Convertible Car Seat Advice

A., I am a car seat tech so I am use to dealing with the installation of car seats. I personally have never liked the Britax seats. The are so big and end up being hard to instal rear facing. The biggest thing that you need to look for is one that will allow him to be rear facing as long as possible. I know everyone waits till that 1 year and 20 pound mark but the longer you can keep him rear facing the better. When looking for the rear facing seat not only do you have to look at the weight but also the length, especially since you said he is a long, little guy. I have never dealt with the Maxi Cosi seat but when I was looking at it online it seemed okay. The other thing to remember when you are looking at seats is that they all have to meet the same federal standard guildlines. Usually the higher priced seats are because of all the bells and whistles the seats have as in cup holders, cushioning and so on. You also want to look at the weight and height for forward facing. If you have any other questions please feel free to email me. ____@____.com
A.

Hello! I have tried a variety of different carseats (I have a ton of mommy friends who have let me sample). My son is 3 and has always been a moose. My daughter just turned 1 and is a little peanut. I have Evenflo Truimphs for them both and I LOVE THEM! Affordable and I think they are great. My son's is black and daughter has a pretty chocolate brown color. We have the same issue you have....my hubby is 6ft 5in. The newest truimph (my daughter's seat) has a "slide shoulder" funtion instead of having to take the entire back off to adjust the straps. They are great for both rear or forward facing. I have an Impala and can still fit a body in between both seats!

Happy shopping!

HI A.,

My reccomendation for you is the BRITAX BOULEVARD !! It is the same size as the Maxi and it goes up to 65 lbs. and the Maxi ONLY goes up to 40 lbs!! That is a huge plus!! I have been a Child Passenger Safety Speecialist for over 8 years now and this seat is AWESOME!! It is very easy to install!! I have installed 2 of these in the backseat of a Honda Accord and there still was a middle back seat!!! I do not think you will have regrets about this seat which the other one you will because of the height and weight limits!!

Britax Boulevard Specs.
Convertible Car Seat
Features 5-Point Harness
LATCH Anchor System, Up-Front Adjustment
Contoured Seat
Buckle Closure
Front- or Rear-Facing Seat
2-Position Reclining Back, Adjustable Harness
Made of Polyester, Energy Absorbent Foam, EPS Foam Fill , Polyester Lining
Flame Retardant
Compatible with Shoulder Seat Belt
Rear or Front-Facing
Recommended Ages: Newborn to 6 yrs.
For Children 5-33 lbs. Rear-Facing; 20-65 lbs. Forward-Facing
26x19x27 "
Do Not Exceed Recommended Weight Limit

Good Luck and if I can be more of assistance to you please feel free to contact me!!

I bought a maxi cosi for my suv and a britax for my husband's and I like them both. The maxi cosi seems more comfortable for my daughter, but the britax has the head support so it seems just a touch safer if there were ever an accident.

A.,

Welcome to the wonderful world of car seat shopping... It is hard to know what will work best for your son and family. I have two girls, age 7 and 5 and one thing I found when they were little was to have a seat that is attractive to them! When they got a little older, I really appreciated the cup holders that the older seats have, as it puts the sippy cup in reach for the short arms.

My girls were involved in picking out their seats, within a budget, and because they has a role in choosing, it made it exciting for them to consistently want to be in te seat. You are a ways off from this, but as your son grows, it might be less easy to strap him in.

Consistency, regardless of seat choice, is the key.

Good luck!
K.

If your son is looking like he is going to be a long/tall baby, then I suggest NOT looking into the Cosco Alpha Omega. That seat has a low harness height and your son will quickly grow out of it, though it's not an unsafe seat by any means. More often than not, a child will grow out of a seat height-wise before even getting close to the weight limit. Britax is known for it's higher harness heights, which will last your child for a very long time. My daughter is 5 years old and she still rides in her Marathon with about 1" of room above her shoulders yet. I'm not sure about the Maxi Cosi, you'd have to google that and find out=) I know the Evenflo Triumph Advance, the newer model, which we have also, has the same high harness slots as the Britax and are super easy to adjust.

