Car Seat ?

[Anonymous]

The previous thread about the Car Seat Alert provided a lot of great information but I still have a few questions…

We are going to use our tax money to get Sarah a convertible car seat. She’s just really getting too big for her infant carrier.

Do you guys buy two seats, one for each car? Sarah RARELY rides in DH’s vehicle, but how easy are seats to switch out if she did ride with him? It’s no big deal with the carrier b/c they have the ‘extra base’. I am not looking to spend a small fortune (who is?) on two seats, but I want to be practical as well. Maybe a more expensive one for my car and a less expensive one for DH’s vehicle? Or just one nice seat?

Also, the Britax Regent and Safe Guard Go Booster were highly recommended…do you have a different seat that you also love? (that isn’t super expensive?)

And…how important are certain features such as arm rest and cup holders when choosing a seat?

Thanks! How would I raise my child without you ladies.

[Anonymous]

I got Austin a seat w/ cup holders when he went to a real booster-well the booster that has a back and now just the bottom. Aidan has a envenflo something (how horrible I can’t remember but it’s raining here so I’m not going outside to look-lol) without cup holders, I think they’d be of no use since he’d probably just throw them down anyway!!! Try to get the lightest seat you can if you’re going to move it back and forth, Aidan’s is HEAVY and such a pain in the butt to move. Also, make sure you try it in your car before you buy it, they should let you take the display model out and try it (but bear in mind, the display model probably has been in and out of a ton of cars so I use it as a “will it fit in my car” check only). Also ease of use is SO important. Aidan’s straps adjust with a little knob you turn to tighten them and a lever you push to loosen them and it SUCKS!!! I thought it would be so much easier than the other kind when I bought it but I was soooooooooo wrong!!!!!-I love britax seats, we just couldn’t afford one. They have changed SO much (for the better) since I bought Austin’s when he was little. His britax sat up so high that it barely fit in my car!!! But aidan is comfortable in his (it’s the evenflow that’s black and gray and the strap adusters are yellow) it’s just a pain in the butt for me!!

I’d also try putting her in the actual seat before you buy it, some babies fit better in different seats-another reason why I had to chuck the britax before I wanted to with Austin, he wasn’t comfortable in it b/c he was (ahem) VERY square and pudgy and needed a wider seat.

If I were you, I’d buy a more $ model for the car she rides in the most and go with a less expensive one for your husbands car (I have no issue with putting it in my dh’s car, he has a tiny Celica and the car seat is SO not safe in there so we take my car everywhere).

Good luck, there are SO many choices out there, but you’ll find the right fit for your car, for Sarah, and for your budget!!! My mom has a great seat that she bought for her car when Austin was little, he was SO comfy in it, and it is rock solid when you put it in (we still use it on occasion, but rarely-it’s in her car), I forget the name, I’ll look and post it later b/c I’m sure they have an updated version!

[Anonymous]

I love the Britax Wizard.

*It has a quick change harness. No need to take straps out and change slots when baby grows. You just turn the wheel and the whole harness moves up and down. Great for when you are in winter clothes one day and spring the next!

*It can be used with five point harness up to 80 lbs.

*It has tangle free webbing for the straps and little velcro thinggies to help keep straps from falling into the seat when you take baby out.

*It has a terrific side impact protection “pillow type thing” that also serves as a comfy place for baby to rest their head when they fall asleep.

It’s not as pricey as the Regent.

[Anonymous]

Hi Amy,
We’re thinking of buying the Evenflo Titan for all three of our boys. We’ve done some research, and it’s supposedly one of the safest, but is very inexpensive.

IMO, I think I would just buy one car seat and move it to the other car when needed. We have to move our boys’ car seats quite often when they go with their grandparents, and it’s no big deal. Of course I guess some car seats are worse than others.

Good luck with your search!

[Anonymous]

We went ahead and bought a nice carseat for my car since Colt is in it most often and then bought a cheap one for my husbands truck just in case he needes to use it. We payed 40.00 for the one in my husbands truck and I really like it.

[Anonymous]

Dh takes them to day care every morning, so we have seats for both cars. Right now we have a Britax Wizard in both cars. We’re getting ready to switch Alex over. I’m not sure what we’ll do for her. My MIL has that seat with the knobs and it’s a major pain!

[hellbennt]

I’m very very pro rear-facing for as long as possible…

there’s the Radian by Sunshine Kids. It has the same weight limits as the Britax Marathon, and also RF tethers. It is really heavy, though, since it’s shell is made out of steel. The back is kind of high also so it might be hard to fit RFing in the car- you might have to move the front seat up pretty far.

Britax also makes the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe- it has a lower weight limit (55lbs) and no RF tether…

seats that can be tethered rear-facing helps get a really tight install. It would keep a seat from re-bounding in a crash and would help keep the seat in place in a side impact crash. You don’t have to have a tether anchor installed in your car, you just find a sucure place to put it. the britax seats come with a D-ring which is a strap you an use to to wrap around something to hook the tether to, I’m not sure if the other seats that can be tethered rear-facing come with D-ring or not.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 car seats, one for each car. That way, we are always ready to go should something happen. DH and I switch cars all of the time, so this is most convenient.

We have the Britax Roundabout – do they still make them… i think we were told they were going to be discontinued but i may be making this up. We love them – we had Matthew rear facing until 2 weeks ago and they are easily changed etc. Only thing i do not like about them is that Matthew sweats a little bit – but he is always kind of hot… but the car has some velvety type cloth on the sides (Not sure if those are in all of them or not. The roundabout only goes to around 40pounds vs the marathon which is higher… we thought about this… i have friends who switched to the boosters (I think it was at 4 years old or/and 40pounds) and they did not use the Marathon for up to its weight etc… who knows

[Anonymous]

We have the Britax Boulevard and it seem to be pretty good. It can be used rear facing or forward facing. We only have one because Brianna almost never goes in DH car. It is such a total wreck with all of his paperwork and stuff, I don’t know if the seat would even fit in the car

[Anonymous]

Britax seems to be the way to go!!! Does anyone have any experience with Eddie Bauer seats? Good or bad? The consumer report said “Eddie Bauer Comfort” was on the “bad” list but I don’t even know what car seat that is?? I tried searching it and came up with nothing? Of course now I can’t think of the name of the Eddie Bauer one I’m looking at, but I know it wasn’t “comfort”?

amy00132007-2-5 22:7:38

[hellbennt]

I like to research on the BBB board- where’s that link? erg. site is undergoing maintanance (sp?) http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&amp ; ;forum=13

is this it? http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic& forum=13&topic_id=53522&mode=full

if not, use their ‘search’

ps: another good site: http://www.cpsafety.com/default.aspx

hellbennt2007-2-5 22:23:22

[Anonymous]

I purchased an Eddie Bauer seat once. I had it for two days and drove 100 miles to return it. I thought it was extremely difficult to get a good tight fit with the straps. This was a few years ago, so they may have improved their seats since then, but like you said I’ve seen it on the bad list for several years now, so I’d stay away from it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again! I’m still researching, but thank you Laura for that link b/c it had a lot of really good information in it! It listed 5 good seats but I haven’t had a chance to look into all of them. Very helpful!

[Author]

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