Convertible Carseats - Chicago,IL

We had a Britax Marathon and really loved it. Strap adjustments were super easy (with the child sitting in the seat, even), and both kids felt it was comfortable (as evidenced by the fact that they could never stay awake sitting in the car seat!). My older daughter has always been very tall and was able to stay in the seat until she was almost 5. I don't think it was much bigger than any other convertible seat (but I drive an Expedition, so space was never really much of a consideration).

We have a Marathon. I like Britax and the Marathon seems more narrow than our friend's Roundabouts.

We have an Evenflo symphony and I really like it. It fits well in my husbands mazda 3 hatchback and in the middle row of the backseat of my rav 4. We had a graco and I really didn't like it at all. It wasn't comfy and was a lot harder to strap my little guy in. Most stores will let you take the samples out to your car to see if they fit (with supervision), we tried just about every one before finding the evenflo that would fit in hubby's car!

I too LOVE my Britax Marathon. Money is tight when I had to buy one for my youngest, and thats when a friend told me about "open" items in BRU. We bought one that had been used in one of their baby instruction classes. So they used it to demo how to put a baby in, etc...a 1 hour class. We got almost $100 off, and gave us the box still :)
Good Luck!!!

I LOVE my graco nautilus!!! It's the last seat I will ever buy!!! It starts as a 5 point harness, then is a high back booster, then a backless booster.... I have had to replace it 3 times (because of it being in the car in an accident), and I will always get the same one to replace it!! Plus, my little guy loves it!

I have the Britax Marathon 55. So it goes up to 55lbs. I think the size is very good, not too big but not too small. We had our son in it by about 6 months. He's a year now, in the 40% for height and still has room before his legs are uncomfortable. I always do my research on Amazon because they have tons of people reviewing them. Then I go to the store to buy.

Just a word...if your child is moving out of his infant seat-he is really not ready for a Nautilus...this is a seat geared more toward 3 and up.
I highly recommend the Britax Marathon. It is a great seat.
Another I'd recommend if you need a slimmer seat is the Diono (formerly Sunshine Kids) Radian.
I do not own one of these (the other two listed, I do) but I've studied it and believe it is a great seat too.
The money I have spent on my Britax seats (4 total) has been well spent. They are easy to install properly in the vehicle, easy to get child in properly...just well worth it, imo.
I have 2 Graco seats and 1 Evenflo...and I have regretted buying each one. I don't say that to be mean...it's just the truth.
Check Amazon too-they are usually cheaper than BRU, even during a sale.
HTH!

http://us.diono.com/en/car-seats

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_11?url=search-al...

We have an Evenflo Triumph. I love it! Making strap adjustments are super easy (no rethreading) and loosing and tightening the straps are easy as well. I'm not sure sizewise how it compares to other convertibles....we have a van as well and have the carseat in one of the captain chairs and it fits just fine. We did have the carseat in our Oldsmobile Alero and it fit great in the backseat. We have used this carseat for a long time. My 3 year old used it until we needed it for our youngest. Good luck deciding - I know there are a ton of seats out there!

My son is 6 months and I just put him the the BRU safty first 65 the black and Tan color. He fits in ti really well and it adjusts as he grows and it is a great price.

We own 6 Britax car seats (3 for each vehicle) and they are worth every penny! And, they're made in the USA (Charlotte, NC)! We have 2 Marathon, 3 Frontier, and 1 Parkway (high back booster).

I loved our Graco convertible car seat. They are always easy to buckle in, adjust and nice cushy back for your little one. Yep, it's big but safe and that is key. Then when your little one is ready to face forward you just turn it around. We just actually had to get a new car seat for my 4 yo because we got into an accident. Car was totaled and my son was absolutely fine. Can't keep car seats that have been in a wreck. So my husband and I went shopping and checked them all out and ended up bringing home another Graco.

Highly recommend the Marathon also. It's definitely worth every penny more you'll spend on it than others. It's so much easier to install, and buckle your kid into. I view it as something you will use multiple times a day, for multiple years, spend the extra money.

We got the seats that eventually turn into toddler booster seats. They did fine rear facing but did have to have the top between the front seats to fit well.

They are still using them and the last one is nearly old enough to not need one anymore.

I liked them because as the child gets taller or heavier it did not matter. Once they were too big for the carrier style seat I moved them right into the larger ones, still rear facing though.