car seat suggestions

shevaCC · May 2016

I'm debating getting a new infant seat for DD2 and there seem to be a bunch more options since I picked between Graco and Chicco 4.5 years ago. What car seat(s) are you considering and why? STMs, what features do you like or not about the seat(S) you've used?

leighry · May 2016

We had our first 3 so close together we used the same infant car seat for all. It was a safety 1st (part of a travel system so came with a stroller too).. your standard infant car seat. Nothing special about it. Light.. easy to carry. Came with some extra padding for babies that were smaller. This time we will need to buy a new one and I haven't really started looking yet.. but if Britax makes one we will probably go with that. Once we got into convertible car seats we went with Britax. So that's what all our girls have now. Great brand. That or I think Graco makes a car seat now that grows with the baby? I'd have to look more into it..

Seattleite86 · May 2016

Im ftm and am getting the chico keyfit 30. Im sure there are others just as good but its always at the top of the "best car seats bla bla bla" lists and blogs out there. And it's cute. I have a friend with twins who has two of them and she likes it. She also gave me a snow cover she has for it. I dont love the chico strollers that can be used with it as a travel system, but after watching a dozen stroller product clips im going to get a Bob jogger stroller. It has to have an adaptor for the car seat but says a baby can ride in it at 2 months--i am not going to use the stroller for the first two months anyway because i live in the frozen tundra and wont be walking much with baby in negative temps. So im not worried too much about the travel system and will just get the car seat i want!

hellopartyof5 · May 2016

The only thing that keeps me from getting a Britax is you can't machine wash the padding! The amount of blowouts DS had in his infant seat mean that could never work for us. I really liked my chicco keyfit 30 BUT it made DS hot and sweaty but now they have one with more venting, so I'd probably go for that if I was going to get a new one.

leighry · May 2016

@nauticallife I didn't know if any of the infant Britax ones were different since I don't have those. Luckily with the convertible ones I can spot wash as the messes aren't usually ones that warrant a trip to the machine but I can see with an infant how this would be an issue. Good point! My kids didn't have many blowouts but they would definitely spit up all over so I did wash the infant car seat padding a lot. Something to keep in mind!

hellopartyof5 · May 2016

@leighry my child only pooped every 5ish days and when he did it was HUGE. No diaper could contain it. I was machine washing the cover every week. Having to spot wash would drive me insane, but a convertible seat that could only be spot washed wouldn't bother me at all

hellopartyof5 · May 2016

also @Seattleite86 I recommend getting the keyfit caddy used on craigslist. I tried to resist for months and said I wouldn't really use it. But when your baby is asleep and you want to go into a store and taking them out of their car seat wakes them up you will so appreciate being able to just pop the car seat into a frame. You can get them used for $50/$60. My baby was such a temperamental sleeper that I even realized I had to put something vibrating in his car seat when I was putting it in the stroller and then we were good. Obviously, not all babies are like this so if you don't want to do that you may not need it, but keep it in the back of your mind just in case

Katemr1146 · May 2016

I loved my Chicco Keyfit 30 last time. It was easy to use, the straps tightened and loosened nicely (the Britax we have is really tight/hard that way) and I love that the fabric is really wipe-able. Haven't decided if I'm reusing it for 2.0 or buying a new one. It been moved twice no, so a little nervous about how much it's been banged around.

Oh oh and it also seemed to be really common with stroller adapters. All the strollers we liked had Chicco adapters, which was convenient.

sarac986 · May 2016

I'm an engineer in the automotive industry and I work with companies that crash test car seats. I can tell you that any seat that is sold in the US has to go through slot of testing and is safe. Seats that advertise extra safety are really just pulling your leg and you aren't getting what you pay for. Get a seat with things that will make your life easier and just know that all if them are safe

Oakleypoozles · May 2016

I'm all about the Evenflo Symphony Platinum series. I like it because:
1.) It has the easy latch system so you just grab the end push and done.
2.) It has the push to tighten so don't have to do the knee in and pull thing you just press down and it automatically tightens properly.
3.) It is well made.
4.) Comes in a variety of colors to suit your tastes.
5.) It's good for infant newborn day 1 until child is out of car seat.

