Convertible Carseats

starsinger17 · May 2013

Just found out that DS is almost 19lbs and DH and I had agreed that we would put him in a convertible carseat soon after he reached 20lbs.

So recommend your convertible carseats.

Isn't the rule that they begin forward facing at 20lbs or 1 year whichever comes first?

caseylynw · May 2013

no. The rule is one year and at least 20lbs. but they MUST be one year and its recommended that they stay rear facing until 2 years

sschwege · May 2013

Legally you can turn them at a year. But the AAP is recommending waiting until at least two because RFing is safest. DD is 2 1/2 and still RFing.

minervacullen · May 2013

Watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8

Also look for car seats for the littles on facebook

saturdaynightdoubletree · May 2013

As others have said, the longer RFing the better! Diono Radian r100, r200, rxt, gxt are all highly rated, Graco MyRide, and even the Evenflo Symphony65 e3 are all great seats. I especially like the radian because of easy install, not bulky we are working with 3 across, and it is the only seat I'll need for DS. I'll be getting one for DD2. Carseat.org is a great resource for info, recommendations, etc. GL!

ASmallWonder · May 2013

They have to meet both criteria at a minimum. But as others said, 2 years (or more) is the new recommendation for rear facing.

nanabanana06 · May 2013

Diono Radian r120 or RXT is the way to go. The laws haven't caught up with new recommendations, but are changing. You must RF until 2 at the least, it's better to RF longer. I got the Radian for this purpose. It has one of the best RFing limits and is one of the safest seats out there. It's made of mostly steel, so it's not like other seats that are plastic and foam. We plan on RFing until 4, since that is when the spine is fully fused and the risk of internal decapitation due to an accident goes down.

Wild_flower25 · May 2013

You don't have to spend a ton to get a good seat, but if your DC is bigger, look for a seat that can use the 5pt longer and still rear face. But I've had Graco and Evenflo seats that worked great.

kjsmith9 · May 2013

Another vote for diono radian. We just started using the r120 about a month ago and I love it! It's one of the longest rear facing seats which was my biggest concern in purchasing it.

penguingrrl · May 2013

1 year and 20 lbs is the bare minimum age children are legally allowed to turn forward facing, but the AAP strongly recommends a child stay rear facing until they outgrow a convertible seat's RF limits and never before age 2.

penguingrrl · May 2013

A few thoughts to add on to my other post.

The diono radian is a fabulous seat, it's what my kids ride in. But it's no longer the tallest seat on the market. The graco headwise size4me/mysize has a taller shell than the radian, as does the evenflo sureride.

No carseat is safer than another. They all pass the exact same pass/fail test to legally be sold.There may be seats that perform better, but the consumer does not have access to that. It may be a seat with a steel reinforced shell or it may be that that rigid a shell is bad and the lighter weight plastic in less expensive models performs a hair better. They all perform very well.

Britax's current generation of convertibles have shorter shells than most competitors, which translates to being outgrown sooner by most kids, so I personally wouldn't spend the money since it has a shorter useful life.

st.augbride · May 2013

Keep them rear facing as long as you can since it's much safer. We only turned ds around about 2-3 months ago.

LSU628 · May 2013

Diapers.com was having a sale on Britax. I ordered 2 roundabout 55s and got a great price! And ditto the rear facing.

nanabanana06 · May 2013

LSU628:
Diapers.com was having a sale on Britax. I ordered 2 roundabout 55s and got a great price! And ditto the rear facing.

You realize that Britax has some of the smallest shells out there... right? Which means they aren't very good if you plan on RFing any length of time.

minervacullen · May 2013

Nana_Osaki06:
LSU628:
Diapers.com was having a sale on Britax. I ordered 2 roundabout 55s and got a great price! And ditto the rear facing.
You realize that Britax has some of the smallest shells out there... right? Which means they aren't very good if you plan on RFing any length of time.

The 55 has a higher height limit than their others. I think to 46". I'm guessing dd would be at that height around 4 years. So I'm considering it.

penguingrrl · May 2013

minervacullen:
Nana_Osaki06:
LSU628:
Diapers.com was having a sale on Britax. I ordered 2 roundabout 55s and got a great price! And ditto the rear facing.
You realize that Britax has some of the smallest shells out there... right? Which means they aren't very good if you plan on RFing any length of time.
The 55 has a higher height limit than their others. I think to 46". I'm guessing dd would be at that height around 4 years. So I'm considering it.

Unfortunately the overall standing height limit is basically meaningless. A RF seat is outgrown when there is 1" or less of hard shell over a child's head regardless of overall height. Both of my girls hit the 1" mark on our older generation marathon (which has a taller shell than the current generation) at 20-21 months (by comparison, they were able to RF in their radians to almost 3, so a full year longer) and hit the forward facing height limit by around 3.

g8trkim · May 2013

Omg no do not forward face your infant. The law is at least a year. The recommendation is at least 2. We have an Evenflo Triumph and we really like it.

Kingston54 · May 2013

We just got a Britax Advocate (love it) to replace our Britax Marathon (also highly recommend).... and I would absolutely not consider turning forward facing until at LEAST 2 years old... I kept DS RF until he was 3. Just because it is the law or recommended doesn't mean you can't use research and judgment to make a better choice.

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