05LR3AZ
Adventurer
We started with the Graco system (if I remember correctly) and then moved to the Recaro...Now we have a Graco front facing and booster seat for the two kids.
Car seat suggestions
- Thread starter CA-RJ
- Start date
We started with the Graco system (if I remember correctly) and then moved to the Recaro...Now we have a Graco front facing and booster seat for the two kids.
GroupSe7en
Adventurer
Graco snap-in/out infant seat is fine - hated the stroller that goes with it though.
When they get forward facing, check out the Evenflo. It has a side tensioning knob and tensions from the bottom rather than the front pull strap which tensions from the top. You'd be surprised how easy it is to put a burn on their neck when you're in a hurry and you pull those straps tight.
I've had 4 kids and the Evenflo seat is half the price of the Recaro or the Britax but still has good protection.
Best of luck and enjoy parenthood - life is more fun than you can imagine.
Mark
When they get forward facing, check out the Evenflo. It has a side tensioning knob and tensions from the bottom rather than the front pull strap which tensions from the top. You'd be surprised how easy it is to put a burn on their neck when you're in a hurry and you pull those straps tight.
I've had 4 kids and the Evenflo seat is half the price of the Recaro or the Britax but still has good protection.
Best of luck and enjoy parenthood - life is more fun than you can imagine.
Mark
Honu
lost on the mainland
ditto about keep them in a 5 point harness as long as you can !
my girl 6 is still in one and will be till she is 85 lbs then it will be a booster
I think also mentioned whats important is fit with your kid
if you have a store where you can go in and have your kid sit in them and then drag them out to the car and try it in the car is a HUGE bonus as some will cut down their leg room a lot etc..
my girl 6 is still in one and will be till she is 85 lbs then it will be a booster
I think also mentioned whats important is fit with your kid
if you have a store where you can go in and have your kid sit in them and then drag them out to the car and try it in the car is a HUGE bonus as some will cut down their leg room a lot etc..
BIGdaddy
Expedition Leader
that's a great idea...most stores like babies 'r us will let you test out their floor models.
I'm glad you mentioned it.
-B
T.Low
Expedition Leader
as usual, good info, guys.
The time has come for me to book mark Ryan's thread and email a link to my wife at work (Hi Jen). We have Rider #1 in the Staging area as we speak :av-7:, due to show up at the starting line Dec. 15
I've already bought your old Mud Terrains, maybe you'll have a car seat available to ship early Dec.:
The time has come for me to book mark Ryan's thread and email a link to my wife at work (Hi Jen). We have Rider #1 in the Staging area as we speak :av-7:, due to show up at the starting line Dec. 15
I've already bought your old Mud Terrains, maybe you'll have a car seat available to ship early Dec.:
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
Oooh, this is a contentious issue.
We bought Evenflow or Graco IIRC, and we like the "travel systems", they are convenient. Admittedly we made the brand choice largely due to price. I say that with head hung low. However, I did do a lot of research before buying, and what I found was really upsetting.
This is the straight poop:
Every seat on the market has passed the same testing. There is no grading (5 stars, "Good" "Better", whatever). It's pass/fail, and if it's on the market, it passed. Everything else is just marketting. Britax has a great rep, but what I found was the magazines and stuff recommending it were judging it based on "ease of use" and "quality of instruction manual" and things like that. They could not do any judgement based on crash performance. We have no idea if "side impact protection" actually helps or hurts. There is no test for it.
More alarmingly, there have been a number of scandals that have popped up over the years. In a nutshell, many of the rear-facing infant seats eject from their bases in real-vehicle 35mph frontal crash testing. Yes, even the mighty Britax has ejected. There was a pretty damning Consumers Reports article which was then later retracted...
It's a mess.
At the end of the day, I have not found ANY evidence to support the idea that spending more money on a seat buys you any extra safety.
Here's a copy of the retracted CR report. Make of it what you will, but take one thing away from it: The current state of child seat regulatory testing is not rigorous enough. Parents are really left to fend for ourselves. We have no actual evidence of which seats are better than others, and the seats are ejecting from the bases in real world collisions, which is frankly... pathetic.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9763
We bought Evenflow or Graco IIRC, and we like the "travel systems", they are convenient. Admittedly we made the brand choice largely due to price. I say that with head hung low. However, I did do a lot of research before buying, and what I found was really upsetting.
This is the straight poop:
Every seat on the market has passed the same testing. There is no grading (5 stars, "Good" "Better", whatever). It's pass/fail, and if it's on the market, it passed. Everything else is just marketting. Britax has a great rep, but what I found was the magazines and stuff recommending it were judging it based on "ease of use" and "quality of instruction manual" and things like that. They could not do any judgement based on crash performance. We have no idea if "side impact protection" actually helps or hurts. There is no test for it.
