There are some baby products that can't help but elicit a love/hate relationship. Many toys fall into this category, toys that make you choose between a screaming baby and that song that will drive you absolutely insane if you have to listen to it one more time.

This week we will say goodbye to one of these items, the car seat that is also an all-purpose baby-carrying bucket.  It is the most ingenious product I have ever been glad to be rid of.  Those things have gotten so HEAVY.  Both of my hands are calloused from toting them around, my back screams for mercy when I hoist one into the van, and because they don’t stay in the van, there are always two of them taking up space in my living room.

At the same time, I can’t sing the praises of these carriers loudly enough.  First on the list of benefits is simply the fact that anytime you go out, you automatically have someplace to put the baby.  I cannot overstate the importance of this.  Picture yourself in a public restroom, ickiness all around, and the biggest ickiness of all is coming from the vicinity of your baby’s bottom.  While it is possible to pull down the changing table, wipe it off and spread some paper towels with one hand, then use that hand to hold the baby in place while you root through your bag for a diaper and a wipe and still manage not to drop your bag on the floor, it is easier to do all this with the baby sitting comfortably in the carrier at your feet.

Now picture yourself going to church.  Your baby is two months old.  He falls asleep in your arms right away.  You watch him sleep while you listen to the service.  It’s like watching the most beautiful, peaceful angel you’ve ever seen.  Then you realize your arm has gone completely numb from the elbow down and there is a big sweaty spot forming on your abdomen.  You have 45 minutes to go.  This is one of those times you are really, really glad to have a place to put the baby.

What is pretty handy with one baby becomes a lifesaver with two, mostly because of the stroller factor.  This is when you factor in the fact that the stroller is no longer optional.  Sometimes with one baby, the stroller only complicates matters.  Just plop the baby on your hip for a quick trip and avoid having to lift out, unfold, snap open, and buckle up only to repeat ten minutes later in reverse. With twins, this doesn’t work.  It is of course possible to carry a baby in each hand.  It is not, however, a good idea.  A bit of quick math will show that one baby in each hand leaves zero hands to actually accomplish whatever errand you are running and more importantly, zero hands to catch yourself if you should lose your footing or to catch a baby should he or she suddenly decide to get a much closer look at the ground.  Don’t think this won’t happen.  I haven’t met a baby yet with good self-preservation skills.  This is why hospitals put them in shirts that protect their faces from their own fingernails. 

Since you have to bring the stroller anyway, it’s much easier to snap the whole car seat into a stroller than to get the little one out and then mess with the stroller straps… then do it again on the other side.  And so I have been reluctant to install the new car seats any sooner than was necessary.  (Aside from the fact that I am always reluctant to install new car seats because that’s one chore that is, well, a chore.)  But now it is time.  Time to say goodbye to having two kids already buckled and under warm blankets before we head out into the chilly morning and good riddance to having to take the dolls out of the car seats before I can put the babies in.

Mandy usually appears weekends on TriangleMom2Mom.