Convertible Carseats

[Lorah]

We are starting to look around for a good quality, yet not too much money, convertible carseat. What do you have that you like/dislike?

What would you suggest for someone on a lower budget who also has a comfort sensitive baby/child?
Thanks for the help.:thumb

[CMT]

had the cosco touriva (like $40 at walmart) and hated it. I have one you can check out sometime.. it just feels very flimsy to me.

I have the britax marathon and love it (think i got it for $299 at baby news on sale b/c the print was discontinued)

[Lorah]

Thanks .... I think we can go a bit above $40 ...I didn't know there were any that cheap! WOW!
If you hated it, I think that is pretty much all I need to know about it. Especially if it was that cheap, I'm sure your opinion would match mine.

[Lynette]

We have 2 Britax's because a CHP told me a semi could run over it and it would be fine so after an endorsement like that, I had to ignore the pricetag. I think they were $200 each? I also rationalize that she will be in them until she is probably 4 or so.

[CMT]

yeah, I think the britaxes are worth it. We went with the cosco at first b/c there was just NO possible way at the time we could afford a $$$ carseat. When the money isn't there, it just isn't there, kwim?
But we finally got the $$ saved up for it and it's some of the best money we've ever spent on kid stuff

[Sara]

Yeah, we had our parents meeting last night at school and the CHP officer came to talk about carseats. He said he loves the Britax and they have extra re-inforcements (sp) that most other seats don't have. Amelia has Jacob's Marathon and it is great, easy to install and very comfy.

[daisydoc]

We have 2 Britax's because a CHP told me a semi could run over it and it would be fine so after an endorsement like that, I had to ignore the pricetag. I think they were $200 each? I also rationalize that she will be in them until she is probably 4 or so.

:yeah

We have three britaxs (two convertables and one forward facing only) that Sevannah will hopefully be able to stay in until she's 6 yrs old. My parents volunteered to by their own carseats (all britaxs) so they can take the kids when they want and when my MIL started saying she wanted to be able to pick Sevannah up we told her it would only work if she bought a carseat and it had to be britax!

[KaisaG]

We have a Britax Marathon and a Decathlon. The Marathon we got from my SIL at our baby shower, and the decathlon we got on sale for $238 from babynteendepot.com I rationalized it the same way as the others... it will last him a long time.

[Lorah]

WOW! You guys love the Britax huh? I will have to look into those! I am not sure if we can afford it now, but we don'tneed it for a few more months as Mav is a peanut due to his reflux. Maybe we could save up in the next few months...I bet.
Very helpful, thanks!

[becky]

On the other spectrum since we cant afford the brintax we have bought the Eddie Bauer Carseats and just LOVE them. They are in the number 2 spot as to being the best car seats around.

[Lorah]

I saw those when we were looking around. They look good too! thanks

[Kellie_MO5]

We have 2 Britax Roundabouts and i love them... We got ours off of the free listings on Craigslist (sooo lucky), no way could we have afforded them otherwise

[JeriAnne]

I just bought Austin the Safety 1st Apex and it's great. It's the only one that I could find BESIDES to the way totally overpriced Britax carseats (which I'm sure are excellent, just overpriced...but I suppose they can overprice them since there aren't that many on the market that go past 40lbs using the 5point harness....monopoly anyone?). I have a friend that is certified in carseat installation and she said that the Safety first is just as good as the britax.

I wanted one that went up to 65lbs using the 5point harness, which this one does. Then once 65lbs or the height limit is reached it can go up to 57inches or 100lbs using the cars seatbelts.

I bought it at www.albeebaby.com and it was $100 with 4.95 UPS ground shipping.

[Lorah]

thanks...that seems like a good deal too. Man, you are all being so helpful! My Dh will be do happy to have a few great recommendations....I'm sure we will have a much easier time sorting through them now.

[Sara]

There is one other that goes above 40lbs with the harness. We have this one for Jacob: http://www.safeguardseat.com/go/index.htm The only problem with the portable one is that it can only go in a latch car, it doesn't work with only the seatbelt.

[My3sonsplus1]

thanks...that seems like a good deal too. Man, you are all being so helpful! My Dh will be do happy to have a few great recommendations....I'm sure we will have a much easier time sorting through them now.

I think the apex is forward facing only.... but I am not positive

[CMT]

i could be wrong, but isn't the safety first apex actually made BY britax? Or is that another one?

