affordable convertible for grandma's car

[mejilsa]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and was just looking for some advice on a convertible car seat for my mother's volvo.

My son is 4 months and currently weighs about 16 lbs. We still have him in his Graco Snugride, but we'll be flying out of state to visit my mom next month. Since he's already pretty large for his age, we decided to leave our car seat at home and have my mom buy a convertible for her car. She lives far away and we can only visit her twice a year, so I'd like to suggest a car seat for her that can accommodate him for at least the next 2 years. Since he'll only use it 2 weeks out of the year max, we don't want to spend a lot of money. I suggested the Cosco Scenera to her since many people recommend it as an affordable option. But she's concerned that it will be too uncomfortable for him and asked me about the Graco ComfortSport. I have the BB book and it gave this a C+... not too impressive. The Evenflo Titan was recommended as an alternative, but it mentioned that this one was better for forward facing mode with babies at least one year.

Any suggestions for a convertible that is more padded than the Scenera but still less than $100, AND good for a rear-facing position for a 5 month old, who will continue to use it infrequently for the next few years?

Thanks!!

[Joolsplus2]

Sears or Kmart carry the Safety 1st Avenue for about $85, that'd probably be my choice. It's way better padded than a Scenera, including EPP foam for head protection, and the top slots are about 16 inches, so it gets most kids to the full 40 pounds at age 4 or 5. It's also low profile but has a tall back, so it comfortably fits kids till the full 35 pounds rearfacing (or at least age 2), and it's easy to load babies in to it or have big kids climb into it :).

It's only problem spot is that the harness adjuster tends to get dug into the seatback when rearfacing and is hard to reach, but a good SafeFit Leveler (that big pyramid pool noodle in the carseat department, it costs about $10 but is so worth it for ease of install and a proper recline!) might make it more reachable.

One of our posters here, Niccig got the Uptown, the Avenue's predecessor, instead of the Scenera for traveling and she's been really happy with it :)

Or spend a little more on something like the Evenflo Triumph Advance or Graco My Ride 65 and you'll have a seat you can *definitely* use for 5 years, though it's a bit more bulky, it would for sure get your child to where they are old enough for a booster seat (at least age 5).

Oh, forgot to paste the link to the Avenue: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_04988092000P?vName=Baby&cName=Gear&sName=Car%20Seats&psid=FROOGLE01&sid=IDx20070921x00003a

The Titan and Comfortsport are just ridiculously tiny, no point spending 100$ on a seat that will only last 2 years, max, for most kids (tiny kids can fit in them till 3ish).

[mejilsa]

Thanks for this advice! I'll definitely suggest that she take a look at the Avenue.

[niccig]

One of our posters here, Niccig got the Uptown, the Avenue's predecessor, instead of the Scenera for traveling and she's been really happy with it :)


Yes I love it for traveling :love-retry:. It's just so light - I use a bungee cord to strap it to the stroller to get through the airport. There's a couple of tricks to get a good install, but post back if your Mum gets it and we can explain. It's nothing difficult. I've installed it in over a dozen cars without any difficulty and different planes from domestic small jets to international flights to Australia.

We got the Safeguard GO to use for travel (it's a FF only seat) and we're going to give the Uptown to MIL for her to use with the younger grandchildren. She'll get it when we visit at Christmas time. I'll pick up that pyramid leveler thing for her to have as well. I just use a rolled up towel, but the leveler is probably easier for MIL. I don't want to give it up at all though, but it's silly to keep it when we don't need it and DS will be out of it soon anyways.

Oh, skip the titan. A friend got it because highly rated in Consumer Reports. Her DD is tiny, 4yo and 30lbs and is too tall for it. For comparison, her DD fits in our Uptown with an extra harness slot to go. My DS is 4.5 yo 35lbs and about 40" and he has 1" of torso growth until his shoulders go over the top slot. The Avenue will last longer than the Titan.