Covertable Car seats: What do you have and why do you like it?

Kebruce · November 2013

My son is 5 1/2 months right now, but is just about 18 lbs so I am trying to plan ahead. I wanted to ask those those who are already using them and to get some feed back tips on which one to buy. I was curious as to which one you bought or are buying and why. What do you like and dislike? What tips would you offer when looking at them?

jllmb79 · November 2013

We started out with the Evenflo Symphony. Great seat but DD#1 out grew it recently rear facing. We now have a Radian RXT and will keep her rear facing as long as possible.

Buy something that will last your growing baby, even if the cost is more upfront.

nanabanana06 · November 2013

You want a good car seat for RF. Both the AAP and NHTSA advise that they RF til at least 2 years of age, but maxing out the seats limits somewhere around age 3-4 is best (NHTSA say 2-4 years for RF). It's 5 times safer for them to RF til age 4 when their bones are a bit more ossified. Rfing too early can mean internal decapitation at much lower speeds than when they are older. For this reason you want a nice good seat with a big shell. The best seats on the market for this is the Diono Radian RXT or r120, Clek Foonf, Chicco Nextfit, and Graco Headwise/MySize/Size4Me. Any one of these seats with RF til at least 3 years, maybe more for some kids. I will say though that if you have a beefier kid the Radian and the Foonf have higher RF weight limits (Radian is 45, for now, and Foonf is 50). I personally have 3 Radian RXT's and a Foonf in my car. I love Radians a lot since they are very low profile, can fit 3 across in normal cars, and very slim when you use the angle adjuster. We have 2 RF Radians in my SO's Dodge Dart, that's pretty impressive.

Now, I will advise against Britax car seats. They used to be very good seats. If you asked me 2-3 years ago what seat to get I'd tell you Britax. The problem is that when they made the new RFing recs Britax redesigned their seats to take more weight RFing, but made the shells shorter. Now you'll get pretty lucky to have a child RF til 2 in a Britax car seat. Where in one of the seats above you could feasibly get a kid with a standing height of like 44 inches in one RFing, but in a Britax is more like 36 inches. It's woefully short shelled. For the price you pay for them you might as well get one of the better seats above truly meant for RFing. Not everyone agrees since they have such a good marketing scheme, but it is the facts on it.

Anyways, that's my whole shpeil there. I hope you pick a good seat. Goodluck!

[Deleted User] · November 2013

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kjsmith9 · November 2013

The best seat is one that fits safely and securely into your vehicle, and fits LO appropriately. I agree with everything Nana said. We have the diono radian r120 in both my Ford Escape and DH's Ford Fusion. One of the big cons that I read about the rxt in user reviews was that the head wings weren't removable, so when the child gets bigger their shoulders dig in. That's why I went with the r120.

They're on sale at justkidsstore.com right now (that's where I got both of ours too). $225 + free shipping for a $350 car seat?! Yes please

minervacullen · November 2013

We have the graco size4me, it's the tallest rearfacing seat on the market, but still only goes to 40lbs rearfacing. If your little guy is that big I'd go with the radian or even foonf. If they're out if your budget then one if the graco clones should still get him rearfacing until 3-4.

Heyjordynhey · November 2013

we have the graco size4me. We love love love it!!! such a easy install and fits perfectly in my small car. I have to take it out and re-install many times a week and its so easy!:)

jobiann · November 2013

Heyjordynhey said:

we have the graco size4me. We love love love it!!! such a easy install and fits perfectly in my small car. I have to take it out and re-install many times a week and its so easy!:)

I'll second this...we love our Graco!

spinsoffresonance · November 2013

We have the Chicco nextfit. I love everything about it except the seat belts are extremely difficult to tighten, to the point where I don't feel like DD is in it secure enough. So that's a big problem!

dpraseutsinh · November 2013

we have the safety air. we got it because had great ratings and also almost all my friends had it and said such good things about it as well.

