need a convertible car seat

[aedens mom]

I need a new car and convertible car seat after my car was totaled. Everyone in the accident, including my 6 month old son, is okay. We are deciding between a Honda CRV and a Subaru Forester (a little tight w/carseat on test drive). I'm researching the car seats now. Any opinions on the vehicles and convertible seats would be greatly appreciated! Sarah

[Joolsplus2]

Well, start at www.carseatdata.org and also just try reading down, we talk about heaps of seats in most posts, that should help you narrow things down a bit :)

Glad to hear everyone is ok after such a horrific crash!

Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[bubbaray]

Wow, scary! Glad to hear everyone is OK -- that really is the most important thing!!!

Try to get your insurance company to replace the seat for you!

We are very happy with our Britax Marathon (MA). We also have a Graco ComfortSport which is fine, but we really do prefer the MA. It is super easy to install, even using the seatbelts. It is easy to use, with a great harness adjuster (one of my beefs with the ComfortSport).

But, try out some different seats -- the best seat is the one that fits in your car the best and that you use properly every time!

HTH
Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[1stTimeParents]

We have a 10 month old and have had a 2001 Forester the whole time. Although I love it because it's such a safe car, it's been not as room as we had hoped with a rear facing infant seat (we have a Baby Trend seat, but I think they are all about the same size). When a person who likes to have the front seat pushed all the way back to the "tallest" setting sits in the front you have no room between the front seat and the car seat - everything is smashed together. While that may be really safe because there is NO way the baby seat will move, I find it hard to get the seat in and out (which is the beauty of being able to use an infant seat base) and have to move the front seat every time. Very annoying. Have not tried a convertable seat yet, but will be trying that next month. I do like the height of the Forester compared to other cars (we have an Accord as our other) because you can change a diaper in the back without bending over and can really reach in to the back seat from the side doors and the front seat easily. There are many times I've reached back to pop the pacifer back in while driving and can easily reach - not something I can do with the Accord! One other note, when looking at cars, check out how you like sitting in the back seat passenger side next to the car seat. At least for us, that's where the 2nd adult has been sitting when I'm in the car with my DH - not in the front passenger seat! Ah the life of a parent!