Convertible Car Seats

[SoonerTexan]

Any recs? N is busting out of her infant seat and the thing is a PITA to carry around with how heavy she is! We have a car seat for DH's car, but I need one for mine and for vgirl!

I'd prefer to spend under $150.

What makes a car seat good?

Oh, is it kosher to use a neck pillow for a baby so young? N is over the weight limit for the convertible in DH's car, but the poor thing doesn't get a lot of neck support in it. I hate seeing babies flopped over in car seats, but I'm worried about suffocation issues.

[scrub-jay]

We have a Britax Marathon in one car and a Sunshine Kids Radian in the other. Love them both. The Radian was nice because it came with head/neck support for when she was young.

[v-girl]

We always rolled up a receiving blanket to support their heads in the convertible seats.

[Thirteen]

I LOVED the Radian, but it wouldn't fit in my Civic, or our Outback (too tall).
Hence, the Boulevard...

[ladymoreta]

Officially, you're not supposed to add anything between them and the carseat that could affect the angle of their heads even slightly. If it didn't come with the seat, you're not supposed to use it.

I love our Britax Roundabout. It came with an infant pillow, but I'm not sure if it was for the head or back.

[Pollyanna]

We have the Birtax Boulevard and Roundabout. The Roundabout is less costly and more practical because of it's size. All of our kiddos and chunkers but fit perfectly in the Roundabout. Plus you will move them to a booster by the time they are 4 or 5 because they won't want to be in a "baby seat". So those seats that boast of holding kids to 60 or 80lbs are kind of useless for that purpose. It's kind of like the infant seats that claim to hold baby to 30lbs. Great, but who wants to carry a 30lb baby in an infant seat?

[v-girl]

We have the Birtax Boulevard and Roundabout. The Roundabout is less costly and more practical because of it's size. All of our kiddos and chunkers but fit perfectly in the Roundabout. Plus you will move them to a booster by the time they are 4 or 5 because they won't want to be in a "baby seat". So those seats that boast of holding kids to 60 or 80lbs are kind of useless for that purpose. It's kind of like the infant seats that claim to hold baby to 30lbs. Great, but who wants to carry a 30lb baby in an infant seat?

Kenny outgrew his Roundabout in my mom's car at 3.5 and then got a Nautilus. He was in the Marathon (mine) and Evenflo Triumph (DH's) until 4.5 and we bought two more Nautiluses. Our girls always got Graco seats because we had to buy 2 for each car (and my mom's and sister's and MIL's cars). We've spent a fortune in carseats during our 13.5 years of parenthood. LOL

[peggyfromwastate]

Britax boulevard. I love that thing but the head support cracked and we had to replace it-- it's a piece of high density foam. About 25$ to replace.

I like how easy it is to adjust the seat height on that.

Dd is nearing 4 and I think I'll keep her in there up until she's just past 4.

[Michele]

Phe was in no way close to outgrowing her Graco infant seat. I only moved her to the Boulevard bc the Graco fit better in Russ' to puzzle all three kids in his backseat.

I love it that N is growing so quickly! Big chunky babies are SO adorable to me!! I think my niece will pass P up at her 6 m mark...P just barely cracked 20# at 18 m.

As an aside, D is in a Britax Regeant...he is 5.5y and 42 pounds. He rides in a booster in Russ' car bc another carseat won't fit. I'm keeping him in the 5pt harness for as long as possible. Though I should probably check the expiration date on it...it's probably coming up soon.

[Lala]

I'm glad you posted this, SoonerTexan. My daughter is in the Graco Snugride 35, and luckily she still fits in it fine, but I figure I should start researching for the next car seat. This may sound really stupid, but what is a "Convertible car seat"? I guess that's the next step after the infant seat?

[SoonerTexan]

I keep hearing Britax Britax Britax, so I guess we'll get one of those. I'm not thrilled about buying 2 at that price, though. Maybe I'll take my MIL up on her offer. It seems like every time I ask for a rec on Facebook she offers to buy it...I guess she could have worse traits!

Great, but who wants to carry a 30lb baby in an infant seat?

NOT US! N is ~18lbs now . You should see me trying to drag her and all her stuff to vgirls door in the morning in my heels.

[alison]

Do whatever you have to do to keep sane. You at least won't go through more than one car seat just to end up at a Britax.

18 pounds? Wow! I'm so thrilled for you. M wasn't 18 pounds until very recently.

[Auspicious]

If the she still fits in the infant seat length- and weight-wise, you could just leave it snapped into the base and put the baby in and out of it as if it were a convertible seat. That could give you time before you have to buy one or both convertible seats. (ETA: plus also resolve your concerns about her head lolling forward in a convertible seat.)

We have the Britax Boulevard, which I give thumbs up (side impact protection, straps don't tangle as much and buckles are easy, can raise the height of the shoulder belt without removing it from the car, lots of padding for the kid's comfort).

Because the Boulevard is way too much of a behemoth to take on an airplane IMO, we just recently got an Evenflo Titan to serve as our secondary/travel seat and am pretty pleased with that one, as well, for that purpose. (Chose it after reading this review and also figuring out the Cosco Scenera wasn't compatible with the Go Go Kidz wheels.) Just another factor to consider--if you're going to want a carseat for an airplane in the future, you may prefer one "big" seat and one of something lighter, rather than two identical big ones.

Good luck! Carseat decisions always make my head spin!

[Deebs]

I'm warning you now - I have two kiddos climbing on me, so if my post seems rambling and disjointed, it probably is, but I have a few thoughts. I actually wouldn't by two identical seats at the same time. We had a Britax marathon and Decathlon. I love them both. One worked better in my car, the other in DH's car. We left the infant seat in DH's car until DD had completely outgrown the seat, even though she preferred the convertible seat because of the way it sat up. She wasn't in DH's car nearly as much as she was in mine. Not only did that allow us to space out costs on buying the seats, but when the seats expired and my third child was using them, they didn't expire at the same time. I also second the Radian recs, although I've never used my rear-facing. My six year old will be the Radian until she is out of a seat completely, so if you can make it work in at least one car, it could be the last car seat you buy for that child. It's also awesome for travel and now that DH needs a car that is narrower (he has to get an SUV for work, and I refuse to let him get a big gas-guzzler), it will fit with three car seats across one row. I know it's hard to think about future use, but try.

[spotty_dog]

My main seats are Marathons. I bought DD's on albeebaby.com or amazon.com for about $170 I believe. Both kids were able to rear-face to age two easily, and they're still in them forward facing at 3 and 5. They're comfy and super easy to install, especially with LATCH, but also with seat belts and on airplanes.

My backup seats are a Graco backless belt-positioning booster for DS (after age 4), a Cosco Scenera convertible (for Grandma's car), and a Scenera combination (FF-to-booster). The Scenera convertible didn't install very well rear-facing but I hear a pool noodle can help with that. Otherwise, the Sceneras are perfectly adequate seats with great crash-test ratings and reasonably easy installation and adjustment, if a little bit less plush and posh than the Marathons. DD is just about to outgrow the convertible by weight, and it has plenty of height and almost a year before its expiration (we bought it for a trip before DS was 1.) Not bad longevity for a $45 investment.

I think if I had it to do again I'd do the same. Infant seat till they start sitting up and want a more upright position, then Marathon in the most-used vehicle, Scenera for occasional use. But that's what fits on my kids and fits my needs. You pretty much couldn't go wrong going all Britax!