UPPAbaby - Aria

Also recommend the aria! It’s super lightweight, easy to clean and install.

I have the Aria V1, we got ours before the V2 was released. We have had no issues with the V1 and use it with the uppababy minu travel stroller (love this stroller too). I believe the new V2 features allow the car seat to be used a little longer than the V1 (worth confirming I’m not mistaken), but I’ve been seeing the V1 on sale recently for a great price! Both are great choices, having a lightweight newborn car seat is amazing for pp recovery and when the baby gets heavier over time haha

We started with a convertible to avoid having to buy an infant seat. Our daughter was born winter, and after a month or two we decided to bite the bullet and get an infant seat and an extra base. The ability to carry her into appointments in the seat, as well as to snap her into the stroller for quick stops was really helpful. Also, much easier to deal with a little baby in the infant seat when it is raining or snowing, and the seat is warm when you put them in because it stays in the house. Now that she is older and in a convertible seat again, we find it often leads to us having to be much more careful about planning. We like to time our longer drives around naptime, but that means once she is asleep we can’t really make any additional stops, unless we are both in the car and one person stays with her. Getting an infant car seat with good longevity is recommended. We had an Aria v1 and she grew out of it really fast due to design flaws(she’s not a small baby but not huge). She is still nowhere near the limits on paper but was really uncomfortable. Hopefully the V2 is much better, but based on my experience I probably will go with a different infant seat for our second baby, thinking maybe Clek Liing. I would really like to keep the second baby in the infant seat to 12 months at least, hopefully longer.

We use the aria at first because it came with the travel system that my mother-in-law gave us. But she was very uncomfortable with that, would cry all the time and while I’d like that it had the stroller attachment, which made it convenient, we rarely used that. We use the bassinet instead. We wound up getting when she turned about four months to the Chicco fit 360, it’s a bigger seat, but she is so comfortable and so happy.

Are you sure it was the Aria? Were you possibly lifting it with the base attached? The Aria is one of the lightest car seats on the market. It’s under 6 lbs. My Chicco Keyfit30 is 9.5 lbs for comparison.

I have the UB Aria and love it. It’s so light. I also love the sunshade in it. My baby is 4 months and currently 80th percentile in weight (almost 16lbs) and 95th in height (25 in), and was 9lbs at birth. I think we have probably 2 more months we can use it! And honestly, I can’t imagine using it longer than that outside of a car setting. She prefers either being held or the rumble seat to the car seat anyway. We also have a Doona that was gifted to use. It is useful in certain situations, but is SO heavy. I almost can’t use it without my husband to lift it into the car. We have the Cruz 2 stroller and love it as well. The connection points are really easy to use. We are looking at the Minu for something slimmer as she gets older.

Hey, congratulations on impending dad status. My daughter is a little over one and I've had no issues fitting her, my wife and a stroller in the back (but not much else) We started with an uppa baby aria (smaller and lighter) and recently I got a Evenflo Revolve 360 slim to move behind the passenger seat since she's grown out of the last one. My wife is 5'5 or so and with the car seat behind her it is a little tight, so we don't like to take long trips in the WRX.  So just being honest here about expectations, it's not going to be a everything vehicle. You won't be packing everyone in for a trip to Costco anytime soon with a stroller and diaper bag and everything else, we take the wife's SUV for that and long road trips, but that can be somewhat fixed if you get a roof rack with storage to expand capacity.

All of this! We bought our travel system (Uppababy Vista V2) on Facebook Marketplace for $350 then just bought the Mesa V2 bucket seat separately. I deep cleaned the stroller and accessories and they looked basically new. Once baby outgrows the bucket seat we’ll buy a convertible car seat, we’re considering the Joie Saffron which is $200 after discounts. In total we’d be about a grand in, but she’d be set until she’s done with car seats. So basically yes, you will have to spend some money, but there are ways to stretch your dollar and still get good products.

I think it’s easiest to start with making a list of your priorities! Convertible car seats (like the rotating ones, as well those that can be used rear facing or forward facing) usually can be used from birth to booster, but it’s important to know if that’s what you want. I personally like the convenience of having an infant seat/carrier that I can remove from its base in the car, because baby falls asleep in the car a LOT and I like to bring him inside without waking him. If you do go the route of an infant seat first, I’d recommend one that is compatible with a travel system because it makes like so much easier. I personally have an UppaBaby car seat/stroller combo and love it, but have heard great things about nearly all of the others too. I think having a bassinet attachment for a stroller is great when baby is small, because it allows them to stretch out and wiggle while you stroll, which is great for them developmentally. It’s not recommended that babies spend extended periods of time in the infant carseat, so I don’t recommend using them for walks if you can avoid it, and the bigger stroller seats aren’t recommended for babies until they have better head and neck control, which also makes the bassinet a winner. If you prefer to skip the infant seat and go to a convertible seat from the jump, that’s fine too! I personally have a rotating car seat for my toddler and plan to use the same one for my infant when he outgrows his infant seat. It makes for less strain on you when buckling the baby in, and is my favorite car seat I’ve ever used. If you go this route, you also don’t have to worry about a stroller that is compatible with an infant seat, which can be a plus if you are looking at some brands that don’t make car seats! I’d write down your must-haves. Decide if you want an infant seat or a convertible seat, and maybe watch some installation videos on YouTube to see if you’re willing to install the seat before you buy it (some are way easier to install than others). From there, decide if your budget is compatible with all or if you need to weed out the ones you don’t want to pay for. And just take it one step at a time! It’s overwhelming but you can’t go wrong, truly. It’s mainly a personal preference situation!

My baby hates being in a car seat outside of a moving car - we have the Uppababy car seat that snaps into the stroller. In hindsight I’m happy I didn’t purchase the Doona since the baby would’ve hated it.

I’d look up complaints about customer service, specifically about recalls or having to replace anything with their products. We were debating between Nuna and Uppababy, and ended up going Uppababy because of the reassurance.