Car Seats

BrideBuddies · January 2011

Ugh... I knew the time was fast approaching, but I guess I gotta start looking at car seats. Until now, it was so easy to just pop him in his Chicco KeyFit30 without worry. I know he's nowhere near 30 pounds yet, but I suspect his height is reaching the limits.

So.. what kind did you get? Front facing now or do you still keep them rear facing for a while yet? That would be a convertable one, then, right?

Help! I'm clueless!

Daisiesinmygarden · January 2011

We got the Britax Marathon 70. It is convertable. We still have M rear-facing at 20 months and she is happy and comfortable in it. It has a pretty high RF range and I think she can stay in it until she is 50 pounds or something.

*eta Super easy to install correctly and latch the baby in.

BrideBuddies · January 2011

Yeah, I think I want one that goes up to at least 50 and can be rear facing. I love that our Chicco was a 30 pounder, rather than 22 pounder. If it wasn't for his height, we could probably use it for another 6 months or more. But he's starting to look a little squished in it!

Daisiesinmygarden · January 2011

Oh and we traded our infant seat in at BRU at thier trade-in sale. I think that is going on right now.

Em&Bee · January 2011

I would love to keep DD rear-facing for awhile longer, but she HATES it, she meets the criteria for FF, so I turned her and it's so much better, but now I'm paranoid. lol. Also, the nice thing about FF is you can scoot your car seats back more, but I know RF is safer, so I'm undecided.

Daisiesinmygarden · January 2011

M meets the criteria for FF, but i am holding off as long as possible. It's all she's ever known, so it hasn't been too bad.

BrideBuddies · January 2011

I saw that BRU trade in sale... not quite ready to give up on having a second kid, tho! HA! At 43, I gotta get a move on.

LyndaCarter · January 2011

Please keep rear facing as long as possible. Forward facing is very dangerous when they are still small. Most convertibles can do rear and forward facing, but it is so much easier to get the carrier in and out than it is to put a child into a rear facing convertible. We moved DD#1 early to her convertible and what a pain!! We'll be keeping DD#2 in her carrier until she hits the weight limit or is 2 years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8mFsXNXOLw

https://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx

Em&Bee · January 2011

I agree, putting the carrier in is much easier, and I think if you RF in the center of the back seat it's supposed to be even safer.

dkays · January 2011

We bought a Combi Zeus 360 for T last year because we drove from Texas to NYC. I love it and the rotating feature is so nice on my back. It is very solid. A drawback could be it only the weight limit of 40 lbs FF.This car seat is in my DH car and we are still using our Chicco Keyfit in my car because T still fits and it is easier for her sitter to use.

We checked out all carseats that have a high weight limit that could be used til 8 yrs old but I would think it would hard to keep them clean after 7 years of use.

We are going to stay RF as long as possible. Which isn't really a problem for us because T usually has someone in the back with her.

https://www.amazon.com/Combi-Zeus-Convertible-Seat-Licorice/dp/B002ITIXJQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1296069188&sr=8-1

Peppernut · January 2011

Margaux is rear facing in her ginormous Britax Marathon. I am interested to see how we'll fit a second rear-facing seat into the back of the Prius... ><

Piranha54 · January 2011

Britax marathon - love it, and think amazon may have them on sale. Our is rear facing, center back seat - so far no problems with the RF and given the AAP guidelines and my previous work in trauma, she will be kept that way as long as we can! GL

choirgirl · January 2011

My best advise is to page MrsGo4HockeyChick on the EcoFriendlyFamily board. She's a certified car seat installer/technician or some title like that, and anyway, she's super knowledgeable on different models and their heights, etc. and how well they fit into different cars, but also has several recommendations for less expensive (than Britax) models that are just as good or in some ways better.

Also, We're going rear facing until DS is, oh, 16 yo (mostly kidding). But have you seen the crash test videos (with dummies) of forward facing crashes involving toddlers? Most done in Europe, I think, where the rules are far more strict than here. I'd rather he break both of his legs twice than face the spinal injuries that, while rare, would absolutely kill me to know I could have avoided. Just go to youtube and look up forward facing car seat crash test.

Daisiesinmygarden · January 2011

BrideBuddies:
I saw that BRU trade in sale... not quite ready to give up on having a second kid, tho! HA! At 43, I gotta get a move on.

We aren't giving up on a another one either, but aren't actively working on one right now. However, I despised our carseat (DH just HAD to have this particuliar one and it was awful), so I was happy to trade it in, since I will be picking out the next one.

ateytelb · January 2011

Jason has been using Britax Roundabout (convertible) from 6 months until now (first rear-facing, and then forward-facing). We have recently moved him into a booster seat in H's car (still have Roundabout in mine).

NewMrs07 · January 2011

Oh gosh, Adrian outgrew his infant seat at 8 months, and it was the Graco 32! Those weight limits are total BS, babies usually outgrow the seats by length, not by weight. So now we have the Graco MyRide 65 and he loves it. He takes great naps in it and it's super comfy. I also like the built-in snack trays, we use those a lot. We have it rear-facing but the only drawback there is that you need a big car for RF. We have a Nissan Murano and the seat is pushed forward a lot, if you have a smaller car the person in the passenger seat will have almost no leg room. But forward-facing is no problem.

NewMrs07 · January 2011

choirgirl:
My best advise is to page MrsGo4HockeyChick on the EcoFriendlyFamily board. She's a certified car seat installer/technician or some title like that, and anyway, she's super knowledgeable on different models and their heights, etc. and how well they fit into different cars, but also has several recommendations for less expensive (than Britax) models that are just as good or in some ways better.
Also, We're going rear facing until DS is, oh, 16 yo (mostly kidding). But have you seen the crash test videos (with dummies) of forward facing crashes involving toddlers? Most done in Europe, I think, where the rules are far more strict than here. I'd rather he break both of his legs twice than face the spinal injuries that, while rare, would absolutely kill me to know I could have avoided. Just go to youtube and look up forward facing car seat crash test.

I need to show those to DH, he keeps saying we should turn the seat around to FF. He says Adrian would be more entertained that way. It's true, he would be more entertained, but I'd rather A be bored than break his neck if God forbid we're in a car crash. Unfortunately our second car is smaller and the Cosco Scenera we got for that one needs to be FF. Thankfully we don't use it too much and for short distances only. It makes me so nervous! But yes, Adrian has way more fun FF looking at how we drive.

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