J.G. asks from Oswego, IL on September 17, 2007
Car Seat Dilemma!
We've tried to wait as long as we could.....our 6 month has outgrown her carrier and we must buy her a bigger car seat (only, we have to buy 2, because my husband and I both work full time and take turns picking up the kids at our sitter's house!)
We have a 2 year old and own 2 Britax seats. So, here we are trying to think safety and considering what we paid for the 2 Britax seats last time!?!?! With purchasing 2 seats at once, it can put a pretty big dent in an already drained bank account. Does anyone have suggestions of good car seats (that are a little more affordable than the Britax brand)?
My kids are both in the 90th+ percentiles. My 2 year old is about 36lbs and my 6 month old is 19.5 lbs. It made sense to purchase the Britax (wt. limit 60lbs) for the older one because we wanted to make sure we had a seat that reached a higher weight limit. This time around, in order to save money I thought we could do a seat with a limit for 40lbs, because in a few years the older one will be in a booster.
I'd love to hear suggestions of what other people are doing. I've considered the Evenflo Triumph 5, but my concerns are that tightening the straps may be hard in a van--I'm short to begin with, and I think this could present a challenge in terms of my reaching the straps to tighten.
I'm open to suggestions!
Featured Answers
M.O. answers from Chicago on September 18, 2007
Don't get the Evenflo!! my mom has it in her car and it's a bear to adjust the straps and it's hard to put in backwards. I have a graco seat for my husband's car and the britax roundabout in my car(love it!) You could get a pricier seat for the car she rides in most and a cheaper one for the other car.
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J.P. answers from Chicago on September 17, 2007
The TriCities Mothers of Twins and Tripletts Club is having their resale on this Saturday September 22nd from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. You would have to get there early, but they usually have a pretty good selection of used carseats.
The resale is held at the mooseheart fieldhouse.
C.U. answers from Chicago on September 18, 2007
The Evenflo Triumph is what we have and to tighten the straps you just need to reach on either side there is a knob. It is so simple. Also to mention that this seat got super high consumer report ratings better than Britax. My daughter will be 3 in Feb and she is still in this seat since she weights
34 lbs. and it accomidates to 40lbs. Unlike us, it takes them some time to put on 5 lbs. ( =
C.
M.P. answers from Chicago on September 19, 2007
H.S. answers from Chicago on September 18, 2007
We looked into the Triumph and found that we didn't like it. The person at Babies R Us suggested the Graco Comfort Sport ($100) or the Britax Marathon. If you get the Comfort Sport, there is a recall for how the strap goes through for rear facing so ask about that before you buy it. I believe that everything made after July was corrected. We went with the marathon since our daughter looked so big in the CS that we thought she'd out grow it too fast. We were a little off, but now she has a car seat for a LONG time. Happy shopping!
C.D. answers from Chicago on September 18, 2007
I was just in your boat, and I ended up buying the Recaro Signo car seat and a Britax Boulevard. The Signo isn't out yet, but the Recaro Como car seat is out. I was going to get a 40lb. seat because it was cheaper, but I just didn't like any of them, and I felt guilty that I had a Britax for my other son(he's in the Regent). If I was you, I would go with the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe Convertible Car Seat. It is made by Britax and it is basically the same shell as the Britax Marathon. You can find it on-line. You could try the Evenflo Triumph Advance, as it has longer straps and goes to 50 lbs. now. If you don't want to harness your older daughter past 40 lbs. then there are some Graco seats that harness to 40 lbs. and then you can use them as a booster seat (take out the harness) until 80-100 lbs. Recaro also makes one like this, the Young Sport (a little pricier, but you don't need to buy another seat in a couple of years for your older one then). Good luck! I know this is a very difficult and time consuming decision.
M.O. answers from Chicago on September 18, 2007
Don't get the Evenflo!! my mom has it in her car and it's a bear to adjust the straps and it's hard to put in backwards. I have a graco seat for my husband's car and the britax roundabout in my car(love it!) You could get a pricier seat for the car she rides in most and a cheaper one for the other car.
J. answers from Chicago on September 18, 2007
NAME MANUFACTURER HARNESS HEIGHT SEATBELT PRICE
Radian80 Convertible Car Seat - Manhattan
Sunshine Kids
5 TO 80
N/A
279
Sunshine Kids Radian Car Seat - Granite
Sunshine Kids
5 TO 65
N/A
200
Britax Boulevard Convertible Car Seat
Britax
5 TO 65
N//A
300
Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat
Britax
5 TO 65 49"
N/A
270
Evenflo Triumph Advance DLX - Convertible Car Seat
EVENFLO
5 TO 50
N/A
130
Safety 1st Apex 65 Booster Car Seat
Safety 1st
5 TO 65 57"
40 TO 100 seat be;t
130
Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe Convertible Car Seat
BRITAX MAKES IT
5 TO 55
160
I would look at the weight of the 5 pt harness, I bought the evenflo generations thinking in my head that at 40 lb she would be ready for the seatbelt, she's not so now i am buying another 5 pt harness that goes higher than 40 lb, we have the marathon for my car this is for my husbands
A. answers from Chicago on September 18, 2007
We have the Evenflo Triumph, and we had no problems with adjusting the harness when it was rear or forward facing in both the van and the car. It has a totally different mechanism for tightening than the Britax seats. The Triumph rated identical to britax for safety in consumer reports. It is considerably cheaper as well. We are very happy with ours.
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