Infant carseat decision

[lmintzer]

Hi. Our first baby is due in early May, and we are beginning to look into baby products. I love the Baby Bargains book and have found it really helpful so far. I am struggling to decide between two infant carseats: the Century SmartFit Elite and the Evanflo On My Way Position Right V. I like that both have "position right" indicators, 5 point restraints, good safety ratings (Consumer Reports) and what looks to be really comfortable padding. There seem to be advantages and disadvantages to both seats: the Century seat has the advantage of being able to hold a baby up to 22 lbs. and 27 inches, while the Evanflo seat only goes up to 20 lbs., 26 1/2 inches. However, the handle on the Evanflo has the nice S-shaped design whereas the Century handle is not ergonomically designed. Also, the Evanflo is about 1 lb. lighter, from what I've been told. My biggest concern is about the weight/length differences. How much does that 2 lbs., 1/2 inch make a difference in terms of how long the baby can use this (fairly expensive) seat? Can anybody who used either seat or knows people who have comment on this? Thanks so much!

Lisa
baby boy, due 5/9

[Allison]

I'm in the same situation! Can't decide between the Century SmartFit Plus, Avanta and Graco Snug Fit.

Does anyone test for safety besides Consumer Reports? They haven't tested car seats since '99.

[lwl8]

You may want to check the carseat board at ParentsPlace.com

http://boards2.parentsplace.com/mess...rseats184.html

There are some carseat technicians on the board that provided helpful advice. I was considering the Advanta until one of the technicians who owned the same car(and model year) as I do and she could not fit two Advanta into my car.

[Moochie]

I am also deciding between the Century smart fit and Graco Snug Ride infant car seats. I am having twins and need to carry two at a time. ANY ADVICE?

[lwl8]

I'm also expecting twins as well and we bought the Graco SnugRide DX5 for our babies. You should check out the parentsplace car seat board to check which carseat would fit into your car. The Graco is lighter than the Century. The only other car seat that they recommended which is lighter than the Graco was the Fisher Price Stay in View but that car seat apparently does not fit well in our car according to a car seat technician who has the same year and model car that we have. Hope this helps.

[bboase]

Our first child is due in early May as well. We tried both the Century and the Evenflo in our car. Both fit the seat well. The issue for us was the handle on the Century is much higher than the Evenflo and everytime we tried to put the seat in or take it out we hit the ceiling in the car. Not a great way to keep our baby asleep. So we have decided to go with the Evenflo.

I would definitely recommend trying the seat in your car before you make the decision. For us the size issue didn't even come into play because of our car. I figure when she is too big we will move her to the convertible seat and deal with it.

Beth

[sarsah]

I used the Century SmartFit Plus seat for my son (at the time, it was the only SmartFit that went to 22 lbs.). My son grew out of it at 6 months -- he was too long. Even then, my son was still comfortable in the seat, it's just that his feet and the top of his head were hanging over the edge. My friend had the Evenflo seat and her DS grew out of it about 3 months. He was within the weight & length rating, but was no longer comfortable in the seat.

From the beginning, I thought that the Evenflo seat seems so much smaller than the Century seat and my friend agreed. The handle on the Centry seat was kind of hard to carry, but once the baby gets towards the top of the weight limit, you'll probably carry the seat with two hands anyway (one hand on the top, near baby's head and the other hand on the bottom, near baby's feet).

Sarah

[restless]

Same situation. We are due in April. However, I have another consideration to share. We bought the Peg Prego stroller with a bar that allows you to attach the infant seats to it. Denise and everyone else I talk to say the extra money is definately worth it due to quality. I thought this was close to the travel system concept and not waking the baby. The sales person said the Century and Evenflo are the best adaptable to the Peg Prego's. Something else to consider.....