Need Carseat advice for a 7 month old!

[klc92201]

I thought for sure when this baby grew out of her britax companion I would go for a Britax Blvd but now I'm not so sure with all the new carseats out there.

she is in her Britax Companion infant seat and is only 16 lbs and 26 inches so she may get close to the year before we have to move her. I try to keep my kids rear facing but normally give in and move them FF around 18 months. I guess my question is what should I buy?

Do I go with another britax? THe Recaro's (sp?)? Radian 80? Or should I just buy a cheepier brand as seems they have all caught up in saftey? Also I love the way you don't have to use a belt clip with the britax.

If you could do it all over again what woudl you buy? Money isn't a big issue.

[AnnieW625]

We moved Elisa from the infant carrier to the convertable car seats at 7 mos. also. We moved her to a Britax Marathon (in my Honda Pilot), and an Evenflo Triumph 5 (in DH's Toyota Corolla) because a Marathon would've taken up the whole back seat. If I was to do it all over again I probably would've bought a Triumph 5 for my car too. We found more pros than cons in the Triumph including that we get a better install on the seat, Elisa never complains about being in it (we went through a good 18 mos. span where she'd twist and squirm in the Marathon which started at about 15 mos. and last till just a few months ago), and we like the fully enclosed tension straps/knobs. I think this seat was highly underrated.

Now Evenflo no longer makes the Triumph 5 seat, they replaced it with the larger Advance LX, and DLX seats (much more the size of a Marathon, I think).

Right now if I had to go and buy two new seats I think I'd get the Graco Nautilus seat or the Radian 65. The Nautilus is FF only facing seat w/5 pt. harness, but the 65 can be rear facing.

FWIW lots of friends also have Roundabouts and have been happy with them.

[DaniannieB]

If you really like the idea of having built in lock-offs, I'd look at the First Years True Fit or Britax Marathon or Boulevard.

I would NOT go w/ a FF seat at this point. RF is MUCH safer than FF. It is now the recommendation to keep your child RF as long as possible, and at least to 2 years (rather than 1 year and 20#).

Can you try the seats out IRL? That might help you decide. There are a lot of options. Whatever you go with, I would look only at seats that RF to 35# (and have taller shells to get kids that far) and FF past 40#.

If you can't try them out IRL and you really like the Companion, you'll probably like the Britax convertibles, too.

[lorinick]

I have a 17 mt. old and I have a MA and Blvd. and I'm very happy with both seats. I would check out the First Years True Fit though. Since all three seats have the locks off that you like. I've never installed a TF. But the Britax MA and Blvd are very easy to install. That's a huge plus in my book.