More alarmingly, there have been a number of scandals that have popped up over the years. In a nutshell, many of the rear-facing infant seats eject from their bases in real-vehicle 35mph frontal crash testing. Yes, even the mighty Britax has ejected. There was a pretty damning Consumers Reports article which was then later retracted...
It's a mess.
At the end of the day, I have not found ANY evidence to support the idea that spending more money on a seat buys you any extra safety.
Here's a copy of the retracted CR report. Make of it what you will, but take one thing away from it: The current state of child seat regulatory testing is not rigorous enough. Parents are really left to fend for ourselves. We have no actual evidence of which seats are better than others, and the seats are ejecting from the bases in real world collisions, which is frankly... pathetic.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9763
BIGdaddy
Expedition Leader
Yup, thats pretty much what we found, too, Rob.
We found that even in the graco line of products there were issues, but for the price point, it seemed like a good, comfortable seat.
All our graco's (3 kids, 2 cars, and a few extra's for caregivers = $$$) have held up very well. All of them, not having been in a crash, could easily be handed down, without worry, as buckles, straps and padding all show little to no wear. The covers are a bit worn from crackers being ground into them..haha!...but I don't doubt their safety one bit.
Again, nothing against the britax. They seem to be an OK to GOOD product.
I'm with Rob, though. Its like buying a bike helmet. ALL of them with the crash test label are going to protect your melon, from the $40.00 one to the $500.00 one. Its just a matter of how many bells and whistles you can afford. Same goes for childseats.
Ford Prefect
Expedition Leader
WHAT EVER YOU DO, DO NOT BUY USED!
You never want to buy a used one because you have no idea what condition they were used in. You know that if you drop one of these things onto a hard surface they can crack and ruin the entire thing? Scary really.
As for what to get...
When my son was born two and a half years ago the 'Chicco Systems' seats were rated the best by a long shot over all the others in the USA (consumer reports) this includes the more expensive Peg Pergo.
We REALLY love our Chicco Systems car seat. It is REALLY easy to instal and remove, and it is also a lot more secure than many other seats.
If you should choose to get the stroller with it, the Chicco Systems seat is one of the few that mounts in the same mounting points as the car base. This means that if your stroller tips (going down a steep incline, or even your porch stairs) the baby is a lot safer. Many of the other brands only mount the seat to the stroller via the forward most portion of the seat. Our Neighbor had her kid in their seat mounted to the stroller it came with, went down the stairs, and the seat pitched forward dumping the child out. She only barely caught him by the ankle, with his head a foot away from the sidewalk.
The Chicco is also a little larger, so if your child is a big baby he or she may stay in the seat for the entire time that they are required to be rear-facing.
One thing to know about this seat is that it is not reversible. (none that are this shape are, but it is good to know.) Also you should know that Chicco is a European brand, and as such they are held to a higher standard. The information we had said that they are made exactly the same for both markets. (in other words if/when we go there we can bring our seat with no concerns for legality.)
Good luck!
You never want to buy a used one because you have no idea what condition they were used in. You know that if you drop one of these things onto a hard surface they can crack and ruin the entire thing? Scary really.
As for what to get...
When my son was born two and a half years ago the 'Chicco Systems' seats were rated the best by a long shot over all the others in the USA (consumer reports) this includes the more expensive Peg Pergo.
We REALLY love our Chicco Systems car seat. It is REALLY easy to instal and remove, and it is also a lot more secure than many other seats.
If you should choose to get the stroller with it, the Chicco Systems seat is one of the few that mounts in the same mounting points as the car base. This means that if your stroller tips (going down a steep incline, or even your porch stairs) the baby is a lot safer. Many of the other brands only mount the seat to the stroller via the forward most portion of the seat. Our Neighbor had her kid in their seat mounted to the stroller it came with, went down the stairs, and the seat pitched forward dumping the child out. She only barely caught him by the ankle, with his head a foot away from the sidewalk.
The Chicco is also a little larger, so if your child is a big baby he or she may stay in the seat for the entire time that they are required to be rear-facing.
One thing to know about this seat is that it is not reversible. (none that are this shape are, but it is good to know.) Also you should know that Chicco is a European brand, and as such they are held to a higher standard. The information we had said that they are made exactly the same for both markets. (in other words if/when we go there we can bring our seat with no concerns for legality.)
Good luck!
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Ford Prefect
Expedition Leader
oh and I will add. I have never read ANYTHING good about Evenflow. Take that for what you will. Nothing against their company, but you will not see me owning one.
The snap-in base is pretty nice, given that you'll be installing and removing the seat about a million times. Having extra bases in each vehicle is a godsend...
We used a Peg Perego seat when our girl was first born. The BOB stroller (also highly recommended. Even comes with the mandatory black expo wheels) had a infant seat bracket that allowed us to snap the car seat into. Very nice.
She's almost 5 now, and has been in a Britax Boulevard for several years. Mostly great seat, but a bit bulky to be moving from car to truck to camper....
