Guess we need a new one!

Who knew that car seats come with an expiration date?! Go figure but apparently they do.

I was looking at the bottom of Belle's old car seat and noticed it said on there "Do not use after December 31, 2008." I called Evenflo today and yup, car seats come with expiration dates. It makes sense really. They do that because the safety standards change and this way it ensure (hopefully) that people are not using car seats that are no longer considered safe.

They do have a good shelf life... 6 years. But for those of us who waited a good amount of time between kids it means ya get to buy a new one.

The stroller we have that came with the car seat is still good however. BUT, the only car seat that would fit on in a safe way to it is another evenflo car seat. A model called the "Embrace Infant Car Seat." But looking at it online it didn't seem to have the best ratings.

So now the delima. I want to buy something safe above all else. But do I go ahead and shell out more for another travel system (carseat and stroller)? Or do I just get a car seat and make due with the stroller we have even though we couldn't use the car seat carrier with it?

The one I like is the Quinny 3 stroller and the Maxi-Cosi car seat. They fit together. But they also are oodles of money. The car seat alone is 170! The stroller is 550!!! Darn thing should be made out of gold for that price! The car seat also has some reviews saying how small it is. So maybe it wouldn't be a good choice when I just know I'll have a big baby. But then Melissa fit Noah in her's just fine and he was born bigger then belle.

But I can't afford it anyway so we need to look for an alternative. Looking online right now I see a couple potential options:

If we go the Travel System option here are a few that look promising:

1. Safety 1st Acella Sport Travel System : This one looks nice (online at least) and isn't too horribly expensive (146.80 on amazon). Good ratings. I'd need to see it in person first because one of the things I'd want if I get a new stroller is something that isn't huge and bulky.

2. Chicco Cortina Travel System : Looks from the picture a lot like what we have now. Its a bit more expensive (289 on babiesrus). Good ratings but I dunno... need to see it.

Another way we could go would be to, instead of a travel system buy a car seat and then a car seat frame stroller to hold it. For example:

1. Graco SnugRider Infant Car Seat Stroller Frame (48.80 on amazon with good ratings. Looks like it folds up nicely.) which wold work with either the Graco SafeSeat Infant Car Seat (116.22 on amazon) or the Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat - Giselle (139.99 on amazon)

2. Kolcraft Universal Infant Car Seat Carrier (52.49 on amazon) Says that is fits most car seats.

So will need to do some hunting around soon. Not like we can go to the hospital without a car seat! :)