January 2021 Moms
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Product Spotlight: Car Seats
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This is a place for FTMs to ask questions about, S+TMs to share their prior experience with, and everyone to share what they're eyeing in the world of maternity, baby and postpartum products. Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product to help streamline and make it easier to refer back. In this thread we're discussing car seats!
Please use the prompts below to try to share as much relevant info as you can in a format that is easy for those reading to navigate and respond to.
For S+TMs:
- Individual (e.g., lifestyle) factors that might influence your choice:
- Favorite car seat:
- Link/picture:
- Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
- What you like and don't like about it:
- Is there a car seat you don't have but are considering? Why?:
- Is there a car seat you've tried that you absolutely hate? Why?:
- Additional thoughts on car seats?:
For FTMs:
- Car seat you're interested in:
- Link/picture:
- Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
- Any questions for S+TMs?:
To view past Product Spotlights or the upcoming schedule, see
here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P3okZOAvhVpv0_H6D-T4bKxzmuB2ik7mDbbkQARJeNY/edit#gid=0
Re: Product Spotlight: Car Seats
B-Safe 35 (I think)
Works great, love the latch connectors as they made it really easy to install and the seat was easy to adjust. I think this seat is a little heavier and a little narrower on the interior than other brands. If giant babies run in your family, this might not be the seat for you. I did find this hard to carry after delivery because my core muscles were basically nonexistent, but I feel that would be the case with any of the infant seats. I'm 5'11" and this fit comfortably behind the driver seat of my Subaru Crosstrek.
Marathon ClickTight
First, I will say the click tight system makes it really easy to install this seat!!! This is a beast of a seat however. It's fairly heavy which isn't a huge deal because you won't be moving it around. This did not fit well rear facing behind the driver (I'm 5'11") of my Subaru Crosstrek but was manageable behind the passenger (I think, but now I can't remember). We now have two of these seats and they are awesome if you have a bigger vehicle and space isn't a great concern (Buick Enclave). Since I couldn't carry the infant seat, I just used this for DD2 and it worked fine for an infant (8 lb, 20"). DD1 seemed to outgrow this faster than I anticipated due to height (she's tall) but we still got 2 years out of it.
Graco
SlimFit/Milestone
These are essentially the same seat so I'll join the reviews but if you want to know differences please let me know! I would say average installation difficulty and I usually don't have any trouble, DH sometimes does 🤷🏻♀️. Much lighter than the Britax! I think the straps adjust easier and fit taller kids very well. I don't think I used this with infant DD2 so I'm not sure how the fit would be. This fits behind the passenger of the Subaru Crosstrek comfortably. I can check the driver side if anyone is curious.
Chicco
MyFit
This is only for forward facing bit I'll include for future reference. I like their belt lock off system and think it makes installation easier. I think this is average weight and I don't have a lot of trouble moving it around. It adjusts easily and DD is a fan. I've only used it in harness mode and in our big car so I can't speak to how it would fit in a smaller vehicle but typically forward facing seats aren't as big of a fit concern
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If anyone wants me to experiment with these seats trying to get 3 across the back of my Subaru Crosstrek, or third row of the Buick Enclave let me know!!! I can also post pictures/measurements.
All of these seats have easy to wash covers. I just toss them in the washing machine and air dry and they have held up great!
I transitioned her to a convertible carseat when she was about 14 months (she's always been on the small side) and we have two Graco Extend2Fit convertible carseats. No complaints about these so far either. (@happyfeet34 i had to watch a YouTube video to figure out how to tighten properly but now it isn't an issue for us at least)
As stated above, any carseat is safe if it is installed properly and straps are in the right positions. We had our install checked at a fire station and I would suggest watching some YouTube videos about where the straps should be and how tight they need to be.
Also totally personal preference but an infant carseat is a worthy investment. Yes, you can just always use a convertible carseat (as long as your baby isn't super tiny) but being able to leave them in their carseat and not having to wake a sleepy baby when you're running an errand or at a doctor's appointment is priceless. Also the carseat covers are great in the winter to keep people out of your baby's face.
EDD for #2 1/28/2021
Biggest recommendation in general is find ones that are relatively easy to clean. #1 was horribly carsick until like 4 years old and we ended up replacing our nice seat with a cheaper easier to clean one because so.much.barf.