All car seats do meet the same minimum safety requirements, but they do get different crash ratings when tested by independent labs. You will need a convertible seat eventually. After your baby outgrows the infant seat, they should still be rear-facing for a while longer. A convertible seat is the next step and will allow forward or rear facing. Many convertible seats have a 10 year expiration but they can also be used for 10 years by one child so I don’t think that matters too much. If you want to reuse it for another kid you can if your first is old enough for a booster seat, but you’d have to have a very long age gap for that to be the case. Most likely you’ll need two convertible seats at the same time if you have a 2-4 year age gap. I’m kind of confused by what hesitation you say you’re having. This is a necessity whether you get it now (and skip the infant seat) or a year from now (when your baby outgrows the infant seat). Yes, it’s true that it’s not ideal to use a car seat outside of the car. Babies shouldn’t spend more than 2 hours at a time in the car seat, regardless of whether the seat is in the car or stroller. However, it is convenient for quick errands to not have to unstrap the baby and put them back in if you’re just running into the pharmacy for a few minutes. It comes down to how much you want the convenience vs the cost of buying that seat. And not all strollers can accommodate a newborn, so if you want to have a stroller option without needing the car seat, you need to make sure to pick a newborn-ready stroller. Personally, we did not get an infant seat at all, but if we did, I would have prioritized a lightweight one because the only value in it is being able to carry it around outside the car so I would want that to be as easy as possible. More on reddit.com

In my experience, most modern infant seats are safe when installed correctly. Things that made the biggest difference for me were how easy the harness is to adjust as the baby grows and how heavy the seat feels once there’s actually a baby in it. Some seats are technically great but become a pain once you’re carrying a diaper bag and a sleeping newborn. Comfort wise, babies tend to do better in seats with decent padding and a newborn insert ( like here ) that actually supports their head instead of letting it flop forward. A canopy that actually blocks light and a handle that feels natural in your hand sound small, but you notice them fast when you’re using the seat multiple times a day. Also whatever seat you choose, take 10 minutes to practice tightening and loosening the harness before the baby arrives. It makes those first exhausted weeks way less stressful, and you’re less likely to leave it looser than you meant to More on reddit.com

My husband drives a subaru impreza, and we use a graco 4ever dlx and fits pretty well definitely pushes the passenger sit farther up but I feel like any carseat will More on reddit.com

We didn’t get an all in one car seat until baby was closer to 7/8 months old. The convenience of being able to pop the car seat into the stroller for grocery store and other errands is great. Plus my baby wasn’t able to sit in a cart until closer to 8/9 months and they get heavy quickly if you are carrying them around in your arms More on reddit.com