re: Car Seats

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I get lots of requests for recommendations on seats. Here are the convertible seats I recommend the most:

Cosco Scenera
35 pound rear-facing weight limit
40 pound forward-facing weight limit
14.5 inch top slots
Four sets of harness slots
Very lightweight
Probably won't be the last harnessed seat you’ll need due to lower top slots and lower weight limit
$40-$50

Safety 1st Uptown
recently discontinued, so harder to find
35 pound rear-facing weight limit
40 pound forward-facing weight limit
16 inch top slots
EPP foam (like EPS foam)
Well-padded
Four sets of harness slots
Three crotch strap positions
Harder to find in stores
Probably won't be the last harnessed seat you’ll need due to lower top slots and lower weight limit
$65 @ Big Lots

Safety 1st Avenue
is the seat that replaced the Uptown
35 pound rear-facing weight limit
40 pound forward-facing weight limit
16 inch top slots
EPP foam (like EPS foam)
Well-padded
Four sets of harness slots
Three crotch strap positions
Probably won't be the last harnessed seat you’ll need due to lower top slots and lower weight limit
$75-$80

Evenflo Triumph Advance
35 pound rear-facing weight limit
50 pound forward-facing weight limit
17 inch top slots
EPS foam
Infinitely adjustable harness height
Well-padded
Short tether strap may not reach tether anchors in vehicle (can order longer strap from Evenflo)
Wide seat
$130-$180

The First Years True Fit
35 pound rear facing limit
65 pound forward facing limit
17" top slots (if I remember correctly)
EPS foam
Well-padded
Built in seat belt lockoff
Four sets of harness slots
Side Impact Protection
Easy to Adjust
$180


Sunshine Kids Radian 65
35 pound rear-facing weight limit
65 pound forward-facing weight limit
18 inch top slots
EPS foam
Rear-facing top tether
Well-padded
Five sets of harness slots
Three crotch strap positions
Steel alloy frame (making it heavy)
Folds for travel
Very narrow (good for three across)
Difficult to install in many vehicles
$180-$200


Britax Marathon
35 pound rear-facing weight limit
65 pound forward-facing weight limit
17 inch top slots
EPS foam
Built-in seatbelt lockoff
Rear-facing top tether
Well-padded
Four sets of harness slots
$220-$270

Britax Boulevard
35 pound rear-facing weight limit
65 pound forward-facing weight limit
17 inch top slots
EPS foam
Built-in seatbelt lockoff
Rear-facing top tether
Well-padded
Infant insert
Side impact protection
Infinitely adjustable, no re-thread harness height (turn a knob to raise it up or down)
$270-$300

I'd advise every woman to go to a firehouse and have them check to see if your child's car seat is installed properly. They do this for free.
No matter how well we pay attention to instructions most of us put our kids in wrong. Eight out of ten kids are not installed properly in their car seats.
Plus hey you get to see firemen! Lol.

Quoting Aislynn's Mommy♥:“ I'd advise every woman to go to a firehouse and have them check to see if your child's car seat is installed ... [snip!] ... our kids in wrong. Eight out of ten kids are not installed properly in their car seats. Plus hey you get to see firemen! Lol.”

Great advice! But, I'd like to point out that you need to make sure that they are certified technicians. Not every fire station has them.

Here you can put in your zip code and find a certified tech in your area that will check your seat for free.

Quoting Andie.:“ I get lots of requests for recommendations on seats. Here are the seats I recommend the most: Cosco ... [snip!] ... Side impact protection Infinitely adjustable, no re-thread harness height (turn a knob to raise it up or down) $270-$300”

Thak you soo much for posting that! I've been stressing trying to save money for the britax, great to know the others are comparable!

Quoting Andie.:“ Great advice! But, I'd like to point out that you need to make sure that they are certified technicians. ... [snip!] ... has them. Here you can put in your zip code and find a certified tech in your area that will check your seat for free.”

oh that is awesome ! thank you for that link !!  

Thanks for all of the info. Tax return is going to a convert. car seat!

Can you explain to me what my husband and I should do in this case?

There is no way my baby will be twenty five pounds by the time she's one. I'm sure she'll be close...but most likely not that weight. Well she's very tall and her legs already are going past her car seat and her head is hitting the top. Should we move her in at one anyways to a bigger car seat or do we have to keep her in this one if she's not that weight?

Quoting Aislynn's Mama♥:“ Can you explain to me what my husband and I should do in this case? There is no way my baby will be ... [snip!] ... top. Should we move her in at one anyways to a bigger car seat or do we have to keep her in this one if she's not that weight?”

Is your little one in a infant seat? You should get a convertible seat that rear and forward faces for her. If her head is at the top, you need to do so ASAP. A rear facing seat is outgrown by height when there is less than 1" of hard seat shell above her head. Here shows how to measure for height. I posted a list of convertibles that I recommend a few posts back. Most convertibles start at 5 pounds, so one should fit her.

I recommend that you rear face to the limit of the convertible seat (30, 33 or 35 lbs or when there is less than 1" of shell). Rear facing to the limit has been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics since 2002. Here are a some sites to look at for more info:
http://www.joelsjourney.org/index.html
http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx
http://www.freewebs.com/sacredjourneys/newbornpreschool.htm
This is a gallery of photos of children that are rear facing past the minimum of 1 and 20 lbs.

The legs touching the back of the vehicle seat is not a concern. There are no cases of children's legs breaking in a crash when they touch the seat. There are more cases of broken legs in forward facing children.

Quoting Andie.:“ Is your little one in a infant seat? You should get a convertible seat that rear and forward faces for ... [snip!] ... children's legs breaking in a crash when they touch the seat. There are more cases of broken legs in forward facing children.”

Yes she's in the infant seats. I'll definitely look for a convertible car seat and just keep it rear facing. She is outgrowing this one extremely fast. Plus we never carry her around in it anymore so there's no need for it.
Thank you so much for the information! I really had no clue who to ask about it and it was really worrying my husband and I.

Quoting Aislynn's Mama♥:“ Yes she's in the infant seats. I'll definitely look for a convertible car seat and just keep it rear ... [snip!] ... Thank you so much for the information! I really had no clue who to ask about it and it was really worrying my husband and I.”

You are welcome. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Bump

I know we talked about this before, but I got the Alpha Omega Elite seat for Buster. I don't see that in your list of recommended seats, and I forget why  

Quoting Buster's Momma =):“ I know we talked about this before, but I got the Alpha Omega Elite seat for Buster. I don't see that in your list of recommended seats, and I forget why  ”

The older versions only harness forward to 40lbs, you can only use the 2nd to top "slots" in harness mode on that version too, so most kids outgrow it by height WAY before they are mature enough to be in booster mode. It also makes a poor fitting booster. They advertise it as the last seat you'll need, but this is usually not the case. It's good for extended rearfacing and early harnessing though.

Quoting Andie.:“ The older versions only harness forward to 40lbs, you can only use the 2nd to top "slots" in harness ... [snip!] ... as the last seat you'll need, but this is usually not the case. It's good for extended rearfacing and early harnessing though.”

Oh ok...I got the newer model that harnesses to 50. And when I do turn him around which will most likely be 35lbs unless he really starts fighting me, I'll be getting the Nauti so it won't matter. I'm glad those were the only reasons though! As usual, thanks for your help