----

The ease of proper use is paramount in my world. Despite the fact we had bought 4 car seats there was always some reason they needed moved. As a mom you're always on a time restraint too. I've always taken proper car seat installation VERY seriously. Soooooooooooo many moms are really complacent with this. Just because it's in there doesn't mean it's in there right and can protect your baby/child. So for me when I'm checking everything I want something that is easy to PROPERLY install and has less room for user error. I want it to be convenient. That's what carseats from previous child were missing. Buying multiples was helpful but there was always some reason they needed moved and it was really a ordeal to reinstall properly.

I think many different seats come with the better latching systems and the push to tighten now though so the Symphony really isn't the only one that would be a good choice. It's just the one I've found that meets all my needs

Seattleite86 · May 2016

@nauticallife thanks! I will probably ask my friend to sell me one of hers then (she has two chico caddies) because by the time baby is born her twins will be over a year old and will use a big double stroller. I keep telling myself that im going to use a wrap and carrier everywhere i go when baby is tiny but you are right ill probably want the caddy anyway.

hellopartyof5 · May 2016

Thats a great plan @Seattleite86 ! She may even let you borrow it, and free is even better lol. I thought I was going to wrap everywhere, and I did a lot, but when baby is sleeping or when you're just going into the store for a couple minutes to grab something the whole process just takes so much longer and becomes a hassle.

tatertat313 · May 2016

We had he Britax B-Safe and I liked it, I don't really have any complaints about it...the main reason we went with that over the Chicco is I wanted the B-Ready stroller and through the Britax Free Ride event we got the Car seat for free when we bought the stroller.

atcwag · May 2016

We had a Chicco KeyFit 30 with DS and will be using it again with new baby. Even if it wasn't usable, we'd buy the same model. Easy to use, easy to clean fabric, etc.
Many people do go with a rear-facing convertible from birth, but I prefer the convenience of the infant bucket seat. DS didn't outgrow his until 16 months or so, then we got convertibles for both cars. We chose ones with the highest RFing limits, as we intend to RF until the limits of the seats are reached - probably age 4.
As for stroller, we got a BabyJogger Citi Mini. The seat portion folds down nearly flat, so you can use it for an infant. It also has an adaptor for the Keyfit.

kms456 · May 2016

with DD#1 we had the Britax B-Safe and no real complaints at all. This time we are going with the Peg Perego 4-35. Love the anti rebound bar. Love the feel of the fabric. Love the SIP. And it's a pretty thin base for fitting multiples in a car.

TinyAlligator · May 2016

Huge fan of the b-safe. Super easy to install and the latch can be used on non standard widths which meant I could do a center seat install with latch on my car. I hear even better things about the newest bsafe. We're just reusing the one from my daughter for this one.

hollowway · May 2016

I'm probably one of the few who is skipping the infant seat. I'm getting the Graco 4Ever... is goes from rear-facing a newborn to a backless booster. I plan on babywearing, like I did with DD, which will make life easier than trying to wrangle a toddler and carry an infant seat.. Plus, DD was a very large baby and outgrew the infant seat by 4 months.... I'm sure this little man will be the same way.

leighry · May 2016

@MaMaBear1323 that's the Graco I was talking about just couldn't think of the name! It doesn't matter if I wear the kid or lug around an infant carrier. As #4 I'm already outnumbered. Luckily the older two are pretty good listeners. #3 is a flight risk. But that's age.

theGDpaterfamilias · May 2016

Went with the Safety 1st Onboard Air 35 for our first seat. It has a click system so we installed a car base in each car and just moved the seat around. It also clicks into a stroller system. Love the infant seat because I never had to wake her to remove her from the car or take her to it. The bonus to this seat is it lasted until her 2nd birthday when we moved her to FF so we basically got to skip a seat and save that purchase. Instead of Infant > Convertible > Harness Booster, we never had to buy a convertible for my car.

After a year or so we bought a convertible for my spouse's car as we got sick of the car seat carousel for day care and everything else. We now have the Safety 1st Advance 65+ Air and the Britax Frontier 90. Great experiences with both. The Britax came at a premium but I wanted one seat that was impossible to screw up latching in correctly for when we leave her with sitters or parents.

lilwonder · May 2016

We're getting the Cybex Aton Q (plus). I'm a FTM and we'll see if after using it with our first if I'd prefer something else, or if I'm hooked on that.

