Car Seat suggestions

[Queen2PrincessG]

We are ready for a toddler seat. I'm not sure which to get! Right now i'm stuck between the Britax Marathon and the Boulevard.

Does anyone have either of these seats? How does your child like it?

 

[momof3poohlovers]

We have the Britax Boulevard CS and I love it! My son also really likes it and it seems really comfortable. We have another less expensive car seat in our other car and he definitely likes the Britax better.

 

[*Seanaci*]

How big is your kiddo?

We have the Graco Generations carseat...one in each of our cars.

Can't give an opinion on the Britax...as we've only ever used Graco brand carseats. Sorry! Hope someone else can give you good advice!!

 

[KAA1972]

We have the Britax Frontier 85 and I love, love, love it! I'm not sure what weight it starts at but I bought it for our 3 year old and she can stay in it until she outgrows booster seats altogether.

I was horribly disappointed in my Radian 80 by Sunshine Kids. I loved that it was made of steel but the seat strap is so short that she has now outgrown the seat (I think they may have fixed this on newer models) even though she was supposed to be able to stay in it for a lot longer.

 

[ThreeBeans]

When you say toddler, how old is your child?

Are you familiar with the current recommendations? Forward facing seats are not appropriate for 1 and 2 year olds (this rules out the Frontier and any other combination seats.)

Kids that age need to be in rear facing convertibles. I do not recommend the Britax convertibles. With their recent design change they've quite absurdly shortened the shell. This means unless you have a smaller-than-average/petite framed child, your child will not fit in it rear facing by height as long as he/she needs to be.

If you post back with the age/height/weight of your child, and your budget and the vehicle the seat is going into, I could make some specific recs

By the way, there is no such seat as "Graco Generations". I'm not quite sure what the previous poster is referring to. For convertibles, Graco currently manufactures the Comfortsport (don't buy it!!!) and the My Ride 65 (usually a great option).

 

[Jynxed]

I have a Britax Boulevard and my son has no issues with it rare facing. He is very comfortable in it and we have taken a lot of long road trips with it. My H has a less expensive seat in his car and DS is not comfortable in it at all (even with more leg room), cries after a few minutes in it.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

DD will be 18 months at the end of the month. She was 23lbs at the last check in. Yes she is a peanut! Only 5 lbs when she came out so she seems huge to me but I now she is small. However she is BEYOND tall: last check in she was 32 in. So she is tall and tiny- Hopefully this last her throughout life.

Budget- we have none, we just want to buy her the safest seat that will last her for a while. Right now she is still in her "infant" carrier. It goes up to 35 lbs. She'll maybe reach that at like 10 yo she can't sit up in it which leads to her yelling like a shes riding Tower of Terror!

 

[Bren's Mom]

When you say toddler, how old is your child?

Are you familiar with the current recommendations? Forward facing seats are not appropriate for 1 and 2 year olds (this rules out the Frontier and any other combination seats.)

Kids that age need to be in rear facing convertibles. I do not recommend the Britax convertibles. With their recent design change they've quite absurdly shortened the shell. This means unless you have a smaller-than-average/petite framed child, your child will not fit in it rear facing by height as long as he/she needs to be.

If you post back with the age/height/weight of your child, and your budget and the vehicle the seat is going into, I could make some specific recs

By the way, there is no such seat as "Graco Generations". I'm not quite sure what the previous poster is referring to. For convertibles, Graco currently manufactures the Comfortsport (don't buy it!!!) and the My Ride 65 (usually a great option).

I agree with 3B! (And 3B, I'm thinking perhaps that poster meant the Evenflo Generations combo seat?)

DD will be 18 months at the end of the month. She was 23lbs at the last check in. Yes she is a peanut! Only 5 lbs when she came out so she seems huge to me but I now she is small. However she is BEYOND tall: last check in she was 32 in. So she is tall and tiny- Hopefully this last her throughout life.

Budget- we have none, we just want to buy her the safest seat that will last her for a while. Right now she is still in her "infant" carrier. It goes up to 35 lbs. She'll maybe reach that at like 10 yo she can't sit up in it which leads to her yelling like a shes riding Tower of Terror!

