Car seat for second car: 10 month old

[jayetea]

Hi everyone, this is my first post but I've enjoyed reading suggestions on this site for about a year now (my son is 10 months old). My question is this: we have two cars, a Toyota Prius and an old SUV we bought second-hand from a family member. My husband commutes and takes the Prius everyday leaving me with the SUV M-F. We live in a city so I don't drive all that often - maybe once or twice a week with my son. Our preference as a family is to use the Prius whenever possible - and definitely on the weekends.

We are just moving our son from his snugride (we had two bases) to a RF convertible and we have a Britax Boulevard. I'm wondering if we should just get a second car seat for our second car so we're not moving it every weekend? (We also have a hand-me-down Britax Roundabout but it expires in August so not a long-term solution). And should this second carseat just be a second Boulevard or is there something just as safe but a bit smaller that might be easier when we travel, anyway?

I don't want to sacrifice safety so if the best option is another Boulevard, so be it.

Thanks for any thoughts!

[weech]

We have a Boulevard in our main car and a Roundabout in the secondary car. I actually like the Roundabout a LOT better - it's so much easier to get DS in and out of. Oh, and I wouldn't dream of moving our carseats more than a few times a year - they are a huge PITA to install. HTH!

[BabyBearsMom]

I would definitely get another seat for the other car and not switch the seats. We have a Boulevard in my car and a Marathon in DH's car. We used to have a True Fit Premier and that was really nice for the second car. I've heard good things about the Graco MyRide65 too. If you want something for travel, the Cosco Scenara is safe, light and inexpensive, but can be hard to install.

[Joolsplus2]

I guess you're not much of a car-girl, or 'second-hand SUV' wouldn't be how you describe it ;)
Can you find out what year, and what model? That'll give us better insight into your LATCH or seatbelt situation and how much back seat room you have to work with, whether you need tether anchors installed, etc., so we may know what works. Of course, the Roundabout fits in darn near anything, so if you want to just use it till August, you might as well enjoy it while it lasts (new Roundabout 55's are virtually nothing like old Roundabouts, you have a classic there, though the RA55's are lovely, they are just what the Marathon used to be, really).

[Beth24]

We have a Boulevard in our main car and a Roundabout in the secondary car. I actually like the Roundabout a LOT better - it's so much easier to get DS in and out of. Oh, and I wouldn't dream of moving our carseats more than a few times a year - they are a huge PITA to install. HTH!

This is exactly what we have..a Blvd in my car and a Roundabout for my husband and mother's cars and for travel.

[jayetea]

Thanks everyone. The SUV is a bmw, I think a 2007 (definitely not a car person!). I've actually never used latch since we like to install in the middle and neither car has latch in the center position, so we use the seatbelt instead.

So a roundabout? Not a marathon?

[jjordan]

Thanks everyone. The SUV is a bmw, I think a 2007 (definitely not a car person!). I've actually never used latch since we like to install in the middle and neither car has latch in the center position, so we use the seatbelt instead.

So a roundabout? Not a marathon?

I believe that the pp's who recommended roundabouts were thinking of the original Britax convertibles, where the roundabout was smaller than the marathon. The new roundabout55 is same size as the new marathon70 (and the boulevard70 - is that what you have or is it an original boulevard?). If you want something smaller, well the roundabout55 is lighter, but not really smaller.

All seats pass the same federal safety standards, so we have to assume they're equally safe since we have no definitive information to tell us otherwise. (And yet... if certain features of certain seats make you feel like they're safer, then it is reasonable for you to choose a seat based on that, IMO.)

For now, since you already have a roundabout that has a few months of life, you might as well use it while you have it. You can take your time deciding on a seat and then keep your eye out for a really great deal.