Save on Toddler Car Seats/Carriers

You didn't think I'd tell you about the joys of baby/toddler carriers without offering you one for free, did you? Stay tuned for a Lillebaby giveaway worth $120!

You’ve already got an infant car seat, and a sling or baby carrier that works great for your little one, but when babies turn into toddlers, you need to size up. Car seats and baby carriers are one of the priciest items of gear you’ll need for baby, though, so here are some tips to get the best toddler convertible car seats and toddler backpack carriers for less.

Car Seats

Just as with infant car seats, convertible toddler car seats can be found for free several ways.

• Giveaways: Search Google for “car seat giveaway” (a specific brand will yield even better results: Britax, Sunshine Kids, and Recaro often sponsor giveaways). Or, search a giveaway aggregator such as Online-Sweepstakes or Prizey.net to find lots of giveaways in one place. If you’re on Twitter, you can also search for giveaways there by entering the keyword/hashtag “#giveaway” and “carseat” or “Britax” into search.twitter.com to find tweets about online giveaways.
• Flash Sale Sites: Do you follow sites such as Totsy, GreenBabyBargains, or MamaBargains? These flash sale sites put one baby or toddler item on sale for 50-90% off for one day only, or until it’s sold out. I often see car seats on these sites for discounts of up to 30%. Car seats are a super hot product on these sites, so the best way to find a deal this way is to join and subscribe to these sites and monitor their daily offerings.
• Car Seat Inspection Programs: This tip depends on your location. AAA and other car seat inspection services that check to make sure your car seat has been installed properly sometimes offer free car seats to people who need them. The idea behind this free community service is to help families who would otherwise use an expired car seat or can’t afford one at all. Brands may vary and not be fancy, but it’s worth a call around your area to AAA offices, the fire station or police station–anywhere car seat inspection programs are operated. You can locate your local programs by using the locator tool on SeatCheck.org.

Toddler Carriers

We love baby carriers. At our house we have a Jeep carrier my sister gave me (Baby Bjorn style but not as fancy), a mei tai Baby Hawk carrier we both love, a baby pouch sling that we don’t really use (did I give it away? I can’t even remember), and now a structured backpack carrier. Oh, and Scandinavian Child just sent me an organic soft structured Lillebaby carrier to test and offer to you all as a giveaway in a few days. When I first set out to find a baby carrier, I wanted to find the one that would be perfect for all purposes, but not only did I discover that this didn’t exist, I also found that our needs changed as our baby girl became a toddler. So, if your baby carrier isn’t comfortable with your heavier toddler, how do you size up without paying full price?

• Giveaways: Did I mention the Lillebaby organic carrier Scandinavian Child just sent me? Green parenting blogs like this one love to offer readers baby carriers as giveaways, so the best way to find baby carriers for free is to follow green parenting blogs like 29 Diapers, and to search Google and Twitter for “baby carrier giveaway” or specifically “Ergo carrier giveaway” and so on. Brands that often sponsor giveaways are Ergo, Baby Bjorn, and Baby Hawk (on the Canadian blogs). Kelty Kids is the most popular structured toddler carrier brand, but otherwise look for brands that take you from baby to toddler such as Lillebaby and Baby Hawk. You’ll want a carrier with good back support, since toddlers are pretty heavy for an assymetrical sling or carrier that pulls at the neck.
• Garage Sales/Craigslist: Toddler carriers sometimes get no use at all. We purchased our Kelty Kids carrier for $40 from a friend who was about to put it up for sale at her garage sale, since her toddler hated it when she bought it and she only used it a few times. Kelty Kids carriers retail for $250, so that was a nice deal to make it possible for us to afford a carrier that dad loves.

I hope that gives you an excuse to go find the gear you’ve been wanting for a steal. If you have tips to add, please leave me a comment below. Thanks for being 29 Diapers readers, and hang in there just a few more days for a great Lillebaby giveaway from Scandinavian Child.