Car Seat for Toddler

After much research, we chose the Evenflo Triumph which Consumer Reports (4 years ago when we were looking) rated as safe as the Britax, but costs half as much. (Still more expensive than most of the rest of the seats though). My sister did a lot of research more recently and also ended up with the Evenflo Triumph. I had some serious "ease of use" issues, but I think they've cleared those up in recent years, because my sister doesn't have the same complaints, and her seat is 3 years newer. (Mainly with cleaning--too difficult to get cover off).

It is convertible if you'd like it to be rear facing a little longer.

You will not find a toddler seat with two bases. You will need two seats. For our second car, we didn't want such a big seat. The same issues others have had trying to drag the Britaxes though the airport, etc., I've had with the Triumph (it's as big as the Britax Marathon), so we have a Graco for my husband's car. And, to save money later, we have the Graco with the 5-point harness that converts into a booster later. The disadvantage is that you can't put it rear-facing if you need that, but it's worked well for us. That way we only needed to buy one more seat (just for my car) last year when my daughter outgrew the Triumph.

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If you find one let me know! We bought two car seats just so we don't have to move one. Also if one parent has to pick up and the other has the car seat what do you do? Buy a nicer one for the main car and trips and then a cheaper one for the parent that doesn't drive a lot.

We ended up buying even flo triumph. Love it. It is about $300 and we bought 2 due to our schedule.

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We just quit using our infant seat a couple of weeks ago. The new seat can be rear or forward facing and later a booster seat. (I think it's 5 to 100 pounds.) This past weekend I had to move it from my car to my mom's and found it quite easy to move. I wasn't using the latch system, but rather the seat belt. It took me no time at all to get it moved and safely in place. It is a Safety First Alpha Omega Elite. I found it fairly affordable at $99 (this is the only place I could find it that low.) http://www.babyage.com/safety_1st/53656/alpha_omega_elite...

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I could not find one that had a base.

My suggestion is get two car seats. They do not have to be expensive. I think it would be difficult having to switch car seats b/c they are so heavy and you have to spend some time getting them adjusted and just right.

My daughter is 16 months old so I just went thru the whole selection thing. I did some intensive research on carseats.

I was torn between the Britax Boulevard ($350) and Evenflo Triumph LX ($140). I ended up getting both. Since my car is the car we travel in, I got the Britax. My husband takes her to and from school and other places around Houston so we got him the Evenflo. Both seats were rated very well in safety on my sites.

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To answer your specific question, no, there aren't any forward facing seats with bases where you can just remove the seat like the infant seat. So, you'll have to either purchase more than one seat or switch it back and forth. With the LATCH system (if your car was made after 2001), it's pretty simple to get them in and out, just be careful not to get complacent and be sure you are tightening it enough every time you change it over. We just switched my son to a Britax seat (he turned one on Friday) and my daughter has an Eddie Bauer seat. Both are convertible so they can be rear facing up to a certain weight. The Britax has some nice features, but they are a lot more expensive and are HUGE! We got it for about half price on sale online or we probably would have looked for something a little cheaper. My kids very rarely ride in any other car but mine, so we just have the one seat for each of them and switch it if necessary.

Good luck to you!

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well first off she still needs to be rear facing. its 5 times safer and the AAP recommends RF as long as possible. what you need to do is get a convertible carseat that RF and FF and keep her RF in that until she reaches the weight limit or her head reaches 1 inch away from the top. at minimum she needs to stay RF till shes 2 years. my 18 mo old is still RF and my 3yo stayed RF till he was 2 1/2.
infant seats are the only ones that have bases. if you frequently use other cars then consider buying more than one seat.

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L.,

Most of the car seats are latch equipped which makes it very easy to move from one car to another, not as easy as having a base that you can put in each car but easier than having to use the seat belts in the car and wondering if they are snug enough to keep the car seat secure. Check the owners manual on all 3 cars. It was regulated that all cars made after I think 2002 have to have the latch system but check your car to be sure. There are several brands of car seats that are considered convertibles which means they go from RF to FF. We have the Britax brand and really like them. Britax is not cheap so you would probably only buy one and switch back and forth. However like one of the other moms said you could buy a more expensive car seat and then a lesser expensive one for the other cars. Also look for a car seat that has a high weight limit and 5 point restraints. My son is 5 and still rides in a 5 point harness because the weight limit is high on the Britax that we have. Also check the width of the car seat, some of them can be very wide like Britax so if you have a small car you should keep that into consideration. Babies R Us will let you demo car seats in your vehicle or at least they did a few years ago. That way you can see how it fits. They only let you put the car seat in the car, not drive around with it or check it out overnight.
I hope that helps.
H.

The Britax Reagent is forward facing, has a 5 point harness, and goes up to 80 lbs. Safest car seat out there and lasts a long time. You will need to secure it.

Purchasing two convertible car seats is your best bet. I used a Britax in my vehicle since it was the one my daughter rode in most frequently. Then we purchased a less expensive Graco for other uses. If my daughter rode with my husband he used the other car seat. Also, if my daughter went anywhere with anyone else we had a spare. This also worked great for traveling. Even though the Britax is my favorite, it is extremely heavy and difficult to carry through airports. Car seats are a good investment that you will use for years. When my second daughter was finished with her infant seat, my older daughter was still in her Britax, so we ended up buying another Britax and Graco combination. When my oldest daughter moved to a highback booster seat, we passed the Britax on to my sister-in-law. We were all comfortable with this because we knew the history of the carseat and that it had not been involved in any automobile accidents. I don't think buying a used carseat is a good idea because you have no idea of the history of the seat. If the seat is involved in any type of automobile accident, even at low speeds, it is no longer safe. It may look perfectly fine, but the integrity of the carseat has been compromised.

L.-

She is not ready to turn forward. The guidelines for "1 year and 20 lbs" are completly outdated. If you were to get into a wreck with her at this size, her neck would be likley to break.

I did a whole write up about carseat safety on my blog here... http://onemonkeytwomonkey.blogspot.com/2009/05/car-seat-s... lots of vidoes and info. I hope you will read it and see all the research there is about RF and extended harnessing!

There are several good rearfacing/forward facing convertable carseats out there that go up to 35 lbs (RF) and 40+ lbs FF (depends on the seat).

Read all the information that you can before choosing a seat. And keep that sweet baby RF so she can be safe!!

Good luck!

We looked for a front facing car seat that would sit on a base for the same reason. We never found one. Eventually, we ended up with 2 car seats, one in each of our cars. Fortunately, you can buy a pretty good one for only $80-90. Graco has several models to choose from in this price range.

I have never seen one or heard of a front facing car seat with a base... We bought our son a cosco carseat for around $50 at walmart and have one for each car. They all have to meet safety standards and you can read reviews online. Or you can buy an expensive one for your car and a least expensive one for dad's car if she doesn't use it that often.

We bought 2 carseats, one for each car. That made it simpler and it was worth the money.