Poll -- how many carseats have you owned, total?

neverblushed · November 2010

The preschool board has a post about picking out a carseat for a bigger preschooler/school aged kid. There were a number of people who replied that they bought a carseat that would last from toddlerhood to belt-positioning booster sized older kid.

In my experience, I found that carseats didn't actually "convert" or "grow with the kid" all that well, and that I wound up buying different seats for every different stage. I have probably spent several hundred dollars in carseats from infancy to nearly middle school.

How about you?

neverblushed · November 2010

To answer my own poll, here's the rundown:

DD -- infant bucket seat (ditched when she outgrew)

3 point harness FF seat (ditched because she could unbuckle herself)

5 point harness FF seat (put on hold when we got a car with integrated seats)

5 point harness FF seat for Grandma's car

belt-positioning booster for my van

seat only booster for DH's car

DS used the same infant seat and the same 5 point seat in Grandma's car, but on top of that, he's also had:

5 point RF/FF convertible for my van

belt positioning booster for my van

belt positioning booster for Pop-pop's truck

For a grand total of: NINE carseats purchased in 10 years.

shouldbworkin · November 2010

1 Infant bucket seat

2 covertible car seats (Britax Blvd - both are still using and can use for awhile yet)

1 convertible car seat (Cosco Scenera) for DH's car

1 FF only car seat that converts to booster for DH's car (DS just started using belt posiitoning booster in that car, but he is a small 5 y/o).

We will probably put DD in the FF car seat soon and buy DS a new car seat for DH's car. We also use the seats in his car for travel so that we don't have to lug the Britaxes around.

shopgirl78 · November 2010

I think we have 8.

2- infant carriers (one in each car--one was bought when DS1 was born)

2- 40 lbs convertible seats (DD outgrew these quick by 2.5, we bought 60 lbs convertibles, DS1 move to these when he was ready)

2- 60 lbs convertibles (DD was in these until she was 4.5) DS is in these currently and DS2 will move to the 40 lbs next month)

2- booster- DD is currently in a booster.

GinandTonic · November 2010

I feel like it's 1000 dollars worth...

2 infant carriers (although one was borrowed)

an Evenflo Triumph that broke when DS was about 1

2 Britaxes - a Roundabout and a Marathon (DD is still in them - one in each car)

1 Graco Nautilus that is now a backed booster for DS

1 Cosco something or other that's now a not-backed booster for him in the other car that he doesn't ride in often.

blueshirt2003 · November 2010

For my first child (6, almost 7):

Infant Carrier

Convertible seat (FF)

Booster seat

Switched to Nautilus after realizing a 5pt harness was safer

Finally, he's in a high-back booster

For my 2nd child (2 yr old):

Infant Carrier

Convertible seat (RF and then FF)

Switched to another convertible that had a taller shell

Nautilus

DandelionMom · November 2010

Each of my girls had 3 or 4 seats so we've had over 10 seats in 10 years. Isn't that nuts!

neverblushed · November 2010

Okay, so I'm not the only one who's broken the bank on various carseats. I always want to tell moms not to have any illusions that the "grows with your kid" carseat is going to be the only carseat in their collection!

LuvinMyKids · November 2010

neverblushed:
Okay, so I'm not the only one who's broken the bank on various carseats. I always want to tell moms not to have any illusions that the "grows with your kid" carseat is going to be the only carseat in their collection!

I agree with this to a point, but they have CERTAINLY come out with much, much better options since when DS1 (who is 15 now) was a baby and even since DD1, who is 7, was a baby! DD2, who is 4 1/2, is currently in the Graco Nautilus and I plan on that being the last seat I ever buy for her. She has been in it for 1 year now. It WILL grow with her from this point on! DS2 went from the Snug Ride 32 to the My Ride 65 at 13 mos. He is 2 years old & still RFing in the My Ride 65. He will be in that seat for quite a while!

neverblushed · November 2010

LuvinMyKids:
neverblushed:
Okay, so I'm not the only one who's broken the bank on various carseats. I always want to tell moms not to have any illusions that the "grows with your kid" carseat is going to be the only carseat in their collection!
I agree with this to a point, but they have CERTAINLY come out with much, much better options since when DS1 (who is 15 now) was a baby and even since DD1, who is 7, was a baby! DD2, who is 4 1/2, is currently in the Graco Nautilus and I plan on that being the last seat I ever buy for her. She has been in it for 1 year now. It WILL grow with her from this point on! DS2 went from the Snug Ride 32 to the My Ride 65 at 13 mos. He is 2 years old & still RFing in the My Ride 65. He will be in that seat for quite a while!