I have a Maxi Cosi Priori convertable seat and a Britax seat and like the Maxi Cosi best. I did some research when I needed to replace one of our Britax seats and was surprised to find out that Maxi Cosi safety ratings were as good as Britax. You don't hear as much about the Cosi seats because they just starting offering them in the US.

The Maxi Cosi installs easily with or without using the latch system. It seems to takes less room than the Britax Marathon seat. I bought the Britax Marathon to replace my daughters 6 year old Britax Roundabout (the cover was wearing and foam got smelly from a spill my husband didn't clean up). To my surprise the Marathon was too big for the back seat in my car - my son didn't have enough leg room. I put the Britax it in my husbands SUV and bought a Maxi Cosi for my car. Wish I would have bought two Cosi's now!

The Maxi Cosi seems more comfortable. It reclines easily into 4 different positions without removal. If your child sleeps in the car it's a big bonus plus the seat looks like it would be more comfortable overall than the Britax. The padding and cover also seem more 'durable. The cover on my daughters Britax started to lose it's shape a bit after a couple washings and doesn't stay on the edges well now. I haven't washed the Maxi Cosi yet though...

I understand why the Maxi Cosi Priori is one of the most popular seats in Europe for it safety record and styling. I was a big big fan of Britax but now I'd buy the Maxi Cosi over the Britax. Same safety levels, more comforts, better sizing for $50-75 less!

My baby grew out of his infant car seat at six months. He is 10 months old now. We have a Toyota Corolla and a Honda Accord and did a lot of research to find good convertible seats that fit. We decided on the Britax Roundabout and have been very happy with them. We chose Granite, mainly because the store had an out of box (brand new though) special on them and it saved us about $30 per seat. I was a little worried about it being too warm, but it hasn't gotten as hot in the sun as I thought it would. In the heat of the summer we did put a blanket over it when we were out of the car. The fabric isn't exciting, but it goes fine with the gray interiors of both of our cars. We were concerned about him growing out of the Roundabout early, but couldn't find an option with the higher weight limit that was satisfactory, so we'll just get new seats when and if he does outgrow the Roundabout before he's four. The Britax Marathon was eliminated from consideration because it was too large for the Corolla and blocked the rear view mirror in the Accord. Other seats we considered were the Sunshine Radian and the Recaro Como. The Recaro Como is a good seat with higher height and weight limits than the Roundabout, but the headrest that is supposed to be used until the baby is one year old was uncomfortable for my baby. The Sunshine Radian 65 folds up and fits in narrow spaces, but was difficult, but works better forward facing than rear facing. We were not aware of the Maxi Cosi when we were looking. We used the book Baby Bargains and Consumers to narrow down the choices. The Baby Bargains authors maintain a website with car seat reviews and updates. We went to a store that allowed us to put the car seats in the car to check how they fit before we bought them.

I second the Alpa Omega Elite... my daughter is also long and skinny and this seat has worked great for us!

My son is 6 months old and already is almost 29 inches tall. After much searching we went with the Evenflo Titan Elite DLX. It is rear facing to 35 lbs, and forward up to 50 lbs. We have only been using it for a month but we drive an older VW Jetta and it fit fairly well. We checked it out in store and then ordered the color we wanted online. I have never looked at the Maxi Cosi or Britax as money was an issue. We also looked at the graco comfort sport and it didnt seem to bad either.

Yet another vote for the Cosco Alpha Omega Elite. There are soo many choices out there but it seemed to be the best. My son is 17 months and is still rear-facing and will be for awhile now...it is much safer and the seat will allow him to stay rear-facing for a long time.

Good Luck with your choice
N.

