just asking
While I sit waiting as patiently as I can for tomorrow's beta (please let it double), here's a boring mom-type question of the kind I usually try not to ask. At seven months, Cole is kinda large -- okay, really large -- about 29 inches and just under 20 pounds. While he still needs to be in a rear-facing car seat, he's just about reached the weight limit on the one we have.
Any suggestions on brands, preferably not too expensive or hideous in appearance and definitely reversible to forward-facing once he reaches a year or so?
Many thanks for all the helpful comments and suggestions!
44 comments:
Way to grow that baby, mama!
I really like our Britax Roundabout:
http://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/roundabout
Click on "fabric options" to see less ugly versions.
It's a highly rated seat as far as safety and function goes.
We had a rear facing britax car seat. I think that they make some models that accomodate larger children. They aren't cheap - but we were able to use ours for several years rear facing and then later as a front facing seat.
just because of the new requirements, it seems most of the newer carseats are able to be both rear-facing then progress to front-facing. and just leaving the peds office, learned that our one year old will be facing the rear for another year. safer, they think?
Britax here, too, but the Marathon. It can be rear or forward facing and goes up to 65 lbs. I think they usually do a pretty decent sale sometime around the end of August on one of the big baby sites.
We have and Evenflo, which is considerably more affordable than the Britax, and it accommodates up to 45 lbs., I think. I believe the new ADA recommendation is to leave children facing backwards for as long as possible and/or up to 2 years. Our Evenflo worked great backwards, and easily adjusted to face forwards too. The Boy loves it; it's like he has his own easy chair in the back seat of the car. I'll try and find a link.
Here's the one: click here
Good luck. (Hope that my code is right for the link.)
Okay, apparently it (the link) didn't work. Here's the seat, although I suppose if the Britax really does accommodate that much more weight, it's probably worth the money, especially if Cole is growing so fast. My son is quite petite, so he'll probably be 5 before he hits 40 lbs.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3543111
Any of the Britax line. We have had 3 now and they are the safest, easy to clean, durable and very versatile. They are pricey, but if you can find them online, with a coupon code, it is well worth it!
I definitely echo the Britax suggestions (even though I'm not a mom)--I've had a million different carseats to use with various families, and Britax have always been the best. In some of the cheaper carseats, the straps can get 'stuck' easily (i.e., won't adjust), which is annoying. But I've always loved Britax ones, and they're definitely very safe.
Britax. Can't be beat. And use the anchor tether, if you can b/c it will really stablize a rear-facing seat. (We had a Wizard, which is retired and maybe a Boulevard or Marathon - can't remember.)
Paula
Jack's just about the same size! He's 20 lbs but I'm not sure about his height. We're having trouble fitting him into his carseat as well, but we're hoping to find one that is a front-facing seat that turns into a booster.
I guess the rules are different in Canada. Transport Canada says the child has to be 28 inches and 20 lbs and holding his own head. Nothing about age.
I don't worry too much about much when it comes to raising kiddos--but I do get all serious when it comes to rear-facing car seats. (I am sure you were going to anyway-but you might not know that you can and should get one that he can grow into.)
Study after study shows that children are safest in and should be in a REAR FACING CAR SEAT UNTIL AGE FOUR.
Here's a link to a recent report on one study:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/Story?id=7818004&page=2
Here's the relevant excerpt:
Why Rear-Facing Seats Are Safer for Children
The reason behind the safety of rear-facing seats has to do with simple physics. To begin with, children's heads are generally larger in proportion to the rest of their bodies than are adults'. Thus, their heads and necks are more vulnerable to movement-related injuries like car crashes.
"There are a lot of things that rear-facing seats do that forward-facing seats do not," noted Thomas Vilt, child passenger safety coordinator at the Rainbow Injury Prevention Center in Cleveland and a former EMT. "For one, it supports the child's whole body, so the crash force is spread over the child's whole body."
Sharon Munns, injury prevention coordinator at the Mayo Clinic Trauma Center in Rochester, Minn., said front-facing seats offered no such protection.
"The rear harness works in a way that allows the head, neck, and spine to move all straight up and down, so the body movies with the restraint of the seat, preventing crash-related injuries," she said. "In a front-facing seating, all of the body weight is going forward on the harness, which can cause injury to the head, neck and spine for children under 35 pounds. There are documents of spinal cord injuries because of children facing frontward at such an early age."
Hi, I'm not sure whether it can be forward facing, but we got the newer version of the Graco Snugride infant seat that accommodates babies up to 32 pounds. It was among Consumer Reports highest rated and most recommended infant seats. I'm glad I got it, because our son is big too -- 18 pounds and not even 4 months yet. For what it's worth, we used several Britax seats with our daughter once she outgrew her infant seat and were very happy with them.
We got an Evenflo Triumph Advance car seat for Baby Girl about a month ago for that very reason - at 6 1/2 months, she's pushing 22 pounds and 27 inches. She seems to be very comfortable in it, and it's super easy to loosen/adjust the straps.
