car seat dumbness December 31, 2007
You know, it’s been a long time since I had a baby in a car seat - almost 10 years. Since E was little, car seats have gotten a lot better and a lot more complicated. Lots more choices are available, too.
Since birth, C. has been unhappilly (she hates the carseat) ensconced in a Graco Snugride. Now, though, she weighs 17 pounds and is getting ready to sit up on her own. I am wondering if it’s time to move up to one of the convertible carseats that will then last her through toddlerhood. How do you know when it’s time?
And if I need to upgrade, which seat is best? We need one that’e easy to move among three different cars (mine, Jon’s and his mother’s). Or maybe we’re gonna have to pay gazillions of dollars for three separate carseats? (The Snugride is easy because you can just move it among bases that stay attached in each separate car.)
Arrrgghhhh!
All carseat enlightenment welcome.
I used the consumer reports guide for mine. I’m sure it’s changed by now. Saftey was my first priority. I didnt want anything less than the first five on the safety scale.
This was true back in June:
According to Consumer Reports these are the top 3 convertible car
seats:
1. Britax Roundabout - $220 (81 very good rating)
2. Evenflo Triumph 5 - $120 (81 very good rating)
3. Cosco Alpha Omega Elite 22-155 - $160 (80 very good rating)
It had to be comfortable also, but then, you never really know if your baby is going to like it till she tries it. Alanna likes her’s. I got her the Evenflo Triumph 5. We were able to buy one for my car and one for the hubby’s at BBRU with a 15% off coupon.
We moved into a convertible car seat after the first doctor’s visit when my son exceeded the weight limit for the pop-in seat (20 lbs?). We also bought based on safety ratings, but secondarily for comfort. We got the Graco ComfortSport with “GracoPedic Memory Foam,” and my son will ride for hours without complaint. It’s here, if this will take the link. http://www.babyage.com/products/8630mtr2_graco_graco_comfortsport_convertible_car_seat.htm?cp=goog13439&utm_source=goog&utm_medium=Comparison&utm_campaign=13439
Highly recommended, at least for comfort.
we use the alpha omega, it is pricey, but can be used till they are big! colin used his till just this yesr (6)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2401317
We’ve got two sets of Britax carseats (one for our car, one for my MIL’s car), which we like a lot. The Uncles and the Silences have the same, and also like them a lot. Britax is the only brand approved for use on airlines, if that matters.
Consumer reports isn’t reliable as far as car seats go. They refuse to disclose the manner in which they test the seats and I’m sure everyone can remember last year when their reports were completely wrong because they were installing the seats wrong. Go to http://www.car-seat.org. There plenty of experts will show you which seat is best for you, your car, and your size of baby.
That said. I went with CS report’s suggestions when my oldest son was a baby and I bought the second and third on the list. The Alpha and Omega is horrible! My son hated it and it has had so many problems and I recently got a letter about a recall on the buckles of some. The second on the list, the Triumph, is great. My son loved it and we are getting ready to change out our infant seat for this one. It is big in your car and doesn’t seem like it would install well in all cars. My 3yr old is in a Britax Husky (Reagent) and we love it. If I were to buy another seat for this new baby it would be a Britax.
I really think the Britax Roundabout (or Marathon, if you have a big car and can fit it in rear-facing) is worth it. The straps slide and adjust more easily, the carseat installs more easily, the straps get twisted less often….just generally, it is easier to use. And honestly, you will be dealing with the mechanisms of this carseat several times a day for YEARS. If it reduces the hassle factor even slightly, it’s worth it.
I didn’t have the Britax with my older daughter, but have it with my younger. This year I’ve been carpooling with another mom, which means I’ve been installing her son’s carseat into our car once a week, and it is SO much harder to get in properly, to adjust the straps, etc.
we have a britax roundabout and love the ease of installation and fit. They even sell them at Target now and they occasionally go in sale.
The Roundabout is easy, easy to adjust, and easy to move from car to car. They last and last, and seem comfortable.
Look at the weight and height limits on your infant car seat. As soon as C. has outgrown EITHER then it is time to move her up. Usually babies outgrow height before weight. Most go up to 20lb. and 29 inches or so. If she is still under these limits, I’d keep her in it until she reaches them.
Remember when you move her up, she still needs to be rear-facing until at least 20lb. AND 1 year age. My girl was rear-facing until about 18months because she is such a light-weight.
My experience is that the next “convertible” car seats are NOT easy to install, even with a car that has the LATCH system. It takes a large adult applying their full weight in the car seat and really pulling to get it in sufficiently tight. The seat when installed properly should not be able to move more than an inch in any direction. Unfortunately, if she regularly rides in more than one car, it may be simplest to buy a seat for each car rather than constantly try to install and un-install. The good news is this next one should last longer, until around age 4 yrs. We bought one for my in-laws car and only one for one of our (at the time two, we’ve now down-sized to a one car family!) two cars… whoever had our daughter, had the car w/ the car seat in it. At least that way we only had to buy 2!
Hope that helps and good luck! I’m currently looking at the belt-positioning booster seats as our daughter is about to out-grow the convertible seat!
p.s. a lot of people mention Britax. They are certainly pricier than a lot of the others such as Graco. I don’t know if they are safer or more comfy or not. We bought a Graco for our SUV but had to buy a Britax for my in-laws small car as it is the only one that would fit in while rear-facing. It does have a smaller profile. If you are buying for a small car that may be a consideration.
I would suggest investing in at least 2 car seats once she fits into one that will last until she’s a toddler. The daily anxiety of having to worry about which car the car seat is in just isn’t worth saving a few bucks. The investment is well worth the peace of mind that it will buy you both.You have so much to juggle already without stressing over where the car seat is.Be kind to yourselves!
Lisa is right–for safety reasons, a baby should stay rear-facing as long as possible, and certainly until she is at least one. Before then, a baby’s musculature isn’t strong enough to protect her head on a crash. Bummer if she doesn’t like riding in the car, but there it is.
Good info from Lisa above. You can switch to a convertible any time, most supposedly can be used from birth. Our Graco “baby bucket” seat only went up to 26 inches, so that was the limiting factor for us. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any convertibles that I would call easy to move from one car to another.
A friend’s mom works for the US Department of Transportation, and she recommended the Britax Marathon as the safest carseat available. It certainly seems comfortable; we recently switched from the rear-facing baby “bucket” to the Marathon installed forward-facing, and Henry looooooves it.
I have a Britax and I believe that i did so because of its rating. Its hard to know which Graco scores as high since there are so many styles on the market and not all are rated the same. I have also heard that other countries like GB have stricter standards. There is a store called The Right Start which carries Britax and they will install the seat for you but it might take a month out (not sure if in TN). They also carry other brands and they suggested Radian (to me) if you have a smaller car because you can actually fit 3 of these seats across since they are slimmer (not a huge base like the Britax) and another benefit if you travel is that it folds up and you can use the shoulder straps to carry.