If $$ was no option, what is your PERFECT carseat?

[supercalifragilous]

My DD is 3y/o, 37", and 35 lbs.

We are currently in a Britax Marathon and are looking to upgrade for the second car. At first I was looking at the Husky/Regent, but it doesn't have TSIP. Is TSIP a big factor?

I'm torn between a 5-pt harness vs a booster with TSIP - I wish there was a perfect carseat with both 5-pt and TSIP that will go up to 85 lbs!!

The reason we didn't get a Wizard (w/TSIP) when it came out was b/c I was concerned that after being in the Marathon, DD would crane her neck out to look out the windows (she is VERY nosy). So if a kid is going to be craning their neck forward, would it be better to put them in a non-TSIP 5-pt carseat rather than a booster with TSIP?

If cost weren't a factor, what carseat would YOU buy for your DC? What is the "best on the market"??

[Joolsplus2]

www.safeguardseat.com or the Britax Boulevard (MUCH improved over the Wizard), or the Regent (no SIP specifically, but all harnessed seats with impact absorbing foam in the head area are remarkably protective).

Or... the Recaro Young Sport (tall top harness slots should last most average weight kids to age 5, then becomes a terrific SIP booster).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[erzzie]

Julie,
Do you still recommend the Boulevard over the Decathalon for a car with side impact airbags all around? Or is the button adjuster and adjustable crotch strap worth getting if you have the airbags?

[Joolsplus2]

I'd probably go with the DC for a car with side curtains... but remember the harness adjuster is a PAIN for at least the first month with it...but I like the adjustable crotch strap and the slightly higher top slots of the DC versus the BV (of course, you have to answer this question yourself: Can my child ever be TOO protected?)

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[supercalifragilous]

Thanks for your reply, Julie!

For our next carseat, I'm definitely going between a Boulevard and Safeguard seat. (Wow what a price difference! But I can't put a price on safety.) After she reaches 65 lbs (and DD tends to be tall for her age), I will consider the next carseat/booster - either Regent or Recaro like you recommended. And who knows, there will probably be new improvements and innovations by then!

So in your experience/opinion, between the Boulevard and Safeguard, which do you recommend?

[Joolsplus2]

I think the safeguard is amazing, but for my own kiddo, I'd probably go with the Boulevard for a 3 yo (for a 4+ yo, I'd get the Safeguard or Regent)...I just think it's so comfy for little kids (and there are some good sales now... www.albeebaby.com usually has a deal...).
My own petite girl got too tall for the Marathon at about age 6 (at 40ish pounds), but would have loads of growing room in the Safeguard or Regent (Even my 8.5 yo has loads of growing room in the Regent).

Anyway, I tried to give a definitive answer, but ended up brainstorming as usual, lol... I just think the BV would be a fine choice for a 3 yo.

Oh boy, wait till you see the boosters that are out there in 3+ years when you need one... we're just about to get rigid latch installed ones now, it's gonna be amazing in three years!

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[supercalifragilous]

Thanks again Julie = and DH thanks you too for saving him $$$!!! You were totally right - Albee Baby had a couple BVs on sale too! We're going to BRU to try DD out in it! She's perfectly content in her MA but I know "trying it out" at the store will totally get her excited about getting a new carseat, even if it does have wings! :) That way it won't be a shocking experience when it comes in the mail!

[Joolsplus2]

Most kids love the "Pillows" on that seat, they don't think they are bad at all :)

Good luck!
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[december29]

try www.babycatalog.com, too, they almost always have a sale and free shipping.

[kusiakje]

Yeah, albeebaby.com has quite the sale on the Decathlon in Odyssey right now. $219. I couldn't believe it, but I ordered one for DD anyway. Hopefully, it'll be OK when it gets here next week.

It's funny, I was actually going to get DD a Marathon, but that price was basically the same as the Marathons, so I figured I might as well get the extra padding and what not for an extra $1. Plus, that gray/blue Odyssey fabric works better in my car than most of the Marathons on sale. So for anyone else with gray interior, you might wanna check it out.

They had Boulevards for $240 as well, but I got ours from babyuniverse.com for $250 instead because with ebates it winds up being cheaper.

I spent hours with froogle and bizrate checking all this out, so I wanted to put it out there for anyone who's in the market.

--Jessica
Mom to Katarina (DOB 9/16/05)

[trash]

>Yeah, albeebaby.com has quite the sale on the Decathlon in
>Odyssey right now. $219. I couldn't believe it, but I
>ordered one for DD anyway. Hopefully, it'll be OK when it
>gets here next week.
>
>It's funny, I was actually going to get DD a Marathon, but
>that price was basically the same as the Marathons, so I
>figured I might as well get the extra padding and what not for
>an extra $1. Plus, that gray/blue Odyssey fabric works better
>in my car than most of the Marathons on sale. So for anyone
>else with gray interior, you might wanna check it out.
>
>They had Boulevards for $240 as well, but I got ours from
>babyuniverse.com for $250 instead because with ebates it winds
>up being cheaper.
>
>I spent hours with froogle and bizrate checking all this out,
>so I wanted to put it out there for anyone who's in the
>market.
>
>--Jessica
>Mom to Katarina (DOB 9/16/05)


