Question about convertible car seats…?
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 at
12:37 pm
Which one do you have?
I’m between the Britax Boulevard and the First Years True Fit.
Do any of you have either of those?
What kind of car do you drive? Where is the car seat (middle or side)?
My little guy is 5 months old and getting too tall for his infant seat! Need advice?!
Tagged with: 5 months • britax boulevard • car seat • first years • google • infant seat • script type • text javascript
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I have the Britax Marathon. It goes from 5 to 80 pounds. My daughter is 6 and only a mere 43 pounds but has outgrown it in height. She is super tall ( tallest in her class of 25). We were is 2 accidents with this seat. One when she was only 14 months. Some one flew out of a driveway and plowed right into the side of us. I had several injuries (and yes I was wearing my seat belt and was driving). I was in physical therapy for over 6 months. My daughter was totally fine. She was seated behind the driver seat. My car at the time did not have center restraints. They do recommend the center spot as the safest. We went to the hospital and I was a wreck so worried about her. The ER doc asked what car seat I had and when i told him he said good. Its the best, I see a ton of kids that walk away fine with that company’s seats. The 2nd accident was a deer and we both were fine. My car had 5000 dollars worth of damage and my daughter slept though the whole thing. I did a lot of research on the car seat. one think to keep in mind (and what swayed me) was that Britax is made in England. They have much more strict laws on car seats passing safety standards. It was 6 years ago so maybe this has changed but I still remember it b/c I was so shocked to find this out. England’s seats have to pass a 55 mile per hour head on and off set Crash test. Off set is impact hitting the front corner of your car and is the most common accident (you can google to confirm that but trust me I worked as an auto insurance underwriter for over 10 years). The US law only insists that car seats pass 25 MPH head on test. Who drives only 25? My point is spend the money. The Britax is the best investment I ever made. Also, if you have latch in your car this seat is so easy to install. It easily adjusts so it is perfectly snug. I’vee noticed that so many of my friends seats are not too tight. It is recommended that when you tug on the seat that it not move more that 1/4 of an inch to either side. My seat is so snug it has no movement. Love it!!! I just read some of the other reviews so I have to add this. I have a blazer and a small colbolt, my parents have a durango and a ford mini van (not sure of the brand). I had no problem of the seat fitting. it is larger than most, but unless you are trying to fit in 3 seats in a row it is not a problem. Also, I do know that one of my friends returned one to babies r us b/c she could get a lot of $ back for it and buy a cheaper seat and then get lots of diapers (it was a shower gift). Also, being so expensive is of course going to keep people from buying it. It surprises me how many people pick out a car seat based on price or look. You can go cheap on lots of baby items but this is one to spend the money on. Like I said before, I worked in the insurance industry and have unfortunately seen lots of claims come through with hurt or dead children from accidents. That is what made me spend a lot of time researching the seat. it served my daughter well from the time she came home from the hospital at 5 lb even till she was 5 years old. Check out their website for more testimonials (especially about accidents and side impact crashes).
I have a graco convertible. I really don’t remember what its called. I wouldn’t get a black car seat because they get a lot hotter in the car. So that left me with limited options.
I prefer the Graco brand car seat. I have one that goes from birth to 4yrs old. It was only like $60. We will get our moneys worth out of it. We will put it in the middle, its safer. I drive a nissan sentra. My husband has a nissan xterra.
I also have a graco. Just 2 things to keep in mind – 1. keep it in the middle if at all possible. It’s safer and they are easier to keep an eye on. and 2. make sure the seat has some "reclineability". I’ve found that if the seat is overly upright, when they fall asleep, their heads bob around uncomfortably. We have another seat in another car that reclines more and he gets better rest in it.
i just got an eddie bauer for my son. its quite nice. i drive an acura and his car seat is in the middle. make sure your son is 20 pounds when you shift him to a front facing one. my rear facing one was a graco and i loved it.
My 1 1/2 year old has been in her convertible car seat since she was about 7 months old. It’s an Eddie Bauer Elite and I love it! Easy to clean…that’s very important! LOL! My 3 year old used one very similar, I like Eddie Bauer brand, it’s well made and comfy! She now uses a booster seat.
Here is a link to the reviews on the seat…
http://www.viewpoints.com/Eddie-Bauer-Elite-3-in-1-Car-Seat-reviews
Actually, this is a very good site to get reviews on a lot of car seats.
http://www.viewpoints.com/search?q=convertible+car+seats
I drive a Jeep Patriot and the seat is on the side.
I have the Graco convertible, rear facing up to 20lbs and 1 yr, forward facing up to 40lbs and 4yrs. I also have the Graco Turbo Booster for 40lbs – 100lbs and up to 8yrs. Personally I worked at BAbies "R" Us for 5 1/2yrs, and the Graco’s out sold the Britax in a heart beat. I had noticed that out of about every 10 Britax we would sell about 3 of them were returned, do to not fitting properly in cars/vans. Also I noticed people who did buy Britax and was happy with them, came back and bought a Graco as a spare car seat for Daddy’s, Grandma’s and babysitter’s cars.
Hope this Helps!
I have the Britax Boulevard – definitely expensive, but as the Britax Marathon owner above wrote, you should see it as worth the money for the added safety – we haven’t had any accidents yet but several people I know have the same seat and had accidents, got injured themselves but their babies were 100% okay. The seat seems SO stable in the car, it is easy to adjust and get my baby in and out.
We have the seat in the middle – that is the safest place. Probably not quite as easy to get your baby in and out as it would be on the side, but it is supposed to be the safest location.
I have a toyota corolla and it fits just fine.
Bottom line – if there is anything you are going to spend a lot of money on for your baby, a safe car seat should be the thing.
I prefer the Britax usa brand car seat
http://www.salebestprice.com/britax-car-seat.html