Car Seat for My Big Boy (6 Month Old)

Britax. We have the Boulevard. It fits well in my Jetta rear- or forward-facing. Super-easy to install with the LATCH system. Worth every penny!

I would go with either a Britax (Marathon, Decathlon or Boulevard, as they go to 65lbs forward facing, skip the Roundabout, it is a much smaller seat that only goes to 40lbs) or with an Evenflo Triumph Advance, it rear faces to 35lbs and forward faces to 50lbs.

You should also know that you want to keep your son rear facing as long as possible, till the maximum rear facing weight limits, or until he outgrows it by height, whichever comes first.
Here's a pretty good video on the benefits of rear facing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8 - or you can google "benefits of rear facing" or go to www.car-seat.org for more info about why rear facing is so much safer!

If you have any questions about car seats or need help installing your new seat, please don't hesitate to ask.

Unfortunately, your little guy is probably going to be somewhat uncomfortable as he gets closer to 1 until you can turn the seat around. My daughter stayed rear facing until 18 months because she wasn't yet 20lbs. But she is tall, so her legs were a bit cramped (i.e., she couldn't stretch out her legs). I think all car seats would have this problem in the rear facing position.

I have a Britax Roundabout and love it. But it is the smallest, so it would probably not work for you. There are two more that are bigger (Marathon and Boulevard?). They aren't cheap, but are well worth the money.

Two recommendations:
1) Go to a store that sells them and asking them if you can take the car seat out to your car to see if it fits. Typically, front-facing isn't a problem. But rear-facing might interfere with the positioning of the front seats. We bought the Roundabout because it was the only one that would fit rear-facing in our small car that we had at the time.
2) Since your boy is pretty big, look at the weight limit on the seats. Some are 40lbs and some go to about 60lbs. I would consider the 60lb one so you can delay buying the next one. :)

My daughter was 19lbs at 6-7 months, so I feel ya! We moved her into a convertible seat, and it's great! We got an Evenflo titan, pretty cheap, only $99 at babies r us. I ended up only paying $65 after a coupon.
The bottom of the harness is a tad tight, but now that she's walking, she's thinning out, so it's not tight anymore.
If you aren't on a budget, the Britax roundabout is a great one too.
You can buy a used one for around $100-125 on Craigslist.com

Spend the money and buy a BRTIAX...you'll be glad you did. Also get the Marathon version or higher so you'll have it for a couple years. The Roundabout only goes to 40 lbs I believe. The marathon to 65 I think and they go up from there. They are pricey but worth their weight in gold. Carseats do make a big difference. At Babies R Us they also sell these carseat rachets...they help you tighten the seat belt down...they are around $15 and we love them. They work great. You can't even budge out carseats.

I don't know how much weight my advice will have, but I would recommend a Britax. It's funny the comments you get from people. My daughter is very small and skinny. She is 15lbs 7 oz. as of today, and 12 months old. Yes, she was a preemie, but people still comment about how small she is no matter if it is based on her adjusted age or real age. Anyway...like you said a whole other issue....I moved my little one to a Britax a few months ago (I figured since she could sit up on her own and almost crawl it was time plus she was about to outgrow it length wise). I could see how this would be a great car seat for a big guy also. They seem very sturdy and adaptable for different weights and lengths. My recommendation is to go to Britax's website and do their car seat comparison. It compares all of their car seats against each other to determine which ones best fit your needs. Good Luck!

if there is ANY way you can do it, buy a britax seat. as big as your little one is, i would skip the roundabout. go with either the marathon or preferably the boulevard. and don't EVER get a used carseat, you don't know it's history. www.albeebaby.com is usually the best place to get a britax seat. good luck!

just a quick anecdote - my 2 boys were with my mother when they were run off the interstate by an 18 wheeler, my mom sped up to try to avoid him hitting her, and at 80mph, her minivan flipped front over back 5 times, then rolled sideways several more times. my boys were both in britax boulevards and walked away without a SCRATCH, literally. i immediately went out and bought 2 new britax seats, i am a firm believer now! even the rescue personnel on the scene that had small children were writing down what types of seats they were b/c they were so impressed with the performance.

I have the Britax Marathon and love it! It is expensive but worth it if you can afford it. You can keep him in the rear-facing position until 33 lbs and forward-facing until 65 lbs.

My little man (haha!) was also about 20lbs at 6 months - so I can relate. I agree about the Britax - that's what we have and it's awesome. We've taken a few road trips and he has slept in it and seems perfectly comfortable. I have the Roundabout - but wish I would have gotten one of the ones with a higher weight limit - since he probably won't be in this one too long! But they are supposed to be the safest - and I would consider them well worth the $$.

And don't worry about your little guy's size - we're all different and some of us are just bigger than others! Maybe someday he'll be a star QB in the NFL!!!