Convertible Carseat advice needed

[watts928]

I have 8 month old twin boys who are about to outgrow their infant seats. Currently we have just the 2 seats, with 2 bases in my car and 2 bases in my husband's car. For convenience's sake, we're planning on purchasing 4 convertible carseats, and we'd like to somehow do this without breaking the bank. Please provide suggestions as to what carseats are the best quality for around $150 each. Also, we'd (obviously) like them to last as long as possible (convert to boosters?). Thank you!

[codex57]

What car(s) do you have? That helps a lot.

Most of us are pretty adamant about rear facing as long as possible. It's 540% safer than sitting facing the front. With those kinds of numbers, it's easy to see why you should keep your kiddo facing the rear for as long as you can.

The ones that convert to boosters are forward facing only, and at 8 months, it's not something we would recommend even if it weren't already illegal.

Anyways, without knowing what space limitations you may have, I'd say the True Fit is the first seat to come to mind that I'd recommend for you.

[watts928]

Oh, I didn't know that the ones that convert to boosters are forward-facing only. Good to know! We will DEFINITELY keep them facing backwards until they are at least a year old. I drive a 2008 Jeep Liberty and my husband drives a Hummer H3.

[Joolsplus2]

I think she was referring to the Alpha Omegas or Evenflo Symphonies that become boosters, though. In which case, skip them anyway, the Alpha's make *horribly* dangerous boosters.
The plus side is that you can get 4-5 years out of this next set of seats, rearfacing to at least age 2, forward facing to at least age 5 is optimal, and there are quite a few seats that will do that :).
Evenflo Triumph Advance or Graco My Ride 65 are excellent choices you can find for lower prices (under $150 each). Slightly more spendy would be the Britax Roundabout 50 and the First Years True Fit, but they are a little higher quality.
Or you could go with something good for the main car, and something cheaper, like the Evenflo Titan or Cosco Scenera for the less-used car. It will only last till about 2 rearfacing and 3.5 or so forward facing, but then you could leapfrog to your next seats, like the Graco Nautilus after them. 4 of the same seat would be very convenient in terms of learning to use them, but it can be handy to have lighter, smaller seats if you travel by air (easier to carry!).

:)

[o_mom]

There are a few convertible seats that later become boosters - usually called 3-in-1 or Alpha Omega, a couple others on the market as well. Unfortunately, in spite of the marketing, they really don't last as long as you need. Many times they are difficult to install and become horrible boosters later. For the price, you are better off getting a good convertible seat that just does rear-facing and forward-facing and then later getting a good dedicated booster.

I would focus on getting a convertible seat that has a tall shell and a greater than 40 lb harness limit. The tall shell is to be able to keep the child rear-facing as long as you can. The bare minimum (which you know) is at least one year and 20 lbs, however the current recommendation of the AAP is that babies and toddlers remain rear-facing to the limit of a convertible seat or at least through age 2. The safety of rear-facing is just so much better than forward facing. There is more information about that here: http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

A greater than 40 lb harness limit (when paired with the taller shell) will make sure that you can most likely get to a safe booster age before they outgrow the seat. That is a bare minimum of 4 years and 40 lbs, but preferably to age 5-6.

As far as seats that might fit your needs: First Years True Fit, Evenflo Triumph Advance, Graco MyRide and the Britax Roundabout50 are all seats that have taller shells, taller top harness settings, 50-65 lb weight limits and around that price with sales/coupons. Any of those should fit in your vehicles, some might be better than others, though, so a trip to BRU to see them in person would be my suggestion.

[watts928]

Thank you all for your responses! You've certainly helped me narrow it down! :thumbsup:

[Swimfreak78]

Thank you all for your responses! You've certainly helped me narrow it down! :thumbsup:

I'd ask if you can get a twins' discount. I have a friend who did that recently at Bed Bath and Beyond. She was able to use the 20% off coupons and get another 10% off on top of that for her Marathon's.