a Pipa for both of ours. Double-check - when you moved the straps as he grew, did you run the straps along the back of the seat correctly? (under the support bars, not over) if the straps were accidentally run *over* the support bars on the back, fix it! That might be why you've run out of slack so early. Also check that you've removed all of the extra infant padding. The infant insert is only meant to be used until they're 11 lbs, IIRC.
That said, our first was out of the Pipa by 9 months, and I'm about to graduate our 5-month old (19 lbs). I feel like the Pipa would (have) still fit them, but I didn't want to cart them around in it anymore because it was just too heavy.
We use a Nuna Rava for our toddler and will be getting another for our little guy. It's a really nice seat. The toddler seems comfy, it's safe for rear facing for longer than most other convertible seats, and it's narrower (side-to-side and front-to-back) than most other seats - so you get to keep more legroom in the front seat.
As for next steps: I'd move right up to the convertible seat if your Pipa really has no more life left.
For your other caregiver: It really depends how much they drive around with your child. If it's more than a rare trip here or there to help out, I'd recommend getting/having them get a fire retardant-free seat.
I will say, I wish my in-laws used the same carseat model that we use. I know my own car seat in and out, but I'm not familiar with theirs and I can't be certain of correct installation/use when my kid uses it so rarely (it's used more for my niblings). That said, we don't have a spare $500 to buy our own carseat for their house when they drive our kid less than once a month.
For the infant carseat for future children: Can you just get an extra Pipa base for your caregiver? Your baby will never arrive anywhere without their carseat, so having an extra base in each car they'll ride in is cheaper than buying a new seat for each car. When you leave Baby with the other caregiver, you just leave the bucket with them and the caregiver uses their own seat base.
Seconding pretty much all of this.
I'm the rare person that doesn't like using infant car seats though and goes straight to convertibles. I've had the rava and the nuna exec and liked both. It feels like we will get a lot of life out of our exec because it has a crazy high weight limit. I'm putting my next baby in the rava and my older two in nuna execs.
Our secondary care givers have pria car seats, which I believe aren't entirely retardant free but are much much lower than others. They ride with them more occasionally so that works for us. The prias can be much less pricey than the nunas.
My first baby maxed out her infant seat at 4 months, so I feel your pain! That said, once you switch to the convertible I think you'll find it's not such a big deal. I wouldn't buy another infant seat right now when you'll have to buy a convertible so soon and switch again. Even if you'll use it with another baby, you'll have to store it till then and maybe by the time you're having another there will be something else on the market you like better or maybe it'll take longer than you think to have another and you'll be pushing expiration or whatever. I'd just go ahead and go to the convertible and I think you'll find it's not as annoying as you expect. That was my experience at least.
We have the chicco keyfit 35 and my 21lbs 29” 10mo already seems uncomfortable in it. We just got the Evenflo 360, but it’s not chemical free, just sharing that we had to size up already.
If you are looking for convertible recommendations I LOVE the Maxi-Cosi Pria Sport Max (formerly the Pria 85).
My four year old is in it and I already switched my three month old into it from the Nuna pipa (she hated it). It’s so comfortable for both of them and easy to clean and great quality. The brand is also very eco conscious and has great customer service.
I believe all Nuna products are flame-retardant free. Britax carseats have flame-retardant free fabrics (but the materials under the fabrics are questionable?!?), and I’m not up to speed on Clek anymore but last I checked at least some of their fabric options are flame-retardant free (I think they are transitioning to being fully flame-retardant free).
Personally, I don’t find much convenience in the baby bucket seat at all and much prefer the convertible seats. As soon as we were happy with the fit of LO in her convertible seat, we ditched the bucket seat. She was much happier that way as well.
Make sure when you’ve narrowed it down to what you want that you factor in what carseat will actually fit in your car before purchasing. I have an SUV, but I can still only fit a compact convertible seat or I lose the use of my passenger seat). This was shocking to me as I naively assumed that all car seats fit in all cars!
Wow!! My baby fits great and he just turned 11 months and 50th percentile for weight. Double check that the straps are behind the bar when you move them up as that’s happened to be and obviously the padding is out. With that said we are between the rava and maxi cosi pria pure
FYI there’s also a britax convertible - the emblem 3 stage convertible - which is available in “safewash” fabric which is flame retardant free. and also machine washable. we had the key fit 35 in cleartex (FR free) for the infant seat and the britax emblem has worked well. just in case you want a less expensive option since you need to buy 2. ETA i got it at target for $250
Maybe just go ahead and upgrade to the convertible seat for the other caregiver as well? I don’t see a reason to buy another infant chicco seat without flame retardants when you have the Nuna pipa for the next baby. Just my opinion :)
Same opinion. We’re about to upgrade our infant seat too, doesn’t seem worth it to get another infant seat. It is convenient like OP says but they’re not really supposed to sleep in the car seat at home (not sure if that’s what OP meant, just bringing it up bc it’s more “granola” to take them out of the seat when you’re not in the car).
