Nextfit vs pavilion

iloveac

I'm in the market, and I'm looking for suggestions. These two have caught my eye. If you have experience with either or would like to suggest a different car seat please advise. TIA!

I am currently pregnant and due in December. The babies will be 16 months apart. I drive a Mazda cx-9.

kmc84

The nextfit will last MUCH longer than the pavilion. It's the second longest lasting ERF seat you can buy (for height). The pavilion is a very nice seat, but it will not get the average child to 4 rearfacing, unless you have tiny babies.

The Nexfit is super easy to install and will fit a newborn. It's also a very compact seat.

iloveac

Thank you, @kmc84‌ that was very helpful. I should have mentioned this seat would be for my DS who is 10 months old. I didn't realize people kept their children RF until they are 4 years old. Is that necessary or suggested? I thought it was until 2?

kmc84

It's a great choice for either baby then age 2 is when it is acceptable to forward face, however, children who remain rearfacing until age 4 are substantially safer, as that is when spinal ossification has completed enough for the neck to really be strong enough to handle the forces of an accident. If you are going to spend good money on a seat, you might as well get all the safety benefits you can out of it

Here are some links that I love to share with people:

https://csftl.org/why-rear-facing-the-science-junkies-guide/

https://csftl.org/rear-facing-car-seat-myths-busted/

ateach

I am curious what the longest lasting rear facing seat is if the nextfit is the second longest.

iloveac

Thank you so much @kmc84‌. I really appreciate it!

JENandJEH

@ateach I believe it is either the Foonf or the Graco MySize/Size4Me/Headwise (all same seat just sold under different names at different retailers)

kmc84

@ateach‌

The Graco Size4Me, Headwise, MySize65 or 70, Contenter, and Fit4Me all have the tallest height maximums. It's the same shell sold at different retailers with different bells and whistles, but essentially it's the same seat.

The Clek Foonf and Diono Rainier have 50 pound RFing weight limits (the highest available).

On paper, the Diono lasts longer than the Foonf (height wise) but IRL, the Foonf will actuall hold a slightly taller child.

So, heightwise (IRL)
1 Gracos mentioned above
2 Nextfit
3 Foonf
4 Diono Rainier (or Radian with a 45 pound rfing limit)


I know that was a lot more information than you asked for

ss265

kmc84 said:

The nextfit will last MUCH longer than the pavilion. It's the second longest lasting ERF seat you can buy (for height). The pavilion is a very nice seat, but it will not get the average child to 4 rearfacing, unless you have tiny babies. The Nexfit is super easy to install and will fit a newborn. It's also a very compact seat.

This! I am surprised that the Britax seats continue to be so popular because they don't last as long RFing as a lot of other seats on the market.

The Nextfit is super easy to install using Latch - I've done it myself multiple times. Plus it was the only seat that fit rear facing in DH's super tiny backseat.

ebp913

Just wanted to add something here that I see a lot (I'm a tech) - There are seats that are the tallest out there but for many many kids who aren't super tall, they are just as likely to make it to 4 rear facing in several other seats as they are in the Graco.  My daughter is 60th percentile and she'll make it to 4 and beyond rear facing in her Peg convertible even though it isn't in the top 3 tallest seats.  

jess9802

ss265 said:

This! I am surprised that the Britax seats continue to be so popular because they don't last as long RFing as a lot of other seats on the market.

The Nextfit is super easy to install using Latch - I've done it myself multiple times. Plus it was the only seat that fit rear facing in DH's super tiny backseat.

The recommendation to RF until age two is still widely ignored or not well known, from what I have seen. So people are buying car seats based on user reviews or what their friends and family have said, and Britax has very, very good reviews. It's understandable - we have a Britax Marathon for my son, and it's a dream to install and adjust. I love the seat. I also have a below-average height kid who looks like he still has 2.5-3" of torso growth before he outgrows the seat, so we'll meet our RF goals. Our other car seat is a Graco Headwise, and while I like it, it's not as easy to adjust as the Britax.

cappleby

I had my son in a britax advocate until recently (right after he turned 2) and I absolutely loved the seat. If felt so sturdy and strong, was easy to get a very tight install, comfy for him, looked great, etc. I switched him to the next fit because he has a very long torso and was about to outgrow it rear facing. The nextfit for me is just ok. It feels soft and comfy for him, and is fairly compact rear facing in the car and the best part is the tall height for extended rf. I have found that even though the super cinch does make it fairly straight forward to install, I can't get it as tight as I could get the britax seat and the chest clip opens with a press in one spot meaning my 2 year old can unclip it himself while I'm driving. He never got the britax one open. I have had to provide lots of special car books and have lots of talks about not touching the chest clip. I will say that if you want one convertible seat and want to rear face for a long time (which is so much safer than forward facing, I'm have a biomechanics background, the physics just make so much sense) the next fit is a good seat. Personally I like the britax seats better I just really really wish they could make them for extended rear facing. I'm planning on using my britax seat for DD who is due next month when she outgrows the infant seat and then put her in the nextfit to extend rear facing. Assuming that DS is under the size requirements for the britax when he gets either too tall or too heavy he will go back forward facing in the britax. If he outgrows ff and rf at the same time he will move to a britax high back harness. This is all the result of months of over researching seats so I'm happy to pass along any tidbit I can! Sorry for lack of formatting, I'm on an iPad and apparently can't even make paragraphs!

iloveac

@cappleby‌, thank you for a all of your insight. Are you saying you will never ff with the nextfit?

cappleby

I might if both kids are the right size for forward facing at the same time while both still fitting in the convertible seats, but I'm guessing with my son's torso height and the fact that I'm trying to rear face until as close to four as I can get that he will be in a harness booster before baby number 2 is ready to turn around and I prefer the britax seat so will just forward face her in that assuming she doesn't get too tall for it. There is nothing wrong with the nextfit seat really I just really like my britax one. Although if I wasn't havering two kids this close together I would be annoyed if I had to buy a new seat to keep a two year old rear facing without having another kid who could use the first seat. My sister is in that situation with her 99 percentile height daughter.

iloveac

Thank you, @cappleby‌

LittleFish1

& if your child still meets the seat's height/weight requirements for RFing, could RF longer than just 4.

Definitly join CSFTL as someone else suggested. It is a fantastic resource! There is another seat that recently came out (do not know limits of it though &a waiting for a CSFTL review) the Graco 4ever.

We have the Graco MySize/other names, and although not perfect, I really appreciate the no rethread harness, could have been used with LO as a new born, and DH pregers the buckles over that of the Britax. He didn't recently try the Nextfit, be in store we did prefer the Graco MySize over the Nextfit when we first tested them out (but we had Graco infant seat initially so maybe was what we were used to).

cappleby

No problem! I spent so much time looking at seats it feels nice if someone else benefits! I also love csftl they have great explanations!

abbyful

Another vote here for the Chicco NextFit.

DS was in a Britax B-Safe infant seat, but we went with the Chicco NextFit for his convertible seat because the Britax convertibles are outgrown quicker.

melaport

@abbyful‌ does the nextfit take up as much room rear-facing as the britax b-safe? I am starting to look at transitioning from b safe and have a > 98% little one but would like a little more leg room for the front seat if possible.

abbyful

melaport said:

@abbyful‌ does the nextfit take up as much room rear-facing as the britax b-safe? I am starting to look at transitioning from b safe and have a > 98% little one but would like a little more leg room for the front seat if possible.

I think it actually takes up less room!