Travel carseat (not Scenera)

[rin]

Hi all,

Ok, I feel like I should already know the answer to this but am somehow not finding anything when I search. Not enough coffee, probably.

I'm about to take a week-long trip w/out my DH, but with DD, where I'll have to be doing a lot of in-and-out of taxis, subways, Amtrak, and two plane rides home. I think I want to have a carseat shipped to the place we're staying so I can avoid having to schlepp the carseat on/off Amtrak and all the subways by myself, and then just deal with having it in/out of a couple of taxis and one car while we're there, and then to the airport where I'll check it.

So here's my question: what seat would you all recommend? DD is 22 months and 25ish lbs, still RF. We already have a Scenera, but I'd like to try something new, since I kind of hate the Scenera RF install and I'll be doing it by myself in taxis with a squirmy toddler. I also would like to spend as little as possible, DEFINITELY under $100, but closer to $50ish would be better.

So, I guess my must-haves are:

RF
easy to install!
between $50-$75

And the "would be nice" things would be:

lightweight
easy to use (adjust straps, etc)

I vaguely remember one of the Evenflos getting recommended, but I can't remember which one. Tribute? Triumph? Titan?

TIA!!!

[Jen841]

Sorry, we are out of this stage, but the Sceneca was our 'travel' one b/c it was the lightest to carry hands down. When reviewing options pay attention to weight. I had to juggle it with other stuff when I traveled solo with the 2 kids in seats.

[AnnieW625]

Evenflo Tribute gets good reviews from Jools. I was going to buy one for DD2, but then ended up getting the $100 Roundabout 55 from Wayfair.com a couple of months ago. The Tribute was on sale at Amazon then for $48 or something close to that.

IMHO if she is old enough to FF for short rides in taxis I would just FF her. We did this with DD2 at 21 months old (same size as your DD) for our short taxi ride to and from the airport and in the rental car (although I did make DH try and RF her in the rental car, but it just wasn't working, a pool noodle or two would have been helpful, and rental car agencies don't carry those!). She is still much happier RFing, but at the time FFing made more sense to us and we didn't have to worry about seat quirks ffing like sometimes you have to do with RFing.

[YouAreTheFocus]

I got an Evenflo Tribute based on Jools recs here. We have been quite happy with it. Last used it to RF our 2+ yo on various planes and cars over xmas break. He's avg sized and still fits fine.

Oops, meant to mention the weight. According to car-seat.org, both trib & scen are 8.xx.

[rin]

Tribute! That was right. Thanks!

Does anyone have any experience with whether the Tribute is easier to install RF than the Scenera?

Hadn't thought about using the Scenera and turning her FF for the taxi ride. That might just solve the problem, since the FF install is supposed to be way, way easier. What do other people think about turning a 25-lb 22-mo-old FF for a taxi ride?

[NJ_Mom2011]

I am in the same boat as you, OP. I am not traveling, but I am in the market for an inexpensive car seat where I am going to rarely use for our 2nd car, an old Chrysler Sebring. I was very interested in biuing the Safety First OnSide Air Convertible Car Seat from Sears for about $80. Here's a link: http://www.sears.com/safety-1st-onside-air-convertible-car-seat/p-04988301000P. I would be very interesting in getting others' thoughts about this car seat.

Annie, you got an amazing deal on that Roundabout! I would buy that in a second if it were selling right now at that price!

[epiclesis]

Tribute! That was right. Thanks!

Does anyone have any experience with whether the Tribute is easier to install RF than the Scenera?

Hadn't thought about using the Scenera and turning her FF for the taxi ride. That might just solve the problem, since the FF install is supposed to be way, way easier. What do other people think about turning a 25-lb 22-mo-old FF for a taxi ride?

The Tribute is much easier to install than a Scenera, and I've never had to use a pool noodle or a towel to install with an angle.

If I could get a Tribute, I wouldn't turn her. She's might be getting close to outgrowing it RF though. The shell is slightly shorter than the Scenera, IIRC. :)

[epiclesis]

I am in the same boat as you, OP. I am not traveling, but I am in the market for an inexpensive car seat where I am going to rarely use for our 2nd car, an old Chrysler Sebring. I was very interested in biuing the Safety First OnSide Air Convertible Car Seat from Sears for about $80. Here's a link: http://www.sears.com/safety-1st-onside-air-convertible-car-seat/p-04988301000P. I would be very interesting in getting others' thoughts about this car seat.

Annie, you got an amazing deal on that Roundabout! I would buy that in a second if it were selling right now at that price!


The Onside Air is a Scenera with a little more side impact fluff. Equally as hard to install, and no reason to spend more than the $39 a Scenera is.

You'd need to provide your kiddo's specs in order to get a good recommendation. :)

[todzwife]

I got a purple tribute from walmart.com and I LOVE it! It's our travel seat, it's nearly as light as the scenera, but has EPS foam and is easier to install.

[PGTB]

Tribute! That was right. Thanks!

Does anyone have any experience with whether the Tribute is easier to install RF than the Scenera?

Hadn't thought about using the Scenera and turning her FF for the taxi ride. That might just solve the problem, since the FF install is supposed to be way, way easier. What do other people think about turning a 25-lb 22-mo-old FF for a taxi ride?

I live in NYC and it is not required to have a car seat for a child when using a taxi. I think you installing any sort of a car seat in cab is already going beyond what most people do around here. I would not worry about FF vs RF for a taxi ride. Are you going to be lugging your car seat around with you and the stroller while exploring the city and taking cabs? Or are you going to be taking cabs for the highway rides from/to airports and that's what you are asking about?

[AnnieW625]

Annie, you got an amazing deal on that Roundabout! I would buy that in a second if it were selling right now at that price!

yeah and it was one of those days on a whim I decided to visit carseat.org and or Melaine (the queen of finding good deals here!) posted about it and I couldn't say no!

[rin]

I live in NYC and it is not required to have a car seat for a child when using a taxi. I think you installing any sort of a car seat in cab is already going beyond what most people do around here. I would not worry about FF vs RF for a taxi ride. Are you going to be lugging your car seat around with you and the stroller while exploring the city and taking cabs? Or are you going to be taking cabs for the highway rides from/to airports and that's what you are asking about?

We'll actually be in NYC visiting my grandma. The whole time we're there we'll either be taking the subway, so no carseat obviously, or be in her car, which I'll drive (she no longer drives), and I can just install the carseat however. The taxi rides will be from Brooklyn to La Guardia, so yeah, on highways, since my grandma can't drive so I'll have to make my own way from her place to the airport.