Car Seat Question - Recommendations

THis is one purchase to research and spend decent $ on- that said there a few seats you really can't go wrong with, the Britax Marathon (Britax runs a twice yearly sale which may still be running, they are about 200 online shipped) and they will last most children until age 5. The Britax Roundabout is also good except that the lower harness slots and weight limits don't allow it's use as long as the Marathon (but a good choice if you have a small car and want to pass along to second baby).
The Sunshine Kids Radian 65 is also an excellent choice to keep a child safely harnessed until 65 pounds. The problem with many of the less expensive seats is that your child most likely will outgrow the top harness slots due to height and then you can't use the seat and have to buy another seat (and many parents prematurely put their children in a booster). The Evenflo Triumph Advanced for about 150 is supposed to pretty good, harnesses to 50 pounds, the Fisher Price one mentioned earlier is good but they've stopped making it and so getting parts may be an issue.
There is a new Graco out called the Nautilus (for about 150)that is getting positive reviews but I believe it does not rear face and the recommendation is that children stay rearfacing until 30-35 pounds (the limits of the seat for rearfacing differ for each seat).
One seat to avoid based on many review is the Alpha Omega, despite it's claims it's the only seat you'll need, it's low harness slots put you kiddo in the booster way way too early.
There is a great carseat board that is very helpful at www.windsorpeak.com, it's run by the folks who write the Baby Bargains books and the car seat info is awesome, I've learned a lot about safety and carseats there! If you post a question you'll get lots of great info!

B.

My kids are both in Britax Marathons, DD is 36 pounds, 42 inches and DS is 25 pounds, 33 inches and rear facing. My DD was Rearfacing until 33 pounds (age 3 1/2). We also have a Apex 65 as backup but I don't love it, it's only Forward facing and not nearly the quality of the Britax but still safe.

They do exist! They have them that transform from newborn to booster for the oldest. There are many brands that have them and I've used a couple and have been ok with all of them, so I'm not going to say a certain brand, but the one thing that made a big difference for me was we got the one that has a bar that comes down over the child's head and the internal harness is attached to that and we hated that. It was hard to get her in and out and sometimes the bar would come out of it's holes. After that we got them with just the internal 5-point harness and that's much better. Other than that, just don't get one with a black cover or even black plastic if you can help it, man do they get hot in the summer! A Wal-mart or Target should have at least five to choose from and a baby store would have more. Happy shopping!

We have the Britax roundabout for our twins. They are great and are rated very well by consumer reports.I would keep the baby in the carrier for as long as recommended. It's so much easier than taking them in and out of the carseat to the stroller etc.Good luck!

Britax just introduced their new line of convertible car seats. Check out Car Seats Zoko, they show all prices of top retailers and when you use their site you get an additional % off! All Britax car seats: http://www.carseatszoko.com/Britax

I have a Britax Roundabout (40 lbs) and a Britax Marathon (65 lbs). They are very high in safety ratings and I figured it'd be worth it to fork out the extra $$$ for peace of mind.

I also recomend the Britax, I think I have the Marathon. A little expensive, but very safe and easy to install. My brother and sister in law bought a very cheap carseat for my niece and it is impossible to install properly.

The Britax Marathon goes up to 65 lbs. My son is 3 1/2 and is still in his:)

I just bought and LOVE this car seat sold by Fisher Price made by Britax. The foam under the cover even says Marathon. Also the registration card that you send back goes to Britax as well. I bought it for my 3 yr old and it has a harness until 55lbs. I will be getting another for my 6 month old. I got it for 129.99 with free shipping.
http://www.albeebaby.com/fiprsavodeco1.html#customer-reviews

You can find something in almost any price range now a days. My lil guy just turned a year. When he was about 10 months we went from infant carrier to rear facing convertible seat which goes upward of fifty lbs. The feature I was really looking for was one that could recline so his head wouldn't hang forward or to the side too much while he was sleeping. We ended up with a Graco or Evenflow (can't remember which brand) which was $129. I couldn't be happier. You can always try one and return it if you are not satisfied!