How do I know which convertible car seat to buy?

Sarah - posted on 06/07/2009

You might also look at the new Graco MyRide 65. It RFs to 40 lbs, the highest limit available in the US right now (FF to 65) and looks to have a pretty tall shell. Remember, you don't just want to look at the weight limits, but also the shell and harness heights. Except for children who are quite short/petite, most kids outgrow seats by height far before they do by weight. (In fact, I'd check to see whether your son truly is still fitting in his current seat. Many people don't know that children outgrow those seats when they have less than 1-inch of hard shell above their heads OR when they reach the weight limit, whichever comes first.) The Britax seats are good (especially as they are one of only two seats on the market here that you can tether while RF). I'd also suggest looking at the First Years TrueFit and Sunshine Kids Radian...especially if you expect to have a tall child as those have the tallest shells available. (The Radian is also good if you expect to need to put multiple seats across in the future since it is the narrowest seat and you generally need at least one Radian if you are going to put 3-across a back seat.) Any of those would be my top choices, hands down. Other options I might consider would be the Evenflo Triumph Advance or Cosco Scenera. (The Scenera has a lower FF weight limit, so you'd definitely need another seat before LO is ready for a booster...but it is very inexpensive.)

Personally, I have a Marathon and a TrueFit...I've had both installed before in the back of our Chevy Monte Carlo without any problem.

I don't know if you're a member of iVillage, but their car seat board is a great place to get advice. Some of their members are even certified car seat techs.
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppc...

Jessica - posted on 06/07/2009

My twins out grow carseats fast. So i just got them The graco carseat that gose fom 20 to 100 lb and hold them in s 5 pount longer. But you are right keeping them to face the back as long as you can is good. My seats were $180.00 each at Wal-Mart I like them alot. NO More carseat bying for me.

Tamara - posted on 06/07/2009

Graco has the MyRide coming out soon and it RFs to 40 lbs. Not sure on the price just yet.

Nichole - posted on 06/07/2009

my car seat is for compact cars and I love it. Its by Combi and it comes in all different colors. my son loves it as well. You can have it rear faces till 35 pounds as well. I bought it online at babycatalog.com its only 169 compared to the normal 199 on othersites.

Christin - posted on 06/06/2009

if you go to babies r us they will let you try a seat in your car in their lot to see if it fits before buying it, also if a child can support his own head they do not have to be at the 45 degree angle like an infant when rear facing. so if it will fit in a little more upright then 45 degrees it is ok as long as he can support his own head ( a friend of mine is car seat tech and she told me this with my son)

Christin - posted on 06/06/2009

there is a new graco one out there that rear faces to 40 lbs, here is a link to it http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...

it the one with the highest weight limit for rear facing available in the US
it is also available at babies r us

Tonya - posted on 06/06/2009

Quoting Martha:



You can check www.carseatdata.org to see user experience with various car seats in various cars. It is user driven, though, so there are a lot of holes in the database. You might have to leave off model year to get results. Be sure to enter your experiences to help other parents out!

Thanks for the site. I did check it out and under my model year there is only one seat listed which is the Britax Marathon. Which is actually one of the seats that was mentioned a little while ago. Maybe I'll give that one a try... its just so expensive but I guess you can't put a price on your child's safety... Thanks again!!

Amy - posted on 06/06/2009

We have the SUnshine Kids Radian 65 also and my son loves it. I love it b/c of it's many safety and useful features (folds up, carry strap and airplane approved). My son was also large, he was just over 30 pounds at 1. He is now 3 years and weighs 40 pounds. It is great b/c it rear faces until 35 pounds and then forward faces to 65 pounds. The slim design also means it can fit in many smaller cars.

Jolene - posted on 06/06/2009

I use the Britax Marathon. It rear faces up to 35lbs, and forward faces to 65lbs. I don't have the same car as you do, but my back seats are really slanted so it did take more effort to get it positioned properly. If there is a gap, they tell you to just slide a pool noodle under it. Other then that I love the car seat and it has one of the highest saftey ratings.

Martha - posted on 06/06/2009

We have a Sunshine Kids Radian 65 in our Ford Fusion. It has a metal interior frame so it is slimmer than most others that are all plastic. Two adults can sit in the back seat with it installed. We have a Britax Marathon in our Ford Freestyle because the Radian 65 didn't fit. My daughter likes the Marathon better because it sits up higher and she can see more, but she likes the Radian 65, too. The Radian 65 is less expensive (~$200). We found our Marathon on clearance at Target (last year's model) for ~$230. I think they are usually ~$280. Both seats can be used rear facing to 35 lbs and will keep your kid in a 5 point harness (also important) until 65 lbs.



You can check www.carseatdata.org to see user experience with various car seats in various cars. It is user driven, though, so there are a lot of holes in the database. You might have to leave off model year to get results. Be sure to enter your experiences to help other parents out!

Desiree - posted on 06/06/2009

wow... our infant seat went up to 30lbs so we didnt have that problem. but yeah they say to keep them rear facing until they are one years old even if they are 30lbs before than. there are a lot of convertables that go up to 85lbs... we found one at babys r us... but it was in blue so i cant help

Jessica - posted on 06/06/2009

There are car seats that are rear and front facing that go from 5lbs to 100lbs which is what I ended up having to buy after my son outgrew his in length before he did weight. It was made by Graco and was on the market 2 years ago. My hubby had a Grand Am with leather seats and the only place we could put it was the center of the back seat. It does slant back a little more than I like but my son has never complained of it being uncomfortable