Christina: Thanks for the info! I had no idea.
Interestingly, doing a little googling, I saw that booster seats are recommended until a older child is 80 pounds. Which means that Gray (who is/was quite skinny) should probably have been in one until he was 14 or 15 years old. Wow.
Definitely Britax.
We are also Envenflo Triumph users, as Lyra's legs stuck completely out the infant car seat by six-months old and her head was at the top. We have been very happy with the comfort and durability of this seat in both the rear and front facing positions. And liked that it was more affordable and well-reviewed alternative to the Britax lines.
The APA just changed their recommendations and now suggest kids remain rear-facing until two. This was not the case a year ago, when we turned Lyra front facing, and I honestly cannot imagine how she would have tolerated the utter boredom of staring at the back of the seat as a toddler. She gets cranky enough being strapped in that seat beyond 15 minutes, and that's while being able to see everything.
We also have the Evenflo Triumph as it was a more affordable alternative to the Britax and we needed two since we have two cars we drive equally. We like it and Lemy seems comfortable.
Thinking lots of good thoughts for you and keeping everything crossed for doubling betas! ((hugs))
We have both a Britax Boulevard and a Maxi-Cosi Priori for each of our cars. And I like the compactness of the Maxi Cosi, plus it is really streamlined, and funky. The Britax is awesome, but only really fits in our bigger SUV car, not in our outback. They both feel really safe, though, when I researched it.
We went with the Britax Marathon as our main one and my husband and the babysitter use the Eddie Bower 3-1. He seems to like both just fine!
We had to switch LP out at 7ish months because he was starting push the weight limit and I was afraid we would "miss" it :)
GL with the beta!!!
Another Evenflo Triumph fan here. I find the straps very easy to adjust and tighten, which is of course key to safety. We kept our son backward-facing in it until he was a little older than 2 (at that point I was advised, ill-advised, I believe, to turn him around by the fireman who is a certified carseat installer. His point related to DS's legs, but my concern, as per Christina, was with his head. I did, however, bow to the pressure of other family members + the fireman/technician as I'd been the one insisting we carefully follow technician's instructions, etc. Sigh.)
oh, i either failed to give or you failed to heed the advice I ALWAYS give to new mothers... buy one that goes up bigger. MQ outgrew hers at 4 months. no kidding. can't remember what we bought... but I think it was evenflo. we could not afford the britax.
We too like Britax. I am actually needing to wash the covers on our Britax seats, currently in the attic, as the Cub is about to turn 1, and we were going to celebrate by switching the car seat. He's still in the infant because it now accommodates to 30lbs (similar seat was to 20 when Monkey was a baby). We were all excited about facing him forward, but I will now do more research as per Christina. But it looks like a good while longer rear-facing for him. Glad I read the comments before posting myself.
The britaxes were too expensive for my blood.
I just ordered the First Years True Fit. The safety rating was as good as the Britax, and they're about a hundred dollars cheaper.
They also get FLYING colors in all the consumer ratings, as well as being highly recommended by several friends whose opinions I really trust.
They're also rated to 65 pounds. 30 rear facing (with a removable headrest to make it actually FIT in your backseat) and then up to 65 forward facing.
Also- sometimes the seat is rated to X pounds, but the straps aren't (dumb, I know) but this one everything is rated to 65 pounds, so it actually USABLE to that point.
Another Britax user here, I love ours--comfy for my daughter and very easy to install. I'd steer away from the Roundabout if Cole is a fast-grower though, the height limitations on it are lower than the other Britax convertible seats (or at least they used to be). I've heard wonderful things about the TrueFit too. Graco has a new seat called the MyRide 65 that will rearface to 40 lbs., then forward face harnessed up to 65 lbs. They run in the $150-$160 range, which is less than the Britax seats.
I can't afford a Britax either. We just get whichever Eddie Bauer model they have at BJ's at the time. My husband's cousin works for AAA and says they are all fine, though there are some that may be slightly better.
My very short 6-year-old will be in his booster forever at the rate he's growing! He's only just forty pounds now, eight months after his birthday!
-e
ummm...I owe somebody a bunch of formula. This going back to work thing has been horrible for my errand-running! Sorry!
Niobe,
I can offer no help on the carseats since Missy is v. petite and - at 15 mos - has not yet reached 20 lbs (although I enjoyed reading what everyone had to say).
Wanted to pass along my happy thoughts for your beta news. Yeeeee! I am so very happy to hear that things are moving along in a positive direction.
Ms. P
Just another data point. I did not research this thoroughly when we bought for older daughter, just asked around and heard the two things you're mostly hearing here - Britax and Evenflow Triumph. Consumer reports' study at the time said Evenflow was equal in safety to BRitax, plus is way cheaper, so we went that way. Only word of warning, both seats are BIG (and maybe that's why they're top rated?). We call the Evenflow the captain's chair. IT takes up a full half of the back seat of our Forrester. (so with the Graco snugride, too, we are full in the back, no room for another rider). There are seats that are fine that are smaller.
