Check out your local dollar store. I've cut up their shower curtains or disposable plastic tablecloths to use as gift wrap for large gifts. The nice thing about them is that they're tough enough to withstand the odd shapes and won't let them poke through. They also hold up well when your heavy or big package is being pushed along a floor or transported. I either gather the ends together around it, cut off the excess, tie it with a heavy duty rubberband and then finish with a big ribbon bow . . . or I use it like wrapping paper, cutting it to size and using clear package tape on it. I use that same tape to hold on a big bow. Lynn

Do you have a total budget for car seat plus stroller? I'm a CPST (child passenger safety technician) aka car seat specialist. I help families choose, install, and use their car seats correctly and I also happen to be a mama to 3 littles (7yo, 4yo, 13mo) and I'm a bit of a baby gear nut. My biggest tip is to skip the pre-bundled travel systems. Pick your car seat and stroller separately. Not all, but most of the pre-bundled travel systems come with lower quality strollers, and sometimes lower quality car seats. Most nicer strollers can be made compatible with the nicer car seats. The Chicco KeyFit is my long time favorite infant car seat. It is compact (fits well in most cars), easy to install (so long as you fully read the instruction manual and your vehicle owner manual's section on car seats), simple to use, and fits even tiny newborns very well (surprisingly not all infant seats do). There a lots of other great options at a variety of price points though so I'd be happy to suggest others as well. As far as strollers, I'm a Baby Jogger lover. I love my Baby Jogger Versa (discontinued but a few left out there on the internet). The Versa was recently replaced by the Baby Jogger City Premier and is very similar. I love that you can flip the seat of it to parent-face or face out. The seat is huge (even my 7yo can hop in for a ride if he wants) and it has suspension for all 4 wheels. If you don't care about the ability to parent-face, the Baby Jogger City Mini GT is excellent. Super easy, 1 hand, 1 step fold. I can hold a baby in one arm, and fold the stroller and lift into my trunk with my other hand. Many people are not aware, but there is a big push in the medical community as well as in the child passenger safety community to encourage parents to really limit the amount of time babies are spending in car seats OUTSIDE of the car. For this reason, I encourage families to skip the travel system set up. As an alternative, wearing baby in an ergonomical, anatomically supportive carrier (ErgoBaby, Lillebaby, Beco, Boba, Tula), ring sling, or wrap is a great option or getting a stroller with a lay-flat recline (or added basinet option) to put baby directly in the stroller. For quick errands in and out of stores with a sleeping baby, leaving them in their car seat is usually fine on the limited occasion, but if baby is awake or it will be for extended times, taking them out of the seat is recommended. If you arrive home and baby has fallen asleep, it is recommended to remove them from the seat and attempt to transfer to a crib or wear them in an upright carrier. The semi-reclined position car seats put babies in is needed for vehicle transport, but is not optimal from a health and development perspective. This is a good link on the subject: http://blog.onyababy.com/2012/06/benefits-of-babywearing-vs-carseat-carrying/

But that one's just really a booster seat after 40 lbs. -- you can even tell by the name description. You can only wear the 5 point harness up to 40 lbs.-- since it's convertible it just becomes a booster seat then. I'm looking for one where the harness can be worn over 40 lbs. My doctor swears they exist... I am beginning to think he's crazy. All I'm finding are those convertible booster types like you noted. I'm not sure what people are supposed to do with heavy 3 yr olds in the states when they aren't allowed in boosters legally until they're 4. I can legally put my kid in a booster, but I would prefer the 5 point harness thing if they exist... Thanks anyway.

I have a kid loaded mini van, getting fuller. Also have 4 capt. chairs and back bench and sliding doors on both sides. I practically live in my van! I even have Coleman cooler that fits exactly between either set of captains chairs. I'm there that much! I have a couple arrangements that I alternate. Usually I put the booster seat for 5 y/o in capt. chair behind the front passenger. I put DD 2 y/o in her seat in the very back behind the driver. My 8 y/o will sit in the seat either behind the driver (almost always me) or in the back to keep DD company. It's easy to get everyone in that way because w/ the driver middle seat w/out car seat I can flip it up and say "all aboard" and they can all get in on their own and in their seats. I can easy reach DD to buckle her in the back with the seat flipped up. In the booster, DS can reach his belt and hand it to me to click in place, or I can reach him easily by turning around from the driver's seat. With this set up I can add DH to the front, of course. But I can still add an adult behind the driver and make DS 8 sit in the back. Another small adult could even sit in the middle back and have the leg room of the isle. Or if another mom sits in the front with me, there is still the seat behind the driver to add a car seat. It just give me the most flexability. People think I'm nuts putting the youngest in the back, but it works for us. Luckily DD doesn't mind the back. We have 8 and 12 hour drives to see either set of grandparents. This arrangment also works well for that because either DS 8 or myself or DH can get through the isle to the back to entertain or help DD in the back. In early June-ish I'll have #4. I'm still working on that plan! I don't remember what I did the last time I had a carrier, toddler and booster seat in there. I think I had the carrier in the passenger middle so I could turn and see the baby. Then I put both boys in booster and toddler seats in the back on either side. That way I still had that driver side middle empty and could flip it forward to load the back. At their ages, they could climb in on their own, I just had to reach back to buckle them. Hope my experiences help. I can tell you that it is a constant quest as their sizes and needs change to find the perfect arrangement.