What Convertible Car Seat Do You Recommend?

There are now several good seats that will last most kids until they have the maturity and size for a belt-positioning booster. Besides the britax convertibles that have already been mentioned, there's also:
-Evenflo Triumph Advance (retail ~$129 and up) - rearfacing weight limit 35 lbs., forward facing 50 lbs.

-Graco MyRide - new - rear facing to 40 lbs., forward facing to 65 lbs., retail about $130

- First Years TrueFit - similar height and weight limits as the Britax Marathon/Boulveard/Decathlon, retails for about $180

-Sunshine Kids Radian 65/80/XT - rearfacing to 35 lbs., forward facing to 65 -80 lbs depending on model (but will generally be outgrown by height before child reaches weight limit), narrowest convertible on market so it's good if you need to be able to fit 3 seats in a row. Retails for about $200-$250

In general, you want to avoid the Cosco/Eddie Bauer/Safety First Alpha Omega "3-in-1" seats that claim to be able to last from infancy through booster, because a typical child will outgrow the 5 point harness in these seats before he/she is old enough/mature enough to use the seat as a booster (and it doesn't make a very good booster anyway because the shape/geometry of the seat doesn't position the seat belt well for most kids)

And even if your child is fairly petite on the weight charts and you think "he/she probably won't hit 40 lbs. until age 7 - do I really need a seat with a 65 lb. weight limit?" , it's still worthwhile for most folks to get a seat that has a 65 lb. or higher weight limit because these seats generally have higher *height* limits than seats with 40 lb. weight limits. '4 years and 40 lbs.' is often mentioned as the *minimum* age/weight for moving a child to a booster, but many children won't really have the size or maturity to sit properly in a booster until age 5 or 6, so investing in a seat with a higher height/weight limit now can save you from having to buy a different harnessed seat if your child outgrows a 40 lb. convertible before being ready for a booster.

Scroll down the FAQ at http://community.babycenter.com/post/a991035/faq_and_car_... for info on what to look for in a car seat, descriptions of the above seats, etc. That forum and also the forums at http://www.car-seat.org/ are EXCELLENT places to go with car safety questions, because many of the regulars are certified child-passenger safety technicians and super-knowledgeable and helpful :-)

Edited to add:
The Graco Nautilus is what is called a "Combination" seat (forward facing harnessed then belt-positioning booster), which is different from a "Convertible" seat (seat that can be used with harness either rear-facing or forward facing). It's a great seat for children who are already forward facing but not the best choice for a 1YO who would be much safer rear facing for at least another year (please keep in mind that the American Academy of Pediatrics and other child safety experts including certified child-passenger safety technicians recommend that children be kept rear-facing beyond the minimum of 1 year and 20 lbs, because rear-facing provides significantly better protection to the head/spine/neck area in the event of an accident - particularly for young toddlers for whom the head is such a large percentage of the body weight - see http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html )

My comments on Cosco were just for the "3-in-1 seats". Although they are still safe if used properly, there are now many better seats that will give you more long-term usage for about the same price (e.g. Evenflo Triumph Advance, Graco MyRide). The Cosco Scenera and its slightly more padded/taller cousin the Safety First Avenue are both good safe budget-friendly seats, just be aware that your child may outgrow it before he or she is ready for a booster.

And while Consumer Reports often has useful info on purchasing *cars*, they aren't the best reference for car seats - see this article by a certified child passenger safety tech about why: http://www.carseatsite.com/cr.htm

Britax without a question! We have a Boulevard (which we've had since our daughter grew out of her infant carrier - she's now 4 years old), and we LOVE IT! Easy to install, super comfortable for the child (it's always been her favorite place to nap), and very easy to adjust as needed.

With regard to safety, I would never buy anything but Britax. When our older daughter was a baby, we were in a terrible car accident. We were stopped and were rear-ended by a full-sized pickup truck going over 50mph. He never even braked. The CHP officer who responded said that had we not had such a great car seat and such a big car (Expedition), it's likely our daughter would have died. As it was, she was a little bruised but completely fine. For the record, I had all kinds of injuries, so that car seat was worth its weight in gold as far as I'm concerned! I figure $300 is a small price to pay for your child's safety.

We have the Alpha Omega Elite and love it. I see a response below that says they don't position correctly and don't work well, but our first son used it until 40 lbs and at that point didn't want to be in a harness anymore anyway. We had no problems, and even went through a bad accident with my daughter in one and she came out with no injuries at all.

Hello-
I would recommend the Britax Marathon. It is more expensive than most, the saftey ratings and construction of the seat is excellent. We had our Marathons from 1-5 years, it is well worth the money. The Marathons can go up to 60 pounds too.
K.

Britax is the safest and goes all the way to 65 pounds. It's a little pricier but it's a small price to pay for a sturdy car seat that will last you until their in a booster. Plus they're made to be very comfy! If you're wanting heavy duty absolute 100% no nonsense safety, look into the Safeguard car seat. It's 20 lbs and up and costs around 350 or 400. But it the best of the best. And a great investment. : )

We bought the Alpha Elite convertible for our son 4 years ago. We love it so much that we bought the same one for our new daughter. It fits perfectly into the car (we have a grand prix and a jeep cherokee), converts 3 ways, and holds up to 100lbs or 52 inches. I have heard that Britax carseats are great, but to me, they are overpriced and way too bulky.

