10 in 10: Day 4- How to Decide if Your Baby Still Needs an Infant Insert in the Car Seat
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I love my baby so much, that I just want him to stay a little baby! I'm so happy that is he growing strong since he is a premie, but I liked his small little premie body. However, he is doing so well and he's not so tiny anymore. He will be 7 months old in 2 days, and probably weights around 17.5 lbs by now. He finally feels heavy, if you know what I mean?
Before Baby S was discharged from the NICU he had to pass a 2 hour car seat test. We had to re-order our car seat in the correct color, so my husband ran out to Target down the street and bought one to use in the meantime. The nurse rolled swaddle blankets and tucked them alongside the infant insert for extra support. He passed his test around 2am while we were sleeping in his room. This was the day of his first car ride, coming home for the first time at 3 weeks old.
I have to admit, it's been a bit of a struggle buckling him into his car seat during the last 2 weeks. It's hard to get my fingers under the buckle to unlock it, and there is no more slack to loosen the straps over his shoulders. And with Baby S in a snow suit? Forget about it! I couldn't even buckle in the legs. And when I sat him in the car seat, he just looked like he was squeezing in. Aww, poor baby...
Well, today I was getting ready for our daily stroller walk (almost daily, if we're being honest) and I decided to seize the moment and remove the infant insert. I was a bit sad doing so, because that means Baby S is growing up. I'm so glad I did thought because he fit into it so much better. I left the head rest in for extra cushion, but now I had plenty of room to close all the buckles easily.
I took this picture at the start of our walker this afternoon. He looks so much more comfortable. I know you can't really tell under all of those blankets, but you'll just have to trust me that he's not squished in their anymore.
Baby S is so comfortable that he fell asleep before we reached the end of our parking lot. He's all bundled up because it was about 37 degrees outside. I put my own gloves on pretty quickly after this picture!
I didn't research anything about when to make this transition. I just followed my mother's intuition, and I feel I did the right thing for my baby's comfort. If only removing that insert made him lighter to carry!
