Vaca Carseat Purchase ?

ecoppins

So we are going to visit my parents for 3 weeks. The cost of renting a carseat is about the same as buying one, and we get the benefit of knowing it is new, in good condition and having it at their place for next time. So....

Dd1 is 3.5 and just under 40 lbs, I want her in a 5 point harness, but am open to buying a seat that can be used as a booster say next year when we come out or the year after...

We have the britax frountier, but aren't interested in buy another ($$$)

Thoughts? suggestions?

sourapplemartini

We have the Graco Nautilus and really like it. 

But if you have AAA you should have a car seat included in your car rental. 

ecoppins

We aren't AAA, and we aren't renting a car.... My parents have two so we are going to use one as the baby mobile while we are there.

Kristina052707

There are a couple choices.  Do you know the torso height of your child?  Generally speaking I would think the Graco Nautilus or the Evenflo Maestro would be a good choice.  The Maestro has a high harness height and is relatively cheap at around $70-$80.  It is also a little more narrow than the Frontier so it will fit in almost all cars. 

penguingrrl

I would look at the evenflo maestro. The only major difference between that and the graco nautilus is that the nautilus eventually becomes a backless booster, but by the time that would be a concern it would be very easy  to get  $20 backless booster there or even bring yours with you at that point. I wouldn't be comfortable using a rental carseat in any situation since you have no idea what the history is and whether it's been in accidents or improperly cleaned (using any cleaning agents on the harness can cause it to degrade, but many rental companies aren't aware of that and bleach in between uses).

jettagurl

Evenflo Maestro.  It's little $ for as versatile as it is.  From what I've heard, it's much more likely to fit when used at a HB booster (proper seatbelt placement) and is overall less $ than the Nautilus.