Car Seat for 22lb+ w/ quick and easy installation

[paigemaniaci]

Hi!
I'm an American first-time Mom living in London with a big 9-month old boy. We don't own a car, as many of us expats who live overseas do. We
regularly travel and book cars or taxis to and from airports. This is
where we need to figure out what car seat is best for us. (And its
really hard!) Now that our son is over 22 lbs, we need to spring for
a new convertible car seat.

I was ready to buy the Britax Boulevard CS based on Baby Bargains book, but after watching the installation of it on youtube, I think its better
for Moms who own a car! The installation does not look like something
I want to do when leaving a restaurant on a rainy dark night on a
crowded cobblestone street (as we often do in London). We need
something that we can put in and take out with ease and repeatedly. We
will be using it in a rental car or cab often and taking it with us
through airports. It would be even better if it somehow fits on top
of our city mini stroller... but I'm sure that is wishful thinking!

Any suggestions????
Thank you so much!
-P.M.

[edurnemk]

Oh you do NOT want a Blvd for taxis and airports! It's HEAVY. I love mine, but I don't travel with it. It's super easy to install, but just the weight and dimensions would drive you crazy with the lifestyle you describe.

I don't have many suggestions, except maybe the Combi Cocoro, which can snap into the Combi flash stroller. I've always wanted to get one of those for travel.

[o_mom]

US seats won't be legal to use over there unless you are military or just on vacation. That may or may not bother you, but to be legal you would need a UK seat. OTOH, it may be hard to find a UK seat to keep him rear-facing at that age/size.

Also, many vehicles over there may not have locking seatbelts, so you would need to use a locking clip if the seat doesn't have a lockoff. Not a ton of choices with that, but a larger infant bucket such as the Graco Snugride35 or the Safety 1st Onboard 35 would probably last you another 9-12 months. They don't have a lockoff on the seat, but if you practice with a locking clip you can get pretty fast. For a convertible seat, the Combi Coccaro is lightweight and has lockoffs for RF or FF. It isn't the longest lasting as it is kind of short, but probably worth it in your situation. I don't know if any of those are marketed in the UK under different names.

[tmahanes]

I would cross post this on the international forum on car-seat.org. They can be a big help! http://www.car-seat.org/forumdisplay.php?f=17

[jjordan]

How long do you plan to live in London? If just for another year or so, a smaller seat might make a lot of sense. If it's more long-term than that, you might just want to bite the bullet and get a bigger seat now. I think a Britax Roundabout55 might be a good compromise (for a bigger seat) between being easy to install, lasting a long time, and not being *too* enormous to lug around. But, any seat that will last you a few more years is also going to be pretty big.

I have strapped similarly-sized carseats onto umbrella strollers using bungee cords, so I wouldn't completely rule that out. However you won't be able to find a convertible seat that "clicks" onto your stroller like an infant seat would.

[paigemaniaci]

Thank you for all of your responses! We don't know how long we will be in London... its a year-to-year deal, so we probably will go with advice of a smaller seat, even though our boy is pretty big. Car Seats aren't really stressed here like they are in the states. They even allow you to cruise around in the back of a cab with him just in the stroller. We haven't done that, but many people do. No one drives fast here unless going on the highway to the airport. It is traveling to the USA where we need the seat the most. Most other cities have a great mass-transport system and its easy to wear him in a sling or something. I guess I will go with either the Sunshine Kids Radian or the Combi Caccaro after reading your responses. This is really appreciated as i have many friends here scratching their heads over the same conundrum.

[jjordan]

Skip the radian - it can be very difficult to install in some cars. The coccoro is easier than the radian, but not always easy (if that makes sense). And, a biggish kid will almost certainly outgrow it rearfacing by age 2. (I recommended one for my niece, whose parents are living abroad, but she is a teeny tiny thing, wears size 9 months at age 15 months!) OTOH, if you end up only needing it for a year, it might be a pretty good seat for you - especially, as the pp pointed out, with the built-in lockoffs.

