Anyone else had to buy a new carseat yet?

SassyPanties · October 2010

Any recommendations?

Edit: what do you even look for? What are the considerations? Safety rating obviously, but anything else to keep in mind?

Ivana_Stolichnaya · October 2010

What's your price range?

JinglesChic · October 2010

We went with the True Fit Premier. Absolutely love everything about it.

SassyPanties · October 2010

Ivana.Stolichnaya:
What's your price range?

Price doesn't matter.

Ivana_Stolichnaya · October 2010

We have the Britax Advocate CS 70 in both cars. I love that seat. I've heard a lot of other people on here rec. the Graco MyRide 65

Hip2Bsquare · October 2010

I have the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL. It can FF up to 80 lbs and RF up to 45 lbs. I got it off Diapers.com because they had a 20% discount and free shipping. But Sunshine kids has a really good website as well.

rach7883 · October 2010

We have a Britax Marathon and LO loves it and its has awesome safety ratings... HTH GL

SassyPanties · October 2010

Thanks all, this was helpful!

lulupinkerton · October 2010

JinglesChic:
We went with the True Fit Premier. Absolutely love everything about it.

What size car do you have?

grapeape73 · October 2010

We have 2 Britax carseats. We have the Roundabout 50 Classic, and the Boulevard.

We had to buy a new carseat for DD1 because the seat she had didn't have straps that went high enough. DD1 is super tall, and the seat we had wasn't big enough. I didn't look at that when I bought it, and that was my fault. So now I check each car seat to make sure that the straps are long enough, and that they have a higher setting.

lulupinkerton · October 2010

grapeape73:
We have 2 Britax carseats. We have the Roundabout 50 Classic, and the Boulevard.
We had to buy a new carseat for DD1 because the seat she had didn't have straps that went high enough. DD1 is super tall, and the seat we had wasn't big enough. I didn't look at that when I bought it, and that was my fault. So now I check each car seat to make sure that the straps are long enough, and that they have a higher setting.

Was it the 50 that didn't have long enough straps?

grapeape73 · October 2010

No, it was a Gracco. It wasn't that the straps weren't long enough. There wasn't a whole high enough. I guess with rear facing the straps are supposed to come out below the shoulders at about arm pit height. But, when they are forward facing it is supposed to be above the shoulder, and the one I had for Mel the wholes were too short.

lulupinkerton · October 2010

grapeape73:
No, it was a Gracco. It wasn't that the straps weren't long enough. There wasn't a whole high enough. I guess with rear facing the straps are supposed to come out below the shoulders at about arm pit height. But, when they are forward facing it is supposed to be above the shoulder, and the one I had for Mel the wholes were too short.

Gah! Can someone just tell me which seat to buy? This is more overwhelming than cloth diapers.

grapeape73 · October 2010

lulupinkerton:
grapeape73:
No, it was a Gracco. It wasn't that the straps weren't long enough. There wasn't a whole high enough. I guess with rear facing the straps are supposed to come out below the shoulders at about arm pit height. But, when they are forward facing it is supposed to be above the shoulder, and the one I had for Mel the wholes were too short.
Gah! Can someone just tell me which seat to buy? This is more overwhelming than cloth diapers.

Umm I speak English good. Embarrassed

lulupinkerton · October 2010

grapeape73:
lulupinkerton:
grapeape73:
No, it was a Gracco. It wasn't that the straps weren't long enough. There wasn't a whole high enough. I guess with rear facing the straps are supposed to come out below the shoulders at about arm pit height. But, when they are forward facing it is supposed to be above the shoulder, and the one I had for Mel the wholes were too short.
Gah! Can someone just tell me which seat to buy? This is more overwhelming than cloth diapers.

Umm I speak English good.

Reeeaaal good. Bwahahahaha!

lalalalagirl · October 2010

We bought the new Britax Boulevard 70 CS. The new Britax carseats have steel bars integrated into them for more safety. The straps are super easy to adjust. Honestly, the seat seems so comfy, I wish I had one! Here is the info on it:

https://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/boulevard-70-cs

anabell0920 · October 2010

I have the Britax Marathon 70. It was a toss up between that and the Boulevard but our car already has extra side air bag protection in the back and with the Marathon he can see more out of the sides. We both LOVE it!

sasky · October 2010

Britax Marathon. Super safe and DS loves it. He's like a different baby in the car now!

carney09 · October 2010

we're going with the Britax Marathon I think...going next weekend to get them.

gardenflower · October 2010

We were lucky to get a Britax as they were switching to new models so we got an old one on super sale. The Britax Roundabout rated very well-

rear facing up to 35(?) lbs (if not more) really what you want... with also a good rating. They are a bit pricey but look around on-line.

Liam has been using his for two months now and it's been great. He's very comfy. I had the small infant car seat so we had to switch early.

Good thing is the convertible car seats last longer then the infant ones.

gardenflower · October 2010

Understand the frustration.

Go with a Britax and pick one in the price/size range you are happy with. My little boy is also a heater so I made sure the material of the carseat was breathable.

GL

blondbomber23 · October 2010

We have the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL. I like that it doesn't take up a ton of space in the car, and it's got good safetly ratings high weight/height limits.

SL122 · October 2010

All carseats on the market are safe - from the $40 Cosco Scenera to the $350 Britax Advocate.

What you need is a carseat that installs and fits properly in your car. Also, it is safest to rear-face until at least 2 years and 30 pounds, but ideally you should rearface until you exceed your seat's limits.

What kind of car do you have? If space isn't an issue, virtually all seats will work. Can you go to Buy Buy Baby or BRU and try them out in your car?

I like Britax seats because they are very easy to install. The new versions should keep most kids rear-facing until 4 years.

The Sunshine Kids Radians are also great seats - they are narrow, but take up a lot of front to back space. They can also be harder to install.

Lots of people like the Graco MyRide 65 and Evenflo Triumph, so consider those also.

Bottom line: all these seats are great. What matters is that you have your installation checked by a CPST, and that you use the seat right, every time - that means the chest clip should be between the baby's nipples and armpits (most people have this too low), straps untangled, and straps tight enough.

sleepingbeauty825 · October 2010

We have the Britax Roundabout 50. I wanted to get the Sunshine Kids Radian, but I found our Roundabout on clearance for $50. I literally could not pass it up.

I am thinking we will get the Radian after the new baby comes and put Simon in that, so he can RF for longer. Our current seat RF to 35 pounds. It is relatively compact, too. The Radian is HUGE.

MarMat · October 2010

you might also want to check out The First Years True Fit. It's around $150 and has the highest ratings in ease of use:

https://content.learningcurve.com/content/en_US/microsites/TFYgear/NHTSA-convertible.pdf

I have been using it since DD was 4mo and I love it.

lite-bright · October 2010

I love our Britax seats. DD1 has a Marathon and DD2 is in a Roundabout 50.

I researched using recommendations from Baby Bargains and reviews online (usually Amazon).

Some of the stuff I looked for in the reviews were if people mentioned having problems with things like twisty straps or difficulty with stiff buckles -- which happened with other seats, but I didn't see those kind of issues in the Britax reviews. Also, I found that people often would mention the quality of the padding/cover and that it stayed cool in direct sunlight (even with a dark fabric).

Size and weight of the seat itself weren't issues for us, b/c pretty much anything would fit in our car. I wanted something that would RF to two.

And then there were the perks, like the velcro bits on the sides of the Britax seat, so you can fasten the straps out of the way while you're getting LO in and out. LOVE that feature.

Want a personalized experience?

Anyone else had to buy a new carseat yet?

Re: Anyone else had to buy a new carseat yet?

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