Definitely you want a convertible seat then, one that will allow her to be rear-facing for a good long time yet.

What car is this seat going into?

What do you/don't you like about your infant carrier? And what do you like about the Britax seats that led you to narrow down to those two?

My personal favorite is the Evenflo Triumph 65. I also like the Graco MyRide. I've never been a Britax fan, but especially now with the shorter shells like 3B said, they're even lower on the list.

Coleen
CPST

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

Not sure why the Britax many of my friends have them so maybe that is why. I like the features of the Marathon. I will be facing her forward. I know it's flame worthy but honestly shes going nuts back there between not seeing us and not being able to sit up. And if not hearing her yell will ease and help me stay focused on driving, then we are all a little safer. We are a Jeep family (Compass and Patriot 2011)

 

[ThreeBeans]

Since she's tall, definitely rule out the new Britax convertibles. They are short shelled for even average heighted children, and useless for tall ones. They also offer very limited leg room for older kids, which can be a comfort factor once you're 2-4 years.

For a tall lightweight, I'd look into the First Years True Fit, which has loads of leg room, an incredibly tall shell, and a 35 lb rear facing weight limit. You could also consider the Sunshine Kids' Radians, which have a 40-45 lb rear facing limit depending on the model, and also have a very, very tall shell.

 

[ThreeBeans]

Not sure why the Britax many of my friends have them so maybe that is why. I like the features of the Marathon. I will be facing her forward. I know it's flame worthy but honestly shes going nuts back there between not seeing us and not being able to sit up. And if not hearing her yell will ease and help me stay focused on driving, then we are all a little safer. We are a Jeep family (Compass and Patriot 2011)

Please do not face her forward. It's not just a 'flame' issue. It's the fact that by facing her foward you are now increasing her risk of death or serious, life-altering injury by 500%.

The recommendations are now 2 years BARE MINIMUM for a reason. Too many kids have suffered grievously because they were forward facing at one.

Most kids go through an angry car period at 1 year. All of my kids outgrew it by 20-22 months. Then they continued to rear face happily until they outgrew their seats, at 2.5, 4 years, and 3.5 respectively.

Also, she's probably yelling in part because you have her reclined to 45 degrees, which is appropriate for a newborn but inappropriate for a toddler. She can be much more upright, 30-35 degrees.

Think of it this way. If your daughter were yelling and screaming because she wanted to stick a butter knife in an electrical outlet, would you cave in just because you didn't want her to cry? Of course not. It's too dangerous, you're the parent, and you'll just have to grin and bear the crying until she gets over it. The same applies here.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Not sure why the Britax many of my friends have them so maybe that is why. I like the features of the Marathon. I will be facing her forward. I know it's flame worthy but honestly shes going nuts back there between not seeing us and not being able to sit up. And if not hearing her yell will ease and help me stay focused on driving, then we are all a little safer. We are a Jeep family (Compass and Patriot 2011)

No flaming, but I can tell you from experience with many, many, many parents, kiddos and car seats that it is likely she will be just fine rear-facing in a convertible because she will sit up higher and much more upright than in her infant carrier. I promise you it's not about rear-facing, it's about being restrained in such a reclined position and wanting to 'see the world'.

Because the evidence is so overwhelming about how much safer she will be rear-facing, I would encourage you to at least give it a try.

Do you have a Babies R Us near you? Try out the seats we've mentioned in your car, they'll let you take the samples out one at a time. Put them in the back seat both rear and forward facing and see how they fit, try out dd, see how SHE fits, try harnessing her in each and see how you like the features.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

No flaming, but I can tell you from experience with many, many, many parents, kiddos and car seats that it is likely she will be just fine rear-facing in a convertible because she will sit up higher and much more upright than in her infant carrier. I promise you it's not about rear-facing, it's about being restrained in such a reclined position and wanting to 'see the world'.

Because the evidence is so overwhelming about how much safer she will be rear-facing, I would encourage you to at least give it a try.

Do you have a Babies R Us near you? Try out the seats we've mentioned in your car, they'll let you take the samples out one at a time. Put them in the back seat both rear and forward facing and see how they fit, try out dd, see how SHE fits, try harnessing her in each and see how you like the features.

