Hey all you moms and dads out there. Lily is quickly outgrowing her carrier car seat. She is way too heavy to carry around in it, rarely falls asleep in the car anymore, and is just getting too big! It's time for us to look into a new seat for her. I'd like a convertible one so that she can still be rear facing for at least a year. We are going to have to have at least two, so I'd prefer them not be ridiculously expensive. Do you have any recommendations? What are your thoughts on new versus used? Anyone have one they are ready to move out of?
Friday, June 3, 2011
Car Seat Survey
Hey all you moms and dads out there. Lily is quickly outgrowing her carrier car seat. She is way too heavy to carry around in it, rarely falls asleep in the car anymore, and is just getting too big! It's time for us to look into a new seat for her. I'd like a convertible one so that she can still be rear facing for at least a year. We are going to have to have at least two, so I'd prefer them not be ridiculously expensive. Do you have any recommendations? What are your thoughts on new versus used? Anyone have one they are ready to move out of?
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AJ was in the Britax Marathon from 7 months to 3.5 years. At the time, it was rated the safest, which also made it pretty expensive. But it functioned well, grew well and gave me great peace of mind.
ReplyDeleteFor the 2nd car, I went with the Sunshine Radian, which folds up nicely for airplane travel.
If your cars have it, I highly recommend getting a seat with the LATCH system. Kicks the safety up a notch. I really liked the extra security of it.
Each of ours were about $100 but are rated for up to 60 pounds and are convertible. They were the Evenflo ones, but I don't see the exact one anymore so I wonder if they discontinued that particular model. I would get one that has an easy strap adjuster - ours has a click-and-roll on the side - because when she wears a jacket, or has a blanket, loosening and tightening those straps are a pain! Natalie still fits comfortably in hers and we're planning to keep her in it until she is clearly uncomfortable or hits kindergarten, whichever comes first.
ReplyDeleteJesse has the Safety 1ST convertable up to 100 pounds. It is Great and really easy to use. Rear facing, Forward facing, and it also can be used as a booster with/with out should strap. We got ours at Sams for about $100.
ReplyDeleteThe new AAP recommendations actually say to keep your baby rear-facing until 2 years. Target had the Graco MyRide 65 on sale a few weeks ago for $100 (I think it's usually $135) so I picked that up. It's rear-facing to 40 lbs and forward facing to 65. I know we'll need another seat eventually, but I thought for the price it was worth it! It's supposed to be a little annoying to install (although it does use LATCH, I hear it's hard to tighten) but it's supposed to be SUPER comfortable and wonderful once it's in. Plus the price is great. I have heard that with Britax, you really are paying extra for the name. Some seats have some extra padding, but all have to be safety tested and rated to be sold in the US. I was seriously considering the Sunshine Radian because it's great for travel (but really, we don't travel very often) since it folds and is forward facing to 85 lbs so you never have to buy another until you're into the booster seat.
ReplyDeleteThis blog: http://thecarseatlady.wordpress.com/ has a wealth of information if you want some more info without just googling for it.
HTH! Lily's getting so big! We want to see you guys! If you're free on Tuesday for lunch, my friend is doing a fund-raiser where profits from CPK go to charity so Megan and I were planning to head there for lunch (the one at Southpoint) if you're free?
The Alpha Lux Omega convertable has been great for both Kayla and Noah and are easy to move from car to car. They seem to enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteWe are Sunshine Radian fans, too! It's not exactly light (made of steel alloy) so I don't know how much we'll use it for travel on planes (although it folds up, so we could), but we love that it has a more narrow profile. We have one for Brandon's F150 truck, and one for my car. We switch them out to grandparents' cars easily because it has the SuperLATCH system. Knowing that kids stay in car seats for so long now, and that we might have another child someday, we wanted something that would fit more than one next to each other. We'll be able to use it until our son's 80 lbs (!!) and I also like that we can use it rear-facing until 45 lbs if we decide to. A comparable 80 lb limit car seat is the Britax Frontier, but it is forward-facing only (although it does convert to a booster). The Frontier has a much larger footprint than the 80SL and does not use SuperLATCH. The Sunshine Radian XT wasn't cheap (elite car seats has 20% off on them now though), but we felt like it was a) very safe, b) didn't eat up the whole back seat and c) is easy to move to another car, so we are really happy with them.
ReplyDeleteYou should try to keep her rear facing for as long as possible. Elizabeth is 19 months and is still fine facing backwards... it is so much safer!! When we go on long trips one of us sits in the back with her so we can keep her entertained. When we are on errands or around town we just sing or I can pass her things over her seat. She doesn't know that there is any other way she can sit.
ReplyDeleteWorrying about the safety of their child is what most parents do. They tend to become “overprotective” and “over-acting” when it comes to child safety especially during long drives. This fact leads us to one of the most important responsibilities of parents, choosing a car seat that will keep kids comfortable and secured.
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