Best car seat, rear facing up to booster

[KristiKelly]

DD is outgrowing her infant seat and I'm in search for the best 3 in 1 car seat. In the past with DS8 & DD6, we bought a carseat and then a booster. We only want to buy one this time that will get us from rear facing up to booster. I'm not too concerned with price but more for safety & comfort. Any ideas? TIA

 

[R4racing]

Honestly, from our experience with carseats and boosters, I'd go with something that is rear/front facing and then just get a dedicated booster when the time came for it. I have been so unimpressed with the booster version of the seats we have tried/seen that do it all. Also, I think most companies recommend you use the seats for 6yrs or so and with so many states upping the age children need to be in a booster, you may end up having to purchase a new booster anyway.

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

We bought our DD a Safety First Intera, I honestly love it, is good for rear facing till they are a year, forward facing with 5 pt harness then the headrest moves up to a belt postioner and then the base comes apart as a backless booster (actually we took the base of ours right from the beginning as it takes a little less of the seat up and kept the base in the trunk for whenever I took my 4yo neice along). DD outgrew her infant seat at 6 months and we have had it since. We got ours at Walmart for a little cheaper than the 139 quoted in the website.It fits well in my small Hyundai Elantra and just as well in the pickup truck, I just love the LATCH system!I had mine checked by the local police dept when I first installed it rear facing and then again when I had it first time forward, the police officer in charge of our local program was really impressed with it and said it was one of the better ones he has checked.
Interra

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Britax is rated one of the best. They are tested in 75mph crashes. We have 3 of them and we love them. They are super comfortable and easy for you to adjust the straps to accomodate kids clothing (snowsuits vs. summer clothes). The weight limit is 5-65lbs. They are a bit large but I don't mind. That being said- let me say that all carseats are tested and regulated so anything you chose will be fine. We just happen to love Britax. I hope this helps.

 

[GatorGal]

Britax is rated one of the best. They are tested in 75mph crashes. We have 3 of them and we love them. They are super comfortable and easy for you to adjust the straps to accomodate kids clothing (snowsuits vs. summer clothes). The weight limit is 5-65lbs. They are a bit large but I don't mind. That being said- let me say that all carseats are tested and regulated so anything you chose will be fine. We just happen to love Britax. I hope this helps.

I agree. Some of the Britax seats have true side impact protection as well that other seats don't have. One of their most current seats, the Boulevard, has it and is rated to 33 pounds rear facing, 65 lbs forward facing. Britax seats are expensive, but you get what you pay for IMHO. They have non-twist straps, built in lockoffs, and crash replacement program where they replace seats that are involved in crash (if occupied).

HTH

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We also have 2 Britax car seats for DD. One in DH's car and one in mine so we don't hve to keep moving them. I love them. We did quite a bit of reasearch with consumer reports and such and we decided on the BRITAX. One of the other reasons we went with them was our car dealership recommended the BRITAX for our model of Van. We have no bench seating in the van and quite a few car seats we tried sort of "Leaned" over in the captains style seating. We called the car manufactur and they only recommended 2 carseats. The Britax was one of them. We took the car to BABIES R US and they let us try different models in the car before we purchased the ones we bought. As previous postes have stated they are quite $ but we really love ours. Good luck.

 

[alloyd1170]

I used an Eddie Bauer Alpha Omega with my son and hated it. Rear facing, I couldnt access the tightening strap for the harness, so I had to leave it tight which was a real pain. The straps kept twisting, and as a booster it was terrible (got bad ratings too).

I just bought a Britax Decathalon (its a pink and yellow flower pattern) for my then 6 mos old daughter (she got too tall for the infant seat). Weve been using it for two months now and I absolutely love it. Thankfully the inlaws sprung for it as it is pricey. I tried it out in my car at Babies R Us, but ordered it online to get the fabric I wanted. I ended up saving money since I wasnt charged for tax or shipping (believe it was $285).

My daughter no longer complains when we put her in it. It has a nice padded insert that cushions her body (it can be removed now, but it looks so comfy and shes happy). It also had a nice padded head rest. There is a pad around the crotch buckle (can be a pain to get into place). I can easily access the tightener strap (I tested it out first by trying it out in my car), and it has lock downs for the seat belt. Im using the latch system which is such a breeze. The latches are like seat belt clips (the female part) and just clip in and tighten. So much nicer than with our past seats. The seat I believe is rated to 33 lbs rear facing, and forward facing to 65 lbs using the harness. It is not a seatbelt type booster. The other nice feature is that the manual is attached to the seat with a cord so theres no losing it (unless you cut the cord). It does make it hard to read while installing the seat. we will definitely be getting our money out of this one!

alison

 

[3littleHalls]

Another vote for Britax... ...we are big fans. I feel like my kids are safe in them.

 

[KristiKelly]

Thanks so much for the responses. Looks like Britax is a winner. We had looked into the Eddie Bauer but I'm glad I read the response. We have a Honda Odyssey so I'm glad to hear the Britax will do well with the captain seats. I'll go online to see what I can find to match my tan interior. Safety first then comes color.

 

[macmahony]

We have two Britax, and two eddie bauers, my 18 month old is still backwards. We keep all our kids backwards until they hit the height requirement on the seats, our oldest was 28 months when we turned her around, the middle was 25 months, and the baby is still backwards. She is in the eddie bauer right now, I like it, don't love it.
The older two are in Britax marathons and I love them! When we drove to florida (over 24 hours), they never complained. On the way home the baby cried and cried and cried, we finally switched her into one of the britax and took one of the older girls and put her in the eddie bauer, and the baby fell right asleep in the britax. Sadly, the older one in the Eddie bauer cried on and off and could not get comfy.
I will be buying another britax as soon as I can afford it. They are very big, I can only fit two in the back seat (which is a three seat bench seat), but they are so comfy, and they have a five point harness until they are 65 pounds, and that was very important to me. They are pricey, but worth it in my opininon.
So another vote for the britax!

 

[AngieWin]

We need to upgrade our Britax seats. DS2 is outgrowing his carrier, so we are switching DS2 to DS1's Britax roundabouts and getting DS1 a bigger Britax. Anyone know of a good place to get them for a decent deal?