[bubbaray]

You should check out carseat.se -- that is Adventuredad's website. You could also PM him on car-seat.org.

HTH

[paigemaniaci]

[QUOTE=jjordan;2951199]Skip the radian - it can be very difficult to install in some cars. The coccoro is easier than the radian, but not always easy (if that makes sense). And, a biggish kid will almost certainly outgrow it rearfacing by age 2.

Thanks.. to clarify...Which seat will last longer? The Radian or Coccoro? My 8 month old son is already in 12-18 month clothes.

[edurnemk]

[QUOTE=jjordan;2951199]Skip the radian - it can be very difficult to install in some cars. The coccoro is easier than the radian, but not always easy (if that makes sense). And, a biggish kid will almost certainly outgrow it rearfacing by age 2.

Thanks.. to clarify...Which seat will last longer? The Radian or Coccoro? My 8 month old son is already in 12-18 month clothes.

The Radian, by a landslide.

[o_mom]

[QUOTE=jjordan;2951199]Skip the radian - it can be very difficult to install in some cars. The coccoro is easier than the radian, but not always easy (if that makes sense). And, a biggish kid will almost certainly outgrow it rearfacing by age 2.

Thanks.. to clarify...Which seat will last longer? The Radian or Coccoro? My 8 month old son is already in 12-18 month clothes.

Radian will last much longer, but it is a very large and heavy seat. Not one that you want to carry around with you. If you are looking for something that will last longer, but still be reasonably light for travel, the Cosco Scenera or Safety 1st Uptown/Avenue are light (10 lbs or less) and will last rear-facing to usually age 3 and forward-facing to age 4-5. They do not have any lockoffs, though, so if you come up against a seatbelt without a locking mechanism, you would have to use a locking clip.

[paigemaniaci]

Ok. The corcorro looks almost as small as the infant seat we currently have (the MaxiCosi Cabriofix). We definitely need something bigger but easy to install in various vehicles and easy to transport through airports, etc.

[paigemaniaci]

Thanks O_Mom. After briefly reading some reviews, both of these seats seam an inexpensive version of something even easier... like the Marathon. Money really isn't an option here. Just ease. Everyone talks about the Marathon being so great. Maybe I should just go with that one? Is that realistic to install in and out of cabs and travel with thru an airport?

[o_mom]

I think it is going to be hard to tell from looking online how a specific seat will fit compared to the infant seat. While the Coccoro isn't large, it typically lasts a couple years past the infant seat stage. Here is a review from carseatblog that shows a 4 yo that has just outgrown it: http://carseatblog.com/1750/combi-coccoro-review/ This is another review - you can see a picture of a 30 lb toddler in it (I think he is just over 2 in the picture - I'll check with the author): http://carseatblog.com/2285/combi-coccoro-review-small-cars-and-three-across/

It may not be the seat for you, but the larger seats come with the drawback of being larger and more bulky. Especially if you want a US seat with built-in lockoffs, which pretty much limits it to Britax or Combi.

I would second the suggestion of posting at www.car-seat.org (http://www.car-seat.org) in the international forum as you may get people who are actually over there who can suggest seats to look at in person. There is a recent thread there, as well, that gives links to some UK forums on car seats where people may be able to tell you some UK models to look at: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=150026

ETA: I checked with the author on that second review and she said that he was just over 2 at the time and that she put him in that seat a few months ago at 3.5 years, 32 lbs and he still fit rear-facing. She also said to get a dark color cover if you get one, lol.

[o_mom]

Thanks O_Mom. After briefly reading some reviews, both of these seats seam an inexpensive version of something even easier... like the Marathon. Money really isn't an option here. Just ease. Everyone talks about the Marathon being so great. Maybe I should just go with that one? Is that realistic to install in and out of cabs and travel with thru an airport?

The Marathon is nice, and it would install easier/easily, but it is also big and heavy. It is not going to be one that you can dangle off the stroller handle (the Scenera and Uptown can both do that).