ETA: We've also looked at the Nuna Pipa and haven't completely ruled that out. I prefer the washing ease I've read about for the Pipa vs. the Aton Q. I have a few months to make a decision, so we'll see where we land. Either one fits with the stroller we've decided on, using a small adapter.

jstinkz · May 2016

We had the keyfit30 with DD and we will be able to use it again. We have lots of bases, not that they are hard to move anyway, but we might as well get more use out of it. DD didn't outgrow it until 14 months, so I'm assuming we will be using it for a while. I don't have any complaints about it. I actually have more complaints about the britax convertible seat that DD is in now.

LikeICantEven · May 2016

Diono Rainier 4 Life.

Although, I do like having an infant seat to carry into a store, that's the only downside to the Diono. Probably getting a Britax this time. I had a Graco with my first and it was meh.

Fullhandsfullheart · May 2016

I will be using the same Chicco keyfit30 I used with my other 2. It's easy to tighten the straps and the material is easy to wipe clean. We now use the Britax marathon convertible with my 8 month old and 2 year old and I love it! The click tight feature makes it very easy to install which I could never figure out on my own with the Graco convertible we first tried.

sweetlyuntied · May 2016

lilwonder said:

We're getting the Cybex Aton Q (plus). I'm a FTM and we'll see if after using it with our first if I'd prefer something else, or if I'm hooked on that.

ETA: We've also looked at the Nuna Pipa and haven't completely ruled that out. I prefer the washing ease I've read about for the Pipa vs. the Aton Q. I have a few months to make a decision, so we'll see where we land. Either one fits with the stroller we've decided on, using a small adapter.

We have the Aton 2 (older version). I loved how lightweight it was and how easy it was to get in and out. I also liked their take on side-impact protection (a little "arm" that extends, so it keeps the weight low). Only bummers are that its a re-thread seat and the sun shade is small.

lilwonder · May 2016

sweetlyuntied said:

lilwonder said:

We're getting the Cybex Aton Q (plus). I'm a FTM and we'll see if after using it with our first if I'd prefer something else, or if I'm hooked on that.

ETA: We've also looked at the Nuna Pipa and haven't completely ruled that out. I prefer the washing ease I've read about for the Pipa vs. the Aton Q. I have a few months to make a decision, so we'll see where we land. Either one fits with the stroller we've decided on, using a small adapter.

We have the Aton 2 (older version). I loved how lightweight it was and how easy it was to get in and out. I also liked their take on side-impact protection (a little "arm" that extends, so it keeps the weight low). Only bummers are that its a re-thread seat and the sun shade is small.

They fixed that with the Q! The belts adjust, rather than having to be re-threaded- one of the sales associates at BBB showed me and it's SO easy!

msu_gal · May 2016

I'm going Nuna Pipa with the Nuna Tavo stroller system. FTM here, so I'm justifying that I can use it for the 2nd too. Lots of great reviews and I love that it's lighter. I have an old shoulder injury that bothers me sometimes.

TinyAlligator · May 2016

@MaMaBear1323 we had entertained that idea but thankfully we got a bucket seats as the lower weight limits for convertibles don't go down to 4lbs. I didn't think I'd need it, but you can't really plan a preemie.

hollowway · May 2016

@TinyAlligator, they go down to 5 lbs, at least the one I'm buying does. If I happen to have a preemie, I have DD's infant seat from when we first brought her home in Nov13... Still like new... Just don't really want to lug it around. And I like the idea of saving money in the long run as well. If the convertible seats weren't safe for newborns, they wouldn't let you use them, so I'm happy to start with one right away. It's already a $300 seat on its own.

comealongponds · May 2016

Ugh I'm having such a hard time with this. On one hand, I feel like the bucket seats are a wast of money since their usage span is so short. On the other hand, the perk of being able to settle & bundle two tiny babies in the house and then just click them into the car is super appealing.

aquasocks · May 2016

We used a convertible Britax from birth for my daughter and I love it. But I think I'm getting an infant seat this time because with 2 kids I might want to carry the infant seat inside. We will see. I wore DD a lot and I'm thinking I'll wear this one even more. We will probably go with the B-Safe because I'm a loyal Britax customer and I have the B-Ready stroller, so I can snap it in when we roll up to the playground.

hellopartyof5 · May 2016

With twins I'd definitely do the bucket seats @comealongponds In fact it's winter, unless you're in a warm area I feel like it would be so hard to not have buckets! I guess if you have a garage it's easier (we don't), but I was so glad I could keep DS in his seat. Especially when we had to go to a Drs appt in a snow storm a week after he was born.

comealongponds · May 2016

nauticallife said:

With twins I'd definitely do the bucket seats @comealongponds In fact it's winter, unless you're in a warm area I feel like it would be so hard to not have buckets! I guess if you have a garage it's easier (we don't), but I was so glad I could keep DS in his seat. Especially when we had to go to a Drs appt in a snow storm a week after he was born.

