Carseat Recs?

salc21

Ok, so I'm looking into convertible carseats... anyone have any recommendations? We'll need to eventually get two... one of them needs to go in the small backspace of a Scion TC - the other for a Jeep. The only other big thing I'm considering is the fact that LO is super tall, so I need something good for that

SarahKate31

Good post! We're going to need to look into this soon and we need recs.

DH wants to get one with a base like an infant seat

nezwee

I'm looking into getting a Britax, but I can't decide between the Marathon or the Boulevard. I know there is a website that tells you which car seats fit well with which cars, but I can't for the life of me find it.

I've found there is an issue with our main vehicle and placement of car seats that are rear facing.

madladybride

We have  a Britax Marathon Classic.However, we have yet to use it. DD still fits in the infant carrier and it is easier to use with both our vehicles. ( We have 2 bases). We aren't looking forward to buying another convertible.

Teagiedo

I love evenflo triumph

Plus great crash test ratings

salc21

Teagiedo:

I love evenflo triumph

Plus great crash test ratings

Good to know!! I did see on Consumer Reports that this carseat had the best rating with them!

weezie825

We have the Graco MyRide 65.  It can do rear facing up to 40 pounds if you are interested in extended rear facing.  DD is really tall and it works well for us.

daisyterp

salc21:

 I did see on Consumer Reports that this carseat had the best rating with them!

The Consumer Report ratings aren't really worth anything- as they are not open about their testing methods.  The best seat is one that fits your child, your car, and that is installed and used properly. 

I recc'd looking for a seat with a high rear-facing weight limit. One of the best ways to protect your child is to keep him or her rear-facing as long as possible. We have a Britax Marathon Classic that goes to 35lbs rear-facing and a Marathon 70 that goes to 40 lbs rear-facing. Yes, both of my children still ride rear-facing. It is infinitely safer than putting a child forward facing. There are no records of children's legs ever being injured from being in an accident in a seat facing backwards, while there are plenty of cases of internal decapitation that only occurs when a baby/child is forward facing.

https://www.epinions.com/content_4817330308 

SnoopyLuv

We really love our Evenflo seats. We have a triumph and a Momentum. The straps don't need to be taken out to be adjusted and the cover comes off easily to be washed. We've been very happy with both. They also have a recline- which many seats don't.

They both fit well in our smaller cars, I have a Nissan Versa and DH has a Toyota Matrix.

Ultimately our decision was swayed by ease of use and price, not necessarily ratings. They're all tested to minimum safety standards, we found that the Britax while more expensive were not necessarily the best. We liked that the Evenflo's were side crash tested which many of the more popular brands on the Bump are not.

ThePastor'sWife

We have a First Years True Fit and a Safety 1st Air Complete and are very happy with both. The True Fit can go RFing to 35 lbs and FFing to 65 lbs; the Air Complete can go RFing to 40 lbs and FFing to 50 lbs. We have the True Fit installed in our '07 Civic and have no problems putting the seats where they need to be for DH or me to drive, and we're both tall. The Air Complete is in our Odyssey, so I can't speak to the space issue with that seat (never tried it in the Civic). The True Fit is definitely cushier, but DS seems perfectly comfortable in both seats.  DS is very tall (97th percentile for height at his last checkup) but we plan to keep him RFing as long as possible exactly for the reasons daisy stated above. 

salc21

SnoopyLuv:

We really love our Evenflo seats. We have a triumph and a Momentum. The straps don't need to be taken out to be adjusted and the cover comes off easily to be washed. We've been very happy with both. They also have a recline- which many seats don't.

They both fit well in our smaller cars, I have a Nissan Versa and DH has a Toyota Matrix.

Ultimately our decision was swayed by ease of use and price, not necessarily ratings. They're all tested to minimum safety standards, we found that the Britax while more expensive were not necessarily the best. We liked that the Evenflo's were side crash tested which many of the more popular brands on the Bump are not.

Do you like one of the models over the other? We'll eventually have to get a second one, but we'll start with my Jeep and have DH use the infant carrier still : )

lauranne

My two cents...

Don't rush to get your kiddo out of the infant carrier.  While it's a pain to carry around as they get heavier, it's more of a pain to take a sleeping baby out of the carseat and into the house (especially in winter) than to carry the bucket seat in.  Also, if they aren't sitting up unassisted well, you'll be holding them if you go to a restaurant/grocery shopping.  We switched Aiden way early and I plan to keep Claire in hers much longer.

Aiden is STILL in his Britax Marathon that we moved him to when he "outgrew" his bucket seat.  He'll sit in that seat till it expires.  It's big but I love it. FWIW, Aiden is 3.5 and 33 lbs.  So, he could rear face still.

In DH's car, Aiden originally sat in an Evenflo Triumph Advance.  DH was hit on Aiden's side and Aiden walked away without a scratch.  Great car seat.  We replaced that with a Britax Roundabout.

SnoopyLuv

salc21:

SnoopyLuv:

We really love our Evenflo seats. We have a triumph and a Momentum. The straps don't need to be taken out to be adjusted and the cover comes off easily to be washed. We've been very happy with both. They also have a recline- which many seats don't.

They both fit well in our smaller cars, I have a Nissan Versa and DH has a Toyota Matrix.

Ultimately our decision was swayed by ease of use and price, not necessarily ratings. They're all tested to minimum safety standards, we found that the Britax while more expensive were not necessarily the best. We liked that the Evenflo's were side crash tested which many of the more popular brands on the Bump are not.

