Advice on Car Seats for baby and 5 year old

[Aurora11]

Hi! I need to buy 2 new car seats in the next few months. Most pressing is for my 5 year old dd. She is 40lb and 43 inches and currently still in her Boulevard. She's ready to move to a booster, but I do not want a backless for at least a couple of years since she is not a huge kid. I'm going back and forth between a 5 point harness and a high back booster and think I've settled on the high back booster since she is almost 5.5 and starting Kindergarten in the fall. What is the comfiest and safest high back booster?

Secondly, my almost 7 month old is currently in a nuna pipa infant seat. I plan to keep him in it until he reaches the height limit (32 inches), but I have tall boys and my guess is that he will get there by a year. Both my older children were in Boulevards, but I'm wondering if there is something out now that just as safe, but easier to keep wash and take care of. Any opinions on the Chico Nextfit vs the Britax?

I would love your advice!

[sunnyside]

I just bought my 12month old a Clek Fllo and LOVE it. It's expensive, but it's a really nice seat. Lots of great safety features. There were complaints in the past of it not being padded enough and the 2016s have more padding. My daughter is happy with hers, and as a bonus, I can put it on a Gogo travelmate and wheel it down an airplane aisle. It's nice and narrow for when we want to put another person in the back seat. It has high RF weight limit.

My 5yo was in a travel seat that we kept using in the car for a while (Maestro), and I'm buying her a Clek Oobr for a high back booster. Again, not the cheapest seat, but I like it. I don't have first hand experience with the Oobr yet.

[gymnbomb]

Is the boulevard expiring or can you pass it down to the baby? We have a Nextfit and although I wanted to love it I really do not. Ours is an early model so hopefully they have improved it, but it is soooo hard to tighten the harness. And with the high sides it can be harder to load a rear facing toddler, though maybe not a problem in a larger vehicle? I disliked the Nextfit enough that I gave it to my husband for his car and bough a 4Ever for mine. I love that one. But I hear other people loving their nextfits, so maybe either it is just me or the improved them On the other hand, I have hear overwhelmingly positive reviews of the Chicco KidFit booster.


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[georgiegirl]

I'd recommend a Britax frontier for your oldest. My 6.5 year old is harnessed in one. When he's older, it converts to a HBB.

My toddler rides in a Peg Perego Primo Viaggio convertible. It's super comfy and plush. You can go wrong with the others you mentioned though.


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[trcy]

DD loves her frontier. If the Blvd is not expiring, I would pass it down to the baby.


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[123LuckyMom]

I got DS his Frontier when he was 4.5 or 5. He used it until earlier this year at age 7. He just found it easier to use the low backed booster we had bought for carpools and traveling. We took the Frontier to use for DD as a very occasional seat in DH's car. (Ordinarily she's RF in a Marathon. She's 4.) We didn't bother buying a high backed booster for DS (or converting the Frontier) after I learned that high backed boosters are not safer than low backed ones. I'd recommend staying in a harness as long as you can and then switching to an LBB (because they're less expensive, easier to travel with, and just as safe.)


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[Aurora11]

Thanks everyone!! I would pass down the Boulevard except that it is bright pink and the baby is a boy! Plus it is 4.5 years old and kind of gross-ha. We had a Frontier for my oldest and loved it, but when i took it apart to wash it one day one of the foam pieces on the headrest was "stepped on" and broke in half. I suppose I could call Britax and see if I could order a new one. Has anyone ever done that before?? It's still in good shape other than that and we could possibly use it until our middle child was ready for a low back booster.

Good to hear feedback on the nextfit. I may have to buy another boulevard!

[trcy]

I may be wrong, but I think you can buy a new seat cover for the Blvd. If so, that would be a lot less than a new car seat. Just a thought.


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[NCGrandma]

I may be wrong, but I think you can buy a new seat cover for the Blvd. If so, that would be a lot less than a new car seat. Just a thought.


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A couple of years ago, I bought a replacement cover for the Blvd directly from Britax. It came in very handy during the worst of the car sickness phase... Not super cheap but definitely better than the alternatives.


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[Zukini]

+1 to call Britax. We have been impressed with their customer service. Ordered replacement blue lockoffs for our Roundabout, and they shipped them free and fast - and they were repsonsive on questions re our Clicktight during the recall / fix. They probably have a solution on the broken foam, it's not always a deal breaker depending on the particular seat and manufacturer. And they probably have a replacement cover too.