[My3sonsplus1]

fisher price makes the "safe voyage"/sv deluxe made by britax ;)

[JeriAnne]

Cosco, Safety First and Eddie Bauer are the same.

Ahh...Yes! Please disregard my suggestion. Totally forgot that it was forward facing only. I am SO sorry!

[lmfike]

We have the evenflo triumph. So far as good. Youngest dd is 3 1/2 and she's been in it since probably 7-8 months old(would have to find receipt to remember for sure when we bought it. We have used it rear facing. My sister also has this same seat at least for her older child(my nephew turned 2 in Jan). Funny thing is we didn't discuss car seats and then when they came down for visit in Dec 2005 the kids(my youngest daughter and my nephew) we saw they had same seat. Jules didn't understand why her seat(actually nephew's seat)was in my sister's mil car.

[Lindsay]

Britax really is the best, especially comfort wise. You just can't get any better than that. I also have the Costo Alpha Omega, which is not as cushy as the Britax but has a lot of the same features. The only issue I have with it is that the straps twist HARDCORE. Still not a bad seat at all for the money (and Lisa was kind enough to give me her old one for free). I have the Britax Marathon that my brother/sister in law bought from their friend who's child outgrew it (supposedly, but the thing is like bran new!) and I LOVE IT. It's the best seat ever!

Whatever you do, don't buy the Graco Sport Ride. We thought it would be ok since it was a Graco and middle of the road price wise, but it was terrible. The straps twist, it wasn't very secure in the car, it only adjusted in the back (!!!), and a few times the straps actually came OUT. Srsly.

One thing you can do to cut down on costs is buy a Britax Roundabout and then when your child outgrows it, a booster seat. The Britax boosters are fairly inexpensive, and if you are not going to have children close in age, it's actually more cost effective to do it that way, since carseats expire after seven years (not an issue for me, since I plan on having kids close in age).

[becky]

I would agree the britax are very coosh....though the eddie bauer are a close second but those ones from babies r us. We got one from target for myah since that is what she is used to but for shelsea i think we are geting the one from BRU

[meeg124]

We had the Evenflo Triumph too and I loved that car seat. Caden is a big kid though, so he grew out of it pretty quickly. We now have the Britax Husky and I really don't like it. But at the time we bought it, it was the only seat I could find that had a 5 point harness for up to 80 (I think) pounds. The straps twist all the time, Caden screams about being "stuck" and "squashed" in it... I don't like the pull down strap that tightens everything, the Triumph was much easier to tighten the straps.

[Sara]

We had the Evenflo Triumph too and I loved that car seat. Caden is a big kid though, so he grew out of it pretty quickly. We now have the Britax Husky and I really don't like it. But at the time we bought it, it was the only seat I could find that had a 5 point harness for up to 80 (I think) pounds. The straps twist all the time, Caden screams about being "stuck" and "squashed" in it... I don't like the pull down strap that tightens everything, the Triumph was much easier to tighten the straps.

Not that you want to get rid of your new Britax, but you might want to look into the one I posted earlier from Safeguard. You have to have the latch system for it to work, but it really holds Jacob down and you can use the 5-pt up to 60lbs and the booster bottom until 100lbs. They have them at baby news in santa rosa if you want to look at them up close.

[meeg124]

Not that you want to get rid of your new Britax, but you might want to look into the one I posted earlier from Safeguard. You have to have the latch system for it to work, but it really holds Jacob down and you can use the 5-pt up to 60lbs and the booster bottom until 100lbs. They have them at baby news in santa rosa if you want to look at them up close.

Thanks for the tip Sara, but as we spent close to $300 on this dumb seat, I feel like we have to stick with it. I do like that it is a safe carseat (except for the straps twisting all the time) but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a car seat for bigger kids.

[My3sonsplus1]

Cosco, Safety First and Eddie Bauer are the same.

Ahh...Yes! Please disregard my suggestion. Totally forgot that it was forward facing only. I am SO sorry!

no problem JeriAnne, it is actually a great suggestion and I think we might pick up one ourselves for our car so even if it wasn't helpful now for the OP it was great food for though for anyone with a child forward facing :)

[Lindsay]

I don't know how the rest of them are, but I have the Eddie Bauer infant seat which is part of a travel system, and I hate it. The straps twist a lot and it's really a huge pain to adjust. It had held up for two kids, but man, it sure is a PITA to use.

[becky]

mine was not part of a travel system thank goodness. i remember you saying that before. i havent had any trouble with ours at least not yet