smileybabyboy · November 2013

Nana_Osaki06 said:

You want a good car seat for RF. Both the AAP and NHTSA advise that they RF til at least 2 years of age, but maxing out the seats limits somewhere around age 3-4 is best (NHTSA say 2-4 years for RF). It's 5 times safer for them to RF til age 4 when their bones are a bit more ossified. Rfing too early can mean internal decapitation at much lower speeds than when they are older. For this reason you want a nice good seat with a big shell. The best seats on the market for this is the Diono Radian RXT or r120, Clek Foonf, Chicco Nextfit, and Graco Headwise/MySize/Size4Me. Any one of these seats with RF til at least 3 years, maybe more for some kids. I will say though that if you have a beefier kid the Radian and the Foonf have higher RF weight limits (Radian is 45, for now, and Foonf is 50). I personally have 3 Radian RXT's and a Foonf in my car. I love Radians a lot since they are very low profile, can fit 3 across in normal cars, and very slim when you use the angle adjuster. We have 2 RF Radians in my SO's Dodge Dart, that's pretty impressive.

Now, I will advise against Britax car seats. They used to be very good seats. If you asked me 2-3 years ago what seat to get I'd tell you Britax. The problem is that when they made the new RFing recs Britax redesigned their seats to take more weight RFing, but made the shells shorter. Now you'll get pretty lucky to have a child RF til 2 in a Britax car seat. Where in one of the seats above you could feasibly get a kid with a standing height of like 44 inches in one RFing, but in a Britax is more like 36 inches. It's woefully short shelled. For the price you pay for them you might as well get one of the better seats above truly meant for RFing. Not everyone agrees since they have such a good marketing scheme, but it is the facts on it.

Anyways, that's my whole shpeil there. I hope you pick a good seat. Goodluck!

She means forward facing too early, not rear facing. Keep LO rear facing until he reaches the max height or weight (whichever comes first) for rear facing in his car seat.

nanabanana06 · November 2013

smileybabyboy said:

Nana_Osaki06 said:

You want a good car seat for RF. Both the AAP and NHTSA advise that they RF til at least 2 years of age, but maxing out the seats limits somewhere around age 3-4 is best (NHTSA say 2-4 years for RF). It's 5 times safer for them to RF til age 4 when their bones are a bit more ossified. Rfing too early can mean internal decapitation at much lower speeds than when they are older. For this reason you want a nice good seat with a big shell. The best seats on the market for this is the Diono Radian RXT or r120, Clek Foonf, Chicco Nextfit, and Graco Headwise/MySize/Size4Me. Any one of these seats with RF til at least 3 years, maybe more for some kids. I will say though that if you have a beefier kid the Radian and the Foonf have higher RF weight limits (Radian is 45, for now, and Foonf is 50). I personally have 3 Radian RXT's and a Foonf in my car. I love Radians a lot since they are very low profile, can fit 3 across in normal cars, and very slim when you use the angle adjuster. We have 2 RF Radians in my SO's Dodge Dart, that's pretty impressive.

Now, I will advise against Britax car seats. They used to be very good seats. If you asked me 2-3 years ago what seat to get I'd tell you Britax. The problem is that when they made the new RFing recs Britax redesigned their seats to take more weight RFing, but made the shells shorter. Now you'll get pretty lucky to have a child RF til 2 in a Britax car seat. Where in one of the seats above you could feasibly get a kid with a standing height of like 44 inches in one RFing, but in a Britax is more like 36 inches. It's woefully short shelled. For the price you pay for them you might as well get one of the better seats above truly meant for RFing. Not everyone agrees since they have such a good marketing scheme, but it is the facts on it.

Anyways, that's my whole shpeil there. I hope you pick a good seat. Goodluck!

She means forward facing too early, not rear facing. Keep LO rear facing until he reaches the max height or weight (whichever comes first) for rear facing in his car seat.