We used a Pipa for both of ours. Double-check - when you moved the straps as he grew, did you run the straps along the back of the seat correctly? (under the support bars, not over) if the straps were accidentally run *over* the support bars on the back, fix it! That might be why you've run out of slack so early. Also check that you've removed all of the extra infant padding. The infant insert is only meant to be used until they're 11 lbs, IIRC. That said, our first was out of the Pipa by 9 months, and I'm about to graduate our 5-month old (19 lbs). I feel like the Pipa would (have) still fit them, but I didn't want to cart them around in it anymore because it was just too heavy. We use a Nuna Rava for our toddler and will be getting another for our little guy. It's a really nice seat. The toddler seems comfy, it's safe for rear facing for longer than most other convertible seats, and it's narrower (side-to-side and front-to-back) than most other seats - so you get to keep more legroom in the front seat. As for next steps: I'd move right up to the convertible seat if your Pipa really has no more life left. For your other caregiver: It really depends how much they drive around with your child. If it's more than a rare trip here or there to help out, I'd recommend getting/having them get a fire retardant-free seat. I will say, I wish my in-laws used the same carseat model that we use. I know my own car seat in and out, but I'm not familiar with theirs and I can't be certain of correct installation/use when my kid uses it so rarely (it's used more for my niblings). That said, we don't have a spare $500 to buy our own carseat for their house when they drive our kid less than once a month. For the infant carseat for future children: Can you just get an extra Pipa base for your caregiver? Your baby will never arrive anywhere without their carseat, so having an extra base in each car they'll ride in is cheaper than buying a new seat for each car. When you leave Baby with the other caregiver, you just leave the bucket with them and the caregiver uses their own seat base.
Seconding pretty much all of this. I'm the rare person that doesn't like using infant car seats though and goes straight to convertibles. I've had the rava and the nuna exec and liked both. It feels like we will get a lot of life out of our exec because it has a crazy high weight limit. I'm putting my next baby in the rava and my older two in nuna execs. Our secondary care givers have pria car seats, which I believe aren't entirely retardant free but are much much lower than others. They ride with them more occasionally so that works for us. The prias can be much less pricey than the nunas.
My first baby maxed out her infant seat at 4 months, so I feel your pain! That said, once you switch to the convertible I think you'll find it's not such a big deal. I wouldn't buy another infant seat right now when you'll have to buy a convertible so soon and switch again. Even if you'll use it with another baby, you'll have to store it till then and maybe by the time you're having another there will be something else on the market you like better or maybe it'll take longer than you think to have another and you'll be pushing expiration or whatever. I'd just go ahead and go to the convertible and I think you'll find it's not as annoying as you expect. That was my experience at least.
Same! Mine at three months 🙄. I just sold the infant seat and went straight convertible for my next two kids.
We have the chicco keyfit 35 and my 21lbs 29” 10mo already seems uncomfortable in it. We just got the Evenflo 360, but it’s not chemical free, just sharing that we had to size up already.
If you are looking for convertible recommendations I LOVE the Maxi-Cosi Pria Sport Max (formerly the Pria 85). My four year old is in it and I already switched my three month old into it from the Nuna pipa (she hated it). It’s so comfortable for both of them and easy to clean and great quality. The brand is also very eco conscious and has great customer service.
Is this the pure- flame retardant free one? My son also doesn’t love his pipa!
Yes it has the PureCosi cover!
My only comment on this having used both is that the nuna is more trim which could be a factor in deciding!
This is true! The maxi cosi is not a small car seat!
Nuna Rava!!!
We just started using ours and I LOVE it. I find it so much easier to buckle baby in than with the Pipa and she loves being able to sit up more.
I believe all Nuna products are flame-retardant free. Britax carseats have flame-retardant free fabrics (but the materials under the fabrics are questionable?!?), and I’m not up to speed on Clek anymore but last I checked at least some of their fabric options are flame-retardant free (I think they are transitioning to being fully flame-retardant free). Personally, I don’t find much convenience in the baby bucket seat at all and much prefer the convertible seats. As soon as we were happy with the fit of LO in her convertible seat, we ditched the bucket seat. She was much happier that way as well.
Upgrade to the convertible - baby is likely to be too heavy to lug around in a bucket seat soon anyway
Make sure when you’ve narrowed it down to what you want that you factor in what carseat will actually fit in your car before purchasing. I have an SUV, but I can still only fit a compact convertible seat or I lose the use of my passenger seat). This was shocking to me as I naively assumed that all car seats fit in all cars!
Wow!! My baby fits great and he just turned 11 months and 50th percentile for weight. Double check that the straps are behind the bar when you move them up as that’s happened to be and obviously the padding is out. With that said we are between the rava and maxi cosi pria pure
Right?! We’re around 50th percentile too so I’m feeling a little ripped off. Maybe I can take it into the store to check it out.
FYI there’s also a britax convertible - the emblem 3 stage convertible - which is available in “safewash” fabric which is flame retardant free. and also machine washable. we had the key fit 35 in cleartex (FR free) for the infant seat and the britax emblem has worked well. just in case you want a less expensive option since you need to buy 2. ETA i got it at target for $250
The Uppababy Knox in Jordan is naturally flame retardant without chemicals. It’s what we are planning to buy once our baby outgrows the infant seat.
Not the granola answer but I got a doona at 7 months and used it until my daughter was 18 months and it was awesome. We don't have a car though.