Changing car seats....

[twingrls]

Hi everyone,

We are going to be changing to the convertable seats soon, and I was wondering which seats do you like the best? Not really the name brand but do you like the ones that has the padded bar (arm rest) that comes down over them, or the ones that are open in the front? I'm really undecided on which would be safer and more comfortable....


Any ideas???? Thank you in advance.

[DoubleDuty]

We have the open-front ones for the boys. The only thing I don't like is that the clasp has to be fitted together before snapping into the buckle-thing. Probably makes no sense :confused: We have the Eddie Bauer ones.. the clasp can be tricky if you have an "I don't want to be in my carseat!!!" moment.. :rolleyes: But other than that, the boys seem very comfortable in them.

[freestylemom]

I prefer a 5 point harness car seat! I don't like the bar....I'm not even sure they make them anymore? I have the britax roundabout and I love it!

[rousead]

We have the five point harness ones too... no bars! I think they are the safest ones on the market. Our latches are a bit tricky too but we have the Alpha Omega carseat. I think that's just a new safety feature that most of them have now. Which makes sense, but it was confusing to get used to in the begining... now we're pros at it!
Just an FYI about buying a carseat... if you are getting one that should last them clear through boosters, make sure you get one that has multiple seatbelt positioners on the upper sides of the carseats. Ok, that probably doesn't make any sense... when the kids are ready to use the convertible car seats as booster seats (ie no longer needing the five point harness belts) you can use the regular seat belts over their laps and through the positioners. There are high and low positioners. This helps ensure that the seatbelts are in the proper position and now rubbing on their little necks. Also, it helps because if they stretch forward to reach a toy or something, the seatbelts will retract through the positioners whereas if they don't have the positioners the seatbelts will sometimes stay "out" and not be snug. I just learned this a few days ago from my sister who's 3.5 year old daughter and my boys have the same carseats. Her 5 year old son has a cheaper version and doesn't have the seatbelt positioners...
Good luck!

[littlefire2004]

I belive ( :confused: but don't hold me to it) it was in Consumer Reports that I saw that carseats with the fold down arm or T-shields aren't as safe as a 5 point harness system. I believe it had something to do with the type of injury sustained when the baby was forced into the shield by the energy of a crash.

[twinmomtobe]

i just got the evenflo triumph 5 deluxe and they seem to like them so far. i could not afford the britax and actually like the reclining in these better. i have 5pt also, gl and hope you find ones that fit your needs.

[nateandmel]

We just got new car seats last weekend. They are Evenflo booster seats. We didn't get convertible becuase we wanted them to last until 80 pounds and didn't want to fork out tonz of money for convertibles that go to 80 pounds. So ours go from 20 to 80, and can use the car belt when they are 40 (like a booster seat).

[DoubleDipping]

I would have to agree with you ladies on the 5 point. I did read that too about the fold down bar seats. They made new ones as well still just not very many are left out there.

I could recommend a few car seats if you want names, that are pretty cheap in cost, but very nice in person!

I got two brand new car seats from ebay for 83.00 each. 5 point conv system. This was not the one I wanted. I actually wanted my EB car seats but I didnt have the funds to spend the extra 60 bucks, but oh well. It goes really nice with my car lol. I was impressed once they came, from the picture I didnt know if I rreally liked them but wow, they are nice.

We have not even went anywhere... as before I think we used our carried maybe 5 times. If that. might have been 4 times. Crazy cause I dont leave. Just once a month to the store, and hubby stays at home with the kiddos. So. since that is my only outting.. haha I spend time wisely and shop wise!.. hehe

[littlefire2004]

Hi Melissa,

I would have liked to been able to buy a booster style but all of the ones I saw could only be used forward facing, since my little men are only 6 month and can't be forward facing till 1 year of age (by law not by me) those didn't seem to work. I might have to kick myself if you found one that can be rear facing. ;) . Oh well, what would I have spent the money from not buying a set of carseats on, junk probably.

Hi Twingrls,

If you want my personal recommendation, I love the Triumph by Evenflo, it is very easy to install (I did it at night with only my interior car lights) and the boys can't help but fall asleep they are so comfy. You do not have to remove the seat to adjust the harness height, it is just a matter of lifting up the cushion and squeezing two tabs together. Well I could go on and on but I will say one more thing, they rated very high in the consumer reports crash tests.

Good luck with your decision! :)

[woods]

This is what I bought after the baby car seats. It is costly, but it completely eliminates having to buy booster seats once they hit 40-45lbs. It has an excellent safety rating, too.

[jodtrevans]

:D BRITAX WIZZARD !! I love the "safety" features. Yes, it is costly, but I feel GREAT knowing they are safe. The Wizzard has a head safety feature that I was not sure if I was going to like, but I LOVE IT !!. It is adjustable and helps when the children fall asleep with head support. Evan though it is safe, it is not restricting. Our other seats in our other SUV are a cheaper brand.....and I can DEF> tell the diff. Good Luck with your dec. :D