Convertible Car Seat Suggestions......please!

Hi. We have the Britzx Marathon for our twin girls. I have a Nissan Altima and they work great in there. They are a little bit higher in price than you mentioned, but they are so easy to take apart and wash the covers and they go from infant up to 65 lbs. My daughters have enjoyed sitting in them since we got them. My husband and I love them because they are so easy to get in and out and to keep clean. Good luck with your search.

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I did ALOT of research before I bought mine (also for a big baby boy) and ended up buying the Evenflo Triumph Advance DLX because it was in my budget (around $150), it reclines, and it goes up to 50 libs. It is also quite plush and has supportive features for smaller babies. It has a lot of favorable reviews on BabiesRUs and Amazon.

My son LOVES it and sits in back like he is the king whenever we drive anywhere.

Good luck!

I would suggest the Britax Roundabout (smaller) or Marathon. I also have a 20 lb 6 month old ! I found the best prices by searching the internet. Many have free shipping.

I've had some reservations on sending this video clip. A mother & friend passed along this video clip. All it did was make us re-examine our options & choices. Sending this video clip was not meant to scare you. Like I said, it just made us re-consider other child car seats.

I have heard about Britax car seats for the last 3 years on & off from friends & pediatricians. None of them were pushing the product on me, they were just stating their preference for it. Just so you know, I dismissed the Consumer Reports car seat study before they withdrew their statement. The reasons were: we felt confident that we installed the car seats in the vehicle appropriately, the car seats were adequate, & we consistently belt the girls in the car seats per safety recommendations. Our eldest is still in a car seat & will be in a car seat until she is 80 lbs. We follow CA guidelines with re: car seat safety since they were the only state to get the Federal Highway Safety Commission's stamp of approval. I've been aware of CA's car seat safety recommendations since our eldest was a year old.

Because of this video, we researched car seats just for our own information. What we found, which some of you probably already know, is that there are a lot of factors to consider in car seat safety. In our search, the big things were: quality of vehicle seat (more expensive the seat the safer), quality of child car seat, properly installing child car seat (the child car seat actually fitting correctly in the vehicle you own, anchoring as hard as you can to allow for no movement, upright vs. slight incline position, & getting your child car seat position inspected by professionals), & properly & consistently belting child in seat (shoulder harness height, how snug, etc.). Four out of 5 car seats are installed incorrectly; we were one of them. And how wrong we were; those child car seat safety professionals had all sorts of recommendations for both our sedan AND the mini-van. Again, there are a lot of factors.

FYI: I usually don't install the child car seats by myself because I don't feel I can anchor the car seat into the vehicle seat hard enough. When we got our child car seats inspected, they advised us to push our full weight into the car seat to anchor it into the vehicle seat. I usually push with both feet & have my back against the interior roof of the mini-van or Civic, & my husband pulls on the LATCH or seat belt with all of his might. There's a ratcheting tool to substitute for husband at Baby-R-Us.

So here's the site:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=azgBhZfcqaQ

In our search, I also found this blog site:
http://www.faggotsonthethirdfloor.blogspot.com/2007/01/50...

She also provides a site where you can locate those certified child seat safety professionals in your area. She didn't recommend your local police & fire department unless a certified professional was there (ID number & all).

BTW: I didn't name the site, so don't kill the messenger. But I thought she had some good points. I've viewed the video clip multiple times with a critical eye, just to be more objective than emotional. As a parent, I agree that older children don't prefer to sit correctly in their child car seats for the vehicle seat belt to work appropriately. For that reason, we're purchased the 5-point harness Britax car seat & LATCH system for BOTH the kids. The Britax Regent & Radian 80 offer the 5-point harness with LATCH system until the child is 80 lbs. If some studies have shown the vehicle seat belt to fail in collisions, the LATCH system offers more security. For those of you that don't know the LATCH system, it's 2 belts: one anchors the base of the child car seat into hooks inside the vehicle seat & the other belt is at the top of the child seat & adds an additional anchor (more so to prevent ejection of the child car seat, especially in a rollover, should the lower anchors or vehicle seat belt fail).

