Car seats! « Back to Group Discussions

[XanaduMama]

Everyone's favorite topic...car seats! What are you doing for the new baby? Which brands/models do you have your eye on? If you have older kids, are you handing a seat down?

As for me: ds (6) is in a Graco Nautilus; dd (almost 4) is in a Radian65, newly FF. We have a Cosco Omega Sport that ds used at first (RF to 35, FF to 65, I think it is). Nothing fancy, and ds (who is giant) outgrew it by height long before reaching the weight limit. And it expires in Dec '13, when the new baby would be 17mo or so. What do you think I should do? Go with that one until it expires, or shell out the big $$$ on a new Radian or Britax?

[lbkw]

My mind swirls when it comes to car seats. We have car seats in both of our 2 cars and a set in our babysitter's car plus one extra in my parents' car! (we have 7 seats for 2 kids, right now!) I have to check on 2 that may expire soon but depending on how we shuffle we may be able to just re-use our current seats assuming our new sitter/au pair uses one of our 2 cars and we don't need a separate car for her. My dilemma is that we have Britax Frontier for DS(6) and that takes up so much room! Both kids have been small and stayed in infant seat for a long time. We don't have original and I don't love the idea anymore, but it may make the most sense since you can just get multiple bases. I got a year's use out of it for DD. So answer is I don't know what I'm doing but have wasted many brain cells thinking about it!

[elizaveta]

I had a Britax for my dd when she was younger and I really, really loved it. I'm not sure what I'll be getting with this baby yet though. Britax is a nice brand, but I've never actually seen one sold in Russia, at least before -- things could be different now. We're moving back this spring and I've thought about buying a car seat and taking it over, but with all the weight costs and hassle with dd, luggage and me being pregnant, I think I'll just hold off and see what is currently available and what is affordable.

[sjdragonfly]

My head spins when thinking about car seats! I keep meaning to do some research on that. I have a small car (a VW Beetle) so whatever carseat we get will be one that stays in the car all of the time. It'll be too much trouble to take it in and out all of the time. 

I just learned about car seat expirations the other day. I had no idea that happened, but it makes sense, I guess. I'm curious what brands you ladies like for newborns since I have no clue where to even start researching.

[Jodie]

I just bought a Combi Cocorro cause I found it on sale on-line from Target. Its the seat I decided to buy awhile ago. For us its the fit factor. We need to fit three across the back of my Vibe. The Cocorro is a narrow convertable seat that fits in most small cars.  The seat is also so cute, looks super comfy and goes from birth to 40lbs and 40in. Rear faces to 33lbs.

So DS(curently almost 5, just made it to 40lbs) will come out of his Nautilus and go to a backless booster, when baby comes.

DD (7) is already using a backless booster.

So far the projected setup will be the baby in the middle, and the big kids on either side.

We have always used a convertable seat and didn't bother with the infant seats. We just carry our baby in arms or in a wrap or soft sided carrier. Plus a convertable can be used longer saving some money.

[Nicole730]

I am going to continue using our Graco Safeseat. I love how much easier is is to install than any of the convertible seats I have done rearfacing. I rarely take the bucket seat out of the car, so it is mostly just ease of installation for me. I bought a second base for DH's car, but I don't know that we will have three seats in there anyway. It is a taurus, so I amthinking three across shouldn't be too difficult if we need to.

What I amwondering is what I will do with the minivan seats. I am leaning towards only having one seat in the middle section, for the baby. And then the two older kids intheback. If I take out a seat completely, it should be easy enough for us to get back to them. Although I do want to teach my almost 4 year old to do his own buckles by that point.

[XanaduMama]

Yeah, the minivan configuration question is something I've been contemplating too. Ours is a 7-seater (only 2 seats in the middle row), so I'll either move ds to the back and keep dd with the baby upfront...or, if dd has mastered buckling and unbuckling herself by that point, she can join ds in the back.

We went straight to a convertible (Radian) when dd was born, in part because of her reflux, and was glad we did. I too never carry babies in the bucket seat, though I did keep one in the trunk to occasionally take into restaurants etc.

[XanaduMama]

Er, *were glad we did. Oops.

[WendyJo410]

We had a Radian convertible with DS from Day 1 and I loved it. For some reason I have a real issue with constantly carrying babies around in buckets - maybe it's my fear of 'flat-head syndrome'... Either way, I refuse to own one. :) I love baby-wearing though and it worked out just fine with DS to just keep him in the wrap if we went out to eat anywhere. I'm considering a Britax convertible for this baby or for DS, as my midwife has said that her older kids love the Britax because they sit up higher and can see more. Or, I may get another Radian, we've been really happy.

