Carseat Question

My brother works for CHP and he said the best and safest carseat out there is a Britax five point harness carseat. It is revesable and goes all the way up to a booster seat. It is pricey, but worth it. It comes in cute colors too!!

I suggest the Britax Roundabout...its a conversion, infant to toddler and its incredible!! I LOVE IT. My two month old loves it, we had a different one to begin with and she wouldn't sit in it. She loves this one, and consumer reports says its the best on the market for safety. Its worth money!

We have the Safety First All-in-One Convertible Carseat. Here is a link to it at Walmart http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5515916 We love this carseat. It was a bit more pricey when we got it (about a year ago.) We had the same problem as you though. My daughter has always been pretty big for her age. She is 19 months now and is wearing 3T-4T and weighs 30 lbs (almost as much as my 3 1/2 yr old.) Anyway, we got this one because it would grow with her. We didn't want to have to turn around and buy yet another carseat six months later. This one goes from rear facing to front facing and then to booster. In all, it fits kids up to 80 lbs. It's also super comfy and my little one loves it.

G.,

We have the Britax Boulevard which is currently rear facing, but we are switching it to front facing within the week. I really like all of the protection that it has to offer. At the time that we bought it, it was the only one with side impact protection for their little heads. And as you baby grows you don't have to take the straps out and put them into another slot. You turn the know and the whole thing moves up. I will say as cozy as she is in it, the strap is a little difficult to tighten. My sister-in-law has the Britax Marathon and hers is a lot easier to pull...hmmmm?

We went to a professional installer and I am SO GLAD that we did. He showed us how to hook up the tether to the floor which I absolutely would not have been able to figure out on my own. The tether has made the seat A TON more "solid" He also suggested that we leave her rear facing until at least 15 months if possible, but she could stay there up until 33 lbs. He said it is the absolute safest way to ride in a car...

Good luck in her car seat shopping!
K.

We have Britax too... the booster seats are great...it has a back and a neck support too. It's not just a "platform" like other boosters. You may want to check that your 4 yr. old is still sized correctly for his car-seat or ready for a booster seat? One good thing to do, is go to www.amazon.com, do a search for car seats... and then read all the reviews and ratings on them. It's a great resource, which is a method I've used myself many times. It saves time versus actually going to the store and staring at all the car seats and spending hours there at the store. Research it online first, get your picks and information, then when you want to buy, go to the store. OR, just buy it online and they just ship it to you, so much easier. Many times, Amazon has "free" shipping on many items. Their product reviews are great, and very helpful.
Good luck!
~Susan
www.cafepress.com/littlegoogoo

We have the Britax Marathon and we love it! It has the 5-point harness and has a weight range from 5lbs to 65 lbs so we will be using this for quite some time. Plus, make sure any type of booster seat is a 5-point harness as well. Good Luck.

G.,

I had the same thing happen with the ages. I have a 31/2 and 1 year old and I LOVE BRITAX, I think its the Marathon. Any of the Britax car seats are great and they last along time - We bought my sons when he was 6 months and that was 3 years ago - it is still in great condition!! They also have the highest safety rating, they are made in Germany and Germanys safety standards are higher than ours.

GOOD LUCK!

A. F

Hello - my son was also born on june 5 and he is a large baby. He already weighs 20lbs and will be outgrowing his infant carseat also. I also have a 2 year old and when I switched him to a big carseat I bought the evenflo titan deluxe and we love it. I haven't had any problems with it. It is a rear facing and forward facing carseat. It is very comfortable, I researched forever when I bought this one and it had really good reveiws and looked the most comfortable. I also wanted one that reclined so when he sleeps he is comfortable and this one does. I will probably be buying the same one for my 3 month old soon. Here is a link to look at the carseat. Good luck. Please email if you have any questions: ____@____.com
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=273937...

G.,
A convertible carseat would work best, and nowadays there are a lot out there. Sometimes I wished I had gotten the convertible seat from the very beginning because it would have saved some money being it would have been the only seat we would've ever needed. We bought a travel system instead, but I guess being a FTM you learn these things. When my DD outgrew her infant seat we purchased the Britax Marathon (goes from 5-65 lbs) and my DD was comfortable in it both rear and forward facing (now 15 months). This seat is pretty big, since we drive a Toyota Matrix, but there's only the 3 of us so she has the whole backseat to herself anyway. My mom has a Cosco/Safety 1st convertible seat in her car for DD and that one's good as well. That one goes to about the same weight (maybe more, since it becomes a booster seat). My DD doesn't have any problems with either of them, climbs in and is ready to go. They both recline. Price wise, the Britax was a little over $200 (bought online) and the Cosco/Safety 1st we found at Walmart for under $80. Britax makes a more affordable seat that carries the Fisher Price name and that has excellent reviews as well. I normally check out babycenter.com carseat board. There are moms on there that can tell you about virtually every carseat on the market. Sorry this is so long. Good luck.

