need 2 excellent, inexpensive convertible carseats- suggestions?

[gatorsmom]

Until recently, we had had a Marathon for our toddler in both of our cars. Now our baby has outgrown his infant seat so we need a convertible seat for him for both of our cars. But, we've decided that since the kids rarely ride in my husband's car, that we'd use the 2 Marathons in my minivan and get 2 convertible seats that are very good, but not so expensive for his car. Any suggestions? I normally read all this stuff up in Denise and Alan's books, but i just don't have time rightnow. There aren't any special considerations for height or weight, just safety!

Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[o_mom]

The best option for inexpensive convertible seats is the Cosco Scenera. It runs $40-50 at Target, Walmart and Kmart. Look for the 5-pt version NOT the overhead shield. The padding is pretty thin, but kids really don't seem to mind. It has fairly tall top slots, so you can get some good use out of it. Most other seats in the <$100 range have such low top slots or low backs that they will be outgrown very quickly.

[amp]

Look for my post below on secondary convertible carseats.

We use marathons for my car and my ds has a Evenflo triumph for the other car, so I needed another affordable 2nd carseat for her option. It's just a few posts down from this one.

ETA: actually it's near the bottom of the page and almost ready to move to page 2.

[gatorsmom]

Thanks for referring me to the other postings. I was all set to go with the FP Safevoyage EX in Circus Dots (man I hate that fabric!) for both kids, but then when my husband and I stopped by to see the seat at Baby Depot (which I've been told is the only place that carries it other than the internet), they didn't have the seat to see. They did, however have plenty of fancy-looking combo seats which my husband thought looked "really cool." Now all he talks about is how "cool" one of those would look in his car and why can't our 34 month-old have a combo seat? After all, (according to him), they have arm rests, cup holders, all sorts of neat wing-dings. I didn't really have an answer as to why our toddler couldn't have a combo seat. Can anyone tell me why he should be in a convertible seat vs. a combo seat? He's 34 months old and 29lbs and about average height for his age.

[jeanum]

A safety advantage of a convertible seat is that it would allow for extended RF while a combo seat would be FF only. A higher weight limit convertible seat like the Fisher Price Safe Voyage EX convertible would also let you keep DS in a 5-point harness beyond 40 lbs. Most combo seats harness up to 40 lbs. then convert to belt positioning boosters. A 5-point harness offers more protection than a belt positioning booster in the event of a crash.

There are two combo seats with higher harnessed weight limits over 40 lbs.: the Cosco Apex combo harnesses up to 65 lbs. but requires a tall vehicle seatback/headrest, and the Safeguard Go harnesses from 30-60 lbs., also requires a top tether and tall vehicle seatback, and converts to a backless booster for 40-100 lbs.

HTH.

[kellyotn]

Just agreeing with PP. The FP goes to 55 lbs with tall slot heights. This should get you into an age where boostering is acceptable maturity-wise. Most combos only go to forty with simlar slot heights, and then they make a so-so booster. The Recaro Young Sport, however, does make a stellar booster. If its harness max was higher, I'd have one now. :)

Your son is pretty light, so he might last a long time in one. Ideally, you'd want him to be a minimum of 4 years old before considering a booster. The FP probably would get to much farther, which is a great thing. I did see they are coming out with a new fabric! I agree its pretty ugly.

What seat did your husband like? Maybe the people here can tell you its pros and cons.

[gatorsmom]

Oh, please don't encourage my overgrown baby husband! Ok, he's interested in the Cosco Summit combo seat. Anyone know anything about this carseat?

[Tondi G]

DO NOT BUY THE COSTCO SUMMIT! You will hate it! I told my neighbors to stay away from Cosco seats and they came home with a Summit anyways. A couple of weeks later they said "we should have listened to you, this seat sucks"!

[kellyotn]

http://www.carseatdata.org/csnumbers.html has slot height measurments. The big problem with that seat is that the slots are *very* low. 2.5 inches LOWER than a MA or the FP MA clone. The harness will likely get outgrown by height WAY before your son is close to 40 lbs. You can see other combos are a lot higher.

Now, I don't know how exact that chart is (ie if the measurements are exact or if new models have changed...) but something to think about when comparing seats is how much room they have to grow heightwise. Its easy to not even pay notice the slot heights until its too late.

If he likes combos, the Apex is good if it works in your car. You can't have low seatbacks. It harnesses to 65 lbs, which is great.

The Safegaurd GO has a similar headrest restriction, but looks cool. Harnesses until 60 lbs.

The Evenflo Generations or Bolero is nice. Harnesses to 40 lbs. Has armrests and cupholders, etc. The Bolero is the more basic version (missing a pillow and a slight recline option) for $80 at Kmart. The Generations is at Target for around $100.

The Graco Cargos are nice harnessed seats. Harnesses to 40 lbs. They have EPS. But they don't always work great as a booster for some skinny kids.

The Recaro Young Sport makes a great booster. If it harnessed above 40, I'd have one.

Really, I'd go the FP route, then buy a really nice dedicated booster when he's older.

[tjham]

>Look for my post below on secondary convertible carseats.
>
>We use marathons for my car and my ds has a Evenflo triumph
>for the other car, so I needed another affordable 2nd carseat
>for her option. It's just a few posts down from this one.
>
>ETA: actually it's near the bottom of the page and almost
>ready to move to page 2.

Is this the one?

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=13&topic_id=41683&mesg_id=41683&page=3

[amp]

Yup, that's the one.