Yes, thank you for that one. I get carried away typing :P.

ObLaDi · November 2013

We have Diono Radian R120s and are very happy with them. @nana_osaki06 already did a great job explaining why we picked it.

BLPL101 · November 2013

We have a Radian RXT and just started using it last week. I researched A TON before we bought it and I'm happy with my decision.

Eags · December 2013

We have the britax advocate and love it! I know that he'll outgrow it in length before he's 2, but I don't care. By then we'll (hopefully) have #2 and can move him/her up to the advocate and buy C a different seat.

What I really like about the advocate are the air filled things on the outside of the carseat. They're supposed to help absorb energy for baby and keep a passenger safer (because instead of smashing their head into a hard shell, they'll hit the softer air pockets) in the event of side impact.

In the end, I had it narrowed down to the advocate and a radian. I think both would've been great choices, but I really like the ours.

Kebruce · December 2013

Thank you so much for everyone's input! if there is another brand anyone else loves and swears by I would love to hear about it!.

Kebruce · December 2013

I have been loookign at seats more and was wondering, did you all buy one seat and switch it between your car and your husbands or did you buy two? They seem to be more expensive than the car seat and base

kmc84 · December 2013

We are using a Foonf in my car and maxing out the infant carrier in mh's truck. After that, we are getting a Foonf for his truck. It's lots of $$$, but I like knowing that if there is ever an emergency, we have a car seat ready to go. It's also soooo much easier. The Foonf is easy to install, but it's a beast to move.

ASmallWonder · December 2013

@Kebruce if your child is going to be riding in more than one care on a regular basis you'll really need two. Frequent installs increase the risk of doing it incorrectly plus you have the logistics issue. If your child goes to daycare, for example, you'd need to leave the seat in their car (if they allow it) and then take the seat to the car, install, go back in to get child, etc.

The seats don't have to be THAT expensive if you have time to watch for sales. For example, a couple months back I got a Graco Size4Me (tallest shell on the market) for $106, shipped from Kohls

Kebruce · December 2013

my husband and i work different shifts, so one of us drops off at my parent's house and the other picks up. Trying to figure out what is best. Plus my parents like to be able to take DS with them if they go somwewhere during the day or watching him for the weekend.

nanabanana06 · December 2013

We have I think 7 or 8 seats now for 2 kids. We're looking at adding a few more to the list. Like, I want to get the new Radians when they come out. So We'll likely get 2 of those. We'll put Cade in one in my car and move Rosie to the Foonf (since the FF technology is fantastic and her car sickness is getting worse), take Cade's other Radian in SO's car and replace it with that. We'll then give 1 of the old Radians to my Mom, 1 to my MIL, and buy FIL a Graco Nautilus or Evenflo Securekid. This will bring our car seat total up to 10. Since all the grandparents need sets as they like taking the babies often. Plus our 2 cars. We once installed and reinstalled the Foonf over a week or so multiple times and the locking clips broke! We had to have them replaced by Clek. Boo!

SWOG31 · December 2013

I have the Britax Boulevard in my car, and DH has the Graco MySize in his car. I MUCH prefer the Graco seat. The Britax seat is very plush, but it's bulky and I have a hard time with the straps. DD also doesn't seem to like it, but she's not a fan of car seats in general. I had a Britax infant seat that I LOVED, and just wanted to stick with that brand. It's not working out for me, so at some point I plan to replace it with another Graco seat.

KKillian1029 · December 2013

My Son is in Evenflo Symphony 65 DLX Beauford Convertible Car Seat we like it and he is 9 months

TMWarren85 · December 2013

Kebruce said:

I have been loookign at seats more and was wondering, did you all buy one seat and switch it between your car and your husbands or did you buy two? They seem to be more expensive than the car seat and base

I have the Radian RXT for my car which is the primary vehicle, then we bought the Grace Size4Me for DH's truck, the Radian is HEAVY so I'm not switching that back and forth.

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