Strollers, Car Seats, Carriers, Oh My!

It's time to choose our baby seat/carrier/stroller and to decide whether to do all-in-one, or separates.  So, today I took a look at what Britax has to offer. 

There are 2 strollers to consider, since JP wants 3 wheel.  One of them has a double wheel in the front, so I'll have to see what he thinks, but there are some pros and cons to each- like the one with the double front wheel is much lighter.  Both of these strollers carry the kid up to 55 lbs, and can be integrated with Britax's infant car seats.  But before I compare the two, let's look at our 3 options:

1- Buy a "Next Generation Convertible Car Seat" which fits 5-70 lbs, but is not a carrier and does not fit in a stroller.  Thus, use no carrier and/or body-fit carrier and look at stroller options.  "B-Agile" stroller fits infant up to 55lbs.  "B-Scene" without infant car seat fits 6 months up to 55 lbs.  Instead of car seat, we could buy the bassinet accessory to make it work for an infant. 


1- Buy a "Chaperone" or "B-Safe" infant car seat that fits 4-30 lbs, and up to 42" or less height (which seems to be between 1-2 years old.)  Buy the "B-Scene" or "B-Agile" Stroller, which are compatible with these infant seats.  The seat is a carrier, and fits the strollers.  But, a new car seat would have to be purchased at 1-2 years old.  

We need to call around and find a store that has both strollers in stock so that we can try them out and compare them, and then once we decide on car-seat, we have to find a store that stocks the one we want so we can fit it in our vehicles. 

Buy Buy Baby has them on their website, and we do have a 20% off single item coupon, and 10% off registry items.
B-Agile= 249.99  B-Scene= 399.99  Chaperone= 229.99  B-Safe 179.99
Chaperone extra base = 89.99  B-Safe extra base = 79.99

Smart Momma also has them on their website:
B-Agile (only available in red) = 199.99
B-Safe and B-Agile combo (red) = 335.99
B-Safe= 139.99  B-Safe extra base= 76.99
Chaperone= 199.99  Black/Silver= 179.99  Chaperone extra base= 74.99
B-Scene not listed

Tots to Teens website has:
Neither Stroller
Chaperone= 229.99 Chaperone extra base= 89.99

Babies 'R Us website shows:
B-Agile= 249.99  B-Scene= 399.99
Chaperone= 183.99
B-Safe = 143.99  B-Safe extra base= 79.99

No more local stores listed.
Here's a peek at Amazon:
B-Scene= 339.99 +6.49 ship
B-Agile= 194.99 (free ship with amazon prime)
B-Safe= 139.99 (free ship w/ prime)  B-Safe extra base= 71.36 (free sh w/ prime)
Chaperone= 165.93 (prime)  Chap extra base = 85.09 (prime)
B-Agile & B-Safe combo= 346.77 (prime)

The Britax website lists the "Next Generation Convertible Car Seats" ranging from 199.99-379.99
They list their other car seats from 111.99-379.99
Buy Buy Baby seems to use MSRP, so that's who would have these prices, but others would be less.  


Well, guess I should get to some real work to help pay for all this!   

A Few Things to Look In To

Well, I don't have time to do any looking into things today, but I wanted to jot them down so that I don't forget!  My mom and I went to the Tots to Teens store the other day and found some noteworthy items.

1.  They have a really cool indoor play room and party room!  It is open for Open Play Monday-Friday 10-3, and also whenever it is not booked for a party outside of those times.  It costs just $5/per child/per session.  And the parties are reasonable too.  It'll be quite a while 'till I'll be using it for my own kid, but if I ever need somewhere cool to take a little one, I'll be there. 

2.  They had car seats and strollers made in the USA.  The brand is Britax, and I'll need to check them out sometime.   www.BritaxUSA.com

3.  They had a car seat assembled in the USA by Recaro.  It looks like a pretty international company, so I'll have to look in to that further sometime too.

4.  They had cute made in the USA crib bedding called Glenna Jean.  Looks kinda pricey, but maybe with more time we can find a good deal.

5.  Another crib bedding company that they carried had some made in USA and some made in China.  The American stuff was always more expensive, but again, since we have plenty of time, maybe we can find a deal.  That brand is Banana Fish. 

So, I looked really quick and instantly saw this on http://www.glennajean.com/. 

And, oh my gosh, they are so cute!  Choosing one looks like it would be nearly impossible. I was going to put a picture, but I just can't.  You'll have to look for yourself!

Oops, thought of 2 more that I almost left out:

6.  According to the guy working there, rocker/gliders by Little Castle are Made in the US.  I want to check for myself, but they sure were comfy. 

7.  He also said that the other brand of rocker/gliders that they carry, Dutailier, are made in Canada.  I know I said I'm trying to be All-American, but I like Canada too, and might be willing to make an exception.  But, I haven't confirmed it yet for myself, so we'll see.  Besides, they weren't as comfy as the other ones.

Woo hoo, I took a brief look and found this on Little Castle's website, http://www.littlecastleinc.com/, "All made in the USA."

Alright, back to work for me.  I'm going to have to work extra hard for some of the nice things I have found!!