Convertible Carseat - Keokuk,IA

What you want to avoid is any of the 3-in-1 seats like th Cosco Alpha Omega, Eddie Bauer, Safety 1st 3-in-1 seat. These seats rear face, then forward face, then become a booster... jack of all trades, master of none. They are ok rear facing, ok forward facing, but are outgrown way too fast forward facing (usually around age 3) and the booster portion is awful. The booster portion of these seats have consistently failed crash tests miserably, they stink as booster seats. For the money you pay for one of these seats ,you can find a seat that will last years longer.

Here are a few great options!
Evenflo Triumph ADVANCE- $130, rear facing to 35lbs, forward to 50lbs, fits most kids rf'ing to 2/3, ff'ing to 5/6.

First Years TrueFit- $170 rear facing to 35lbs, forward to 65. Fits most kids rf'ing to 3, ff'ing to 7.

Graco MyRide 65- $150 rear facing to 40lbs, forward to 65. Fits most kids rf'ing to 4, ff'ing to 6/7.

Sunshine Kids Radian- $300 rear facing to 40/45lbs, forward facing to 60/80lbs. Fits most kids rf'ing to 4, ff'ing to 7.

Britax Marathon/Boulevard- $279 rear facing to 35lbs, forward to 65lbs. Fits most kids rf'ing to 2/3, ff'ing to 6.

All of these seats will rear face your child for a couple more years, and forward face them for years beyond that. All are great choices, perform well in crash tests, and are easy to use. I like and have used all of them over the last 7yrs of car seat usage! :)

You are right to want to keep her rear facing as long as possible. A rear facing car seat is outgrown when the child goes over the weight limit or there is less than one inch of shell above the childs head. Until then, a child can remain rear facing. Google Joels Journey and Extended Rear facing for more information .

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I'm a huge Britax fan. They are built like a tank. My daughter's seat will take her up to 35lbs. rear-facing and 65lbs forward-facing.

The recommendations are to keep them rear-facing until at least age 2 (and beyond if possible). They are far, far safer rear-facing in the event of a crash. The force of the crash is spread out and does not put the same strain on the head and neck of the toddler.

http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

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The Graco MyRide is a great seat that rear faces to 40 pounds and forward faces to 60 pounds. It will keep her rear facing for years, kids are 500 times safer rear facing than forward facing. Most seats that are rear facing, forward facing AND turn into boosters aren't very good boosters, they don't fit kids very well, so I would recommend that you stay away from those. The MyRide is also pretty affordable at $135-$150

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Hi,
We bought the Graco My Ride 65 from Target for our son. It's great! It has a 5 point harness, a weight limit of (rear facing) 5-40 lbs (front facing) 2-65 lbs, up to 50 inches, and costs around $150. Hope this helps!

S.

I have an Evenflo Triumph Advance and really like it. It has a lot of the same features as top of the line expensive carseats, like easy to adjust straps, one hand tightening. But it costs about half. And it got very good reviews. I did a ton of research before we bought one. I used some websites: http://cpsafety.com/articles/ConvertibleShop.aspx http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html and www.consumerreports.com As far as safety ratings and good reviews, every carseat out there is considered safe, so you won't find anything stating that one seat is safer than another, except the opinions of the manufacturers. So what I went by was info from those websites and user reviews on carseat forums, I can't remember which ones though. And I also looked at which brands had the most recalls. I don't know how accurate it is, but I didn't feel safe buying from a company that had twice as many recalls as other companies. (cosco, eddie bauer- both under the Doral brand, seemed to be the highest in recalls at that time). I didn't rear face my child in this particular seat, so I can't tell you about that part unfortunately. He was little enough to stay in his infant seat forever it seemed like. But I do really like it now. I got it at Babies R Us and it was about $150 I believe. It does rear facing to 35 pounds, forward facing to 50. My son is a small child, so I decided not to spend more to get a seat that would go to 65 lbs, since I intend to get a 5 pt harness booster later. My son never outgrew his infant seat (which I paid extra and got one that would go to a larger size) and I could easily see him not outgrowing the convertible either. If your child is larger you might want to get one that will go to 65 lbs. Another good idea is to take your daughter to the store and make sure that she fits comfortably in the seat. A carseat will be no good if it doesn't fit your child well, or wont fit correctly in your car.