I know I read in earlier posts to your questions that you should avoid Cosco, but that couldn't be anything further than the truth for me! The Cosco Scenera is #1 in safety ratings on Consumer Reports for Convertible car seats. Our daughter is pretty small, so we're not too concerned about her outgrowing it anytime soon. She's 15 months old but still has to face backwards because she is under 22 lbs, but too long for the infant car seat. This is a VERY SAFE and ECONOMICAL way to go. Overstock.com has them for under $50!

There is a marvelous book called "Baby Bargains" that does an excellent job of reviewing baby products and makes fantastic recommendations based on the authors' experience and feedback they get from parents. I've used it for all of my baby gear and I have yet to be disappointed. Since your LO is already one you don't need the whole book, but you can buy just the car seat chapter online for $2.95 as a download. Here's a link:

https://store5.esellerate.net/store/checkout/CustomLayout...

This book was just published in April, 2009, so the information is pretty darn current! They review pretty much every car seat on the market and go over what people like and don't like about the seat, whether it's a good value for the money, if the company has a track record of being customer first or not, etc.

As far as what seat I picked - I chose the Britax Roundabout. It's not as big as the Marathon (which was a bonus for me because I drive a smaller car and may not have had the room for the Marathon!) and also not as expensive. It has the same weight limit as the Marathon for rear facing (35 lbs) so even though my LO is off the growth charts (at six and a half months she was 23.5 lbs!) this seat will let us keep her backwards and safer for as long as possible. (BTW, AAP is now recommending rear facing until two years old! See here: http://infant-toddler-health.suite101.com/article.cfm/kee... )

Admittedly, the smaller size and price means that it's only forward facing until 40 lbs instead of the 65 the Marathon offers. However, I looked at the growth charts, and even if my super-sized little girl keeps up the rate she's growing, she won't hit 40 lbs until around 36 months! At that point I'll probably buy the Britax Frontier (or whatever forward facing five point booster seat they have available at that time.)

I was lucky and found my Roundabout at Goore's warehouse sale for $150. They're about to have another sale though, specifically on Britax. You can get a Roundabout for $154.99, which is about as inexpensive as I've seen them! Here's a link to their website: http://www.goores.com/goores/ If the sale info doesn't pop up front and center, just wait a little bit and it'll cycle through. The prices are good only July 11-12. All other Britax is also on sale so if you decide to go for the Marathon you'll get a good deal.

If you're not quite ready to buy or don't live close enough to Goore's to make it worth it, Albee Baby has the best prices for Britax that I've seen online. Here's a link to their Britax page: http://www.albeebaby.com/britax.html $159.99 with free shipping (on orders over $100) is also a great deal! I've bought a few things from them and been happy with the products and the site as a whole.

One other thing - Britax has some other seats that are pricier than the Marathon - they're the same size but have a few more bells and whistles, like straps that click when you've pulled them tight enough, side protection (wings at the side of baby's head to protect in side crashes) etc. The side protection blocks a lot of baby's view, so if your LO likes to watch the world go by then you're better off skipping that option. Since you're looking for a budget option, I suspect those seats will be out of your price range anyway!

Good luck!

H

We are really happy with our Graco Nautilius. My son is almost 5 and still finds it comfortable. I got it at Babies R Us - it's usually on backorder so plan ahead! The price was under $200. It had a high score on Consumer Reports.

I love the Britax Marathon. It is easy to use and goes up to 65 lbs. My oldest daughter is still using her Marathon, and she just turned 5 (and she is 44 lbs.)! The highest position for the straps is still above her shoulders and should stay that way for a few more months. I'm keeping her in it until she out grows it and then she's into a high back booster. Then my youngest it going to take over the Marathon, since the seat is only 2 years old.

My one year old loves her Graco Nautilus, we just bought a second one for grandma's car today. Goes to 65lbs, drink holder, toy cubbies, and is only $165 after tax with the coupon babies r us has for 15% off. Also, my mother has trouble with carseat latches, has weak hands. This is the only toddler seat she can open, because it's so convenient. Comes in a few colors, too.

Good Luck!

Britax, Britax, Britax all the way. The boulevard is a wonderful seat.

Britax is the best brand of car seats. They have the highest of safety standards. If you compare them to other brands, you can really see how much sturdier they are.
The Britax "Marathon" is a great convertible car seat. We've had one since our daughter was born and she is now 2 years old (it goes up to 65lbs). Our friends with a 4 year old still uses theirs. They are more expensive than other car seats- (around $300), but we recently purchased a second one for our next baby online for $189 free shipping- it was on sale because it was last years pattern. You should be able to just google "Britax Marathon" and a lot of sites come up with different deals.

My bro-in-law is a CHP officer and does car seats. We got the Britax marathon which is the safest one that he recommends although it's quite pricey. ($300.) sometimes you can find the old patterns on sale, but you have to keep your eyes open. amazon is where we got ours.