Need lots of guidance--first time mom, need to buy conv car seat

[gabesmom]

We are in the market for a convertible car seat for our nearly 5 month old DS. He is getting uncomfortable in his infant seat, and it is getting too heavy to carry him in it now that he is 16 pounds.

We have considered Britax simply b/c that is what everyone tends to recommend. I like that it goes to 65 pounds, but it seems so expensive in comparison to other seats.

We also like the Eddie Bauer 3-in-1 that goes up to 100 pounds. I tried DS out in it at BRU today and accidently pinched his little leg in the harness and am now worried that is going to be a problem all the time with that seat.

We also like the Evenflo Triumph, but are worried we will just be buying another seat soon since it only goes to 40 pounds.

In PA, we have to have children in car seats till 6 years old or 60 pounds. I have no idea how much to expect my DS to weigh at what age, so that is making the decision a bit more difficult as well. At 5 months old he is about 16 pounds and 27 inches long. We are also going to need to purchase at least two if not three car seats because DS is in so many family members' care throughout the week.

Any suggestions and feedback would be extremely helpful and much appreciated!

[Laela]

I have a Britax and I am one hundred percent happy with it!

[o_mom]

The large Britax seats seem expensive, but they can be the last harnessed seat you need for many children. It is best to keep your child rear-facing to the limits of the convertible seat - usually 30-35 lbs or when their head reaches the top of the seat. This is usually around age 2 or 3, so a seat that can rear-face to higer height and weight limits is good. A 65 lb Britax seat will last rear-facing to 33 lbs and almost unlimited height. Forward facing it will last most kids until age 4.5-6 years old. That is usually when you can think about a booster seat, which should be used until they fit the adult seatbelt, regardless of the law.

The bare minimum for a booster seat (without a harness) is 4 years and 40 lbs, but the rate of head injury is higher for kids in boosters up to about age 5. Also, the child needs to be able to sit still in the seat and not be out of position for the entire ride every ride. That is very hard for a 4 year, more reasonable for a 6 yo, but it depends on the child. For most kids it is somewhere around 8-11 years old when they can use an adult seatbelt without a booster.

Anyway, the Eddie Bauer seat can only be used with the harness to 40 lbs. Additionally the top usable slots are fairly low, so many kids outgrow it before they are 40 lbs and usually before 4 years old.

The current Triumph has a fairly short back which means it is outgrown rear-facing very quickly and forward-facing sometimes before age 2.

Some other seats to consider are the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe, the Radian 65, the new Recaro convertible and the new redesigned Triumph. For a secondary seat, look at the Cosco Scenara and the Safety 1st Uptown.

Baby crying, gotta go... HTH!

[denna]

I was just going to reply something very similar. I know that the Britax may seem so much more expensive then other seats but really it will last you MUCH longer. And the fact they have some of the highest RF'ing weight limits on the market was enough to win me over. There are usually some pretty good sales on Britaxes throughout the year, esp around the August time frame. That is when I purchased my Boulevard and saved nearly $100 due to another mom on this board. I got my seat from Babycenter.com.

HTH

[toddcami]

This may not be the best advice you could get since I didn't actaully use our Evenflo Triumph until our daughter was one year of age, but we love the Evenflo Triumph. I did a lot of research when our daughter needed a bigger carseat. I wanted to get the safest, most user friendly careseat for an affordable price and the Eveflo Triumph is what we decided on. It is so incredibly easy to use and she is very comfortable in it. I think for the price you can't go wrong. One thing to keep in mind about the Evenflo Truimph is that it is a little larger than some of the other carseats, but I think that the Britax is too (but I'm not sure about that and I don't know about the Eddie Bauer.) We have a Saturn 4-door and it fits fine in our car. The Evenflo is really easy to tighten and loosen to get just the right fit when seasons are changing and you have different levels of clothing on and need the straps longer or shorter. I can't say enough good about it.

[Happy 2B mommy]

I sooooo feel your pain. For the past 2 months I've researched car seats so much it was like a part-time job. My husband started telling friends I suffered from CSOD (car seat obsession disorder)! I went with a Britax Boulevard seat because of the super-easy installation, the excellent safety features and the high weight limit. My peditrician said the average child will triple his/her birth weight by 1 year and nearly quadruple weight by age 2. We have friends who got seats that only go to 40 pounds and then had to either buy another seat or put their 2.5 year old in a booster(dangerous and irresponsible, IMO). Our DD was over 9 pounds at birth, so buying a Britax seat with the high weight limit really made sense for us. When I figured out the amount of time DD will use the seat, the cost of the seat works out to about $5.00 a month. A bargin, IMO.

