Downsides to putting a 1 year old in a bucket seat?

[cileag]

We're traveling to Atlanta for Christmas this year and trying to problem solve our car seat situation.  My daughter is 12 months old and weighs 18 lbs 14 oz and is 28.5 inches long.

Our options are:

1. My MIL has offered to rent a car seat from the car rental place.  It sounds like this isn't a good idea from the number of recent threads on this topic.

2. Buy a Costco Scenera.  This isn't a terrible option as my MIL could potentially take this back to CA with her and use it as her car seat there when we visit later on.  BUT everywhere I read talks about how hard it is to install rearfacing and I don't want to have to struggle with it in an unfamiliar rental car.  I also am slightly opposed to just buying something new for a temporary situation.

3. Our cousin has her infant car seat (her daughter is 20 months old so it's a newer seat) that I think Phoebe could fit into, but my concern is, at what length do they usually outgrow the buckets? We used a Britax from the get go without really thinking about it--we have a Decathalon, so we don't have a frame a reference since P. has never been in one.

Is there any reason to NOT use the bucket if Phoebe can fit comfortably in it?  I suppose I could try her in a friend's bucket and see how it works.  Is there something I'm missing?

[MeepyCat]

We use a bucket as the regular seat for our 14 month old DD, who weights about what yours does.  Check the height limits though - my understanding is that most buckets only go up to about 29 inches.

If your babe is within the height and weight limits for that brand and model of seat, I'd say it's likely to be a very convenient option.

[sunnymw]

It depends on the bucket seat. If you can ask what specific model it is (ie, not just Snugride... see if it's a Snugride 20, 22, 32, or 35... b/c they are very different!). Then maybe you can measure your DC's torso height and height from her bottom to the top of her head and we can give a good guess as to how much room she MAY have left... because some buckets are outgrown at 8-9 months while others last those same babies until almost 2yo... it really is a HUGE difference.

Alternatively, if that falls through, DH and I will likely travel to Atlanta (Woodstock) sometime before Christmas... I could maybe bring my Evenflo Triumph Advance up for you to borrow and you can take it to FIL's house when you are done with it,

But, definitely don't rent a seat. You don't know the history, you don't know ANY of the people who have used it last, and it's really hit or miss.

FWIW, the Scenera is not that hard to install in most cars as long as you have a rolled towel underneath. Especially in a rental car w/ LATCH. You just have to pull back part of the cover that covers the "arm rest" part so you can pull the LATCH strap tail through there, that'll give you great leverage and you can just put a little weight in the seat and pull. It's one of the few seats I can actually get rock solid 100% of the time no matter what (and I have owned A LOT of seats, including Britax). It's not as quick/simple as a Britax at first but once you do it once or twice it's no big deal.

Also, it's about a year late for this but just for in the future... Britax convertibles generally don't fit that great from birth (other convertibles do). The weight rating is somewhat deceiving because their bottom strap height is SO high that most babies don't fit in it for several months. (for reference it's 10", and most seats that fit infants are 7 to 8 inches). Some parents feel okay making the parental decision to disregard this rule if the baby is really CLOSE to the straps being at/below the shoulders, some aren't.

[Marissamom]

I would find out the make/model and find out the height limit on it. my DD could use her bucket until 15 months, it had a 29 inch height limit. a lot of them will have a sticker with the weight and height limit on it, so I would just call your friend and have her look to start out with.