I will concede that newer carseats seem to to be more geared to growing with kids these days. My DD is 10 and the original FF toddler seat (this was before extended RF was a big deal) looks like an antique.

Question: if your DD1 is like mine -- basically, needing to sit in a carseat until she's in 5th grade -- will she be okay with the Nautilus? I don't know what it looks like; if it looks like a "baby" seat only bigger, or more like a belt-positioning booster. My DD was cool about sitting in a belt-positioning booster, but she would have said "no way" if it looked too much like a baby seat.

LuvinMyKids · November 2010

neverblushed:
LuvinMyKids:

neverblushed:
Okay, so I'm not the only one who's broken the bank on various carseats. I always want to tell moms not to have any illusions that the "grows with your kid" carseat is going to be the only carseat in their collection!

I agree with this to a point, but they have CERTAINLY come out with much, much better options since when DS1 (who is 15 now) was a baby and even since DD1, who is 7, was a baby! DD2, who is 4 1/2, is currently in the Graco Nautilus and I plan on that being the last seat I ever buy for her. She has been in it for 1 year now. It WILL grow with her from this point on! DS2 went from the Snug Ride 32 to the My Ride 65 at 13 mos. He is 2 years old & still RFing in the My Ride 65. He will be in that seat for quite a while!

I will concede that newer carseats seem to to be more geared to growing with kids these days. My DD is 10 and the original FF toddler seat (this was before extended RF was a big deal) looks like an antique.

Question: if your DD1 is like mine -- basically, needing to sit in a carseat until she's in 5th grade -- will she be okay with the Nautilus? I don't know what it looks like; if it looks like a "baby" seat only bigger, or more like a belt-positioning booster. My DD was cool about sitting in a belt-positioning booster, but she would have said "no way" if it looked too much like a baby seat.

Our DD1 is in a high-back belt-positioning booster, which she is just fine with. She is 7 years old and in 1st grade.

DD2 is 4 1/2 years old & in the Graco Nautilus. She is currently using it with the 5-pt harness, because she is small (only 40lbs). Once she cannot use the 5-pt harness, due to her weight, (which may never happen since it goes up to 65lbs for the 5-pt harness!), it converts to a belt-positioning high-back booster (up to 100lbs) and then, finally, a backless booster if need be (also up to 100lbs), so, no, she will not feel like she is in a baby seat. It truly does grow with her! It is a VERY good seat and in it for the long-haul!

Here is the seat, if you wanted to see a pic:

https://www.target.com/Graco-1757842-Nautilus-Seat-Wilkes/dp/B0020W63X4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=graco_nautilus&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-4&qid=1290631291&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Graco%201757842%20Nautilus%20Seat%20Wilkes&node=1038576%7C1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

Halo79RN · November 2010

my dc are 3 and 4 1/2 and I've only purchased 3... the infant seat, a britax boulevard and a britax decathelon. both dc are lightweights and have room. plan on buying a highback to backless booster when the time comes. so for 2 kids, 5 seats should be total... I will say their convertible seats are much bigger than my (now 19 y/o) nephew's was back in the day. they last to a taller height and higher weight. but the laws are recs are greater now. I honestly don't remember my nephew's booster???? but it was 19 yrs ago.

blueshirt2003 · November 2010

The car seat costs reminds me of how many different sippy cups we tried, etc. Those we tried probably 8-10 different brands over the span of a year.

JillShari · November 2010

DS#1:

1 Infant seat, had two bases

2 Britax Roundabouts (Mom and Dad cars)

1 Evenflo something (grandma's car)

3 Nautilus seats

(now i have a booster for driving other people's kids if needed)

DS#2:

1 infant seat (new because the old one was old)

1 First Years True fit convertible (Dad's car)

1 Britax Boulevard

So... in total for my 5.5 year old, we've had 7 seats. And 3 already for my 17 month old.

Angela814 · December 2010

Graco Snugride with 2 bases
Britax Roundabout
Britax Marathon
Safety First TrueFit
Sunshine Kids Radian
Graco Nautilus
Graco Turbobooster

That's 7 total. We have a carseat in each car, and my sister has one right now too. I think down the road, the only thing we'll need to buy are more booster seats.

We just bought the Radian and the Turbobooster for when DD2 needs to move to a convertible. DD1 will stay in the Nautilus in one car and the booster in the other.

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Poll -- how many carseats have you owned, total?

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