I'm definitely leaning that way now...I was hoping I could avoid them but the logistics of twins makes them seem very appealing

BLyn627 · May 2016

I have no idea what we're doing yet, but I wanted to share this resource https://csftl.org/recommended-seats/ Good info on pros and cons of recommended seats. Although like @sarac986 said all seats pass the same safety test, but some seats do fit smaller infants better, are easier to install, have more leg room, etc...
It's also a really good website to learn about car seat safety. I learned so much that I had NO idea about.

shevaCC · May 2016

@comealongponds I'm not even sure I can picture how you'd take twins out alone without bucket seats. Put one in a carrier and the other...in arms? But then you can't carry a stroller or anything bulky to the car. Load them into the freezing car and then go back inside for all the other gear? Yikes! Anything to make your life easier in the early days, and most babies can use the infant seats for about a year.

Meether · May 2016

We use a Clek Foonf and Clek Oobr. I like that the frame is made of solid iron, and that they are narrow. They are what the BabyGearGuy and CarseatLady use for the kids in their families, so I felt that they are safe. For baby, we use the Orbit Baby infant seat, because I love the seat, and the rotation feature is super convenient.

TwandaFTG · May 2016

I had the Britax infant for my DS which he was in until he was 13 or 14 months. We will use it again for new baby. I think all systems have their plus and minuses. I was really happy with our choice and loved that I could open and fold the stroller with one hand.

Now my son is in the Evenflo Symphony Elite Convertible Car Seat. It was so easy to install. My DH has a RECARO Performance Racer Convertible Car Seat in his truck. He likes it because the same company makes race car seats.

Both of our moms have the Evenflo Tribute LX Convertible Car Seat. They are cheap and super light (great for air travel so I can borrow them).

I read tons of reviews and really got a ton of helpful info from Lucie's List.

beachylex · May 2016

FTM but we're going with the Britax B-Safe 35 elite infant car seat

fiscally3 · May 2016

We currently have a gracious snugride 22 for our bucket seat, we used to have a 35. I have to say I appreciate the lightness of the 22 even if doesn't last as long weight wise(my kids tend to be big and move to a convertible at 6 months). The option of keeping the baby in the car seat during the winter months to me is just easier than trying to wear them in 13 degree weather.

Our current convertible is a Diono Radian RXT, and I hate it. I think it's awkward to install, hard to tighten the straps, and a pain to clean compared to our other seats(past and present). My second had an Alpha Omega Elite that I loved, but we had to replace it when fitting three car seats across. I'd love to find another narrow rear facing car seat, but anything reasonable price is either too wide or only forward facing.

Justpeachier13 · May 2016

We're doing the Britax 35 travel system...I think....someone mentioned you can't remove the pads to wash though? That's concerning!

hellopartyof5 · May 2016

@Justpeachier13 you can spot clean/hand wash

, but can't put it in the washing machine. It just depends on how messy your kid will be to see if that will be a problem.

atcwag · May 2016

fiscally3 said:

We currently have a gracious snugride 22 for our bucket seat, we used to have a 35. I have to say I appreciate the lightness of the 22 even if doesn't last as long weight wise(my kids tend to be big and move to a convertible at 6 months). The option of keeping the baby in the car seat during the winter months to me is just easier than trying to wear them in 13 degree weather.

Our current convertible is a Diono Radian RXT, and I hate it. I think it's awkward to install, hard to tighten the straps, and a pain to clean compared to our other seats(past and present). My second had an Alpha Omega Elite that I loved, but we had to replace it when fitting three car seats across. I'd love to find another narrow rear facing car seat, but anything reasonable price is either too wide or only forward facing.

The AOE had been discontinued thank goodness. It was an awful seat.
Have you thought about the Cosco Scenera Next? It's narrow and recommended. It's outgrown FFing before RFing, which is a downfall when little needs to flip forward, but may work for a while.

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