ditching the bucket - where to start?

[neonalee]

I think DS (9 months) is uncomfortable in his Graco snugride.  Our regular to/from daycare or the doc or store are fine.  But now we have a weekly round trip that is an hour each way and he is NOT happy about it.  I've checked/considered everything else - all I can think is he's not comfortable in there for that long.

So, where do I start with researching his next car seat?  I know RFing is best, but that's about all I know.  I have a 2005 VW with latch.  And his daddy is 6'3 and skinny, I'm on the thinner side myself, so odds are good he'll be tall and skinny.

I see certain seats come up a lot, but I don't know *why* these are the top recommendations, or if they would work for our situation.  Is there a general info type page, or some other starting point to inform me of all the considerations for this decision?

Thanks mamas!

[leighi123]

You are right, rearfacing is much much safer and you want to rearface your little guy as long as you can.  

My favorite seats:

Sunshine kids radian XTSL.   We own 2 of these

Good:   Rearface to 45lbs, narrow so is nice if you have to sit next to it, folds up so easy to carry through the airport for travel, sturdy seat, headwings, tall, teathers rearfacing.

Not so good: can be tricky to install in some cars, can be hard to get upright in some cars, some people have a hard time tightening the straps (I've never had an issue with this), heavy, more expensive, some people have issues with the superLATCH. 

MyRide:

Good: Rearface to 40lbs, nice cushy seat with infant insert, cup holders, fits well in smallish cars,

Not as good: wide, shorter shell (so not as great for tall kids)

TrueFit/TrueFit Premier:  We owned one of these before getting the radian

Good: you dont have to take it out of the car to wash the cover.  No rethread harness adjustment, very tall seat, comfy infant insert, has lockoffs, headrest can stay off until baby reaches 22lbs or a certan height. 

Not as good: only RF to 35lbs (but is very tall, often rearfacing seats are outgrown RF by height before weight), some find the harness adjuster strap hard to reach when RF, wideish seat.   

We traveled with ours just fine! 

Complete Air: 

Good: rearfaces to 40lbs, headwings, very tall seat, quite narrow

Not as good: I found the neck straps to be too close together for my ds

Some other good ones:  The other Radian seats (radian 80, 65), Evenflo triumph advance, graco smart seat (don't know much about this one, its pretty new)

Some not as good seats: alpha omega 3 in 1, they are outgrown in height quickly (so especially not so good for a tall kid).  New generation Britax seats also have quite short shells, so for the price there are a lot of other seats that will last longer, and have more legroom than Britax.  They are nice seats overall though. 

Hope that helps some!     Some of these you can see at babies R' us/target, so it might be good for you to go have a look and see what you like,  also, having a budget in mind helps sense there is quite a range. 

[DahliaRW]

The seats most recommended here are because of how long they lost both rear and forward facing.  The pp gave you a good list to look into.  Personally, for tall and skinny I'd most look at the complete air, radian, and true fit.

[neonalee]

Thanks mamas!  I'll start looking into these.  I've seen recommendations for actually going to the store with the child to see how comfortable the seat is for him, is that usable advice for a 9/10 month old?  I mean, it's not like he can tell me if he likes it or not, and if he's wiggling around in the seat it could be just as likely for other reasons as for comfort, right?

[DahliaRW]

I would go just to see how the seats fit your ds and how you like them, but I wouldn't judge his reaction at that age.  He may just be unhappy being put down or tired of trying out seats.