BTW: the Britax Regent is the "king" of all car seats & may NOT fit in your sedan seat! Again, one of the MANY factors in child car seat safety. If it doesn't fit appropriately in your vehicle seat, it may not be safe enough in a collision. So keep the receipt so you can get a refund if it doesn't fit/anchor in your car.

Unfortunately, the Britax Regent is ~$300 & the Radian 80 $180. Our kids love their Britax Regent car seats. It's comfortable for naps & the solid plastic (it's 30+ pounds) surrounds the kids. It's the only car seat that has significant side coverage. It's also the top rated car seat for safety, for years. So that's why we went with it in our mini-van. The Britax Regent did not fit in our Civic, so we returned 2 of the 4 seats we purchased. We went with more regular car seats for the Civic, but the kids are not in that car often at all.

Hope this helps. :)

Whatever brand you buy, bring the baby with you and try them out. But I must warn you not to get the kind with the buckle that clips inbetween thier fat little legs. I pinched my daughter leg with because you end up having to push it down so hard that sometimes they move and I had to unbuckle it before I could get the meat of her leg out of the clip. She was forever traumatized over the car seat.
Luckily, she was just at the right age to go over to one of those toddler booster sees without the back and sides. (they are probably illegal now!)

my answer is simple: Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat -Platinum
the best seat ever, it is a little pricy but it worth it. I bought it for my daughter 6 years ago and now we use it for our 18 months old son. We moved him to this car seat at the age of 2 months old. My son was not born big, but he is very tall and he weights 30 pounds now. I should mention that my husband and I both are tall.
Britax is very comfortable and it is wide, it has a high back so a child can sleep comfortably.
I saw the difference right away. Our son was crashed in his old car seat and he was much happier with the new car seat.
We had this car seat in our Honda civic when our daughter was still an infant. This car seat takes space but on the long run your child would be happy in it.
-Do any of you have similar cars, what are your experiences/favorite seats? :: Yes, we have Honda civic
-Which seat is the best for a younger baby as far as comfort with head support and recline features?:: Britex
-Do you recommend one with cup holders and trays? ::No, I do not
-Which seats in your experience have the most "breathable" or comfortable (and washable?) fabric? Our little one gets hot and sweaty very easily in his Snugride.:: Britex. It is a little difficult to take a fabric off and but the fabric itself is very "breathable"

As far as getting in and out of 2 cars we have done the following: we bought the expensive car seat for the car that we use the most and less expensive for another car.

Hi!
I would definitely and strongly recommend the Evenflo Triumph Advance! I LOVE this carseat!
The weight limit of 50 lbs really helps when you have a bigger baby.
The straps are riduculously easy to adjust, you just move them from the front!
There IS a cup holder in this seat! I, of course, lost mine before I put it on, but if I still had it, my son would LOVE it. He's 21 months old and very thirsty!!!
This seat has the same extremely safe safety rating as the Britax, but costs considerably less. The cover just snaps off to wash, and I wash my often. You don't even have to uninstall the seat to take off the cover! I leave the seat alone so I don't mess up the installation, just pop off the cover and throw it in the washer and dryer!
Good luck!

We have a small car(volvo wagon) so we really needed a car seat with side impact protection(wings) since both of our boys(ages 3 and 1) are by the doors.We had Snugride, Safeseat, Roundabout and finally found 2 3 year old Britax Wizards(Boulovard) on Craigslist for less than $150 for both (we used common sence when buying second hand ). They are great,we used one rear facing(since our youngest was 7-8 months) for a while and had no problems.
Fabric is very durable, kids heads positioned comfy while sleeping.Last week we had to travel with my SIL and her kids in one van.Her daughter has a Britax Roundabout and her head was to the side while sleeping....looked very uncomfortable. Her big 5 year old son rode in our car seat and had a lot of room, he loved it.
I think every car seat has to pass a safety test to be on the market, so I do not know if one car seat is more safe than another based on the price.(we saw a tractor railer ran a red light the other day at 60 m/hour.....so at the end it all comes to God's Grace:))I just love Britax,Recaro and Radian.
I would definatly go and try seats out since some babies hate some seats.

