I have been looking at this carseat on the Costco website. though it gets good consumer reviews, I can't seem to find any safety reviews online derived from actual product testing. This will not be my everyday car seat.; currently my two children (3 and 19 months) ride like royalty in the Recaro ProRide Convertible Car Seats. My mother is looking to purchase car seats since we are flying to her house in NJ over Easter and she doesn't want me to have to lug both car seats in and out of the airports (GOD BLESS HER). In addition, we are in the process of moving to the DC area so we will be much closer to my mother's house and she will definitely be spending more time with my children.
Does anyone have the Alpha Omega Elite Convertible Car Seat? Does anyone know where I can find a reputable safety report on this car seat? Thanks.
personally I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. I hate Costco brand anything that has to do with safety. I used to work at babies R us and Costco was one of the ones I HATED! Go and feel the plastic. To me if feels like a melted down mcdonalds toy. The only American brand car seat I would and have ever bought is a Graco. Even the cheapest of their lines is 1,000 times better than a costco. I second the Graco Nautalis.
Go to www.car-seat.org They are the best at answering your carseat questions!!
My friend was going to give me her AO seat to get my kiddo through from 3-4 when she outgrew her Marathon and wasn't old enough for a booster yet. The AO was soooo much smaller. You can't just look at weight. You have to look at height. Not just overall height, but how high the top shoulder strap is. Kids can fall into the right height, but if their torso is longer and their shoulders go over the top shoulder strap, they are too big for the seat!!
The Alpha Omega is not a "bad" seat *but* there are many more seats in the same price range that will give you more bang for your buck. Many Costcos still carry the version of the Alpha Omega with a 40 lb. harnessed weight limit and a notoriously low top harness height setting that most children outgrow by height WAY before they're close to 40 lbs. (chances are good that your 3YO is already too tall for it), and it does NOT function well as a belt-positioning booster either ( see http://carseatblog.com/906/alpha-omega-elite-eddie-bauer-...)
If your 3YO is forward facing, the Graco Nautilus (about $150) or Evenflo Maestro (about $80) would be good choices that would keep your child in a 5 pt harness until he/she has the size and maturity for a belt-positioning booster. Both convert to decent boosters after the harness is outgrown - the Maestro is a bit shorter and will be outgrown before your child is ready to use the seat belt without a booster, but since a good basic booster like a Graco Turbo Booster can often be found for $50 or so, this isn't a big drawback and the Maestro could be handed down to the 19MO)
For the 19MO - the Graco MyRide and Evenflo Triumph Advance are two convertibles in a similar price range to the Alpha Omega but with much higher height and weight limits that will fit your LO much longer than the Alpha Omega. Hope that helps!
BTW http://www.car-seat.org is a great resource - many regulars on their forums are certified child passenger safety techs and are very helpful and well informed
My very small toddler did not get much use out of this seat (it was our extra) he out grew the height way before he close to the max for rear facing so we got another seat for a spare then we went to use this one forward facing at 3 and he was too tall for the harness plus it makes a very poor booster seat. Look at some other seats there are plenty reasonable priced seats that will give you better bang for your buck.
Well I can say this car seat tested very, very effective for my daughter when we were in an accident 2 yrs ago!
i love mine! my daughter has used it since 10 months and is now 4. its bulky but very comfortable and roomy. i will use it until it expires next year. she is tall enough to ride in a booster with a seat belt i just preferre to keep her in a 5 point harness
I have had several and they have been great. They are in my mother's car, and are actually coming up on their 5 year expiration but have lasted through 6 grandchildren up to this point. The harness is super easy to adjust too!