Hi there - my husband and I also have a "big" little girl. At 8 months, she's already 25 pounds and 31 inches - it sounds like your little guy is on the fast track just like her. We too had to move her out of the "baby" carseat and into a bigger one. I've got to tell you that the BEST seat we found (which is what we purchased) is the Britax Marathon. It's expensive, but it is both rear and front facing when that time comes. It's also hefty - so it's going to really protect your new addition. I think it's the best car seat I've ever seen. It also meets airline standards, which was important to us, because we will be travelling back East a lot. Not sure if that matters to you, but it was a big plus for us. Good Luck.

SO you don't have to buy two new seats in short order, you could consider switching your older son to a new toddler seat that is also convertible to a belt-positioning booster, and let your baby have the old toddler seat (if it is convertible to rear-facing). We like the Cosco alpha-omega seat, but make sure you get one with a 5-point harness. You could get the alpha-omega for your baby, too - I wouldn't try it with a newborn, but it was fine for our son when we switched him out of his carrier at about 7 months. I've certainly heard lots of good things about the Britax, but if money is a concern, the alpha-omega seat is half the price, and they have also lasted well. (Both of our sons are in alpha-omega's now - the 5-year old uses it as a booster, while the 2 year old is forward-facing with the harness).

CHOC hospital offers a carseat saftey class and its great!! YOU CAN ALSO GET A $20 dollar carseat from it. i learned so much by going to that class and im assured my children are safe in the car. they teach you the proper ways to use a car seat and how to properly install them . not to mention they gave me a really nice car seat for 20 bucks!!!

Hi G..
I have a 4 month old born 5/26. He too is about to grow out of his car seat...not soon enough, those thing are heavy.
We just purchased the Marathon Britax, it's both rear and front facing. Most people I know and talk to use this one and highly recommend it.

Good luck!
J.

Hi! Like you, my daughter grew out of her infant seat before her time was due. We went with a Cosco convertible carseat. The one we purchased goes rear (up to 35lbs) and forward facing (up to 40lbs). We found ours at Walmart for $40. Good luck to you!

We also had the Cosco Alpha Omega. My son was 16 pounds at 2 months, so we were in the same boat. We switched him at 2 months. I did a lot of research, and at the time it was rated the same as the Britax Roundabout. It was the best carseat! One thing I did notice about the roundabout (my friend has twins, that used theirs until they were 3), was that it was way easier to install the carseat with the latch system because it has a buckle system where you push a red button to release it just like a seatbelt. If you are going to be taking the carseat out a lot, then that would be worth the extra money. If not, go with the Alpha Omega. It was a great carseat, and we deffinitely got our money's worth! Good Luck!

How big is your 4yo? How soon might he be out of the carseat? The 3mo baby still can grow 3 inches and 6 pounds which will take quite a while so you have some time. Ask your doctor for a predicted age based on his growth chart of when he will reach 29 inches and/or 22 lb which are the limits for most infant carriers. Then you will better be able to predict how soon you actually need a convertible car seat and may be able to use your older son's if he will reach 40 pounds by the same time. Like many others, we have the Britax Marathon and it has been great.

Hi G.,

We couldn't afford the Britax, so we got the Cosco Alpha Omega & I love it. Personally, I always check Consumer Affairs before buying a carseat to see which ones rate the best, and then make my decision based on that.

C. : )

I just purchased a carseat for my 10mth old. I did a bunch of research first & found that the Britax Marathon has the best safety ratings; the Britax Roundabout has great safety ratings too. We purchased the Roundabout because I have a four-door Carolla that's too small for the Marathon. Because your son is a big guy I would recommend the Marathon. It will last longer (I think the weight is 85lbs, whereas the Roundabout is either 55 or 65 lbs). Both are rear and forward facing approved. Hope this helps! Congrats & good luck!

I too have a big guy. I bought a Britax boulevard carseat and my son loves it! He used to cry when I put him in his infant carrier carseat, but he stopped as soon as I put him in his new Britax carseat. The one I got goes up to 65 pounds and so does the marathon model, which is good because like I said, my son is really big and healthy!! They're a bit expensive, but well worth it. Good luck with your shopping!