Also, on boosters - just an fyi many states have changed their laws so that children are required to be in boosters for a long, long time, like up to age 8. We're about to buy a booster and switch the baby to Evenflow, so I have to go through all that research.
Britax Marathon. We only just moved the 5 3/4 year old out of it into a booster seat. I've been really happy with it, and we're now passing it along to my brother.
Also, this is a good resource: http://www.thecarseatlady.com/
We also have the Britax Marathon. It's ginormous, but it seems comfortable and has a high safety rating. It is expensive, and if it hadn't been a gift, we may have gone with something else.
We needed one that would be comfortable for long distance travel. An Eddie Bauer is our 2nd seat (much cheaper) and it is not very comfortable. If you're not planning to travel by car a lot, that may not be a consideration.
Unfortunately I don't have car seat advice as both my girls were smallish. I'm really only posting to say I'm on "pins & needles" waiting for the beta update and sending good thoughts your way!
I adored our Triumph. It was super cozy for DD, and it was a sinch to get her in and out of. We had to put her in it at 5 mos. because of her height. It was great.
http://www.target.com/Triumph-LX-Convertible-Carseat-Median/dp/B002C3S0QE/sr=1-3/qid=1250089198/ref=sr_1_3/184-7124142-1765008?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&rh=k%3Atriumph%20car%20seat&page=1
I'm planning to get the MyRide65 because it will fit up to 40 pounds rear facing and then 65 pounds forward facing.
We just bought our convertible carseat (I also have a 7 month old, about the same size as Cole). And in my research we also settled on the First Year's TrueFit due to safety ratings, useability and price. I also like the fact that the head rest can be removed for now so it makes the rear-facing position easier to fit. Later it can be added on, but still keep the carseat rear-facing. I can't remember off hand what the height limit is for the added headrest (I read babies tend to grow out of carseats by height first), but I remember thinking that we could probably go past a year rear facing if we wanted to.
We are installing it this weekend, so I can't tell you how well we like using it.
Britax has devoted fans, and I do have one and I do like it (boulevard). The Evenflo tested equal in the last round of consumer report tupe things and is much cheaper. So if I had it to do over? Hard to say, I'd probably still get suckered by teh Britax hype, but I truly think either is fine.
Interesting about the Evenflo.
I know every mom I know locally loves the Britax for many reasons and yes, seems the peds are finally catching on to the data that really recommends 20lbs/1 yr as a very minimum. Our ped now recommends rear facing until 3 or 35 lbs.
we got a really good deal on the combi coccoro convertible but it only goes up to 33 lbs rear facing and I have a feeling that W's legs might get too long at some point. It is SUPER comfortable tho- it is instant nap!
But these comments are helpful as I think we may be in the same boat in a few months.
Britax Marathon.
'Nuff said.
i also have the britax roundabout. cheaper than marathon and i didn't give up anything i've missed. i do have the slightly hideous "new denim" fabric because piper got all sweaty in all the polyester-covered infant seat and seems much more comfortable in the cotton.
I really like our Britax roundabout. It is supposed to be one of the safest and I like it's relatively small size since we drive a prius
Hey! You're pregnant! Congrats. May this one goes as smoothly as the last. I am a bit out of touch . . . is this the same surrogate?
As I mentioned, we have the Radian. It has a very narrow base, so we can have the seat and two adults in the back, which I like. Rear-facing to 33 pounds, forward to 80. Harry seems very comfortable, and the fabric stays cool even when it's gotten hot in the car. We've been very happy with it.
Egg is almost seven months, 19+ pounds and 27 inches. We just bought a Recaro. Our other top contender was one of the Britax models.
We are a Britax family - the Marathon. We have 2 of them, one for each car.
We used it rear-facing once our son grew out of his Graco bucket at 10 mo. He really, really liked the new seat - lots of room.
We now have him facing forward - he looks pretty darned comfy. It has one of the largest weight limits for a convertible seat, so we hope to be able to use it for a good while.
I agree with the others that the price isn't too bad if you get it on sale - we got one with a denim cover, it was $219 - not a bad price at all.
Just a note - the recommendations in the US to rear-face longer have only just started coming out, and the carseats here from what I've heard aren't built to accommodate larger children rear-facing as well as the carseats in Europe and other places where rear-facing for longer is either a law or has been recommended for longer.
We had our 2.5 year old daughter in a Britax Roundabout rear-facing until 18 months, but at that point had to switch it around because I couldn't tighten the strap enough to make it safe. Since Britax straps (in their lower segment) go over the thighs, and she has long legs, the straps were digging into her thighs when tightened appropriately since her legs were bent way up.
I do hope manufacturers make some changes to make rear-facing with bigger kids easier.
Post a Comment