Another Car Seat??? HELP!

My daughter is three(about 38 lbs.)and we are still using her Britax Marathon seat (with "foo foo" cover! ;0) We love it, it's comfortable, easy and WELL worth the money for the price. This car seat will take you up to a booster. And the peace of mind the comes with the quality is uncompromised!

I bought a Graco seat....I am not sure what the exact version of it is called. I do know it is dark blue and black and we bought it at Wal-mart. I love it because my daughter is very big for her age (16months...28lbs, 33 inches) She fits comfortably in the seat and it will fit her up to 100lbs. It has armrests for when she gets older and a little snack and small toy holder attachment for the side. It has worked well for us for 9 months so far. I hope this helps.

Just because it is the most expensive does not mean Britax is the best. We did the consumer reports and we have the alpha omegas for our kids. They are $170 but they go rear facing and then forward to 100 lbs. My girls are 5 and still use them with the seatbelts and I love them. More expensive and extra padding that can make the seat very wide and cumbersome does not always make it better. You also need to do what you can afford.

Hi A.

We had the Britax Decathlon for my daughter and also the evenflo triumph (don't remember which one since she is out of them now). To be honest, I loved them both and the Decathlon was just coming out so I didn't get any reviews on that. I do know the Marathon was rated very high almost 2 years ago. I (along with a few friends) did like the Triumph also because of the padding that it had. It was also rated very high and is over $100 cheaper. I'd suggest looking at Consumer Reports to see what the latest ratings are for carseats and make an educated decision based on recommendations from friends and the information presented there. That's what I did when I searched.

Also, my daughter is 32 pounds, tall and almost 3 (Oct 1). We took her out of that car seat and into a high back booster about 2 or so months ago because she was too tall for that seat so you can see that she was under the weight limit for the carseat. Good luck on your search.
S.

A.,

It's great you're being so particular with your daughter's safety. One thing to keep in mind no matter what seat you do decide to get is that children are safest rear facing for as long as is possible, regardless of age.

Here's a great site with some excellent information and they even reference some seats to help with extended rear facing. <http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html&gt; The two that are the most extendable are the Britax Marathon and Decathlon models (33 lbs, ~25") and the Britax Wizard and Boulevard models (33 lbs, ~25").

Don't fall victim to the concept that they'll be bored facing the back for so long. They do NOT know what they are missing. And the "1 year and 20 lbs" is only a guideline and not WHEN they should be turned round.

Best of luck with your search.

Blessings,
Rolinda
Wife, Mother, Friend

I have heard that they are great seats also. I am interested in what everyone has to say.

The safest car seat is one that fits your car, fits your baby, and that you will use correctly every time :). That said, I can possibly advise a couple seats, that you can look at and try in your car, and go from there.

The Britax Marathon (and Boulevard, I wouldn't much go for the Decathlon since you don't really need the infant insert if your daughter is already 20 pounds) is a great seat. They have very high harness slots, so that your baby can be harnessed for longer (which is VERY important! - I wouldn't go to a booster until I absolutely had to - each step "up" in car seats (rear-facing to forward-facing, harness to booster, booster to car seat belt alone) is a step back in safety.) The Britax seats rear-face until 33 pounds, and until the top of their head is within an inch of the top of the seat.

Another option is the new Evenflo Triumph Advance (NOT the Triumph 5/Premier/DLX/etc - VERY different seat!) It also has higher harness slots (about an inch shorter than the Britax), and can harness until 50 pounds. It rear-faces until 35 pounds. Again, you want to keep your baby rear-facing AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! The 1 year/2 pound rule is the absolute minimum - it's MUCH safer to rear-face to the limits of your seat (http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm). The only "negative" I have about the Triumph Advance is the knob feature to loosen/tighten the harness is not placed well (it's difficult to do rear-facing).

Less expensive options include the Cosco Scenera and the Safety 1st Uptown (both of these are great "2nd seats" or spare seats). They both have higher harness slots, but neither will likely get you to booster age (the max. weight on both is 40 pounds, but many kids "height out" of seat rather than outgrow by weight).

There's no way to know for sure if ANY seat will get you to booster-appropriate time, at least not a 6 months old - there's just no way to tell how your daughter will grow over the next few years. I've seen 7 year olds comfortably sitting in Marathons, and I've even seen 2 year olds that were too long-torsoed (total height is never an issue, since 2 kids can be the same height and fit into seats totally differently). I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but it's the honest truth. Don't we all wish we had a crystal ball to see though!