Because of the super-easy install, we only purchased one seat and simply transfer it between our vehicles - so what we spent for the one seat equals the cost of 2 less expensive seats. Of course, we had our local car seat techs check our installation and had them watch us take it out and re-install it to make sure we did everything correctly. While that works for us, it may not be a good idea for everyone. My only regret is that I got a conservative, neutral fabric (it was on sale) instead of the cute, purple, 'girly' one with flowers. If you buy one seat that will be used by the same child for a long time, get something that you find fun.

Of course, make sure the seat works in your car first. Britax seats are BIG (not a good fit in MIL car). The folks at BRU were really nice and let us take a few seats out to our vehicles to try them. (I suggest you chose a really nice day to go car seat shopping. The clerk who helped us loved having an excuse to go outside )

Hope this helps and you find a seat you love and that works for your vehicle(s).

Kerri

[Happy 2B mommy]

Forgot to mention this earlier. After the age of 2, kids gain approx. 4 pounds per year.

Personally, I'd stay away from the Eddie Bauer. Friends who have used that seat hated it. Evenflo might work out well for you, but play with one at a store and try it out in your car. Most folks do like them and they are a good value. However, the Triumph only goes to 40 pounds. Based on your son's current weight, he'll probably outgrow it before he could safely be out of the 5 pt harness.

You should also check out the Fisher-price Safe Voyage Deluxe (only $129.00 at Albeebaby). That has a 55 pound weight limit and uses the same plastic shell as the Britax marathon or decathalon (I forget which). There is no EPS foam and the install won't be as easy as the Britax, but again, a good value.

Good luck

Kerri

[millerpjm]

I had a Britax Roundabout for my DS, which he outgrew in height way before weight - I was so sad! So, when I started looking at forward facing seats or combo harnessed/booster seats, I bought a Graco. Nice seat and all, but not nearly as easy to install or to adjust the straps as the Britax. DS is now in the Britax Regent (he's 4) and the Graco went to the grandparents' as a spare seat. If I had to do it over again, I would definitely do one of the 65 lb. limit Britax seats - divide the amount of money you're spending by how long it will last, and it doesn't seem so bad! I am a very satisfied Britax owner.

I did not have an Evenflo Triumph, but I did have an Evenflo Titan 5 as a babysitters/grandparents seat and it was also more difficult to install, and the straps twisted horribly.

Hope that helps...
Jen

[gabesmom]

Thank you so much to everyone who has responded. Your information and advice is truly helpful. We are leaning toward the Britax Marathon now. Just have to track down the best price!

[denna]

Hey,

Im also shopping around for a Marathon to use as a 2nd seat and this is what I have found so far:

Baby Age
$269.99 w/ free shipping on Britax thru 12/31/07 & 2% Cash back thru www.fatwallet.com

http://www.babyage.com/products/e9w06_britax_britax_marathon_convertible_car_seat. htm

*Baby Center
$269.95 use code FREESHIP29 (exp 6/12/07) and get 7% Cash back thru www.fatwallet.com

http://store.babycenter.com/product/gear/car+seats/convertible+car+seats/britax+marathon+convertible+car+seat.do?sortby=sho rtdesc&asc=true


Baby Universe
**$249.99-$299.99

http://www.babyuniverse.com/man/baby/105/customman/yes/manuprod/marathon/manucat/0/manusec/0/custom/no/cusmanid/67/BritaxMarathonConvertibleCarSeat.html


*For Baby Center Im not sure how long you can hold off but they tend to have sales quite often (between 10-20% off) and last year I saved over a $100 in July/August on my Boulevard purchasing it thru Baby Center.

**Baby Universe: $249.99 is for 2 select covers (Denim & Luah)

Average price is $269.99 I even checked on Albee Baby.

Good luck!

[Joolsplus2]

www.albeebaby.com typically has the cheapest Marathons (sometimes 209, usually 229, free shipping)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[stefani]

I just bought another convertible car seat for DS, the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe. DS is 3.75 years old now.

If I were to do it over again, I would have bought Britax Marathons. I need 3 car seats as DS goes in my car, DH's, and MIL's, so 3 Marathons would be a lot of money, but I think I would have gotten the "best" car seats.

Instead, I bought 2 Evenflo Titans, and 1 Evenflo Triumph. DS is about to outgrow the Titans, but still has some room in the Triumph. The FPSVD is the same shell as the Marathon, so essentially 1 Titan + FPSVD = Marathon for me. Price wise it is about the same then. Too bad that the FPSVD was not available 3 years ago.

So maybe if you want to save a little money, you can buy 1 Marathon and 2 or 3 FPSVD (or any combination).

HTH.

[denna]

When I just checked albeebaby they were all $269.99. Is there a coupon code or something? That is a GREAT deal!

Thanks!

[Dr_Mom]

Check the website again. There are 2 cover patterns that are on sale... one that is Navy and the other which is brownish. ($219 and $229)