Sorry, it's been forever since I've been on this board, but I was really hoping to get an opinion about car seats. DS will be 4 at the end of April and is currently in the Britax Diplomat, which is a compact convertible. DD is 10 months old and has decided to declare war every time I put her in her Chicco seat, so we're moving her into DS's and getting DS a new one since he'll outgrow it soon anyway. I'm not sure if I should be looking at bigger convertible seats, like the Britax Marathon or if I should be looking at the harness-to-booster seats, like the Britax Frontier 85??? It doesn't necessarily have to be a Britax, that's just what I'm familiar with since we already have one. I've also looked at the Recaro ProSport and Graco Nautilus for harness-to-boosters, but am completely open to any suggestion anyone might have. We just have to do something ASAP and I'm not sure which type I should even be researching. TIA!
Re: What kind of car seat do I need? (3 1/2+yr old)
We have this car seat:
https://www.amazon.com/Safety-1st-Alpha-Convertible-Beaumont/dp/B00313JBGM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327037911&sr=8-2
I really like the seat, it's a reasonable price (we got it at Sam's Club for $99) and it'll grow with her up to 100 lbs. It's also really easy to adjust the level of the straps and reclines nicely in the car, so she's not sitting straight up the whole time she's in the car.
Ditto this - I just got one for my 3.5 yo - just installed it rear-facing on Monday. I am very happy with it so far. The instructions were easy to follow. I bought this one from Amazon (in Rugby, which is $248.99). ETA: I too picked it because it can be used up to 45 lbs rear-facing and I want to keep my kids rear-facing as long as possible.