Car Seat recommendation

[cellososweet]

Hi Everyone!

So our situation has changed markedly and we will not be an urban family anymore (I''m trying my hardest to be positive about this, but I''m pretty bummed overall).

Now we are moving to the mother of all suburbs. I will still be walking a good bit because it''s the easiest way for me to lose weight, it''s good for baby, and the grocery store, library, and shops are within walking distance.

We didn''t even think about car seats really. We were just going to get the cheapest safe one we could find because we don''t even own a car. Now with the major change in lifestyle, a car seat is now a HUGE priority because we will definitely be traveling with baby in the car.

Most of our car-based travel will be to go see the in-laws or go to doctor''s appointments. I say this because a majority of our car-based travel will be going to places where transferring from a car seat to a stroller is not an issue. Any place where we will need a stroller is within walking distance (we''re still thinking of getting the Phil and Ted''s).

So, I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for a carseat that goes from infant up to toddler? Size isn''t a huge issue because of what I said above. We won''t be carrying the carseat around. The stroller will still be the main mode of transportation. Thanks everyone!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

DS''s main car seat is an Evenflo Symphony, which is rear-facing for an infant, then forward facing for a toddler and comes off the base for a up-to 100lb booster seat. His secondary car seat is a Britax Roundabout, which is rear facing and forward facing up to 40lbs. We like both seats; but the Evenflo is easier to take in and out of the car if necessary.

Sorry to hear of your medical troubles and I hope that you''re feeling better soon.

 

[gailrmv]

There are two routes you can go.

1) Get a convertible seat, which works newborn to toddler. I'm researching these myself and am down to three choices. Britax Roundabout, Britax Marathon, Maxi Cosi Priori. This type of seat, you leave in the car. You can find them at Amazon, BRU, etc. Britax often has discontinued fabrics on sale. You will wind up buying a convertible seat eventually anyway, so if you get one right away you'll save $. However, you miss out on some convenience as described below.

2) Get an infant seat in case you change your mind about wanting to bring the baby in and out of places in the seat. (For example, where do you anticipate baby to sit when you eat at a restaurant? how about when you go to the grocery or Target)? In this case i would get the Graco Snugride or Safeseat with a base in each car. Snugride is a little smaller and lighter to carry around; safeseat holds a baby up to 30 lb so it will last longer but is bulkier to carry around. We chose the Snugride pattern that was the cheapest because we knew we would not be using it for long. I think it was a discountinued fabric or something and was under $100. You can buy an additional base in case you have 2 cars or will be riding with the grandparents often etc. You can also get a Snap and Go base to use in place of a full stroller. They run around $60. Most people are quite happy with this system. Many people swear by the Chicco Keyfit infant seat. They look better and may be easier to use than the Graco, but are pricier. We're quite happy with the Snugride.

My son doesn't like to be in his carseat at all (any - we've tried several brands), but even so, it's been quite convenient to be able to bring him in somewhere in his seat for a quick errand, put him in the seat on a shopping cart, or at least attempt to have him sit there when we are at a restaurant. Many babies are quite content to sit in their infant seat while the parents are out to eat or doing errands, and even sleep through it all!

 

[cellososweet]

Thanks gals. I''m not really worried about the whole grocery/Target/shopping thing. We are now an urban family and were planning on using a sling and public transit, so the convenience of an infant carseat wasn''t something that we were going to be looking into anyways (and I hate to spend money so much money on something that I feel like I''m not going to use often). I did the whole sling while doing errands with an infant often while nannying and it worked really well. All of the shops are within walking distance and I don''t plan on driving much at all. Also, I''m not allowed to go anywhere by myself due to a medical condition, so I''ll have help (and because of said condition, I sadly won''t even get out often. I can count on one hand how many times I''ve left the house in the last 3 months for anything besides hospital admissions and doctors offices). I honestly see the kid in the car less than once a week just based on our odd situation (we don''t own our own car right now and won''t get one for at least a year if at all, husband works long hours, and my Mum will be driving baby and I to any appointments/errands because of my health concerns)

Do either of you, or anyone else, have any idea what would be a good convertible for a nissan maxima? If we ever do go out, that''ll be the car we''ll take because my Mum will be driving us and that''s her car.

TanDogMom, I''m familiar with the britax models, but not the priori. Do you know of the perks for this seat? Is it smaller than the britax models? I have to go research!

Thanks!

 

[neatfreak]

There are quite a few recent threads on this too if that might help Cello.

I really recommend getting an infant seat-it sucks to have to get a sleeping infant in and out of the car. Plus you can use a snap n go stroller if you want. I know you don't think you care about the in and out-but I promise you will care when you have a sleeping infant finally after they haven't slept for hours.

It usually comes down to Chicco keyfit vs. Graco snugride if you want an infant one...it's a lot of personal preference after that but those are the 2 best rated seats generally in the US. We loved our Chicco but the Graco is cheaper.

As for convertible ones we have Maxi Cosi Prioris and we love them. Very safe and cute too. Smaller than some of the britax ones and cheaper too.

Albee baby has the Maxi Cosi Prioris one closeout. We got ours from there and it was manufactured only a few months ago so they are a great deal for the cost conscious:

http://www.albeebaby.com/maxi-cosi-priori-convertible-car-seat-penguin.html

 

[Pandora II]

I have the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix which is the rear-facing infant model and we will be upgrading to the Priori once she''s grown out of the Cabriofix.

It has the best safety ratings of any of the carseats here in the UK.

I use ours with the Isofix system which makes everything so easy - you just click it in and out of the unit rather than faffing about with seatbelts in the rain!

Honestly I don''t take ours out of the car much - Daisy hates all carseats and living in the city I use public transport most of the time so take either the sling or the pram. If I''m doing supermarket shopping then we just put her into the baby carrier on the shopping trolley.