car seats

I have a nine month old baby and am currently looking for a new car seat for him. Based on all my research I have rounded down my choices to the Century Smart Move, The Century Bravo, The Fisher Price Safe EmbraceIIand the Britax Roundabout. The Fisher Price and Britax I think are my top choices. I was wondering if anyone has any of these car seats or if anyone could offer me any insight into these seats. Thank you.

NJRawling

We love our Roundabout. It has side impact protection, and my big 18 month old is still comfortable in it rear-facing. It is safest to stay rear-facing as long as possible. The other carseats you listed may have some cushy features, but the Roundabout is safest. You can get a good price online - baby catalog of america, babygear, etc.

[sarsah]

My suggestion to you would be to go to a store that sells both the Safe Embrace II & the Round About (I did this at Babies R Us) and compare the two seats side by side. After doing so, I chose the Round About hands down and have been very happy with my choice. Yes, the Round About was more money, but it seemed like it would be a lot more comfortable for the child. My son will spend a lot of time in the seat, so that was an important consideration.
Also, do you have a vehicle which has the ISOFIX attachments? If not, the Safe Embrace II offers no additional benefit to the Safe Embrace without the ISOFIX system.

Sarah....

Check out eopinions.com. I found a comment on how the roundabout didn't fit correctly in some cars and would not work as intended. Since I have a car (vs a minivan or SUV), I didn't buy the roundabout.

FYI: Consumer reports recently had an article about car seats and stated the Cosco Alpha Omega had an excellent crash test result in the front facing position w/tether. It did well w/rear facing as well.

I am in the same boat as you. I have read wonderful things about the Fisher-Price Safe Embrace as well as about the Britax RA. Don't be terrorized into the RA. There is no data to indicate that it is particularly safer than the Safe Embrace. Both sound like they are equally safe. In fact, according to
Consumer Reports, the Safe Embrace stood up better under more rigorous crash tests than the Britax RA. The crash tests were done with heavier babies at faster speeds (greater than 27 mi/hr), and the RA crash dummy's head went farther forward than standards normally allow. At best, this is troubling. In any case, FPSE withstood the more rigorous test.

I am going to go to a store and sample both car seats. Both look great on paper in many ways, and truthfully, both are probably safe. It depends on which is easier for you to use and which fits in your car better.