First and Secondary/Travel Convertible Seat Recs

[belovedgandp]

Wow, I didn't have to shop for a RF carseat for a couple of years and there are so many more options out there. My brother and SIL were asking my opinion for when my now 7 month old niece outgrows her Safeseat carrier. My gut said Marathon from past experience, but I was going to add the First Years True Fit to the list also.

I was also looking for recommendations on a cheaper/lighter/secondary seat. DN will be in a Toyota RAV4 90% of the time, but will be picked up from daycare at least one day a week in an older Subaru. They will also be traveling by air at least a couple times per year.

Any suggestions?

[jjordan]

Do you know what kind of car they drive (model and year)? My top convertible to recommend these days is a Sunshine Kids Radian. The 65SL rearfaces to 40# and the 80SL and XTSL rearface to 45# (although a kid might get too tall to rearface before they reach 45#). Then they can be used forward facing until the average kid is about 6 years old, at which point they are usually ready for a dedicated booster.

However I wouldn't recommend a radian if the car has very limited front-back space, as radians are pretty big (front-back). (On the other hand they are also very narrow, so great if you ever need to fit 3 carseats across in one row!)

For the second car I'd probably go with a Safety 1st Avenue.

[elektra]

I also think that a Marathon/Roundabout 50 is a good 1-2 punch for a primary/secondary seat combo.

[belovedgandp]

I think the RAV4 is a 2007 or so. The Subaru is a mid-90's Outback wagon. So they have some decent room in the backseat.

[MontrealMum]

We have been able to solidly install a MA and a RN (XTSL) rfing in the center of our Subie Outback (09). The TF was a really tough and unsatisfactory install, and though I love the seat, it would not be my first choice for that particular car IME. Maybe others have had better luck. It's certainly loads cheaper than the two previous seats (up here at least-we rarely have the sales you do in the US) so it's worth it to do a little search before discounting it altogether. Subies do have a bit of a wonky backseat. I don't know about the Rav4.

I've never travelled by air with DS, but the idea of the RN with it's self-backpack strap-thingys and folding setup is enticing for sure.

[AnnieW625]

I'd look at the Roundabout 50 over the Marathon, as well as the First Years True Fit, and the Evenflo Triumph Advance for the seats that will last until at least 4 or 5. I'd also look at the Britax BLVD. For the secondary seat they should also look at the Britax Roundabout, Britax Diplomat, and Combi Cocorro because they are smaller seats and might fit better in a mid 90s wagon. Those seats won't get you to past 3 rear facing (maybe 2 or 2.5), but when dealing with smallish cars it is nice to have options, and it is nice to have a smaller seat to use on the airplane.

We had this strap for our smaller Evenflo Triumph 5 (sadly discontinued) and it worked great!:
http://www.pacback.com/

[vonfirmath]

I also think that a Marathon/Roundabout 50 is a good 1-2 punch for a primary/secondary seat combo.

This is my primary/secondary combo.

It's nice to be able to have 1 spare car seat covers that fit both. It might not be so nice when he outgrows both of them at basically the same time so I'm replacing two at once! But they are both easy to install, use basically the same install skills, etc. So I get experienced faster.

We have taken both seats on the airplane -- the Roundabout 50 when I was alone with my son. And I'd take it again. It's SO nice to have a car seat on the other end that I can install easily in whatever car we end up in. I can't imagine trying to install a Radian in an unfamiliar car in an airport parking lot! (esp on my own with no one to watch the antsy 2 year old. or listening to him complain cause he's buckled into the stroller!)

The Roundabout50 travelled through the airport attached to my umbrella stroller (Not the basic, next step up.) And my son was buckled into the Roundabout 50 when he didn't want to walk. So size/weight was only an issue actually GETTING ON the airplane. And I managed fine.

I typically carry a backpack for diaper bag, so the backpack straps on the Radian wouldn't be so helpful.