One thing that friggin' pisses me off about EVERY car seat maker is that none of them have any way to secure a kid's head when they fall asleep. Then, when you step on the brake, or go around an off-ramp, their head snaps forward. It makes me sick to my stomach, watching it in the rear view mirror. We've tried a number of remedies, but for pete's sake, don't any of these engineers have kids of their own???
Makes my blood boil just thinking about it again...
I know the OP was asking about an infant seat, but the IIHS does some ratings too. Here's their list of booster seats. I didn't see anything on infant seats...
http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/default.html
We used a Peg Perego seat when our girl was first born. The BOB stroller (also highly recommended. Even comes with the mandatory black expo wheels) had a infant seat bracket that allowed us to snap the car seat into. Very nice.
She's almost 5 now, and has been in a Britax Boulevard for several years. Mostly great seat, but a bit bulky to be moving from car to truck to camper....
One thing that friggin' pisses me off about EVERY car seat maker is that none of them have any way to secure a kid's head when they fall asleep. Then, when you step on the brake, or go around an off-ramp, their head snaps forward. It makes me sick to my stomach, watching it in the rear view mirror. We've tried a number of remedies, but for pete's sake, don't any of these engineers have kids of their own???
Makes my blood boil just thinking about it again...
I know the OP was asking about an infant seat, but the IIHS does some ratings too. Here's their list of booster seats. I didn't see anything on infant seats...
http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/default.html
Bill Beers
Explorer
I totally dig our three Evenflo seats. I think they're great!
Now you've read something good about them! :sombrero:
Airmonger
Adventurer
radian 65
This is what we bought originally when we had our first child now we have 3 kids and 3 radian 65s. They are awesome, the safest car seat you can buy, you can make it rear facing to hold a newborn and will hold kids up to 65 lbs so its literally the only car seat you will ever buy period. No need for a booster seat which are the least safe of all stages for kids. Also super compact, we can get 3 across in a subcompact, and they fold up for travel on airlines. Don't waste money buying 2 car seats and booster when you get get all 3 in this package. The only draw back is you don't have a bucket to carry infants around in so you have to remove the kid when you get out of the car, but when they are that young they sleep all the time no matter what and people always want to hold them anyways.
This is what we bought originally when we had our first child now we have 3 kids and 3 radian 65s. They are awesome, the safest car seat you can buy, you can make it rear facing to hold a newborn and will hold kids up to 65 lbs so its literally the only car seat you will ever buy period. No need for a booster seat which are the least safe of all stages for kids. Also super compact, we can get 3 across in a subcompact, and they fold up for travel on airlines. Don't waste money buying 2 car seats and booster when you get get all 3 in this package. The only draw back is you don't have a bucket to carry infants around in so you have to remove the kid when you get out of the car, but when they are that young they sleep all the time no matter what and people always want to hold them anyways.
R_Lefebvre
Expedition Leader
I guess that's fine, except for when it's -30 out and your car is -30 and the seat is -30. Try putting a baby in that.
I'll second this; it was the most secure in my '98 4Runner, and my wife's '04 Explorer. The excellent thing that I liked about it is that the seat can actually be used without the base; this solved the problem of buying second base (or if you are taking the kiddo in someone else's car, etc). The car seat has attachment points molded into it for use without the base (conveniently hidden underneath the side padding), and I used this 100% in my 4R in the middle position with the lap belt (wife had the base in her car). Car seat was always ROCK solid in each vehicle and never had any issues with it. We really liked the fabric in the seat too; some of the other seats we looked at had a felt or velour type fabric which we thought would be way too hard to keep clean and WAY too hot for So. Texas summers for a newborn to deal with.
Only drawback we could find is that the infant carrier does not 'fit' into a shopping cart; some other carriers are notched to fit over the handle, and kid seat back of a shopping cart. We didn't think it was safe to have your kid perched on the back end of a cart to begin with, so it was never an issue for is. I also am thinking that we had an issue with the seat 'fitting' into a std. high chair at a restaurant, but then again I could be wrong.
I liked the way the infant seat sits low in the stroller too, seemed much less apt to tip over.We are actually still using the stroller for her, its friggin' awesome! None of the other strollers I 'test strolled' could maneuver as easily as this one. She fits into it easily and can lay completely flat to conk out when she needs to.
We didn't have this luxury; our daughter is a dang giant and outgrew the car seat before her first birthday. Once that happened we strapped her into a Graco MyRide 65:
The thing that sold us on it was that it could be used rear facing up to 40 LBS!!! No other car seat seemed to let our kid sink into it as much as the Graco; much more side protection. (see http://accidentalmommies.com/821-graco-my-ride-65-car-seat-review-giveaway/)
The only drawback (we saw it as a huge PLUS) with the Graco is that it is frikkin' HUGE. In the 4R, I can BARELY squeeze my 6'1, 240# butt next to it in the rear seats; in small cars I can assume it'll only be worse.