Still recommend Touriva as good backup seat?

[araknes]

Hi everyone,

Looking back through the archives it seems that the Cosco Touriva is the most recommended backup seat for airplane travel, 2nd car, etc. Since some of the archive posts are pretty old, I wanted to check in to see whether there are any new thoughts?

We're going to be traveling every other weekend and need a light, easy to use, and most importantly safe seat for airplanes and rental cars. We have a Marathon for our primary seat and LOVE it! I'm considering the Roundabout but like the Touriva's price better....

Thanks for your help!

Amanda - Mom to Benjamin 11 months

[Joyce6830]

The Touriva is no Marathon. If you are comparing seats to the Marathon, you will be disappointed in the Touriva. However, it is a great low end seat. There are no bells and whistles but it's a great seat for the price. It's easy to install in most cars however, depending on the car, you may need pool noodles so your baby isn't sitting too upright. That might be a pain in cabs while traveling. At 11 months he doesn't have to have a 45 degree angle but you still could need noodles depending on the car. It is light weight which will be nice for traveling. I've never used a car seat on an airplane (never needed to) so I can't say how it will install. I have heard complaints from people that the buckle on the plane seat came together in the middle of the back of the seat and was horribly uncomfortable for the baby. I do know you wouldn't have this problem with the Roundabout because of the plastic piece on the back of the seat that keeps the seat belt from resting against the harness straps. It's a black piece of plastic the pops on and off in the back of the seat. Good Luck!

Joyce, CPST

[JElaineB]

I can highly recommend the 5-point Cosco Touriva as a secondary/travel car seat. We use it as a secondary car seat in my DH's car and I just used it as my only car seat on a 10 day vacation. It is very lightweight and easy to carry in the airport (I used the tether strap as a "backpack" strap. Not sure if you are supposed to do that but it worked great) and very easy to install (FF) in the airplanes. I used it in my mom's car for 10 days and it was fine. Not as plush as our Britax RA (primary seat at home) but for the price it can't be beat. The only problem with my seat is that the harness adjuster is a little bit difficult to tighten. I generally just left the adjustment it where it fit DS well and didn't mess with it too much.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02