Infant Baby Car Seats.....

Don't worry about heavy. What I learned ( a tad too late) is to put them in the stroller or wear them. WAAAAAAY easier!

Frankly, they are ALL heavy and the babies get heavier. I either snap mine into the stroller, or carry her in my baby k'tan or babyhawk.

Sears is usually pretty good about returns. You could buy it, try carry it around a little and decide if you want to keep it or not. That's what I did :)

If your looking for a car seat, make sure you get the one that actually comes with the base that you slide in and out w stroller. I would try to get a second hand one as the baby has to be in a rear facing seat. They are only good for up to 20lbs. and believe me it doesn't take long. You'll be looking for an over 20lb. in about 4mos. after baby is born. This way you can resell the infant seat, keep the stroller and then buy the proper seat for over 20lbs.
Again you can buy new, but you want to get one with the booster seat attached. After so long I believe 40lbs.you then transfer them to the booster seat until they reach a certain height/weight. You can be spending alot of money. Find a baby seat (used) then buy a new one that w booster, this way your getting your moneys' worth. Check ads' in paper etc. or Kijiji which I'm sure is in your area as well. Just make sure to check a used ones' serial number to make sure its okay to use. They are normally good for anywhere from 5-8yrs. Good luck!! The baby first seat of course is going to be heavy with the handle and as your child gains weight. The second seat take the stroller or even purcase an umbrella stroller for when you take them shopping etc. For the most part you will find that carrying the infants in your arms is so much easier but you do need a seat if you own a vehicle or in one.

I received my son's first infant carrier as a shower gift too, it came with this big awful stroller. By the time my son was four months old he had already nearly out grown the 22 lb limit and so I purchased him one of the convertible booster seats. It's an evenflo and can be used rear facing as small as 8 lbs I love it.
It is a lot easier to install than I expected, and I purchased a light sport stroller we swap him into when he gets out of the car.
You might consider getting a second hand carrier from a friend, or a not too expensive one and then looking into and saving for a really nice convertible car seat.

i would say the weight doesn't matter. Someone picked up my carseat and thought it was heavy compared to theirs. Mine probalby was, but mine is rated high than theirs is for the size baby that can be in it. I would definalty suggest getting a seat that they can use for most of the first year of life. Yes they do make those convertible seats that go from 5 to 30 lbs, but if you talk to any poklice officers or emergency workers they will tell you to get the infant carrier. that even the convertible seats are not as good in an accident as an infant carrier. And that's becuase they ae made differently. yes the converitble till protect your child, but the infant seat is MMUCH better. I have a convertible for my older child, and honestly i would never even think of putting my infant in them. They are WAY to big, and that's just too much room for my infant to move around and have something go wrong in an accident. if you know of a firned or family that's going to have or had a baby, why not talk to them, and you can always go in on the seat with someone else. since it's normally only used for about 9 months to a year, you could use now, and someone could use it when you are done. i know my infant seat is going to my sister in about 8 months when she has her baby. so then we ae splitting the cost of it.

Did you check the height and weight limits on the seat? I had trouble finding this exact seat online, but it looks like it is probably the same as another one I found which has limits at 22 pounds and 29 inches. You should definitely check this before you decide. My first two kids were tall. They both outgrew their infant seat at about 3 months of age because it only went up to 26 inches in height. It sounds like you are concerned about the cost -- do you want to waste this much money on something you may only get two or three months out of? With our third child we needed to replace our infant carrier since it had been so long and they now make one that goes up to 35 pounds and 32 inches (Graco SnugRide 35). Neither of my other two as big as they were had this by a year so I know we should get a year out if it. It is definitely more expensive but the reason is that you will get so much more time out of them.

If you are really concerned about cost you can also skip the infant carrier all together. Most carseats can hold an infant and then you can just use a front carrier/sling or a stroller with harness straps when they are not in the car. If you look for a good convertible carseat which goes from 5-100 pounds this could be the only carseat you have to purchase for this child. Again, just be very careful about the weight ranges to be sure it is good for a new infant all the way up.

Finally, please do not purchase a used carseat as some others suggested. You do not know anything about that seat. Carseats should not be used after a car accident because you can't be sure if it caused cracks in the plastic or weak spots, etc. There are also expiration dates on seats for this same reason -- plastic degrades over time. When you buy a used seat there is no guarantee this seat is still safe for your child.

Good luck!

All infant carrier seats get heavy as the baby gets heavier. Make sure you have a stroller that you can just snap it into. You can buy a stroller frame with no seat that the car seat snaps into. I'd buy the car seat new and look for a used stroller if you have a tight budget or watch for a sale on a travel system (stroller and car seat together). I have been using Graco car seats for my kids and they are pretty sturdy. I'm not familiar with the one you have a link to.

We received ours as a baby shower gift, all in all it's pretty decent. We don't use the base because it made our baby's head fall forward and didn't support her head very well, without the base it's good though. My little girl is 4 months old and her feet are already dangling off the edge, wish it was bigger.

I'll agree with what other people are saying here. With my first I carried that seat all the time, but now with #2 and a toddler, I just can't do it anymore. I found a BabyBjorn front pack on Freecycle.org (amazing online community that REALLY helps when you're on a tight budget) and use it ALL THE TIME. I would recommend going with the convertible car seat, but ask at the police station which they think is safest and the best fit for your vehicle (it didn't occur to me that all the cars are different and therefore different seats work better in different cars). Also consider that a lot of hospitals won't let you leave with the baby not in a carrier, so maybe you could borrow one from a friend for a few weeks. Not long enough that you should buy it from them, but long enough that your baby grows out of that real newnewnew baby phase and into a being that looks like s/he works in the convertible. A lot of the convertibles have tons of padding, too.

All this being said, if you can get a freebie from someone you trust, who can tell you it hasn't been in an accident and it hasn't expired, I would do that. We use the Chicco Key Fit infant carrier/seat. At this point, though, she never gets carried around in it unless she's already asleep and I'm just going to plunk her down on the floor at grandma's house. For shopping or taking the toddler to the park we ALWAYS use the BabyBjorn. Seriously, beg, borrow, or steal... I think you NEED this item. The sling works well, too, but I feel much more comfortable with the babe in the front pack. A lot of people recommend the Snap and Go stroller which I used sometimes (again, I got it from Freecycle) for my first and NEVER used it for my second. This is the convertible that we use. http://www.carseatsale.net/evenflo-triumph-advance-premie... My toddler is in it now and he has been since he was about 11 months old. It says it's good for 5-35 lbs. If we hadn't planned to have another baby right away, we probably would have used just this seat rather than switching. That's a lot of info. Hope it helps!

We used the infant carrier until my son was about 7 months then we had to get the convertable as he was too big for the infant carrier. Most car seats out there are safe, as they would not sell them if they werent.

if money is an issue why don't you by a convertible car seat? You can't carry it around but it works from newborn to 40 pounds. That is what i did as I knew i wasn't strong enough to lug one of those around.