Baby on the go.

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[check] Nowadays, two-income and single-parent families often wind up shuttling their offspring among grandparents, day care centers, babysitters, and any number of caregivers once maternity leave has run out and parents are back in the workplace. Whatever the reason, many babies are spending the last few years of the millennium in a seemingly constant state of transportation from one place to another. This, in turn, calls for a variety of accessories to travel with them. A number of companies have rushed to fill the need for portability and, in the process, come up with ingenious adaptations of the principle of synergy--combined action or application, according to the dictionary.

Versatility is the key, and the basic car seat has become the focal point of a unique interrelated system from Century Products Co., Macedonia, Ohio. Its Assura Premiere Infant Car Seat (about $55) features the SmartFIT base that comes with a level indicator for positioning the seat, an expanding harness that adjusts as baby grows from newborn to infant, and a one-hand release for harried parents juggling any number of other items. All of this would be marvelous even if the car seat were just a car seat, but--once liberated from the seat belt--its four-position handle converts the device into a carrier in which the tot can be rocked, fed, and moved from one place to another without having to dig out the carriage or stroller. It even adapts to shopping carts, freeing adult hands. For more leisurely days, the seat snaps into Century's 4-in-1 System Travelite (around $135), a lightweight foldable stroller with extra large wheels for easy riding, a roomy storage basket for diaper bags, groceries, etc., and a multiposition canopy to shield baby from sun and rain.

Evenflo Co., Inc., Piqua, Ohio, anchors its Medallion Car Seat with Adjust-a-Shield ($125) for the single purpose of moving baby via automobile. The versatility here is in the seat within a seat that snaps in to cushion an infant comfortably, then, as the child grows to...