6 mth old convertible seat recommendations

soon2wed09

My son just turned 6 months and is a few inches away from out growing his infant seat. He is currently in the Aprica 30/Graco Snugride 30. I'm looking for a convertible that will allow as long of use as possible. He is 26 inches 17.5 lbs right now. Our main car the seat will be in is a Nissan Rogue, so I need to make sure it fits well in a crossover, and a mid size car (he won't be in that as often). A couple of features I'm looking for are harness straps that don't need to be rethreaded, good side protection, a high RF height limit, and easy install/removal as the seat will be in and out of my car daily for daycare. 

I was looking at the Chicco NextFit would this be a good option? I don't know much about theconvertibles  sorry . I just don't want to buy one and have to turn around a buy another $200+ seat in less than a year.

I know this was asked below, but I wanted to hear any feedback if there was a better seat for my situation. Thanks for any help!

gimmietimmies

The Nextfit, height wise, is the second longest lasting seat on the market. And as long as side impact protection goes, merely rf provides excellent side impact protection. As far as that feature on the Nextfit or any other car seat goes, they may test it in house, but because there is no federal regulation on that feature, you won't know whether it performs well as compared to another seat because there is no measuring stick that you can compare one seat to another.

Your other tall options are (starting with the tallest) the Graco MySize/Size4Me/Headwise, ::insert Nextfit here::, Diono Radian (all models are the same dimensions) and the Clek Foonf.  But based on the fact you need to be reinstalling a seat daily, I really really wouldn't recommend that.

The Rogue isn't overly roomy, I'd actually stick with either the Nexfit or Radian R100 (be sure to purchase the angle adjuster, it will need the more upright install - at his age with good head control and able to sit, he'll likely be able to use it). In the other vehicle I'd look at getting the Size4Me or Evenflo Sureride (40" rf limit, will last longer rf than all these seats, good budget seat).

Unfortunately most seats that last long rf won't always have the no rethread harness, but you so rarely have to move it up a notch it's no big deal.

orangecurls

I think the chicco nexfit fits all of your requirements. I have one and really like it. It is the easiest convertible I've used, easy to install, adjust and use. The radian is much more difficult for me to install.

soon2wed09

Thank you for your help! I saw Amazon has 20% off the Nextfit, now time to price compare .

ebp913

I would HIGHLY recommend getting a seat for each car your child with drive in regularly.  It is not only a giant pain to be installing and uninstalling a convertible seat everyday but doing so opens the door for the seat to not be installed correctly way more often.  I can't even imagine carrying my 9 month old, their bag/milk/whatever else and the giant car seat in and out of daycare everyday. There are several seats that are inexpensive and will last a pretty long time like the Safety 1st Guide 65 and Evenflo Sureride which are both under $100.  The Graco seats mentioned above are also around $150ish.  

FmrAFBrat

ebp913 said:

I would HIGHLY recommend getting a seat for each car your child with drive in regularly.  It is not only a giant pain to be installing and uninstalling a convertible seat everyday but doing so opens the door for the seat to not be installed correctly way more often.  I can't even imagine carrying my 9 month old, their bag/milk/whatever else and the giant car seat in and out of daycare everyday. There are several seats that are inexpensive and will last a pretty long time like the Safety 1st Guide 65 and Evenflo Sureride which are both under $100.  The Graco seats mentioned above are also around $150ish.  

This. I would get the Sureride or the Guide 65 (which travels nice) for the car you use less often. I see people do that at my daycare everyday and the seats get ratty looking doing that. Plus I doubt the seats are installed right.

If you go on Nissan's website they have a list of recommended seats for best fit in your car. They vary from model to model but it is helpful info.

IMO it is better to buy both a $150-$200 seat and a $80-$100 seat, have them professionally inspected and installed than to move a $300 seat from car to car and risk it not being installed correctly.

https://www.nissanusa.com/snugkids/manuals

Edited to add list.

Angela814

I agree that I would buy a second daycare seat. It's just not worth the hassle, imo, to uninstall and reinstall on a daily basis.

We have the Graco MySize70 and Diono Radian. My 3 yo is rear facing in both with room to grow. She's approx 35 lbs and 41". They're both great seats.

The Graco MyRide is another highly rated, less expensive seat that might work well for daycare. It's around $130 and rear faces to 40 lbs. Or there's the Cosco Scenera which is about $40, and rear faces to 35 lbs. My only problem with the Scenera is that the top harness slot is pretty low (14.75"); DD2 would have outgrown that seat by 2.5 years.

kasheton

We recently purchased the graco size4me 70 (also called graco my size 70 or graco headwise, depending on where it is sold and when it came out). We really like it and haven't had any problems with it. It adjusts like the chicco nexfit or graco smartseat, but it is about $100 cheaper! It also adjusts so your child can fit rear facing longer than most car seats because the back adjusts to go up so high. Hope this helps!

LyndseylovesHugh

Angela814 said:

I agree that I would buy a second daycare seat. It's just not worth the hassle, imo, to uninstall and reinstall on a daily basis.

We have the Graco MySize70 and Diono Radian. My 3 yo is rear facing in both with room to grow. She's approx 35 lbs and 41". They're both great seats.

The Graco MyRide is another highly rated, less expensive seat that might work well for daycare. It's around $130 and rear faces to 40 lbs. Or there's the Cosco Scenera which is about $40, and rear faces to 35 lbs. My only problem with the Scenera is that the top harness slot is pretty low (14.75"); DD2 would have outgrown that seat by 2.5 years.

I am going to third this!  We have the Clek Foonf ($400-500) in my car because she is in it most often and the Evenflo Sureride (less than $100) in my H's car.  Both have very high RFing limits, which is why we chose those two.  Both are easy to install but I would not want to take them in and out every day.  We have the Foonf in my VW Tiguan, which is a similar size to the Rouge, and it fits behind the driver and my H (6"1') can still comfortably drive it.  We have the Sureride in a Bronco, which has a huge back seat, so I am not sure if it would fit in a smaller SUV or not since I have never tried.  You have to rethread the straps when you move them up, but my one year old, who is in the 75% for height, is still on the lowest slot in both seats so it is not like you have to rethread them often.