Help - Car Seat Dilemma

Kblom27 · September 2012

Ok - so I don't post a lot, but I do read a lot of posts and I'm looking for thoughts from other preggo ladies out there...

So I was all set to buy the Britax Chaperone this weekend because I feel like I should have something under control for this child. We literally have done nothing to get ready so far. Then I asked my husband for his opinion on which color I should order (I really should know better).

This lead to much discussion about why I thought the Britax was a better choice this time around than the Peg we bought last time. Then DH started asking what was the safest option I found - I showed him the Orbit baby stuff (which I am in love with and gets amazing reviews but I feel like is too expensive) and he says to me 'are we really worried about price when it's taken us 5 times to get this close to another baby'.

Seriously - how do I respond to that? And, am I out of my mind for even thinking about buying that crazy expensive car seat/stroller combo?

nanabanana06 · September 2012

I didn't even know Orbit made a car seat. I thought they just had a stroller. From what I have seen and researched they aren't even on my radar for consumer reports safety wise. The top 3 are Britax, Chicco, or Graco. Other are tested to the same standards, these 3 are just typically the better car seats.

I say this when I have in mind to get a Maxi Cosi Mico. We liked the look and the country this brand originates from this one is the top rated. Plus it fit nicely in both of our cars.

yinyang124 · September 2012

More expensive does not mean better or safer. Like PP said Graco, Chicco and Britax have the highest safety ratings. Graco and Chicco are super affordable too.

babymama1212 · September 2012

I would still go with the chaperone. From what I read, the size enables you to use it longer than the orbit. It didn't seem like any value tome and I trusted britax's history of safety.

Fwiw, we have the black and silver.

JessAnnJ · September 2012

We bought the Chaperone and the Britax B-Agile stroller. I personally would not go with the brand you suggested and would stick to one of the brands mentioned by the PP's. FYI - if you haven't tried it already I will warn you that the base makes the Chaperone really huge. We will have to give up using the front passenger seat while we use it (I have a Honda Accord).

sugargal · September 2012

Never heard of Orbit but I did a lot of research and found that Britax was one of the safest out there. We actually just bought this weekend the B-Agile Stroller and the B-Safe Care seat. We have a smaller car so the Chaperone doesn't fit but the B-Safe is perfect. We looked at Britax, Graco and a few others and just felt the best with Britax...plus to be honest the ease of the stroller sold me. That puppy is SO EASY to open and close.

SingleMom31 · September 2012

We went with Britax too after doing a lot of research. Unfortunately, we couldn't make the Chaperone work in my SO's car (Mazda 3), so we got the BSafe instead in black/silver. I wish that it had the rebound bar and the no re-thread harness, but it's still up there on the Consumers Report list for safest seats.

Honestly, I don't think that this is about a car seat, as much as needing to talk to your husband. It sounds like he's very worried about this little one and is throwing some amount of logic out the window right now. Maybe you need to talk to him about that too, and not just about the car seat.

jkg0527 · September 2012

I'm a petite woman 5'2" and around 110 Pre pregnancy. I looked at the orbit. Although I loved the look and style, it is huge and heavy. The carseat alone is about 1520 lbs without the baby in it. The stroller does not fold very compact and is heavy also. My mom saw a woman with the orbit and talked to her about it. She loved the turning on it but also said it was heavy even for her. Pretty tall and more built than me. We bought the britax bagile. I've already used the stroller for my niece and loved it.
Hope this helps!

SummerOH · September 2012

yinyang124:
More expensive does not mean better or safer. Like PP said Graco, Chicco and Britax have the highest safety ratings. Graco and Chicco are super affordable too.

Yes Baby products are probably the most rigorously tested items out there. It's silly to spend a ton of money on something when more affordable options are every bit as safe.

Kblom27 · September 2012

Thanks - this does help. I tried out the Orbit at BBB with the stroller and I really loved it. DH has back troubles and the turning feature seemed like a huge benefit for him. I worried a bit about the weight, since this was my only complaint about the Peg when we had DS.

I have been comparing the Peg, Britax, and Orbit for the last few months and had decided on the Britax because we loved our Britax convertible seats and the safety features were top notice WITH the lowest cost. I think the point DH was trying to make is that the cost difference really wasn't that much in the grand scheme of things so he wanted me to take cost off the table and buy whichever made me feel the most comfortable in terms of safety and features.

He did say that we spend nearly $150 a month on cable/internet, so why was I concerned over a difference in TV watching for 1 month...and he is usually the conservative one when it comes to spending so I was a bit surprised by his logic.

babymama1212 · September 2012

JessAnnJ:
We bought the Chaperone and the Britax B-Agile stroller. I personally would not go with the brand you suggested and would stick to one of the brands mentioned by the PP's. FYI - if you haven't tried it already I will warn you that the base makes the Chaperone really huge. We will have to give up using the front passenger seat while we use it (I have a Honda Accord).

...interesting...

We have the 2012 honda accord and our chaperone fit fine in the center (back) seat of our honda accord. Did you try the center setup??

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