I highly recommend the Britax. It's a little expensive compare to the other carseats but well worth the investment. We always had a difficult time putting our daughter in her Graco when she was an infant. That all changed when we switched her to Britax when she was 9 months. It's a great car seat and will last for a while. Our daughter who is 4 now, still fit in her Britax carseat and tell us that it's very comfortable and she love it. Hope this help.

Britax all the way. You can pick the exact style that works best for you, but we had the Roundabouts and Marathons and then upgraded to the Frontiers once they out grew the convertible seats. Most important things to remember is to rear-face as long as possible- up to 30+ pounds if you can. Also, keep your kids in a 5-point harness up to 80 pounds. The Britax boosters (Frontier and I can't rememebr the other) can do it. Avoid the cheap seats, early front-facing and non-harnessing boosters, your childs life maybe depend on it. Spend the extra money to buy the safest seats and don't think twice about it.

We are a Britax family. Yes they are an expensive investment up front but worth it and they last a long time. We have the Britax Roundabout. My son started using it at 9 months for almost 2 yrs. Our daughter then was about 9 months and to tall for the infant carrier so she is now in it at 18mo and will be for a very long time. He graduated to the Britax Frontier. It has a 5 pt harness which we needed since he was only 2 1/2 at the time and in converts to a booster and can hold up to 100 lbs so that will be his last seat. They are made great and because they can last for so long you really get your moneys worth out of them.

Is she outgrowing her current car seat? Or are you wanting to keep her rear-facing as long as possible even after she is a year old?

If not, why are you wanting it to also be rear-facing? When my daugther turned a year old, we got a convertible seat that is forward facing & also a belt-positioning booster. I know the Britax brand is supposed to be great, but we personally cannot afford that. We have a couple of the Cosco brand ones. They were $40 or $50 at Wal Mart. They also have one that is convertible for rear-facing & forward facing. We've never had any problems with ours, and we've had them for 3 years. Covers come off easily to wash, not hard to put back on.

I just bought the Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite from Walmart for about $150. I love it! It is a rear-facing seat from 5-35lbs, forward facing from 22-40lbs and also a booster seat from 40-100lbs. Its the last seat I will have to buy for my daughter. My daughter is 13 months and I have her rear-facing and it's very comfy. It reclines to 3 different positions as well to accommodate each weight.

I agree you should avoid the 3-in-1s. We looked all over, and none of them were very nice or comfortable, none of them rated the top in safety, and a booster seat (the 3rd stage) only costs about $20 anyway, so there is no point to pay the extra money, either. I also recommend against the Graco ComfortSport. We bought one of these initially, but the quality was not good, it felt flimsy and was difficult to use. We ended up replacing it with a Graco My Ride 65, which we loved enough to buy a second several weeks later.

The Graco My Ride 65 holds up to 40-pounds rear-facing (the highest weight-limit for rear-facing in the industry), and up to 65-pounds forward facing, is convenient, and comfortable, and side-impact tested. I have also heard that Britax are very good carseats, although they are about twice the price of the My Ride for the same Consumer Reports and Safety ratings, so I'm not sure why people prefer them. I looked at them in the store and they did not seem any easier or sturdier than the cheaper Graco. I think it's a matter of preference.

Doctors currently recommend that you keep children rear-facing as long as possible (until the child hits the weight-limit or can no longer fit in a rear-facing position). It is by far the safest position for children, and I am really not sure where the first poster received their information that a child should be turned at age 1 - that information is quite outdated.

Good luck.

I am in the same boat thinking about i will buy when she outgrows the carrier. I work at a Rehabilitation hospital and some of the therapists are carseat trained. The current recommendations is rear facing longer than a year for less serious injuries in an accident. Some hospitals, car dealers, insurance companies, and health departments should have the info on where to go for car seat fittings. Well worth the time and $ to know your child is as safe as can be! Just thought I'd share.

I agree whole-heartedly about the Britax! We love our and my son is still in it at 3 1/2 years, 35 pounds and 43 inches tall. W ewill be moving into the last strap holes soon because he is so tall. the other seat we have is the Graco Nautilus. I do like it alot but the Britax Marathon is more comfortable for my son on long trips, there seems to be more padding in the bottom area. Will end up replacing the Britax, probably in the next year, because it is not a belt positioning booster like the Graco. The weight limits are almost identical for both of these and I would recommend either one.