I would NOT suggest the Alpha Omega Elite, ESPECIALLY if your son is tall. My oldest had this seat, and was too tall for it before he was 3yrs old, and well before he was the 40lbs that the harness goes to. It is possible to outgrow a seat by height long before weight, and a 3yr old is NOT MATURE enough for a booster with the adult belt, you NEED to remain in a 5pt harness. The Alpha Omega is an ok seat, jack of all trades, master of none. Its a short seat, the very top harness slot can only be used in booster mode, and again most kids outgrow it in height by age 3 or so, and way too young to be in a belted booster. Plus its a veyr wide seat, meaning in booster mode it will hold hte belt too far away from the childs hips, especially a thin child, and the seatbelt then cannot do its job properly in a crash. Its not a bad seat, its just not the best seat, and certainly not the 'last seat you'll never need' like they claim.

THe good thing about the Britax seats is they harness to 65lbs, but they also have one of hte highest top harness slots on the market, meaning your tal lskinny 5yr old will still fit in the Marathon perfectly. My 6.5yr old is 51'' tall and 50lbs and is just now outgrowing the MArathon in height. We have the Marathon in the Racer cover and the Mossy Oak cover. I have very hot blooded kids and neither have ever sweat or had issues with the covers. They are super easy to remove (like a shower cap, stretchy) and wash beautifully. I can't stress enough the importance of the extended weight/height limits of the Marathon either.

Another good choice is the Evenflo Triumph Advance. It will rear face to 33lbs, and forward to 50lbs, and fits most 5yr olds. My oldest could use this seat at 5. Its a bit cheaper than the Britax Marathon, and you will get about one year less use out of it height wise. But its still a nice comfy seat, a great deal for an extra 10lbs and few inches to grow.

Just make sure you keep your child rear facing to the rear facing wieght limits of 33 or 35lbs. The AAP recommends children remain rear facing to 33lbs nad 2yrs old. My 3yr old just went forward facing a couple months ago at 33lbs.

Look for a seat that will install in your car correctly, and better yet find a CPST to install thes eat for you, and gain some education in the process. Keep your baby rear facing to the weight limits of the seat, and forward facing in a harness until AT LEAST 4yrs AND 40lbs, but better to harness longer.

Also to the CPST who doesn't like Britax because its hard to install rear facing in small cars.... we have a Chevy Aveo, a sub compact car that is the hatchback model, and I had our Britax Marathon installed rear facing in there for our 3yr old, didn't even have to move the front seat forward, its approrpriately reclined (and I was able to get 45degree angle for a baby) with no problem. If I can install it in THAT car, it should easily install in any car. I have pictures if anyone would like to see.

I personally went with the Radian 65. I bought two of them, one for my son & one for my daughter. When we bought them they were 10 months & 5 1/2 years. I like that they're a 5 point harness ALWAYS. They don't switch into a belt positioning booster (unsafe). I also chose those seats because I drive a Toyota Corolla Matrix, & we're able to fit 3 car seats across the back seat. I bought both in the black/granite color. I wanted to get the cute pink, but being practical I decided to go with gender neutral colors. Also the black/granite matches the interior of my car :-) Good luck with what ever you decide! I know it's a very stressful, & important decision!

I went with the Alpa Omega Elite and so far have like it. It rated just below the Britax on Consumer Reprts and was a lot less money. I bought mine online and saved the tax and got free shipping. If you send me your e-mail address I can send you the consumer reports ratings.

I have a Britax Roundabout and am very happy with it but didn't consider the Maxi Cosi so I don't know how they compare. My baby didn't have any issue with the Roundabout being too warm.

You mentioned that you're considering moving your boy to forward-facing in a little while... please watch this video to learn more about the dangers of moving baby to forward-facing even at 12 months/20lbs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8

I learned of this video through one of the other mamasource postings about when to move baby to forward-facing, hopefully this link will take you to it: http://www.mamasource.com/request/10925178542140424193/17...

Good luck!