Car Seat Recommendations for 2 Yr Old or 1 Yr Old

Hi B.,

If your son is needing a booster with a cup holder, I would recommend Graco brand booster. They have one with cup holders to both sides and also has a back on it that comes up as your child grows taller with a place to put the seat belt in the correct position until your child is old enough and tall enough to be without the booster. If you get your son the Booster, then you can turn your daughter forward facing once she is 1 year old. My sons feet pushed against the back of the seat for a month or so. I would talk to your pediatrician about this. Mine said if he isn't uncomfortably pushing on the back seat, he should be fine. If she is uncomfortable and legs scrunched up, it may be time to turn her forward facing though. I had to turn my son around to forward at 11 months old though because he was really scrunched up and all.

D. P.

A) NO A 2 yr old is WAY too young to sit in a booster! Not safe at all! http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9009 shows how to tell if a kid can sit safely in a booster, or without it.
B) Both of those kiddos would be much, much safer rearfacing. Did you know that a forward facing toddler is 5 TIMES more likely to be killed or severely injured in a wreck?
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9316
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI
www.kyledavidmiller.org

Options - if you want to be safest and keep both kiddos rf, I would get either a True Fit (rf to 35 lbs, ff to 65, taller shell so better for tall skinny kids, will last longer both rf and ff) or the new Graco MyRide65 (rf to 40 lbs, ff to 65 lbs, shorter shell, better for shorter/heavier kiddos). Both run around $150 - $170. Put your son in that one, and your daughter in the Eddie Bauier seat. (BTW - my 2.5 yr old, 31 lb, 36.5" son is rearfacing still as well, my favorite seat is the Sunshine Kids Radian, but it costs about twice as much as these two. If you have the money though, get it!)

Option B - Keep your son forward facing - get either a Graco Nautilus, or Britax Frontier. Both harness (Nautilus to 65 lbs, Frontier to 80 lbs, Nautilus has slightly higher straps, but is a poor fit as a high-back booster for many kids in some cars) and then turn into belt-positioning boosters up to 100lbs.
Then give your daughter the Eddie Bauer, preferably rear-facing at least a couple months more!, and then forward facing when she is ready.
Feet touching the back of the seat is perfectly safe, and kids old enough to talk will often tell you that it is more comfortable to cross their legs or put them on the seatback then to have them hanging off the front of a seat when their legs are not long enough for their knees to bend.

I recommend the Recaro convertable carseat. I did a lot (and I want to emphasize A LOT)of research before buying it and am very happy with it. It ranked very high for safety both rear facing and forward facing. Plus, you can use it for a long time. It goes up to 70 lbs!

I do not recommend changing your son into a booster seat. I ordered my carseat from a website dedicated to a little boy who lost his life in a car accident when his booster seat was ejected from the car. The website is www.hipmonkey.com. When you purchase from this website the money goes to a nonprofit organization. There are also many other things you can purchase on the site besides just carseats.

The carseat is expensive ($259). But, if you get to use it for 5 or 6 years it can be well worth the cost.

Hope this helps,
K.

We bought these car seats for our girls. They are AWESOME! They convert to boosters and have cupholders. My husband did a lot of research on these. My girls are 6 and almost 4. We've had them for a year now and I wish we had bought them sooner. The nice thing is that now that they are older, they can buckle them themselves. They are the Graco Nautilus. They sell them at Wal-Mart.

Hi!

What I have done in the past is use the local library's copies of Consumer Reports Magazine. They regularly review car seats and boosters for safety, ease of use, price, etc. You can compare and contrast different ones, then go out shopping fully informed and find what will best work for your child. If you haven't used them before it's nice to be able to ask a librarian to help you use the index at the back of the magazine to figure out which issue the seats are most recently reviewed in.

I hope this helps!

P.

Hello. Your son should stay in a car seat until he is both 4 years old and 40 lbs so I would get a new car seat for your daughter. Britax (either Roundabout or Marathon) is highly safety and convenience rated and are middle of road when it comes to price. We use/used Britax for both our 2 year old and 4 year old. I would highly recommend either style just depending on your preference for size and such. Roundabout is good thru 40 lbs, and Marathon is good for 65 lbs although is larger so if you have small space in car it might not be the best choice. Here is link for car seat info.

http://www.aap.org/family/Carseatguide.htm

No your son at the age of 2 can not sit in a booster they need to be at least 4 yrs old. I have an evenflo triumph & love it very snug for the child but yet not constricting like an infant seat it can be sat up or layed back depending on the child (great for when they still fall asleep in the car so there head is not just bobbing around) Good Luck

Arizona state law (ARS 28-907 (A) and (B)) requires that you PROPERLY restrain any child under the age of 5 (with very few exceptions.) And even though there are no weight limitations (by law), there are manufacturers guidelines you should follow.

Booster seats are designed for children who are 40+ pounds. I know all children are different, but I seriously doubt your 1 and 2 year-olds are 40+ pounds (possible, but doubtful). My 1 and 3 year-olds aren't even close, and my 6 year-old just barely passed 40 pounds. Also, some boosters use the lap belts from the car, which that does NOT fit a child and could be very hazardous in an accident, as well as very uncomfortable in everyday driving. Putting a 1 and 2 year-old child in a booster is not PROPERLY restraining your children.

That being said, I use the Alpha Omega carseat for both my two younger children. I got them at Target when my oldest was a baby. They have worked well with all of the kids, were easy to install, have 5-point harnesses (recommended) and did not cost an arm and a leg.

Just remember, all of the car seats out there on the market had to pass the basic federal safety requirements, otherwise they wouldn't (or shouldn't) be on the market. Yeah, some may be "more" safe, but if you are buying 2 car seats money may be a factor. Whatever car seat that you choose, just make sure that it's the right decision for you and your children.

My daughter will be 2 in August and since she turned 1 we put her in the Britax Marathon. We absolutely love it. It is so easy to install and they were recommended to me for their safety. I would check them out.

Hello B.,
I don't have recommendations, but I can tell you that Arizona State law requires car seats for children under 5 yrs old. Once they turn 5 booster seats are recommended, but not required. Hope this info helps.

M.

Great question! However, you have not received accurate responses. While booster seats ARE designed for children over 40 pounds, there are many convertible booster seats which come with a five point harness for children 27 pounds and over. I recommend buying one of those, as they convert to using the car's seat belt for when your son gets bigger/older. I recently bought a new one for my 2 year old, and he uses the five-point harness now, but when he is 4 he will use it with car's seat belt system. Look for one of these, as it will last you the longest. Also, when your son outgrows it, your daughter will be about 4 and ready to move up.

I have a Britax convertible car seat for my son. It's great - kind of big and no cup holder are the cons. I just got an Evenflo Chase as our "extra" seat to go into auntie and grandma's cars and it's great. It's reasonably priced, lightweight, install easily - cup holder and everything! A friend has the Evenflo Triumph for her 18 month and 3.5 year old girls and loves those as well.