Recommend your Convertible Carseat

google123 · December 2011

We need to switch to convertible seats pretty soon. I'm guessing another month or two.

Which are the best?

-I've heard Britax Marathon 70 is gold standard. Some people have also said Cosco is good, but when I look at the Cosco ones, they don't seem to have really any extra padding around the baby. But I just don't think I can afford $250 on the britax. I don't want to sacrifice safety, so if it comes down to it I will buy Britax. But if there are other carseats that are equally safe, without the pricetag, i'd be willing to buy them aswell.

I'll be honest, price is a factor. I'm a grad student, and raising twins, plus the costs for formula are getting out of control.

Ideas?

Kmarie823 · December 2011

I ended up buying the Marathons but I had a 25% off sale. However, if you are really looking for a Britax how would you feel about a model they are phasing out? Or a pattern they are phasing out? There are some Roundabouts on Allbe.baby.com that are $150 because the pattern is discontinued.

google123 · December 2011

patterns I don't care about, but I probably won't buy a model they are phasing out. I'd wonder why they are discontinuing it (was it not safe enough, too many problems with it, etc).

Fancy3Face · December 2011

We have 2 Graco myride 65's and love them. I also wanted Britax, but I wanted the top of the line and I couldn't justify spending nearly $600 on car seats.

The myrides are HUGE, but they have a lot of padding and I like their deisgn choices.

I've also heard Evenflo and Safety 1st have great convertibles as well.

violaplayer · December 2011

We have Evenflo Symphony 65s. I love them! Very easy to use.

leslie13510 · December 2011

I LOVE our Sunshine Kids Radians, and since they recently changed their brand name, I've seen some of the models still labeled as Sunshine Kids selling for much cheaper than what they're worth. I think I paid about $210 each and that was the absolute cheapest I could find them on sale a couple years ago. I've seen them for less than $200 each recently, but I don't remember where.

I love that they're super slim so I can still ride between them in the backseat on long trips if I need to, they have plenty of padding, and because of the tall shell they'll be in them well into the "booster seat age" years. They also have a low profile that is similar to that of a booster seat, so they won't be the kindergarteners who are embarrassed for their friends to see them still in a "baby" carseat. And they fold up nicely, and are solid/sturdy as hell, which was great when I had to fly with the kids by myself a few months ago, and we had to check their carseats.

Fancy3Face · December 2011

leslie13510:
I LOVE our Sunshine Kids Radians, and since they recently changed their brand name, I've seen some of the models still labeled as Sunshine Kids selling for much cheaper than what they're worth. I think I paid about $210 each and that was the absolute cheapest I could find them on sale a couple years ago. I've seen them for less than $200 each recently, but I don't remember where.
I love that they're super slim so I can still ride between them in the backseat on long trips if I need to, they have plenty of padding, and because of the tall shell they'll be in them well into the "booster seat age" years. They also have a low profile that is similar to that of a booster seat, so they won't be the kindergarteners who are embarrassed for their friends to see them still in a "baby" carseat. And they fold up nicely, and are solid/sturdy as hell, which was great when I had to fly with the kids by myself a few months ago, and we had to check their carseats.

I think target (or maybe bru) had them on sale for $179. Well they were when I was convertible shopping a month or so ago.

That's what sucks about the Graco's, they're massive and I can't fit in the back with them anymore

dlpacker · December 2011

I have an Evenflo Titan Elite for my 17 month old and I love it. She has been in it since she was about 8 months old and she still has a lot of room in it and it is decently priced. I bought mine from Target. It was between $100-150.

regenab · December 2011

We got these:

https://www.amazon.com/First-Years-True-Convertible-Casino/dp/B000YBILWY

They hold up to 65lbs. harnessed, which is why we got them. We can use these seats until they are 5 years old if we want. Check around to different sites, you can find them on sale and with free shipping. We got ours during tax return season and I think I spent $150 each with free shipping. I have no complaints with these seats and they actually have the highest rating by the NHTSA. We put the girls in them when they were about 8 months old and they are still in them today. I don't plan to move them to boosters until after they turn 4, I may even keep them in them longer since they are no where close to growing out of them. Best $300 I spent.