Carseats

JNR6510

What car seats did you ladies like best? 

DH and I are looking to go with a convertible one so it will hopefully last Laurel longer. We liked the Britax Boulevard ClickTight ARB Convertible Car Seat - Circa. It has a bar meant to help keep the seat from bouncing so much in case of a sudden stop or accident. Have any of you ladies tried a car seat with that feature? Is it worth the extra expense?

MyNamesTaken

Is that the anti-rebound bar? I think lost convertible seats have that now. Not sure it does much in regular traffic but seems worth it to me in the event of an accident. We have the clicktight Boulevard and really like it. We also have a Marathon in DH's car (not clicktight) and are very happy with it as well. Britax seems to make good seats but that's the only brand we've ever used so I can't really compare.

Are you skipping a bucket seat?

cmar1006

We have also only ever used Britax. For DD awe started out with the B-Safe infant seat and now have the Roundabout. She has been in the Roundabout since we moved her out of the infant seat. I will say it would have been nice to do the convertible seat from the beginning so we wouldn't have to buy a new one when she outgrew the infant seat, however, being able to just take the infant seat in and out of the car was invaluable. Especially if she was sleeping we could
just click her into the stroller and go about our business. So we are definitely going the way of infant seat this time around too. 

coastalmomma2

We also did not use the detachable infant seat with DS but went straight to the convertible carseat and used an infant insert at first. Ours is an Evenflo, but I'm not sure about the specific model. This time, I am planning on getting an infant carseat due to lack of space in our small car and to avoid waking up baby upon transfer out of the car. 

JNR6510

@MyNamesTaken Yes, the anti-rebound bar. Maybe it is more common in other areas. That was the only car seat that featured an anti-rebound bar at any of the baby stores we visited over the weekend. I guess it's not quite caught on here yet.

MyNamesTaken

@JNR6510 oh interesting! We didn't really consider it much when weighing the options since the others we looked at had it too. Seems like a good idea though. The Boulevard is a great seat. It's big though so make sure you try it out in your car before you buy if your car isn't big.

Souptin

I have the Britax Marathon and its LOVE. He'll be in that seat until he goes to college.  They are expensive but its worth it- tip: Put it on Amazon price watch now- they go on sale for $100 off a few times a year. I used a bucket seat while he was an infant- 6ish months I think ( Graco click connect that came as part of our stroller) We will do the same thing this time around as well before getting another britax. 

beccam1230

I've actually been looking at tons of carseats and the one both DH and I like the best is the Nuna Pipa. It has the stability leg that we really like, I'm not sure if it's the same as the anti rebound bar on the Britax bit it does sound like the same thing! It has some remarkable safety features and while it's a little more pricy, I feel like it's worth it. 

sjohns908

We have a Graco size4me and I love it. My biggest requirement was the easy-click latch. Our previous seats had an actual hook that you had to attempt to open and close while digging for the latch in the seat of the car. Gigantic pita.

I love how the size4me has an adjustable headrest and it automatically adjusts the height of the shoulder harness with it, instead of having to do that manually from the back of the seat.

Inanigloo

With DD we had a Britax Marathon that was fabulous and easy to install and adjust. When we were rear-ended, I switched to a Diono Radian R100 and love the crap out of it. It's heavy because of the steel frame and not as easy to adjust the straps though. I love that we can fold up the bottom for air travel and it is a slim make. We had no issue fitting the seaton the airplane and when in the car we still have so much room. 

Also awesome for extended rear facing and booster does not start till 50# with this seat. Those were important factors for me when choosing a seat. 

HollyGolightly09

I got the Chicco Key Fit. It was the one I had decided to go with, and a friend from work said that is what she's used with all her babies and loved it, so that sealed it for me. (Well, that, and that she sold me hers that was in excellent condition and still well in date, lol) 

ColoradoHiker

We loved the Graco Snugride.  I have mentioned it before, but we have a small car, and not really enough room for a full stroller.  We used the frame stroller that the Graco clicked into (great for when they're small and sleeping all the time), and it was awesome.  It was also really small and convenient to use.  Now, we have the Graco slimfit convertible carseat, and have no complaints about it.  

jessieR358

We used a britax bsafe 35 with my first. I was going to use it with this one, but the stroller I want doesn't have an adapter for it. We have two different convertible car seats. The britax marathon click tight and the Chicco next fit. I like the Chicco much better. It's easier installation IMO. It does have higher sides so it's a little harder to get him in for me, but I'll get another for baby #2. My DH, my mom and I all have a convertible seat in our cars because it's such a pain to switch. 
im going to get the Chicco key fit for an infant seat this time. 

BostonBaby1

We were looking for seats that fit three across a row. We are expecting #2 but want to be able to fit an adult in back too. I bought the Clek. It is pricy but has excellent reviews and a very high rear facing weight capacity. The front facing weight capacity is also very high so I figure the cost is divided over the five plus years that it will be used. It also has the anti-rebound bar. I have yet to try it in my car though. If it does not fit, we will probably go with the Diono.

Honestly, the infant bucket seat was invaluable with moving a sleeping baby. 

*typo and clarity

Sprite2012

We bought a Maxi Cosi Mico Max infant seat with an extra base that we'll use until she's around 12 months (hopefully), then I bought two Britax Marathon convertible seats that she'll use until she's about 4.