We are planning on visiting BRU today to do just that, with her so that she can try them out too.
I know a lot of it is the reclined position which is why we are looking and I know a good size of it is also wanting to be forward. We will obviously try it out rear-facing but I know in the end that is what it will ball down to. No, obviously i wouldn't let her put a knife in a electric socket but this is hardly that type of situation.

For the record I have 5 friends with kids under 2 who have all been faced forward. I'm the last one out of the group. They have ALL reported the now joyful car rides they are experiencing. No screaming, no ranting, no toys thrown into front seats. I've done my year of grinning.

 

[DPK400]

+1 for the Britax Marathon. We love ours and will get another for our second.

 

[ThreeBeans]

We are planning on visiting BRU today to do just that.
I know a lot of it is the reclined position which is why we are looking and I know a good size of it is also wanting to be forward. We will obviously try it out rear-facing but I know in the end that is what it will ball down to. No, obviously i wouldn't let her put a knife in a electric socket but this is hardly that type of situation.

For the record I have 5 friends with kids under 2 who have all been faced forward. I'm the last one out of the group. They have ALL reported the now joyful car rides they are experiencing. No screaming, no ranting, no toys thrown into front seats. I've done my year of grinning.

It is not safe to forward face a one year old. It doesn't matter how happy their one year olds are forward facing. They are at serious risk of injury or death if they happen to hit something.

Kids aren't very happy with broken necks....and parents aren't very happy picking out their kids' nursing homes. I'll trade a few months of my minor aggravation to spare my child a shortened life time of pain and suffering.


I strongly suggest watching this (very brief) video by a Grandad I know who almost lost his grandson because of what you are about to do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8

He has campaigned tirelessly the last few years to make sure that parents know it isn't worth it. You may have seen him on a few national broadcasts. http://www.joelsjourney.org/ That's his website.

 

[ThreeBeans]

+1 for the Britax Marathon. We love ours and will get another for our second.

Keep in mind that the new Britax Marathons and the old Britax Marathons are two completely different seats. I do not recommend the new ones for a myriad of reasons.

 

[Ar1el]

Since she's tall, definitely rule out the new Britax convertibles. They are short shelled for even average heighted children, and useless for tall ones. They also offer very limited leg room for older kids, which can be a comfort factor once you're 2-4 years.

For a tall lightweight, I'd look into the First Years True Fit, which has loads of leg room, an incredibly tall shell, and a 35 lb rear facing weight limit. You could also consider the Sunshine Kids' Radians, which have a 40-45 lb rear facing limit depending on the model, and also have a very, very tall shell.

What about a Recaro? Would that be a good fit?

 

[ThreeBeans]

What about a Recaro? Would that be a good fit?

No....definitely stay away from Recaros. (I have a feeling someone was smoking something when they designed those!)

The seat pan (Back to front butt area) is so incredibly shallow that for any kid much bigger than 18 months to 2 years, you have to practically fold their knees over their ears to shove them in there. And the inside is narrow...so narrow that only a very petite and narrow-shouldered older child could be comfortable in it. (It makes a great forward facing special needs seat though.)

As a technician I know remarked when we were first looking at Recaro's advertisement pictures when they the first released the info about their Comos and Signos four years ago or so, "Junior looks like he's going to need a spatula and a can of Crisco to get out of there!" (The picture featured what I would call a healthy looking four or five year old boy stuffed in the seat like the proverbial 10 pounds of crap in a five pound bag. LOL.)

 

[DPK400]

Keep in mind that the new Britax Marathons and the old Britax Marathons are two completely different seats. I do not recommend the new ones for a myriad of reasons.

What are the differences?

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

Threebeans- Can we please not make this a debate about forward facing? I understand it is important to you but at the same time I have to do what is right for MY family and I have to accept what that means. There are many choices out there that parents make that other would not this happens to be mine. Thanks.


Marathon and Boulevard users. How easy was the seat transferable to another car. For the most part DD spends traveling time in my car but for our long car rides we use DH's. I'll initial get it installed by the fire department. Will i need to buy a separate base again?