Best convertible car seat?

Kirsten.In.NH · October 2009

Our daughter is about 17.5 lbs now, and she's 9.5 months old (she's a peanut, 25th %). We want to get her a new car seat by her birthday (Christmas). I'm assuming that the convertible seat is the way to go? Or do we skip right to the toddler forward-facing seat? It's hard to predict how much she'll weigh when she's a year old. Any tips, recommendations would be appreciated!

noah-bear · October 2009

The longer you can rear face the best. We got DS the First Years True Fit and he'll be rear facing until he's 35lbs. You can go right to forward facing, at one year AND 20lbs if you want.

Andrewsgal · October 2009

Almost all convertable seats can be rear or forward facing. We have and love the Britax brand (3 different styles). I am a big believer in extended rear facing especially for a small child. The only two toddler forward facing seats I can think of are the Britax Frontier (we love it!) and the Graco Nautalus (we don't love it so much). If I were you I would stick to a regular convertable seat.

Kirsten.In.NH · October 2009

Thanks - I have heard a lot about rear facing being better, so that's probably the way I'd like to go ... sounds like convertible is the best. I have a Consumer Reports book but the silly thing doesn't give any actual brand recommendations. I'm going to search around to see if I can find government safety reviews.

FinallyMrsBMW · October 2009

We also have a little peanut (16.5 lbs) about the same age as yours. We are planning on using the infant car seat until she reaches the 22 lb. weight limit just because it is easier to transport her. The rate she's growing this could be after she's 1. We bought a Britax Roundabout 50 convertible car seat that she will go in next and we'll keep her rear facing until she's 35 pounds. She won't know the joy of facing forward so we're keeping her rear facing as long as possible! We also picked the convertible one we did because of the ratings and the fact that it can go up to 50 pounds.

megs042107 · October 2009

We like our Britax Roundabout. The longer you can keep them rear facing, the better. The convertible seats will switch to forward facing when DD is ready.

Aly07 · October 2009

I have the First Years True Fit convertible car seat and LOVE it!!! Consumer report online does review some of the actual car seats although not a ton of them. The True Fit is ranked very highin all of the reviews I have seen, even above a few of the Britax models. It is less expensive than those but it's still not "cheap" They are usually $200 however, I got ours for $150 because I bought a retired pattern. Good Luck. Also check around and see what car seat will fit best in your vehicle, that actually does matter.

Sarahgracesc · October 2009

We have the Graco Myride 65 for my car and love it. We plan to rearface as long as we can. MyRide boasts rearfacing up to 40lbs, so hopefully we'll make it there before outgrowing the height requirements. It was easy to install, it's easy to use, and has comfy padding. And, and this is kind of stupid, two cupholders formed right into the seat.

For DH's car and my Dad's car (Dad watches DD while I'm at school. DH takes DD to Dad's house. My Dad has never used his carseat, but I wanted them to have one in case he ever needs to or in case he just ever gets the urge to take her somewhere. DH really only ever has DD in his car to take her to my parents house) we got the Cosco Scenera. We think they're great! Low price (two of those were still far less than the MyRide), easy to install, easy to use, and DD seems perfectly comfortable in it.

The MyRide is significantly larger than the Scenera, but both fit well into our Buick Centuries. HTH.

sweetfrogy · October 2009

I've owned a lot of car seats, and the True Fit is by FAR the best. Even above a Britax IMHO. I scored mine on woot kids awhile back for $103 with shipping, but the cheapest I've seen it was $146 on Amazon.

JillBean78 · October 2009

I had the Graco MyRide 65 and returned it after 3 weeks of use, I liked it for the most part, but it is really, really hard to tighten the straps when it is rear facing, if you read reviews on it that is the biggest complaint. It was so bad that I felt my DS's safety was being comprimised (no joke).

I bought a Britax Roundabout on sale for $139 and could not be happier. Should have bought it from the beginning.

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