PIPA RX

I ended up getting both, BUT convertible came later. Usually the infant seat lasts anywhere from 6 months to a little over the 1st year..every baby is different. Mine grew out of the seat within 6 months height wise. We considered buying an extra base for our 2nd car, but i found it unnecessary. The carseat can be easily held in place without a base using the European belt method (if your infant carseat supports, mine did). I got a Nuna Pipa RX btw. European method really made a 2nd base unnecessary in the 2nd car. How i afforded both was I budgeted $$$ during the pregnancy for baby items. Which included the infant seat. When baby was born, I again started saving money but specifically for the convertible carseat I wanted. Once I accumulated the money I needed, I held it separately on top of my savings in my savings account. When baby was starting to reach the height/weight limit (which i tracked after each doctors visit), id finally buy the convertible...reason I held off on buying right away was because I would periodically check the web for any potential mark downs on the carseat i wanted. Any discount, is still a discount..if a mark doen never came up, then id just bite the bullet and buy it at full price since I already saved that amount of money. However you can totally opt out of an infant seat all together if you want to, and just opt in for the convertible (as long as its newborn compatible).The infant seat is not technically a "need", while the convertible is definitely a need at some point for everyone. Cutting out cost for the infant seat lets you save that money for other things you may want, like a nice baby carrier for when you take baby out of that convertible seat. Baby wearing is pretty popular. I dont think i need to explain pros and cons of 1 vs the other, since its pretty obvious, unless of course you do want that information, ill gladly feed your brain...I think I made this comment long enough..if not way too long, sorry.

We absolutely love our Nuna Pipa RX. The base is so easy to install and takes me all of 15 seconds, which is super nice when we need to change vehicles. The bucket seat clicks right in. 15/10, would buy again. My LO is 14 months and just outgrew it due to her height and graduated to the Rava. Edit to say I bought it on sale during the Nordstrom anniversary sale. I want to say I got ~$150 off, but can't remember exactly.

I personally didn’t hate it but also didn’t love it. I had the Keyfit 35 cleartex zip. The elastics for the zip canopy always came off. It was extremely annoying, and it was HEAVY. I felt pretty uncomfortable hand carrying it, especially with its weight. And the straps on it were super annoying to get a decent fit. They’re super thick, and always looked like my babies weren’t tight in it but they were. I did like how it was safe, and the seat at the time went up to 35lbs. Plus the no-rethread harness is super nice. I’m due next week with my 3rd and had to get a new infant seat since the mice got into our Chicco Keyfit. We ended up getting the Nuna Pipa RX and I’m pretty pumped for the weight difference (I make large babies haha) and the shape of the handle. The squareness of the handle seems like it will be more comfortable on my elbow when I have to hand carry? Idk, I hope it’s helpful at least! Lol

I really like our nuna pipa rx infant car seat. It’s light, easy to carry, clicks into the base super easily, and the base itself feels really heavy duty/sturdy. I love the nuna winter footmuff you can buy as an accessory. This keeps baby nice and warm, and on extra cold days I tuck a blanket under it. It’s been really easy to use with our UPPAbaby stroller. It does require an adapter piece but that snaps on to the frame in 2 seconds and doesn’t really take up any extra space in the trunk. Also the nuna pipa looks really sleek too

FTM as well - have a 4mo at the moment! I absolutely love my Nuna Pipa Rx. I also live in NE Ohio. Few things: using it with the base is the best thing. It snaps in soooo easy, and we found an extra base on FB market place for $50. However, whenever we travel (which is often) or when she goes with my inlaws, we use it baseless and it really is no trouble. I’d say we probably use is 2-3x per week baseless and it’s not a bother. Also - since you are in NE Ohio - look up Vitcom in Parma. You won’t regret it. They sell a bunch of Nuna stuff (along with other great baby supplies - I got my Hatch sound machine for $10, and an ergobaby carrier for $15) that is all new open box. It still has tags so you know it wasn’t used. I picked up my Nuna Pipa RX for $300, a Nuna Trvl LX for $350, and am buying my convertible car seat (Nuna Rava) from them as well. Could not recommend more highly.

You can’t order Lyfts and Ubers with car seats anymore. KidCar is an app that allows you to order a car with car seats but the app is not very user friendly and I believe you have to pre-order in advance. It’s also more expensive. We’re a year in and when we need a taxi, we use the Nuna Pipa RX because it’s very light and can be installed without a base using the European seat belt path and we purchased adaptors for the Uppababy Minu V3. I also purchased a very cheap Uppababy Vista V2 on Facebook marketplace - I use this when grocery shopping or when we’re out for the day. We also had a fall baby and we spent a lot of time walking to break up the monotony. Good luck!

All seats on the market have to pass the same safety standards, so all of them meet the minimum. They don’t release the rest results, so there’s no way to really know which ones do better. However, anti rebound bars, load legs, etc are features that add safety. Some seats have features that make install easier, and have fewer finicky requirements, both of which mean the seat is more likely to be installed correctly (making it safer). We went with the Nuna Pipa rx for an infant seat, and have the britax poplar for our convertible. Both have advanced safety features and things that make install easier, as well as being chemical flame retardant free.   If you want an infant (sometimes called pumpkin) seat and to be able to easily take it with you out of the car, your stroller must either be the same brand or have adapters for your car seat brand.