Also, I generally wouldn't go with what Consumer Reports says when it comes to car seats (other things though, they're usually pretty good). They don't release how they do their testing, and their "top picks" are not seats I generally recommend (The 'old' Evenflo Triumph, for example, as pretty low harness slots, and can be a bear to install; the Cosco Alpha Omega is HORRIBLE at pretty much everything except for kids under 30ish pounds)

No matter what seat you choose, please find a local CPS technician, who can look over your seat and make sure it's installed correctly. There are quite many in the Pittsburgh area; many are police officers, EMTs, firefighters, etc. It's a perfectly free service, and one that is very important (we want your child to be safe in the car as much as you do! To find a tech in your area (Pittsburgh is a big area, lol), go to www.seatcheck.org, or locally www.patechs.com

One more thing (sorry for the adding!): The Cosco Alpha Omega (Elite or otherwise, also called the 3-in-1 sometimes) is NOT (ever) the only seat you will ever need! All car seats expire after 6 years, and ALL CHILDREN need to be in boosters until they are at least 8 years old. Add to that the fact that the seat has very low harness slots, most kids grow out of the harness way before they can (or should) be in a booster. And it's not a very good booster (2 cents here)

The best thing to do is find the seat the you can use well, that fits your daughter and fits in your vehicle.

Personally I wouldn't turn her around until you absolutely had to. My last 2 children were rear facing until they were close to 2 years--1 slightly younger 1 slightly older. At that point they were too tall to be in the rear facing position according to the car seat guidlines for my car seat, so I had to turn them or purchase a new seat and I turned them.

I was also impressed with the britax but had a hard time shelling out that kind of money not knowing how my children would grow. I recently went to babies r us with ALL four children--age 7,6,4.5, and 2 and did a major "car seat testing" to try to see what seat I could get my 2y/o in the near future. I HAD wanted the britax marathon; however, when I had my 4.5 y/o sit in it..he only had about 1" torso height before he would have been too tall for the seat.

I found that the Britax regent might be a better choice for us because it has one of the highest harness slots out there. My 7y/o could even sit comforably in it and had room to grow. But that seat can only go forward facing. The regent ALSO says for 53" and under which is about right for my 7y/o as he had about 1.5" to grow in torso height for him to be too tall for it. I was sorely disappointed to find that none of the high back boosters with harnesses that I've seen go to 57"--the 4 foot 9 recommendation to use boosters. For us...we have to look at the heights to make sure we get a good fit and a long lasting seat because my children are tall and thin. Since you're daughter is 20lbs already you might needs to look more at the weight for now; but be prepared to be getting something else when she outgrows it by height too later on.

This site is a GREAT site to get all types of info about car seats to help narrow down the specifications on seats. I used it before I went to babies r us so I knew specifically what I really needed to take a better look at... http://www.carseatdata.org/measurements.php

Hope this helped some!

My Daughter is also 6 months an goes 23 pounds. we bought an eddie bauer and loved it!i researched different sites and Read parents reviews on all of them. I have always been a fan of Eddie Bauer as some are not. i wanted a seat that fit well,one that her head wasn't banging all over the place.it wasn't hard to install at all. i do have her rear- facing still in it and have no problems.I'd think 40-50 pounds are when most switch to the booster seats.let us know what you decided

I purchased the Britax Marathon for my little one and LOVE it. It's easy to install and very secure once properly installed (I can push/shake it and it doesn't budge at all). It's also easy to adjust the shoulder straps as kids get bigger and taller. I also like that I was able to buy an spare cover for it. It's needed a bath a few times :-)

I don't think we will make it to 65 pounds before our little one is too tall for the seat, but I do think we will be able to safely use it until she's at least four or five. I personally don't think there's any such thing as a seat that will "take you all the way," but this once seems to come close.

When you switch to a booster seat is determined by a combination of age and weight. Children grow at different rates. Some 2 year olds may fit the weight and height to be able to move to a booster (I think the weight is 30 lbs for most of them) but may not be able to understand to stay in the seat. A booster is easier for them to get out of. They do make carseats that can be used as booster seats later. It sounds like the seat you are choosing is great. You probably won't want to switch her to a booster until she is at least 3. This sounds like a great seat for your needs especially if it can, also, be used rear facing. It sounds like your daughter is ready to move out of the carrier seat any time now but not ready to be forward facing (usually pediatricians recommend that children remain rearfacing until at least 20 lbs AND 1 year old to prevent neck injuries).

I would say if this is the seat you are comfortable with, then this is the one you want. It would also be handy to have if you and your spouse are planning on more children in the future. Good luck.