Hey!

I too am on the market for a convertible car seat. I knew from before my son was born he would not be in his carrier very long. We bought our SnugRide carrier in 2005, then the limits were 20 lbs and 26 inches. Our two month old son is 15 lbs and 24 3/4 inches long.

After looking around I have decided to get the Evenflo Triumph. This seat has a harness that goes to 50 lbs...most only go to 40..Our 3 yr old daughter is over 40 lbs. Lord knows how big our son will be! He is much bigger than his sister was! I liked the Britax...but I cannot afford the 250+ price tag for 2 car seats. the Evenflo is from about 140-180 at Babies R Us.

Good Luck!

I have a 2001 Camry and the seat that I have is the Safety 1st Intera Convertible Seat. We have a 3yr and 12 mo old who also have separate seats in my husband's truck so this seat was good for the price and features. You can use rear facing,foward facing, backless booster and a booster. So instead of keep buying car seats you get just one and use until I think about 100 pounds. The site that I got it from is www.albeebaby.com and prices are great I got my double stroller from them also. I think all the features you want is in this seat. Hope this was helpful.

We also had the snugride for our son and I then purchased the graco comfortsport (black one). Its about $80 and I think very comfortable, soft material easy to clean, and very easy to move from one car to another. We have a grand am and focus hatchback so it should be easy for you as well. My son also sweats easily and the only time he does in the carseat is when he falls asleep and the side of his face that is resting on does. It also comes with the lil head support thing to attach to the belts.

For that price range and for his height and weight I would recommend the Evenflo Triumph Advanced (make sure it is the "advanced" one with the 50 lb. limit). I think it's like $130 at Babies R' Us or Walmart. It's a wide seat, but it should fit in your Altima and Civic. I had an even bigger seat in a Ford Escort. Basically, if you can fit an infant seat in these cars, you can fit a convertible seat b/c the convertible seat does not have to be as reclined as your infant seat so it takes up less room that way. My Britax Marathon, which is a large seat, took up a whole lot less room than our Snugride.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any convertible seats that have cupholders. Those only really come on forward facing only seats. They might come on the Eddie Bauer seats but at your son's size b/c he will probably outgrow the seat height-wise pretty quickly so that's not really a good recommendation.

Btw, your infant seat is not really outgrown by height until he has less than an inch between the top of his head and the top of the seat, but at his height that could very well be likely. It really depends on if he has a long torso vs. long legs. Plus, he only has 3 more pounds before he maxes out the weight so it is a good idea, in any case, to look now for a new seat.

I just got an evenflo one from Walmart. My son Loves his big boy car seat now. I fot it for 60 dollars and it has great rateings too!

I had a similar situation, with our little one outgrowing her infant seat at 4 months. We also had 2 cars, but no budget for 2 seats. The carseat board at babycenter.com recommends the Cosco Scenera as a low cost, safe convertible. They recommend it for a second car seat, b/c it is not as heavily padded etc, but we've used it exclusively, and moving it between cars almost every day, with no trouble. Available at Target, Walmart, etc. for ~$50.

I would say go with the Britax Marathon (or any Britax seat, really). They are the best seats around and the most comfortable. If you look at past posts asking your same question, you'll find tons of responses and most of them say the same thing about Britax seats. My son was also a big baby and was in the Britax Roundabout before he was 5 months old. I'm still using the same seat for my 20 month old daughter and it's in great shape!
As with any car seat, taking them in and out of a vehicle all the time is probably not a good idea!! I've always had my seats installed by the fire dept. and it usually took 2 pretty big guys to get it in really tight. If you go with the Britax Marathon (which can be used up to 65 pounds), you won't have to buy a new seat until your son is old/big enough for a booster seat so you might just want to invest in 2 seats, or just switch cars??
Also the Britax seats (except for the Regent, which is HUGE!) will all fit in smaller cars and come in many different fabrics. We have the blue denim, which has been washed many times and is very soft. I would stay away from the fleecy fabrics as they might be really hot in the summer.