We keep tossing around the idea of a minivan, but I feel like we don't need to make any decisions until baby #3 is on the way. Maybe we could actually start saving now?!

[XanaduMama]

Dh's theory (half right, I must admit) is that I mostly wanted a third kid so I wouldn't feel so guilty about driving around (in crunchy, eco-conscious Portland) in our new minivan with only two kids.

[WendyJo410]

Hahah! Love that. We live in Michigan, where basically EVERYONE drives a huge SUV and gas-hogging is expected.

Originally Posted by XanaduMama 

Dh's theory (half right, I must admit) is that I mostly wanted a third kid so I wouldn't feel so guilty about driving around (in crunchy, eco-conscious Portland) in our new minivan with only two kids.

[MaerynPearl]

I think for us we're putting DD2 and new little one in the two middle seats and big two in the back, though we have to figure out how to separate them in the back so we don't have fighting lol

[Altair]

We have the True Fit Premiere for our almost 3 year old, and have really liked it because he sits high up, had plenty of room rear facing for his legs, and he seems very cozy.  We did use a Grace Snugride when he was little, I didn't take it out of the car, but I liked it for travel (airplanes/cabs) and it installed RFing so much better than convertibles.  Will probably get another one this time. 

[WendyJo410]

I'm visiting my Dad this last weekend (still there, I couldn't force myself to leave) and he's been spoiling the heck out of us... it's just nice to be able to sit, nap when DS naps and not have to do as many chores!! I'm lucky to have the dad that I do.

Anyway - over on the east side of the state (I'm a west sider now) there's this amazing diaper store, which I always love visiting and talking to the ladies. I don't know if any of you have ever been to Ann Arbor, Michigan, but it's one of the most wonderful, natural and welcoming communities for mamas. I went to school here and lived here for almost 8 years, and do wish I could find a community like this over on my side of the state! While visiting the diaper store, I finished up my stash and also (while checking out), saw they had Britax discontinued patterns carseats (Boulevard 70CS) on sale - 30% off! We have cows here and even though it's silly, I keep thinking the camooflauge is a great gender-neutral, safe car seat. They had one. I ended up getting it for just around $200 (well, my Dad wouldn't let me pay for it). I'm still overwhelmed that he purchased it for us and that I found what I wanted - on sale! So... we're all done with our carseat now!

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by WendyJo410 

 do wish I could find a community like this over on my side of the state! 

While I don't know about non-family in the area... all of my husband's family from Grand Rapids up to Ludington are all so very in the same mindset as myself. While my family freaked out over me having a homebirth and cloth diapering, they just got excited!

[triple07]

Ds1 & 2 are in recaro signo convertible seats that we love. I saw that they stopped making them when they designed a new line of carseats. I wanted to get the proride but when I found a store selling maxi cosi prioris for $90, we decided to go with that seat, as a couple friends use them and love them!

[triple07]

Oh, I forgot the real reason I love recAro seats, they forward face to 70 lbs, as well as rear face to 35 lbs... Maxi cosi forward faces only to 40 lbs

[lbkw]

I just found out that Babies R Us is having a trade-in event for old car seats. (you get 25% off new seats) I think I'm going to take the old graco snug ride and get a radian for one of my bigger kids. I think that will give me more options in general. I'm trying to decide whether I should use Radian for DS (6) or DD (3). I wonder because I'd love to get a girly pattern DD would like since she'd pretty much use this car seat for the rest of its useful life. But, I've gotten the sense that it's a pretty low seat and she's teeny and might get annoyed if she can't look out the window. (She is FF since 2 yrs, even though she's only 25#. DH thought she'd like to face forward and once HE turned her, we couldn't go back.)

[XanaduMama]

Wow, that's very good to know--thanks! Will definitely check out BRU's offerings and see about trading in our old clunker.

As for the Radian, dd is pretty small also (she'll be 4 in March and is about 33lbs and maybe 36" or so?), and she hasn't ever complained about being "low" in her carseat. Talk them into letting you try it out in your car before you decide whether to buy one or not. (Do they even sell Radians at BRU? I think we had to buy ours on amazon, but that was way back in 2008...)

[modestmothering]

I am obsessing about the horrible toxicity of most baby products, including car seats.  I have a few great seats picked out, but I had to do a lot of research in order to locate the seats that are least toxic.  I like this blog.