Tuesday, 27 September 2011
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Convertible Car Seats And SUV's
I am in the market for a convertible car seat for my little one. We drive a Pontiac Torrent (just like a Chevy Equinox) so we don't have a ton of room for a giant one, nor do we have $300 to drop like its hot. So, I'm looking for suggestions!
Does anyone have a convertible car seat they really love?
Anyone have a suggestion for a safe and affordable convertible carseat that fits well in a crossover/small SUV? I know there are tons of different models, price points, and features and quite frankly I'm overwhelmed.
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About the Author
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- From: meggiek123@xanga
- Name: Meg
- Location: Fargo, North Dakota, United States
- About Me: Mommy of one and teacher of many- just trying to make a difference in the world!
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Comments (10)
We have the Chevy Equinox and also have a Hyundia Elantra (pretty small). We have 2 convertible carseats for our 9 month old and I LOVE both of them.
The first is the Graco My Ride 65 (retails near $100). I liked it b/c it has lots of cushion, you can RF to 40lbs and forward face to 65 which is leading in the industry. It also has cup holders which is nice for snacks or bottles. It's easy to install and while is bulky I still have plenty of room for a 2nd car seat and/or passengers.
The other convertible we have is the Graco Scenera. I liked it b/c of value. It retails for $40 at Wal Mart. It doesn't have near the cushion as the My Ride and wasn't as easy to install, but is super lightweight and is slim.
I have a Graco ComfortSport. It was reasonably priced, both my kids had their time in it and seemed to like it just fine. As for space, it fit in the back of our Altima in the center seat only. It would not go rear-facing behind either seat, so if that car seat is in the running for you, make sure you try it in your car before purchasing.
@SmilingSusie01@xanga - thats my top pick for a car seat too. I like Graco because they rank one of the highest in consumer reports, they have fantastic customer service, and they are so easy to clean.
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When buying a seat you do not want to go with the cheapest, but price does not generally reflect how safe it is either. Just make sure your SUV is equipped to take 2 car seats in the back. Some only have tether anchors in the middle, and you need one per seat for forward facing. It is also very important to make sure that the seat is appropriate for your child's height and weight. Like you cannot put a new born in a 3 stage seat.
Ok Im shutting up... what can I say? Im a car seat safety trainer... its ingrained in my brain =)
I've heard really good things about Graco seats, too, but I've never used one. I can tell you that this- "you can RF to 40lbs and forward face to 65 which is leading in the industry." is not true, though.
I have a Sunshine Kids Radian 80, which rear faces to 45 lbs and forward faces to 80 lbs. It's very important to keep your child rearfacing for as long as possible, as it is the safest way for a small child to ride in a car. (If you'd like more info on that, let me know and I'll post some links... or you can just google it. Check out some crash test videos that show the difference between forward and rear facing.) Anyway, that's why I ended up choosing the Radian. At $265, it's one of the pricier seats, BUT the company is changing it's name, so all the seat with the old name on it are on sale right now for $202 (http://sunshinekidsbaby.com/), which is great when you think about how long you'll be able to use it for. It's also very easy to install.
I also have a Sunshine Radian but the XLT model. There is not a model on the market that I am aware of that has heigher weight limits. It is one of the best scorers on safety, right up there with Recaro seats. Another great feature of the Sunshine seats is that they have a very narrow profile and do not seem to sit quite as high as my Recaro or Britax do. I got mine around $100 off on Amazon.com . I had no issue scrimping in other ways to give my son the best safety possible.
@LadyGwenivere@xanga - Already have all of that taken care of... and the chest clip is on her chest, no worries :). I LOVE my Graco seat, it's definitely my favorite, but I couldn't afford 2 and we have 2 cars (he drops off at daycare, I pick up) and didn't want the hassle of in/out with the seat so we got a cheaper 2nd seat. While Cosco is one of the cheapest on the markets I had thought it ranked high on safety as well, correct me if wrong.
@SmilingSusie01@xanga - Cosco has a bad rep for some reason, and i am not sure why because they are pretty great seats. the only one I can honestly say I would not buy is a Safety 1st, but thats more personal preference. Plus its always a good idea to have a back up seat, because you never know when something could happen where it will come in handy.. =)
We have a Britax Roundabout 55. I have a smaller baby, so I wasn't terribly worried about the lower weight limit on the seat and it fit comfortably in our Ford Escape behind the driver's seat with the seat all the way back. MH is 6'2" and we regularly take road trips, so a shorter shell of a seat was important. If you live close enough to BabiesRUs, go by and try out carseats. We paid $165 for the Roundabout.
I love the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL we got our daughter, but it was a bit spendy. We also looked into the Evenflo Triumph 65 and have heard a lot of wonderful things about it. From everything I have seen on forums and in reviews, it really is the most bang for your buck . When my MIL was watching her one day a week, we almost bought that one for her, but she ended up getting a new job that didn't allow her to watch Kylie.
Our daughter has always been tall and heavy for her age (typically 80th-90th percentile) so we knew there was a chance that she would be over 35lbs by the time she hit the age of 2. As you probably know the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children ride in a car seat rear facing until AT LEAST the age of 2. Many convertible seats don't allow rear facing past that 35lb mark. Now that she is almost 21 months old and 32 lbs, I'm glad that we got the Radian, as it has a rear facing capacity of up to 45 lbs (not that we plan to go that high though.) We hope to have her rear face until she is about 2.5-3 years old, and even though her car seat was more expensive (though we did order it through BBB with free shipping and a 20% off coupon which helped considerably) we know we'll be able to use it for a long time as it has an 80lb forward facing capacity as well.
Graco is a great brand as well, good bang for the buck, but they tend to have lower weight and height limits than the Evenflo and at a similar price. There are also some less expensive, stripped down Britax models out there that are excellent, but again, I think the Evenflo is just as good and is typically considerably cheaper. I would definitely shy away from Cosco, Safety 1st and Eddie Bauer though, they are cheap for a reason. They tend to get low marks on safety, they are uncomfortable for kiddos (crappy seat padding, no padding on 5 pt harness), have lower weight and height capacities and are often hard to install.
Good Resource Websites:
http://www.car-safety.org/
http://carseatblog.com/
Good luck in making your decision!
P.S. Megan! I totally didn't realize this post was yours! LoL Sorry for being redundant from your other previous post!