So I wanted to ask you what was the DOM of the boulevard you got from babyuniverse? Did you get the mosiac fabric is it soft? How much did you ended up paying with ebates. Thanks

[kusiakje]

I got the classic fabric, not the mosiac. DH didn't like the look of the mosiac fabric, and since it's going in his car, he got to make the call. Ebates offers 6% back from baby universe, so that added $15 to my account. Which means that the seat cost about $235. Of course, you don't get the money back immediately though, so the $5 difference wouldn't have made much of a difference to some people. But, because I've heard bad things about albee baby's CS, I decided to limit my purchase there to the Decathlon.

I can answer your other questions about softness of material and DOM on Wednesday when the seat arrives. (I just ordered the seat late Wednesday night, so 6 day turnaround...pretty good.) I've never had problems with baby universe in the past though, so I'd be surprised if the DOM was significantly in the past.

According to babysupermarket.com, Britax is discontinuing the classic and mosiac fabrics, which is why they're so cheap. (I think they were selling the BVs for like $199, but it seemed a bit fishy to me.) I'm not sure when that happened, but that might affect the DOM a bit. I'm guessing not much at all though, since they haven't even updated their website with new fabrics yet.

I had actually thought about waiting a bit to see the new fabrics, and see if any of them would be a little prettier than their current selections, but DD is quickly outgrowing her Snugride, so I thought I should get her into the Britax ASAP. (Plus, I'm sick of lugging her up 2 flights of stairs to our condo!)

HTH,
Jessica
Mom to Katarina (DOB 9/16/05)

[december29]

i checked out albeebaby and some others. 1 wannted to let you i found a decathalon on www.babycatalog.com for 219.99 in odyssey and they have some other colors on sale. they have a free shipping special on the whole site right now, too. :)

i don't think they're on ebates, though. is ebates a good deal? does it really work the way it says it will?

[kusiakje]

Yes, I think ebates is worthwhile. I've saved 10% at snapfish and 6% at pretty much every other place I've been able to shop online with them. It adds up. I've got about $30 coming to me in my next check. BUT, there is a drawback, in that you only get checks every 4 months or so. It's not like rebates from stores where you send them in and get a check in like 6-8 weeks.

I also wanted to let trash know that I got the Boulevard in classic today from Baby Universe. The material is very nice and maybe a bit softer than I was expecting from boulevard displays at BRU etc, but still heavy and probably a bit hot for the summer months. Pretty much the same basic type of material that I've seen on all the store displays. From the pictures, I wasn't sure if it was charcoal or black, but it's black and the tan color is a darker shade too, which I would call camel. The DOM is 2/28/06 so it's fairly recent for being a discontinued seat.

The Decathlon that I ordered from albee baby is also really nice. The fabric is mostly gray which I think is exactly the same shade as that of my car. Very nice. And there's a bit of a turquoise color to offset the gray, which I think is nice. This material is just what I expected from store displays. Nice, thick, warm and a tiny bit scratchy at certain angles. I can't believe it, but the manufacture date is 5/10/06. The albee baby people must just be sitting at the factory to pick them up and ship them out.

hth,
Jessica
Mom to Katarina (DOB 9/16/05)

[kellyotn]

You can tie your eBates to pay out to your PayPal account. I'm not sure how often they do pay out that way, as I just switched over from the check method.

Overall, I've gotten over $60 back. Not bad for just picking certain stores. I've always had good transactions with the stores I've used, too.

[floobear]

Does rigid latch connectors mean there is no webbing at all, or does it just mean the quick connects attached to webbing that you have to manhandle and tighten (like what Britax et al have)?

Also, (Julie) you mentioned the BV is much improved over the WZ. We have a WZ and I am pretty happy with how it works (except the recline feature b/c I don't like seats designed to have any movement whatsoever -- but this seems common to a number of Britaxes). I even *like* the narrow SIP headwings on the WZ. Are there any safety (as opposed to comfort)features that are different between the two?

Anyone else have a problem with their Britaxes moving at the base? I actually ordered a BV a few days ago but cancelled it b/c Britax told me all their seats are built on the common base with the angle adjuster. Recently I had to send our WZ back. Not only was its recline adjuster broken (no angle change is possible at all), but the whole pivot point rocks. In other words, the seat had movement! Britax said I must've "popped out the internal recline bar" but applying "excessive force" perhaps during installation. All I know is that either me or my husband put our knee on it and simultaneously pull on the LATCH webbings during installation. If the WZ cannot withstand installation conditions (i.e. recline bar pops out, seat has play in movement), I am not sure I want more of the same design.

Thanks for any medley of answers!