I would recommend the evenflo triumph. I got one for my daughter and she seems to enjoy it. The cover is super easy to take on and off to wash and it remains just as soft as it did before washing. It's also room and the straps are easy to adjust. The seat reclines as well. I got mine at Target for about $140. I also read that this seat has the same safety rating as the Britax which is more expensive.

We moved my daughter into a rear-facing convertible carseat at 7 months, even though she was smaller than your son. We bought the Evenflo Triumph. It gets just as good ratings as the more expensive brands but at almost half the price. We paid between $125-150 at BRU.

She mainly rides in my Honda CR-V & it fits fine in there, even with two other adults. We have had my parents riding in back a couple of times. On occasion, we have moved the seat into my husband's Dodge Ram & it goes well there, too.

We have been happy with it & she always seems to be quite comfortable sitting in at. She is now 21 months & obviously forward facing.

wel i cant say which are small enough to fit in your car but i believe that babiesrus will let you try them in your car to see if they fit. i do think you should get something with a higher weight limit though as it seems like your baby will be bigger than the usual car seat requarements. most only go to 40lb you might want to consider one with 65lb limit at least using the 5 point harness. its best to keep your child ina 5 point harness til they are 5 years old regardles of hight or weight. the evenflo titan and most britax brands do this while being a rear facing car seat also. another option is to get a cheap rear facing toddler seat thn when he reaches 40 pounds get a booster that has 5 point harnessing til he would be 5 if he isnt already. if he was alredady one i would have recomendd the nautalis 3 in 1 it's new.

We have the cosco alpha omega elite. It has great reviews and is $129 at Walmart. There are a lot of reviews on walmart.com, check it out. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3932620 But we got ours for like $80 at BJ's wholesale club, if you have one near you. it has a cupholder, but I would only use it once he grows a bit, it comes on and off and can fall off easily. It is very sturdy and grows with them up to 100 lbs- it's the last car seat you will ever buy. Since your little one is on the big side, like mine, you'll likely need that. You don't have to take out and rethread the straps when you move them, you just move the headreast, it's super easy. It can be difficult to install in the rear facing position the first time you do it if you've never installed a convertable before, but I think that's true of all of them. It's really a great seat for a decent price.

I love my Britax Marathon! My son is also a huge 6 month old- 20 lbs and the same length as yours! :) He's actually been in the Britax for the past month and a half, because he was just too heavy to carry around in our Chicco infant carrier. Convertible car seats are so much more comfortable for babies, and they love the freedom of movement! (More comfortable for grown ups too, because they're much easier to get babies in and out of.) Also, you probably won't need to worry about head support. It hasn't been an issue at all for us.

Oh, and we have a Toyota Corolla. The seat fits great!

Congratulations on your big boy! Mine were 9 lbs 3 oz and 11 lbs 1/2 oz. They're leveling out now at 4 and 1 1/2. Without reservation, I recommend the Cosco Alpha Omega. It was a gift, and we are greatful for it... wish we had another, frankly! It reclines really well, and will transition to booster later... take out the 5 point harness and use the seatbelt in the car. Easy to clean, easy to install...

We have the Evenflo Triumph in both of our cars (one is an Altima & the other is a small Saturn) because that's the one that Consumer Reports recommended as the best for crash safety. It didn't score the highest for 'ease of use' but I'd rather a carseat be safe in a crash. It was a bit of a pain when rear-facing to tighten & loosen the straps but it wasn't really a big deal & now that our son is forward facing, we have absolutely no problems at all. It's easy to move from one car to another & does have a cup holder (although we don't use it). We had to start using the convertible carseats at 6 months as well because our son was very tall & didn't fit in his carrier any longer. I did keep him rear-facing until he reached the 30 pound limit of the Triumph, which wasn't a problem for him. Happy shopping!

I have an Evenflo Triumph and love it. It is rated highly for safety and has a cool papasan design. I recently took a road trip to Maine for VA and he was very comfortable. It reclines and he had a lot of space to stretch out in it so he slept really well. It is a little wide though (because of the papasan design)so it would be smart to try it in your car first. I think it was around $110. Good luck and take care.