Favorite/safest INFANT carseat?

[mommy2abigail]

We are planning to buy another Britax Marathon for the bean when he/she gets a bit bigger, but I heard they dont fit well in there right away. I thought we should get an infant carseat first. So what kind is best? If we can just go with the Marathon, great, but I thought I remembered reading they aren't a good fit for newborns. DD was just shy of 8 lbs, so we dont have tiny babes...maybe the britax will be ok? I dont know...

[Bimmergal2005]

For optimal safety, it is my understanding you should start with an infant seat because of the fit. We have a Graco Snugride that used with our son and will use with our daughter on the way. Very easy to use, not too terribly heavy in the instances when you need to carry baby in it. Looks comfy, too. That's the only infant seat I have experience with.

We moved our son into a Marathon and will do the same with this baby.

[JBaxter]

I had a snugride but my girlfriend just got a SafeSeat1 and loves it. It goes to 30lbs and 32 inches she thinks her son will be able to use it for about 18 months.

[bobandjess99]

honestly, if you are just planning on using it for a few months and then switching to a Ma, there is no need to get anything like a safeseat, because having a seat you *could* use to 30 pounds/2 years will just be overkill, you know?
I'd just get a basic infant bucket, any type that has a 5 pt harness is going to be okay. do NOT get a 3 pt harness, there are still some floating around...
OR, if there is any chance you might need a spare seat at some point, you could always get a scenera, which is going to be cheaper than an infant seat anyway($40). It is a convertible, but has REALLY low bottom slots, such that newborns fit in this seat just as well as an infant seat, the vast majority of the time. To give you some perspective, the evenflo discovery and the graco safeseat have 7 inch bottom slots, the peg perego has 7.5 and the graco snugride(which is VERY popular, as you can see, the previous 2 posters had it).. has 8 inch bottom slots. The scenera has 7.5 inch bottom slots, so right in line with many dedicated infant seats. This is as opposed to 10 inch bottom slots on the Ma and other Britax seats. Then, when baby is large enought to fit into the Ma, you can put baby in the Ma, and then have the scenera as a backup convertible seat, for travel, grammas car, etc. It is convertible, with a 35 lb RF limit, 40 lbs ff. Just an idea.

[angie3096]

A few people have really big babies who fit fine in the MA. Most don't! The trouble is, you won't know how the baby will fit until it gets here. So you may end up spending a lot of money on an infant seat for no reason!

I have asked many techs for their infant seat opinions, since I am also pregnant. And here's what is most often recommended to me:
Britax Companion
Chicco Keyfit
Graco SafeSeat 1
Babytrend Latch-Loc (if you have LATCH)

Some techs also like:
The Combi seats
The Compass seats

The Snugride gets so-so reviews. It often requires a locking clip when installed with a lap/shoulder belt or it tilts, which makes it not terribly popular. We got a snugride for my older daughter in 2002 and it DID tilt, and it DID require a locking clip in our cars. But once you get it installed, it's fine. And if you have LATCH in the position you want to install the snugride, you probably won't have any issues at all.

Nobody seems to like any infant seats from Cosco (including Eddie Bauer), Evenflo, or Safety 1st. The Scenera, as another poster suggested, IS recommended for people on a budget, but the Cosco INFANT seats are NOT.

Now, the problem is the most often recommended baby buckets (Companion, SS1, Keyfit) come with pretty hefty price tags. If you are only going to use the seat for a few weeks until the bean is ready for the Marathon, then you might not want one of those. Maybe you want to just get something cheaper, put up with something not super user friendly for a little while, and then trash it. Or, like the other poster said, maybe get a Scenera for $40 and then put it in Grandma's car or something. I think that's a great idea.

Just whatever you do, make sure whatever seat you choose has a 5 point harness!!! There are still some 3 point infant seats floating around...

[mimid]

At 16 months my girls are still in their Safe Seats with 1 inch of growing room left for the tallest girl.

[s_kristina]

I just picked some brains on a very similar topic. In our case we currently have ds in a Cosco Scenera and he will outgrow it before the new one comes in spring. We knew when we purchased that seat that it would work for 3 years tops and then we would need another seat to keep him harnessed longer. It turns out the Scenera is going to work well for a newborn seat which means I am not messing with a bucket. The Scenera has low slots for the bottom slots and high slots for the top ones as far as 40 lb seats go. I also have big kids so I can't see paying the money for a seat that would be outgrown in quick order. We had a Snugride from dd, a late 2001 model, that both kids used. I think dd outgrew it around 7-8 months and ds was too big by 3-4 months. Even with the higher limits on their new version I don't see my kids fitting in that seat to 1 year. If you are really worried about the seat fitting the Scenera is usually around $40-$50 so even cheaper then most infant seats and could be used as a back up seat for at least a couple years.

[skaterbabs]

I personally, given the choice between the Graco Safe Seat 1 and the Graco Snug Ride, would go with the SS1 every time, not because of the weight limit as much as that the SS1 is compatible with more vehicles than the SR and is an easier install AND doesn't have the tipping issue the SRs have.

That said, a convertible seat can be used from birth if the child fits well in it. The Cosco Scenera and Safety First Uptown are excellent seats for use from birth. The new Evenflo Triumph Advanced may be as well, but I haven't had a chance to check it out for myself.

[crazydiamond]

Another thought came to mind. . .

You could get a SS1 for the newest addition and use it until the seat is outgrown. At that point, buy a Regent for your older DD and pass the Marathon down to the new babe. By doing this, you'll be spending the same amount of money but the older one can be harnessed for practically forever.

[angie3096]

Originally Posted by crazydiamond

Another thought came to mind. . .

You could get a SS1 for the newest addition and use it until the seat is outgrown. At that point, buy a Regent for your older DD and pass the Marathon down to the new babe. By doing this, you'll be spending the same amount of money but the older one can be harnessed for practically forever.

That is brilliant. That is totally what I would do.

[skaterbabs]

Originally Posted by crazydiamond

Another thought came to mind. . .

You could get a SS1 for the newest addition and use it until the seat is outgrown. At that point, buy a Regent for your older DD and pass the Marathon down to the new babe. By doing this, you'll be spending the same amount of money but the older one can be harnessed for practically forever.

Very wise idea. Just keep an eye on the expiration dates of the MA & Regent, and remember a booster (which also will expire before all your children are out of seats) may be needed after the Regent is outgrown.

[alegna]

We used the companion and liked it.

-Angela

[Begunda]

We had planned on using a Blvd from day 1, but DD was too small to fit well in the Blvd. We got a Safe Seat 1 and it worked really well. The installation was super easy.