Advice on an Inexpensive Safe Convertible or 3 in 1 Car Seat

We love, love, love our Evenflo Symphony. It's $200 but worth it! I love the SureLatch system it uses. It also goes up to 100lbs, but keep in mind that carseats do expire...so it may be past it's prime before your child reaches the max weight. We also have a Maxi-Cosi that my husband loves. I've never used it, but he and my son both love it. We have actually decided to return the Maxi-Cosi because we really don't need another rear facing seat and our son is really tall so I'm afraid he'll outgrow it quickly (it goes up to 43" for height). My husband bought the floor model because they weren't going to carry it anymore so it was only $150...you're welcome to buy it if you want ;) Good luck on your quest!! Keep in mind that ALL carseats that are on the market have passed safety inspections...but some have passed more than others.

We love our Cosco Alpha Omega Elites. The go all the way up to 100 pounds/booster seat. My 5 year old has been in one since 7 months and my 2 year old also. At babies R Us reg price is 160, they have coupons from time to time for $20 off. Good luck!

When I was pregnant with my first child, I didn't want to spend tons of money buying car seats every 6 months to accomidate his growing. I ended up purchasing an Eddie Bauer Delux 3 in 1 car seat that was built to be a rear facing seat, front facing as well as a toddler booster seat. The minimum and maximum weight on the seat was 0-100. My son is about to turn 3 years old, he road home from the hospital in it and still uses it to this day. It was one of the best investments I made it "baby gear" I purchased it at Babies R Us.

www.travelingtikes.com I bought my Britax there. the price was way less then any other place. I bought the marathon and paid 189.00. looks like they've gone up to 199.00, others on there are almost the full price. Best carseat ever. will last a long time.

There really isn't one that you will be able to use the rest of his carseat life. Don't buy an alpha omega because they only harness to 40lbs and from what I have heard they are a horrible belt positioner booster seat. You can get a convertible carseat and rearface to 35lbs and there are some that harness to 65lbs like the britx marathon, the frontier and the first years true fit or if that's too much for you. You can even buy a cosco scenera they rearface from 5-35lbs and foward face from 22-40lbs, they run around 40$. Then get a graco naulitus, they are a foward facing 3 in 1, it harnesses to 65lbs, then turns into a belt positioner and then a backless booster and they run around 150-180$.

I recommend anything by Britax. By far the best and safest manufacturer out there. Check out consumer reports and national transportation safey board for specs etc.

I am on my second Britax a booster and absolutely love it. My first Britax was the marathon and it was great. They are a little pricey but well worth it.

L.

We have two versions of the Graco Sport and we like them a lot. They are easy to handle and care for. Since we needed two, we wanted something good, but that would not leave us broke either. We got these seats at Target for about $70 each and will likely get the same again for when the baby outgrows her infant seat, because the 3 year old has not outgrown hers yet.

Here are two links that may be also helpful:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/babies-kids/baby-toddl...

http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/nhtsa_eou/info.jsp?type=conve...

Hope this helps!
D.

Britax Boulevard!!!!!

Don't forget to check out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, they have a section on "child passenger safety" that talks about carseats and rates them.
www.nhtsa.gov

I have the Cosco brand one (from Target), and it is basically the most inexpensive I could find--and it gets pretty good reviews for safety. I got mine while my daughter was still rear facing too. It goes up to 100 lbs.

I bought two Cosco Seneca seats at Sears for $49 each. I also saw one at Target for $19....don't remember the name. The Seneca is a no frills seat - my son is 18 pounds and he just looks uncomfortable when he sleeps but he looked that way in his infant seat too. This is a convertible seat - the Seneca. I have the brown one that looks a little nicer, I think, than the black. Good luck.

I love our Britax Marathon car seat. It's big, but it's really comfortable and he can use it safely up to 40 pounds. This seat is actually safe in the rear facing position up to 25-30 lbs. My son is on the smaller side so this should easily last for his enitre car seat life. The Britax Boulevard is safe for up to 60 lbs so if your child is on the bigger side, that may be a good way to go if you think he'll be over 40 lbs. before he's years old.

My son turned a yr in feb. We got him the graco nautiles. It was recommend by a friend who was a ceritified carseat inspecter. :) It sshould be the last carseat I ever have to buy him. :)

We bought the Britx Boulavard for my son when he was 4 months and we love it. He is 26 months now and we still love it. I was 300 dollars but we do really like it. Good luck it takes a long time to find one you like. Also make sure to take your kid with you to the store and try him in the ones you like. I know there were some that my son didn't fit in really well. Good luck!

Hi A.!

The same thing happened to our twin boys at the 8 month point! The best one we found was the Eddie Bauer lifetime car seat - it can rear face, front face and be booster only when that time comes. I also checked the safety rating of quite a few and this one came in first, even over some more expensive ones. There were a couple of people who had either been in fender-benders and even one roll-over accident that claimed nothing happened to their child. I was so impressed by the feedback that these were the ones we purchased. I have to tell you that I love them and the boys do too! They are cushy and comfy and very easy to clean! Hope this helps!

My son outgrew his infant seat at 2 months. We bought an Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3 in 1 car seat for him. He used it rear facing until a year and is now foward facing at 17 months. It fits him well and has good padding. He has traveled on many 12+ trips and has been fine. We bought it at BabiesRUs and paid around $170. We love it.

We have 2 Cosco Alpha Omegas and have been very happy with them. My oldest used it from when she weighed more than the infant car seat weight limit at 3 months old to when she turned 4 and got too tall (I have big babies and tall children!) Currently my #2 and #3 children ride in the Alpha Omega. They have enough room to keep them comfortable but they are still snug and secure! I got mine at Target for about $100 each... that was about 6 years ago but I think they are still reasonably priced.