Cheaper carseats for grandparents

boilerup227 · July 2012

Hi all,

We got DS a convertible carseat recently and went with the Britax Boulevard G3-70. Pricey but IMO, carseats are not something to skimp on. The in-laws and my parents are wanting to get seats for their cars. They honestly don't have DS too often and I would be willing to switch the carseat back and forth but they really want their own. Thing is, they want cheaper ones. They are thinking around the 175-200 range. Do you have any that you would recommend or should I just ask them to stick with the one we have? I'm conflicted. I know our seat is not the end all be all but, again, I just think carseats are so very important!

k.linn · July 2012

We have the Evenflo Triumph for my parents' car. It was well under the price range you've specified, and even less with a BRU coupon.

k3montel · July 2012

k.linn:
We have the Evenflo Triumph for my parents' car. It was well under the price range you've specified, and even less with a BRU coupon.

This is the seat we have for our own car, and we love it. We have the same one for my mom's car. It had good safety ratings, and parent reviews we're good as well.

Gem17 · July 2012

Check the website www.albeebaby.com. That's where we ordered our Britaxs. They are significantly cheaper than any other place I've found. HTH! BTW we have the Boulevard 70 CS and love it!

lancyjo · July 2012

I think you can find seats that are perfectly safe for a lot cheaper than that. Personally, I don't feel like a higher price always means more safety, it means more bells and whistles.

I didn't dictate what kind of car seat my parents bought, since they were paying for it. (They did ask for input, since it's my baby they're driving around. ) They ended up with an Eddie Bauer one that's nice.

If baby isn't in their car much, I wouldn't make them pay that much. You can find nice seats for a much lower price. Good luck!

Bella61811 · July 2012

k3montel:
k.linn:
We have the Evenflo Triumph for my parents' car. It was well under the price range you've specified, and even less with a BRU coupon.
This is the seat we have for our own car, and we love it. We have the same one for my mom's car. It had good safety ratings, and parent reviews we're good as well.

I'm glad to read this since this is one we've been looking at for own car when Audra is ready!

Lena122 · July 2012

lancyjo:
I think you can find seats that are perfectly safe for a lot cheaper than that. Personally, I don't feel like a higher price always means more safety, it means more bells and whistles.
I didn't dictate what kind of car seat my parents bought, since they were paying for it. (They did ask for input, since it's my baby they're driving around. ) They ended up with an Eddie Bauer one that's nice.
If baby isn't in their car much, I wouldn't make them pay that much. You can find nice seats for a much lower price. Good luck!

I agree with this. My only requirement would be that it meets safety standards and that it MUST be new. I woulnt allow them to drive DS around in a secondhand carseat.

NatesLady1309 · July 2012

Honestly, I think you're over-thinking it. I asked a few days ago about getting a lower priced car seat and people had responded that they ALL meet a standard of safety requirements. That being said, since your LO will be in your car with the "super seat" I'll call it the vast majority of the time, I wouldn't worry at all about putting LO in a "cheaper" seat with the grandparents. And unless our income at least quadrupled, I don't imagine I'd consider a $200 seat to be cheap or inferior by any means so I'm sure it's still outstanding compared to what I'll likely get. If you want to get an extra seat for the grandparents, I'd probably make my price point a lot lower than what you stated, but that's just my opinion.

HappyToBe2012 · July 2012

Lena122:
lancyjo:
I think you can find seats that are perfectly safe for a lot cheaper than that. Personally, I don't feel like a higher price always means more safety, it means more bells and whistles.
I didn't dictate what kind of car seat my parents bought, since they were paying for it. (They did ask for input, since it's my baby they're driving around. ) They ended up with an Eddie Bauer one that's nice.
If baby isn't in their car much, I wouldn't make them pay that much. You can find nice seats for a much lower price. Good luck!
I agree with this. My only requirement would be that it meets safety standards and that it MUST be new. I woulnt allow them to drive DS around in a secondhand carseat.

I agree with both of these.

teachermom226 · July 2012

Lena122:
lancyjo:

I think you can find seats that are perfectly safe for a lot cheaper than that. Personally, I don't feel like a higher price always means more safety, it means more bells and whistles.

I didn't dictate what kind of car seat my parents bought, since they were paying for it. (They did ask for input, since it's my baby they're driving around. ) They ended up with an Eddie Bauer one that's nice.

If baby isn't in their car much, I wouldn't make them pay that much. You can find nice seats for a much lower price. Good luck!

I agree with this. My only requirement would be that it meets safety standards and that it MUST be new. I woulnt allow them to drive DS around in a secondhand carseat.

My parents want to get one of their own as well, and these are the only things that I asked of them.

Jen0204 · July 2012

Honestly I'm planning on getting my mom the cheap ones from Walmart for her car. They won't be in them too often and she needs 2 so I'm not spending $150 on each of them. She drives a car that's only 2 years old so the car itself is very safe, so I have no concerns at all about getting her a cheaper car seat that doesn't have any extras on it.

