Convertible car seat for occasional travel (we don't have a car)

[kar212]

My 12-week-old is an inch away from the 26" height maximum for the Graco Snugride, and I'm looking for a convertible car seat. We plan to use it infrequently--when visiting family in other cities, when renting a car, and perhaps when taking an occasional taxi trip. Have any of you faced a similar situation? Does anyone know of a car seat that's easy to install in a wide variety of car types? Since my son is big, ideally it should be rear-facing for relatively big babies. Additional perks (which I'm willing to sacrifice!): if the car seat were relatively compact and inexpensive.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Joolsplus2]

While it's not inexpensive, I would actually recommend a Britax Roundabout to you....primarily because it installs well in over 99% of cars, is not "that" heavy, and it has built-in lock-offs, so that you can always be able to "lock" the seat in, no matter if you are riding in an older car (pre-96) that doesn't have locking seatbelts.
Also, it's on sale at www.babylove.com for $159 (I hope that's still good! there are other places for $179-$199, too), and any convertible seat is going to last you at least 2.5-3 years, often even longer (unlike infant seats! whoa, sometimes kids can only go 9 weeks in those things!)
But there are others that will also work well enough, and even though they can be harder to use correctly, you WILL learn to get them installed rock-solid in a heartbeat (practice makes perfect...even without owning a car, you might want to borrow a car and go visit a CPS tech once to get some hints and tips so you feel comfortable that you're doing it right www.seatcheck.net or www.seatcheck.org ).
Here are some other seats that generally work well http://www.car-safety.org/carseats.html the only ones to outright avoid would be the century convertibles...they have a 22 pound RF limit! all the rest are 30-33-35, which is MORE than adequate for almost all babies (30 pound one year olds are not that common, and more than that are even less common, so you should be fine with RF to a year or more).
Have fun shopping :)

[twouglyducks]

K-Mart has Cosco Touriva 5-point seats on sale for $30. They aren't bad seats. They are harder to use than some, twisty straps and difficult harness adjuster. It is lightweight, very narrow, and rearfaces to 35lbs. My tall 2 year old still fits heightwise rearfacing, too. If you really aren't using it that often, and if you practice installing it a few times and are careful to ALWAYS be sure the straps are flat on baby, this seat should be just fine. For $30, it's not a bad deal at all. Of course, if you can afford it, a Britax Roundabout would be a lot nicer to use, but if not, the Touriva can work really well, too.

[chinookmail]

This is very helpful for me since we have the same issue (no car, occasional rental or taxi). Will the Britax Roundabout fit onto one of those snap n go things with wheels? Can you use it in a car without the base? I've always wondered what to do with the base when we get out of a taxi. Thanks!

[twouglyducks]

Convertible seats do not have a base, at least not a detachable one like you are used to with the infant seat. I never thought of what you'd do with it once you got somewhere from a taxi and just had the seat there.

Would anyone suggest a sit-n-stroll in this situation?? I have absolutely no experience with one of these. I've never even seen one IRL.

Good luck finding something that fits your unique situation.