Tell me what carseat to buy for my 3 year old!

[maiaann]

First and foremost, I hate car-seat shopping. So, please direct me to your favourite carseat and why. Here's my situation...

DD3 I is growing much faster than her sisters and will outgrow her infant car seat (Graco snugride) any day now. She's only 7 months old. At her 6 mo check-up she weighed 16.5 lbs and has been putting on about 1 lb per month. I'm planning on bumping her into DD2's roundabout, but that leaves DD2 without a seat.

DD2 is petite. She will be 3 next week, is about 29 lbs (I don't know her height) and rides rear-facing in a Britax Roundabout. (She rode in her infant car seat until she was about 13 months old.)

Initially I had planned to move DD3 in the Roundabout this summer (assuming DD3 would be just as petite as her sisters), giving DD2 about 6 more months to grow thus nearing on the 35 lb rear facing limit. I figured I'd worry about what to move her to when the time neared.

I'd like something that will last her a long time, and since she's still small has the option of going rear-facing. I'd like a 5 pt harness. We have a small car and like the roundabout (over the Marathon) because of its smaller size. What are my best bests?

[AnnieW625]

What size car do you have?

My favorite convertable seat no longer exists, it's the Evenflo Triumph 5. It's been replaced by the bigger Evenflo Triumph Advance (similar in size to a Marathon). If I had to buy another seat now I'd definitely look at the Britax BLVD or The First Years True Fit Premier.

You can get a Britax Roundabout 50, which is basically a stripped down Marathon (it's missing something like the heavy latch bar) so it's lighter, but is th same shell size as the Marathon. It also rear faces to 35lbs, but you should get a couple of more inches rear facing wise in it because it has a taller shell. Another rear facing option is the Radian series of car seats, all rear face until 40 or 45lbs, but rear facing the seat takes up a lot of room. Also the True Fit series of seats also rear faces until 40lbs I think.

DD is 39" and 33-35lbs (depends on the day) and is in a Britax Frontier and she really likes the seat. The seat is only forward facing, but with a top tether it's very safe. DD has been in hers for just about a year and loves her big kid seat. The Graco Nautilus is a similar type seat.

Also as far as the snugride goes she has until her head is less than 1" from the top of the shell and or 22lbs so you might still make that summer timeline for moving her.