Many people travel with a Marathon or Radian and don't find it difficult. For other people it is torture and they wouldn't even consider it. It is basically deciding what is important to you - how long it lasts, how heavy/bulky it is, if it needs a locking clip, how much room it needs rear-facing, how quickly it is to install, and how much it costs (because a travel seat is going to get wear and if you use UK/EU airlines or travel with a lap baby it may be checked and some people would be very sad to have a $250+ seat damaged by the airline).

[paigemaniaci]

thank you so much O Mom!

[AnnieW625]

[QUOTE=jjordan;2951199]Skip the radian - it can be very difficult to install in some cars. The coccoro is easier than the radian, but not always easy (if that makes sense). And, a biggish kid will almost certainly outgrow it rearfacing by age 2.

Thanks.. to clarify...Which seat will last longer? The Radian or Coccoro? My 8 month old son is already in 12-18 month clothes.

The Radian will last longer, but if you don't have it installed in a car on a regular basis I wouldn't even dream of owning the seat. It's big, it's heavy, and from what I understand it's not the easiest seat to install in many cars. I think that if you can get a look at the Cocorro and or an old Britax Roundabout 40 (not the current 55lb model) then I would just go with one of those. You may not get past 2 rear facing but with either one of those seats you should be able to get to 3 before needing another seat, and they are smaller than most seats so easier to transport.

FWIW, it looks like this Britax seat is the British counterpart to the Roundabout40(?): Britax First Class Plus Rearward (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Britax-Rearward-Forward-Facing-Combination/dp/B002TUTTV0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1291837810&sr=8-6)

Britax UK website:
http://www.britax.co.uk/

eta: I didn't find the Marathon all that great and wish I would've gotten a Roundabout 40 instead, but then after using a larger and bit heavier Britax Frontier seat I realized that the Marathon wasn't all that heavy, but I still wouldn't have wanted it as my main seat if it wasn't going to be installed in one car all of the time!

[edurnemk]

Thanks O_Mom. After briefly reading some reviews, both of these seats seam an inexpensive version of something even easier... like the Marathon. Money really isn't an option here. Just ease. Everyone talks about the Marathon being so great. Maybe I should just go with that one? Is that realistic to install in and out of cabs and travel with thru an airport?

The install of the Marathon is exactly the same as the Boulevard. To me both are very easy to install (especially with LATCH), but they are HEAVY. I wouldn't want to tote them around on an almost daily basis. I've travelled with our Boulevard, but knowing it's just a flight or two, the rest of the year it's permanently installed in my car.

The reason I wanted a Coccoro for travel is that it snaps into the Combi Flash stroller frame, so you don't have to carry it (hence making taxi travel during vacation super easy). But I know we wouldn't be happy with that as his everyday stroller either.

[jjordan]

As far as the coccoro goes, I tried my son in one at about 23 months old and he was very close to the rearfacing height limit. He was squirmy so I didn't spend a lot of time trying to figure out exactly how much room he had left - but he was either about to outgrow it (by height, rearfacing) or already had. He was wearing size 18-24 month shirts at the time. So it is very possible that your son could outgrow it (rearfacing) by age 2.

The marathon70 is a great seat and absolutely wonderful for front-back space. It is typically very easy to install and has built-in lockoffs (handy if seatbelts don't lock). It is bigger and heavier than the coccoro and other smaller seats that have been recommended (scenera, avenue), but it might be a good choice for you.

I don't think you're going to find the perfect seat, so maybe the thing to do is decide what is *most* important and what you're willing to compromise on.

[bubbaray]

The marathon70 is a great seat and absolutely wonderful for front-back space. It is typically very easy to install and has built-in lockoffs (handy if seatbelts don't lock). It is bigger and heavier than the coccoro and other smaller seats that have been recommended (scenera, avenue), but it might be a good choice for you.

I don't think you're going to find the perfect seat, so maybe the thing to do is decide what is *most* important and what you're willing to compromise on.


:yeahthat:

In the situation where you installing/uninstalling frequently, there is increased room for install error, so IMO, I prefer people to use seats that are pretty brainless to install. IME, the easiest seat to install is the MA.