Please help..need wisdom about car seats

[swipper74]

Hello, thanks first for this great forum! It certainly has been lots of help with research.

My dilemma involves my 3 year 3 month old daughter. She is small for her age and is @ 35 inches (I think) tall and weighs anywhere from 29-31 lbs depending on the day.

We currently have a Cosco Summitt carseat and have been unhappy with it and want to upgrade to a better and safer seat. We would like something with energy absorbing foam, not to big, comfortable for long trips, and of course safe. I think I have narrowed the choices down to 4 seats: The Britax Boulevard, Recaro Young Sport, Sunshine Kids Radian 80, and the Safeguard GO (just discovered it).

Does anyone have any experience with any of these brands or any recommendations? Any help would be appreciated.

	Britax - Click for more info Britax International has been producing reliable child safety products for over 30 years. Not only does Britax have decades of experience creating car seats and other children's safety equipment, Britax has a long standing reputation as an industry leader and innovator. Britax International is headquartered in the United Kingdom, but Britax car seats are designed and manufactured at facilities in Germany, Austria, and the United States. In the summer of 2002, Britax strengthened their commitment to creating the safest car seats with the opening of a brand new, state-of-the-art crash testing facility in North Carolina. Britax car seats have a reputation around the world for being some of the safest, most reliable, and best designed child safety seats ever made.

	Britax Boulevard - Click for more info It is all about the wings with the Britax Boulevard convertible car seat - head and torso safety wings help keep your child from harm in a side-impact crash. And this matters - side-impact crashes are the leading cause of death for 6 - 14 year-old children. Of course, the safety wings are only one of the many safety features that the Britax Boulevard offers: built-in lock-offs, 5-point harness with front adjuster, tangle-free webbing, a push button release LATCH system with Versa-Tether®, and a sculpted base, ensuring an easy installation with a secure fit.

	RECARO - Click for more info With over 100 years of company history and long standing experience in vehicle seat construction RECARO knows how to make long journeys a pleasure for the whole family. Materials, design and technical highlights ensure a pleasant journey for adults and children alike. RECARO uses its strength as the premier mobile seat manufacturer to engineer an innovative line of products for your children. No other manufacturer can apply experience from production vehicles, commercial vehicles, and race cars to design toward the comfort and safety of children.

	Sunshine Kids - Click for more info Makers of a number of accessories geared towards making parents lives easier, Sunshine Kids has recently embarked in a new direction. In 2005 they unveiled their first car seat, the Radian. Their years of experience working in children's products focusued on child comfort and parent convenience shine through in this unique convertible car seat. The Radian is packed with safety features and is the first ever folding convertible car seat appealing to parents who car pool or travel often.

	Sunshine Kids Radian 80 or 65 - Click for more info If "the Sunshine Kid's Radian 80 convertible car seat is (probably) the only car seat you will ever need," the "probably" part of this statement comes into play when you directly compare the Radian 80 with the Britax Regent. While the Radian 80 has a very high weight capacity, the seat width is only 10" vs. the Regent's 14" seat. The Britax Regent may be a bit wider, but it is very bulky, is only forward facing, and does not fold like the Radian 80. Because the Radian 80 is so narrow, you can potentially put three of them side by side in the back seat. Three Regents side by side? Impossible.

	SafeGuard - Click for more info Indiana Mills and Manufacturing (IMMI) is SafeGuard’s parent company, and has been in the business of developing and manufacturing quality safety systems for every facet of the transportation industry for over 40 years, covering everything from the heavy truck and agricultural industries to child seating. IMMI has a world-renowned reputation for creating and promoting the highest rated safety harnesses and restraint systems available today, from integrated child seats in production vehicles to campaigning for increased use of safety harnesses on public transportation systems. Based in Westfield, Indiana, SafeGuard has been creating and testing essential components used across the child safety seat industry through their state of the art crash testing facilities since 1961. The SafeGuard and SafeGuard Go are IMMI’s first direct foray into the child safety seat market, and the results are simply outstanding. No other car seats or boosters are designed with as much attention to structural integrity, ease of installation, and total child safety. This seat has been subjected to the most thorough and extensive testing “ever conducted in the industry”: virtual prototyping with computer models; rigorous front, side, and rear impact crash testing; and environmental testing in a range of climates and road types.

[Jewels]

I have the Britax MA and really like it! I have found that it is a breeze to install (and in any vehicle i've tried it in), it's really easy to use and it is nice. It has built-in lock-offs which do come in very handy and it tethers both rearfacing (RF) and forward facing (FF). The MA also goes to 65lbs FF and 33lbs RF; have you considered putting her back RF? She is still light enough to RF. It is recommended to keep children RF until the max RF limit of the seat.

I have also tried the Radian65 by sunshine kids but it can sometimes have install issues. The Radian 65 and 80 are pretty much the same seat it's just the 80 comes with a infant insert but still both have the same top harness slot height. Have you considered just the Radian 65?

Sorry, don't really know anything about the other two seats you mentioned so I can't help you there

	Forward Facing Car Seats A forward-facing car seat is one in which the child sits facing the front of the car. The seat should be installed in the back seat of your vehicle. Most forward-facing only seats are for children above 20 pounds.

	Britax - Click for more info Britax International has been producing reliable child safety products for over 30 years. Not only does Britax have decades of experience creating car seats and other children's safety equipment, Britax has a long standing reputation as an industry leader and innovator. Britax International is headquartered in the United Kingdom, but Britax car seats are designed and manufactured at facilities in Germany, Austria, and the United States. In the summer of 2002, Britax strengthened their commitment to creating the safest car seats with the opening of a brand new, state-of-the-art crash testing facility in North Carolina. Britax car seats have a reputation around the world for being some of the safest, most reliable, and best designed child safety seats ever made.

	Rear Facing Car Seats A rear-facing seat is one in which the infant faces the back of the car. Always install a rear-facing seat in the back seat of your car. This is the safest position for an infant. NEVER place a rear-facing seat in the front seat of a vehicle with passenger airbags.

	Sunshine Kids - Click for more info Makers of a number of accessories geared towards making parents lives easier, Sunshine Kids has recently embarked in a new direction. In 2005 they unveiled their first car seat, the Radian. Their years of experience working in children's products focusued on child comfort and parent convenience shine through in this unique convertible car seat. The Radian is packed with safety features and is the first ever folding convertible car seat appealing to parents who car pool or travel often.

	Sunshine Kids Radian 80 or 65 - Click for more info If "the Sunshine Kid's Radian 80 convertible car seat is (probably) the only car seat you will ever need," the "probably" part of this statement comes into play when you directly compare the Radian 80 with the Britax Regent. While the Radian 80 has a very high weight capacity, the seat width is only 10" vs. the Regent's 14" seat. The Britax Regent may be a bit wider, but it is very bulky, is only forward facing, and does not fold like the Radian 80. Because the Radian 80 is so narrow, you can potentially put three of them side by side in the back seat. Three Regents side by side? Impossible.