Do you like one of the models over the other? We'll eventually have to get a second one, but we'll start with my Jeep and have DH use the infant carrier still : )

The Momentum is the higher end. It RF to 40 lbs and goes up to 65 lbs FF. It's very cushy.

And we still use the Infant carrier in our relatives cars, J is not going to grow out of it anytime soon and it's easier for them to keep the base in their cars than a big car seat.

ETA: You always have the option of leaving the seat in the car and taking LO out of it. We only upgraded to the big seats because of a sale/GC combo and because we were taking a long road trip.

salc21

SnoopyLuv:

salc21:

SnoopyLuv:

We really love our Evenflo seats. We have a triumph and a Momentum. The straps don't need to be taken out to be adjusted and the cover comes off easily to be washed. We've been very happy with both. They also have a recline- which many seats don't.

They both fit well in our smaller cars, I have a Nissan Versa and DH has a Toyota Matrix.

Ultimately our decision was swayed by ease of use and price, not necessarily ratings. They're all tested to minimum safety standards, we found that the Britax while more expensive were not necessarily the best. We liked that the Evenflo's were side crash tested which many of the more popular brands on the Bump are not.

Do you like one of the models over the other? We'll eventually have to get a second one, but we'll start with my Jeep and have DH use the infant carrier still : )

The Momentum is the higher end. It RF to 40 lbs and goes up to 65 lbs FF. It's very cushy.

And we still use the Infant carrier in our relatives cars, J is not going to grow out of it anytime soon and it's easier for them to keep the base in their cars than a big car seat.

ETA: You always have the option of leaving the seat in the car and taking LO out of it. We only upgraded to the big seats because of a sale/GC combo and because we were taking a long road trip.

 

Yeah, we'd leave the infant carrier in there if we could... put DH drops LO at daycare and I pick him up... and right now we're bringing the carseat into daycare... and it's a pain and I can't carry him in it anyways! And then you have like this morning... I got a call at work from DH asking where the carseat was and I was like "Opps!! I left it in my car!!" and I had to drive all the way home LOL

Cooper81

Like daisy said the best seat is the one that is the right fit for your car and kid. We have a myride 65 for our suv, and a britax roundabout for our focus. Each was the best fit for those cars, taking into consideration we wanted to RF as long as we could, and keep him in the center of the back seat. We did by the myride first and just kept the infant seat in the focus, we just never took it out of the base until DS head came within one inch of the top of the seat, then we got the britax at albeebaby, for a fantastic price. The car seat lady (if you google that you can easily find the site, I'm just too lazy to find the link) is a great educational resource.

idonthavethis

We also have the Evenflo Triumph and love it. Ava is still rear-facing in hers.  We are going to get one soon for Faith because she hates the infant seat.

jcsntms06

weezie825:

We have the Graco MyRide 65.  It can do rear facing up to 40 pounds if you are interested in extended rear facing.  DD is really tall and it works well for us.

Another vote for the Graco MyRide 65. We have this in our Honda Pilot and it works well. In our 2 door Honda Accord with have the Cosco Senera (it was $40 from Target) it allows for the child to sit in the car seat until 40lbs. It's very thin (not as bulky) as some of the other car seat out there. In my aunt's car we got the Evenflo Truimph and that seat is great. She has a Toyota Carolla. I love that you don't have to re-thread the straps and it also has a turn nob to adjust.

kelleymark82606

We have multiple Britax seats in our family.  Love them.

IMO, yes all seats are minimally tested to safety standards but I'd rather not choose minimum standards because of cost.  My child's safety doesn't have a price tag.  (i'm not saying if you get a minimum standard seat you don't value your child's life...figured i'd better say that so people didn't get panty wadded)  It is my opinion that i'd rather have a higher standard seat, but everyone has their likes/dislikes about each and every seat.  Also, installation and proper use are very important.

ITA with Laura, don't rush to get out of the infant seat.  I was rushing too but then "had" to because I had promised my cousin my infant seat.  My child was fairly heavy but it was so much easier to carry that seat and let the baby sleep than carry in from the convertible.

 

Teagiedo

weezie825:

We have the Graco MyRide 65.  It can do rear facing up to 40 pounds if you are interested in extended rear facing.  DD is really tall and it works well for us.

 

@ weezie..... I have a graco my ride 65 in my car now but I am having a hard time tightening the straps. Do you have any tricks? (dont worry it is as tight as i can get it before i drive off)

 

mommytoj

ThePastor'sWife:

We have a First Years True Fit and a Safety 1st Air Complete and are very happy with both. The True Fit can go RFing to 35 lbs and FFing to 65 lbs; the Air Complete can go RFing to 40 lbs and FFing to 50 lbs. We have the True Fit installed in our '07 Civic and have no problems putting the seats where they need to be for DH or me to drive, and we're both tall. The Air Complete is in our Odyssey, so I can't speak to the space issue with that seat (never tried it in the Civic). The True Fit is definitely cushier, but DS seems perfectly comfortable in both seats.  DS is very tall (97th percentile for height at his last checkup) but we plan to keep him RFing as long as possible exactly for the reasons daisy stated above. 

 

We have those exact seats also! The True Fit is in my 07 Yaris.

salc21

Does anyone have the Evenflo 3-1 Symphony e3??