I wonder if they've done any studies on the difference in the severity of injuries between accidents in the super expensive car seats versus the cheap ones from Walmart.

lancyjo · July 2012

Jen0204:

Honestly I'm planning on getting my mom the cheap ones from Walmart for her car. They won't be in them too often and she needs 2 so I'm not spending $150 on each of them. She drives a car that's only 2 years old so the car itself is very safe, so I have no concerns at all about getting her a cheaper car seat that doesn't have any extras on it.

I wonder if they've done any studies on the difference in the severity of injuries between accidents in the super expensive car seats versus the cheap ones from Walmart.

All I have is anecdotal evidence from friends/family experience, but I've (unfortunately) had several who have had accidents with their children in the car. It's almost an equal split between severe accidents/fender benders and inexpensive seats/expensive ones... but all the children have been fine in all the accidents, regardless of the price of the seat. (again, it's all just anecdotal, not actual research, so I know it doesn't "count".)

IMO, proper installation and buckling the child in correctly is way more important than how much you paid for the seat.

Jen0204 · July 2012

lancyjo:
Jen0204:

Honestly I'm planning on getting my mom the cheap ones from Walmart for her car. They won't be in them too often and she needs 2 so I'm not spending $150 on each of them. She drives a car that's only 2 years old so the car itself is very safe, so I have no concerns at all about getting her a cheaper car seat that doesn't have any extras on it.

I wonder if they've done any studies on the difference in the severity of injuries between accidents in the super expensive car seats versus the cheap ones from Walmart.

All I have is anecdotal evidence from friends/family experience, but I've (unfortunately) had several who have had accidents with their children in the car. It's almost an equal split between severe accidents/fender benders and inexpensive seats/expensive ones... but all the children have been fine in all the accidents, regardless of the price of the seat. (again, it's all just anecdotal, not actual research, so I know it doesn't "count".)

IMO, proper installation and buckling the child in correctly is way more important than how much you paid for the seat.

That's kind of what I figured. The only thing that would make me go out and buy the Britax is if there were studies done that proved that the Britax car seats were significantly safer then the "cheap" ones, but since they all pass the safety requirements I'll go with the cheap ones. And honestly, the Cosco Scenera gets awesome reviews on Walmart.com and Amazon. If they weren't adequately protecting kids then people would be ripping these seats apart and warning others not to get them. It's so hard because our kids safety is certainly not a place where we want to cheap out, but if they'll get pretty much the same protection from a $40 car seat as a $300 one, well, we have lots of other expenses!

lancyjo · July 2012

Jen0204:

That's kind of what I figured. The only thing that would make me go out and buy the Britax is if there were studies done that proved that the Britax car seats were significantly safer then the "cheap" ones, but since they all pass the safety requirements I'll go with the cheap ones. And honestly, the Cosco Scenera gets awesome reviews on Walmart.com and Amazon. If they weren't adequately protecting kids then people would be ripping these seats apart and warning others not to get them. It's so hard because our kids safety is certainly not a place where we want to cheap out, but if they'll get pretty much the same protection from a $40 car seat as a $300 one, well, we have lots of other expenses!

Agreed!

boilerup227 · July 2012

I really hope I didn't offend anyone by this. I'm not implying that cheaper is inferior by any means. The carseat I chose is likely no better than anyone else's but I guess, for me, it gives me a bit more peace of mind. I'm a bit neurotic like that. So sorry, gals... hanging head in shame.

Jen0204 · July 2012

boilerup227:
I really hope I didn't offend anyone by this. I'm not implying that cheaper is inferior by any means. The carseat I chose is likely no better than anyone else's but I guess, for me, it gives me a bit more peace of mind. I'm a bit neurotic like that. So sorry, gals... hanging head in shame.

Hey, everyone has different priorities and different things that they're neurotic about, don't worry about it! I know I'm not offended, I was just wondering if there have actually been studies comparing the two because if there have been I'm curious what the findings were. And if you want the grandparents to get the one you have you could always offer to pay the difference between what they wanted to spend and what yours costs.

lancyjo · July 2012

boilerup227:
I really hope I didn't offend anyone by this. I'm not implying that cheaper is inferior by any means. The carseat I chose is likely no better than anyone else's but I guess, for me, it gives me a bit more peace of mind. I'm a bit neurotic like that. So sorry, gals... hanging head in shame.

Get that head back up! Those were just my opinions, and by no means did you offend me. You do what you have to do to make yourself feel comforable about your child's safety. For me, it's proper installation and proper use. For you, it's paying more. Different strokes for different folks!

Side note: My FFFC was about a couple of IRL friends of mine who put themselves in debt just to have "the best" and one-up everyone. They're buying the 3rd gen Britax for their newborns, when they don't plan on using them for nearly a year (because I have already switched they feel the need to buy "bigger and better" and try to rub my nose in it) and they're shaming me for <3ing my "cheap seat". I'm just a smidge touchy on the subject these days because of it. Sorry if I came across mean!

boilerup227 · July 2012

Shew... thanks.

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