[Joolsplus2]

I think it's possible they may have changed the testing a bit on the BV over the WZ, but I have no way to really confirm that. I tend to overstate the 'betterness' of the BV because so many people claim to hate the WZ wings, and I want to make the BV seem way different, which it is, but it isn't... it just looks less confining so people have less of a gut reaction to it being all cramped up, know what I mean?
I'd say the problem with your base is, 'not uncommon'..which is not to say, common, but I have heard of it more than a few times, unfortunately, and I've heard the same answer out of Britax, that you pushed it too hard on the install. I don't know if that's true, but at least you aren't alone.

And yeah, rigid means they are solid metal bars to just click the seat in. The Safeguard doesn't have rigid bars, but it has self retracting/automatic LATCH belts (like when you pull a shoulderbelt all the way out and it just keeps getting tighter and tighter...it's VERY easy to install VERY quickly).

What did they do about your WZ? Are they going to try to fix it?

The Radian has a solid base (optional recline, and a recline foot you have to kind of hold to the seat to recline... not easy, but not really liable to break in the same way as a Britax base, fwiw)

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[floobear]

Thanks for all the answers.

It's funny .. on p.43 of the 2006 Honda Odyssey manual, the following statement is printed: "We also recommend selecting a LATCH-compatible seat with a rigid, rather than a flexible, ancor (see page 45)" [Yes, on p.45, they show a picture of a seat with rigid LATCH connectors with no webbing whatsoever. It sort of looks like solid claws coming out of the back of a FF seat] So I called Honda USA and asked them "Where on earth did your engineers see a seat like this in order to make this recommendation? Please tell me b/c I want to get one." They are getting back to me. I figure maybe something like this exists in Japan??

Britax offered to fix up our WZ and send it back for free. They didn't pick up freight but I figure since it's 1-year warranty had expired a year ago, I was lucky they would do anything. So was it worth $35 to have a re-furbished WZ or to have picked up a new economy model carseat? I don't know. All I know is that my son likes the narrow little wings and it isn't worth the fight. Meanwhile his "seat" for the next few days is a FF Radio Flyer little red wagon.

I love the Safeguard and I think it's cool how they crashed their seats to test them. (I figure they must've crashed some competitors too and it would've been interesting to see comparative results). I am almost sold on it but have seen several posts that the seat is just too darn shallow. The more I learn, the more I can't decide.

Thanks for all your answers. If it's true that the booster world will change markedly in the next 3+ years, I can at least cross Recaro Young Sport off my list!

[floobear]

Thanks for all the answers.

It's funny .. on p.43 of the 2006 Honda Odyssey manual, the following statement is printed: "We also recommend selecting a LATCH-compatible seat with a rigid, rather than a flexible, ancor (see page 45)" Yes, on p.45, they show a picture of a seat with rigid LATCH connectors with no webbing whatsoever. It sort of looks like solid claws coming out of the back of a FF seat. So I called Honda USA and asked them "Where on earth did your engineers see a seat like this in order to make this recommendation? Please tell me b/c I want to get one." They are getting back to me. I figure maybe something like this exists in Japan??

Britax offered to fix up our WZ and send it back for free. They didn't pick up freight but I figure since it's 1-year warranty had expired a year ago, I was lucky they would do anything. So was it worth $35 to have a re-furbished WZ or to have picked up a new economy model carseat? I don't know. All I know is that my son likes the narrow little wings and it isn't worth the fight. Meanwhile his "seat" for the next few days is a FF Radio Flyer little red wagon.

I love the Safeguard and I think it's cool how they crashed their seats to test them. (I figure they must've crashed some competitors too and it would've been interesting to see comparative results). I am almost sold on it but have seen several posts that the seat is just too darn shallow. The more I learn, the more I can't decide.

Thanks for all your answers. If it's true that the booster world will change markedly in the next 3+ years, I can at least cross Recaro Young Sport off my list!

[december29]

the britax company runs their own crash tests, too. they say it's part of the reason their prices are higher. they dont crash anyone elses, i dont think, its not for comparison. they do it so they can say they surpass the U.S. standards and improve the seats.

[Joolsplus2]

Oh, there are some rigid LATCH seats...They just didn't sell well (they are way heavy, and expensive to engineer, and consumer reports dissed them for not fitting in some cars, so no one buys/bought them).
The Latch-Loc 22 by Baby Trend, the Expressway Isofix by Britax, and the Jane' Indy Plus are all rigid LATCH...they install easier and do better in side impact crashes (because parent's *can't* install them too loosely).
http://www.car-safety.org/latch.html has more info.
We share the LATCH system with Europe/Canada/Australia, but they call it by a few other names, and Europe doesn't have top tethers at all.
$35 for a fixed WZ is a bargain compared to the only other seat I'd recommend in that price range, the Cosco Scenera... which is nice, but doesn't have EPS foam for head protection, or nice LATCH, or a dialing harness height adjuster... trust me, you wouldn't love it (wouldn't have to not love it for long, it gets outgrown so much sooner, hehehe).

They may or may not crash competitor's seats (on the sly... definitely not something they'd advertise!)...they can only go by the government set standards and not make too many promises (can't say a kid will survive every crash, or they'd be out of business in a minute paying lawsuits). Britax also has a side impact sled in Britain (where they test all their TSIP seats).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx