What seat would YOU buy right now for a newborn?

[OceansEve]

I have a marathon I was planning on using for newest DD, but my mother is insisting on buying me a bucket seat for her. I even tried to convince her there were other things I'd rather have for her, but she WANTS to buy a bucket. I was eyeing the chaperone, but heard there was a recall issue a while back. I've always trusted britax, but was wondering what was new in the world of car seats right now?

FYI: We have a big SUV, space is not an issue, weight is not an issue, latch or belt. My only concern is safety.

[skycheattraffic]

We used a chicco keyfit and loved it. It was great in the winter to get DD in, cover her up with a blanket and just click her into the base. I have a truefit we switched her to once she outgrew the keyfit and I really did miss the convenience. I didn't leave her in after we had arrived and in the summer it wasn't a big deal but our winters plus no snow suits for newborns plus march baby made me really grateful for it. I've read really good things about the keyfit all around.

[big mi]

** ETA: sorry, just realized your post said a bucket seat...  We have the Maxi Cosi Mico, and it's great! (But I wish I hadn't purchased it, cause DS2 only used it for 4 months and now we will use the Diono!  So that was expensive for such a short time of use :p)**

If you only want to buy one seat, I would get the Diono Radian RXT.  It will take your babe from birth to 80 lbs.  It has one of the highest rear facing weight limits (45 lbs) and is one of the best for accomodating taller RFing toddlers comfortably because it has a relatively deep seat.

It has a 10 year life, which is really long for car seats. 

Of course, you lose the convenience of an infant carrier seat if your babe falls asleep in the RXT.  So I'm not sure how important that is to you.

I just ordered one and can't wait to get it!

http://us.diono.com/en/car-seats/radian-rxt

You can read more about it on the carseat.org forums - most of the peeps over there love this seat for its RFing capability.

[mama2soren]

Originally Posted by OceansEve 

I have a marathon I was planning on using for newest DD, but my mother is insisting on buying me a bucket seat for her. I even tried to convince her there were other things I'd rather have for her, but she WANTS to buy a bucket. I was eyeing the chaperone, but heard there was a recall issue a while back. I've always trusted britax, but was wondering what was new in the world of car seats right now?

FYI: We have a big SUV, space is not an issue, weight is not an issue, latch or belt. My only concern is safety.

Britax is not safer than any other brand.  All car seats pass the same safety testing.  In fact, depending on which model of Marathon you have, it might NOT be safe for your newborn, as the older models do not fit newborns properly.  The straps must come from at or below the level of the baby's shoulder, and the lowest harness height setting on the "Classic" Britax models are much too high.  My son did not fit properly in his Marathon until he was 11 months old.  The new models can fit a larger newborn, but you might have to buy the additional newborn insert.

A great bucket seat to consider is the Chicco Keyfit.  We had one for our daughter and love it.  It's compact and relatively lightweight, lasts a long time (my 14 month old still fits in it), and super super easy to install securely in every car we've tried it in.

[brigala]

The Keyfit is a very very nice car seat. 

Personally, I like the Safety 1st Onboard Air a little more, but it's a close contest. 

The Maxi Cosi Prezi is absolutely adorably cute and has some really nice features, but I'm not sold on its funky harness straps. I think I'd have to buckle an actual newborn into the seat to see how well it fit before I could make a true recommendation for it. 

There's also the new Graco Snugride 40 Click Connect - almost a cross between a bucket seat and a RF-only toddler seat. It should last an average sized baby to age two or so. 

[Sol_y_Paz]

Originally Posted by brigala 

Personally, I like the Safety 1st Onboard Air a little more

Consumer Reports rated this one very highly.  I have it and like it. 

[Adaline'sMama]

Why does she want her to have a bucket seat so badly? Just wondering. If I were going to buy a bucket, Id get the Maxi Cosi Prezi. 

[OceansEve]

In her head babies fall asleep in the car and then you take the bucket out so they will stay asleep  I tried to explain to her, I sling, I slinged both of my last two (1st one was on heart monitor so slinging didn't really work with her). I have other kids to chase and need both hands, I can't be carrying the heavy thing around. Slinging works! DD3 used the bucket for a couple of weeks and we switched her to the marathon I was planning on reusing. She HATED the bucket seat. She wanted nothing to do with it, cried and screamed when we put her in it and never would settle. I'm done arguing with her. If she wants to throw her money away, fine, but if I am obliged to use it for a while then I want to get the safest thing out there.

[Adaline'sMama]

Originally Posted by OceansEve 

In her head babies fall asleep in the car and then you take the bucket out so they will stay asleep  I tried to explain to her, I sling, I slinged both of my last two (1st one was on heart monitor so slinging didn't really work with her). I have other kids to chase and need both hands, I can't be carrying the heavy thing around. Slinging works! DD3 used the bucket for a couple of weeks and we switched her to the marathon I was planning on reusing. She HATED the bucket seat. She wanted nothing to do with it, cried and screamed when we put her in it and never would settle. I'm done arguing with her. If she wants to throw her money away, fine, but if I am obliged to use it for a while then I want to get the safest thing out there.

That's what I was thinking. There's no problem with you getting one, IMO, and Im not judging you or trying to persuade you to tell her no, but studies have been done that prove that infants begin to lose oxygen after sitting in a carseat for 45 minutes. It's not safe for babies to sleep at home in their carseats. Also, when DD was 5 months old, I put her in a shopping cart (not on the top, but down in the basket) and when I hit a pot hole in the parking lot, the whole cart tipped over and we spent two days in the PICU. Needless to say, Im not a huge proponet of the bucket, but it sounds like you know how to use it best :)  Slings and strollers are the way to go in my opinion. 

[Sol_y_Paz]

Originally Posted by OceansEve 

In her head babies fall asleep in the car and then you take the bucket out so they will stay asleep 

I heard this rumor too.  Ours would never ever stand for it! 

[OceansEve]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

That's what I was thinking. There's no problem with you getting one, IMO, and Im not judging you or trying to persuade you to tell her no, but studies have been done that prove that infants begin to lose oxygen after sitting in a carseat for 45 minutes. It's not safe for babies to sleep at home in their carseats. Also, when DD was 5 months old, I put her in a shopping cart (not on the top, but down in the basket) and when I hit a pot hole in the parking lot, the whole cart tipped over and we spent two days in the PICU. Needless to say, Im not a huge proponet of the bucket, but it sounds like you know how to use it best :)  Slings and strollers are the way to go in my opinion. 

How scary! :( I sure hope there were no long lasting effects from that spill!

There was a day care child that died here in the summer :( he was left in the seat since he was sleeping, he was brought inside and put in a quiet room. By the time they went to check on him he wasn't breathing.

I only intend to use it for a seat and that's it. I don't know what she's thinking because with as noisy of a crew as I have this kid will never sleep :p

Soly - Yeah, the only one I ever had that cared for the bucket was my first, but she was premie and slept alot anyway. She was also on a monitor so we knew if she stopped breathing :p

[brigala]

My daughter never stayed asleep in and out of the car either. But I liked the bucket because I could buckle her in when in the nice warm house, tuck blankets around her, put the hood up, and run her out through the rain and pop her in the car. And same thing in reverse when we got home. :)

But I totally agree that car seats are for cars, not for carrying, strolling, napping, or other purposes. 

[colsxjack]

We got Snugride 30's for our twins. 

The twins are not born yet, so we havent used them and I cannot give a full assessment of them. But they seem quite good, comfortable and safe. 

We got buckets seats for a couple of reasons. Im not comfortable with how tiny babies look in convertable seats. And with twins, they may be smaller and just more tiny.

Also, having babies in the winter means that we can keep the seats in the house and they are nice and warm to put the babies into. Bringing a tiny baby out into a care in freezing weather and putting them into a freezing carseat doesn't seem comfortable to me either. 

We will not be having our babies sleep in the carseats. Although, we did allow our DD to sleep in the swing for short periods of time when she was an infant. 

[OceansEve]

Fortunately for me we just moved to an acreage so I get to leave my car running right outside my front door now. It's gonna be so nice getting into a warm car  I love country life!

[here we are]

Originally Posted by big mi 

** ETA: sorry, just realized your post said a bucket seat...  We have the Maxi Cosi Mico, and it's great! (But I wish I hadn't purchased it, cause DS2 only used it for 4 months and now we will use the Diono!  So that was expensive for such a short time of use )**

If you only want to buy one seat, I would get the Diono Radian RXT.  It will take your babe from birth to 80 lbs.  It has one of the highest rear facing weight limits (45 lbs) and is one of the best for accomodating taller RFing toddlers comfortably because it has a relatively deep seat.

It has a 10 year life, which is really long for car seats. 

Of course, you lose the convenience of an infant carrier seat if your babe falls asleep in the RXT.  So I'm not sure how important that is to you.

I just ordered one and can't wait to get it!

http://us.diono.com/en/car-seats/radian-rxt

You can read more about it on the carseat.org forums - most of the peeps over there love this seat for its RFing capability.

Is it just me or is the price not on the website? Wondering what others think of this seat, b/c i am overwhelmed. Is this the only one seat fits all out there? Looks good. Will it fit in any car?

[here we are]

Will so much change by next summer or is it pretty much the same? I just wannt figure this out so i dont have to think about it again and keep it simple.

[LeighPF]

Keyfit today. Great install, high height limit.

By the summer, look at the New Uppa Baby Mesa and the new version of the Cybex Aton (the current version looks good too)

[akcowgirl]

FYI: the Radian can be a tough fit in some cars. Go to car-seat.org and ask there. Lots of great info to research and very helpful carseat tecs

[chickabiddy]

Originally Posted by here we are 

Is it just me or is the price not on the website? Wondering what others think of this seat, b/c i am overwhelmed. Is this the only one seat fits all out there? Looks good. Will it fit in any car?

I don't know what kind of car you have, but Radians for newborns need a lot of room front-to-back.  It is also not a "one seat fits all" (I think you mean one seat does everything?):  you will almost certainly need a dedicated booster after this seat is outgrown as a booster.

[chickabiddy]

To answer the question, I would buy a Graco MyRide or an Evenflo Triumph65.  I am not a huge fan of bucket seats (mama opinion, not CPST opinion) but if I needed one, I'd get the Safety 1st Onboard Air.