Product Spotlight: Car Seats

juliebeannn · September 2020

Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product. Feel free to comment on threads like these throughout your time at the board, not just when they're in their week in the spotlight, if you discover something new OR are new to the board. This week it's.... Car Seats!

FTMs are encouraged to ask questions & STM/+s encouraged to share their knowledge based on experience. You can use any or all the prompts relevant to you below to share info in an easy-to-read format. Pictures/screen grabs, if put in spoilers, are welcome!

For S+TMs:

Vehicle factors that might influence your choice:
Favorite car seat:
Link/picture:
Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
What you like about it:
What you don't like about it, if anything:
Are you considering a specific car seat that goes with a travel system? Why?:
Is there a car seat you've tried that you absolutely hate? Why?:
Additional thoughts?:

For FTMs

Lifestyle factors that might influence your choice:
Car seats you're interested in:
Link/picture:
Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
Any questions for S+TMs?:

To view the upcoming PSS schedule, see here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IrF0iah5XaJFdFTHzNVcIEq4ujZTwq_j1bG9W-bovNs/edit#gid=0

Next up: Breast pumps and accessories

becca07024411 · September 2020

We used the Uppasbaby mesa infant seat and then moved to the Nuna Rava when my son was 9.5 months old. We picked the Mesa because we wanted to go with the Uppqbaby travel system, otherwise we may have gone with the nuna infant seat too. We went with the Rava for convertible because it is one of the smallest front to back because the recline pivots on it self and my husband is very tall, so we wanted to save space. No issues with either one! I hardly ever took the infant seat out of the car because I preferred to either wear him or use the bassinet attachment. It was a lifesaver though when we went to South Beach Miami for a week on vacation and were in an out of Ubers and could quickly pop the seat onto the stroller!

manillabar · September 2020

we used a graco infant seat, as apart of a travel system for about the first year or so. Definitely loved it. Had a base in each of our cars and my in-laws and parents each had a base too, and it was easy to just carry her around in the bucket seat and snap her into whatever car or the stroller as needed. I have to check to see if they have expired- also a big reminder to anyone using hand-me-downs : car seats expire!! Considering my daughter was born in 2017 we're probably nearing the expiration date :-/

We now use the Graco 4 ever extend to fit in our cars, first rear facing and now front facing since our last big road trip (she gets car sick and front-facing helped a lot). A lot of those carseats can also be used starting in infancy, but I liked the convenience of the bucket seat for the first year

juliebeannn · September 2020

We had a UB Mesa infant seat and really liked it. We used it with a UB Cruz which we didn't love. So, this time around, even though we loved the Mesa, we're gonna stay away from UB. I think we've settled on the Chicco Keyfit 30. It's highly rated and a lot of my friends said it was a great car seat.

We used a Graco Extend2Fit with DS and we have no complaints. It's got a high RF limit (50 lbs) so at 3 years old, he's still RF. He hasn't complained or asked to be turned around so he'll stay RF for a little while longer. We actually initially used a Diono Radian RXT but it was just too long front to back for DH to sit comfortable in the passenger seat, so we got the Extend2Fit.

PSA: Target is having their semi-annual car seat drive right now. If you trade-in a car seat, you get a 20% off coupon for a car seat, stroller or select other baby gear. Also, looks like there's a car seat sale happening at the same time!

treebagel · September 2020

My infant seat will be 5 years old by March so I’ll need a new one. Will probably look to do one of the target trade in events. We had the Baby Jogger City Go I think it’s called. Liked that it was easy to safely go into cabs and ubers without a base. Not sure if we’d pick the same one, I have to do some research. Now we use a safety 1st convertible seat, and it’s ok. Like its two cup holders and that it’s not huge. We have a small Chevy volt so there’s not much space. Hoping by baby #2 we have two more new cars with much more space. Again I’ll have to research which seats are best!

duhduhduck · September 2020

I drive a 2 door mini cooper and we've decided to stick with it for at least the first 3 months after baby arrives. So if anyone has recommendations for a carseat that fits in a compact space, please let me know. My sister told me to go with a chicco keyfit. I really just haven't had the energy to research it yet.

jenotontx · September 2020

Vehicle factors that might influence your choice: I have always had a SUV so I haven't experienced any concerns about a car seat fitting.
Favorite car seat: I love the Chicco Keyfit 30 car seat for infants.
Link/picture:
Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
What you like about it: It's SO easy to clip this car seat in and out of the base. You also only need one car seat instead of two because you can buy an extra base for your partner's car (or whoever may need one). I also got an attachment for our stroller so that I could click the car seat right into that as well. I would highly recommend an infant car seat so that you don't have to take baby in and out when you are going places. We used it for quite awhile before transitioning my daughter to her convertible car seat. I would say we got close to a year out of it? So you will definitely get use out of it especially if this is your first baby!
What you don't like about it, if anything: The attachment for my stroller (City Mini GT) has some design flaws but it didn't bother me that much.
Are you considering a specific car seat that goes with a travel system? Why?: I did not buy a travel system because after doing research I like the Chicco Key Fit 30 Car seat and the City Mini GT stroller individually over any travel system.
Is there a car seat you've tried that you absolutely hate? Why?: I don't love the convertible car seat that I bought for my car. We have the Graco 4ever Extend to Fit and the seat itself is a total beast. It's huge and takes up a ton of space. In addition, I just don't love the quality. It's a very expensive car seat and I find some aspects of it to look/feel "cheap" to me. So I probably will not buy another Graco for this next baby.
Additional thoughts?: My husband got a Cosco Scenera Next to go in his car for my daughter once she grew out of her infant seat and it's honestly the best no frills car seat. We picked this seat particularly because we needed something to travel on planes with and it's super light weight. It's also very inexpensive. So if something ever happened to it while traveling we wouldn't blink an eye replacing it.

clevans1 · September 2020

Vehicle factors that might influence your choice: We have an SUV so space wasn't a factor for us
Favorite car seat: We have used the Chicco Keyfit 30 for our first two and it will get us through baby number 3 before it expires, which we are excited about!
Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.): We paid around $180 for ours in late 2016
What you like about it: Easy to click into the base, feels sturdy, looks nice, and fairly easy to adjust the height of the straps
What you don't like about it, if anything: Since it is a deeper bucket than some other seats, it is difficult to lift baby into and out of the seat when it is in my husband's truck.
Are you considering a specific car seat that goes with a travel system? Why?: We did not like any travel systems we saw so we purchased the Chicco seat and City Select stroller with the attachment for the Chicco seat, which we have been very happy with
Is there a car seat you've tried that you absolutely hate? Why?: We have only tried the Chicco, although I have family with Graco and Safety First seats that feel cheaply made to me
Additional thoughts?: We have enjoyed the Chicco seat so much that our 1.5 year old is now rear facing in the Chicco Nextfit convertible seat and our nearly 4 year old is now forward facing in the Chicco Myfit convertible seat. We have been happy with all three seats.

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