convertible carseat for tallish baby, small backseat

[newmommy]

Hello,

Our baby is close to outgrowing her infant carseat. We have been trying to figure out which convertible carseat(s) to get and we are completely confused due to contradictory info/recommendations.

Some (including one car seat tech) recommend getting a simple less expensive seat. One reason given for this is that she will be ready for the booster at 40lb and at that age she won't want to use a "baby" seat anyway. Others (including another car seat tech) recommend paying the $300 for the large Britax. This is because supposedly babies are not ready for a booster when they've outgrown the other 40lb limit car seats, but then what are all those people doing who buy all those other seats?

I have a couple questions/concerns. First, there is a lot of attention to weight, but how do I know whether she (at 6 months 27" or 87th female height percentile) will be likely to outgrow the heighth of the seat before she is ready for a booster seat? I would hate to buy a less expensive seat only to have to end up spending another $300 later ($600 really for two cars). And if I need the large, bulky, expensive Britax, then how do I fit it into our small cars? Second, I'm really torn because I'd prefer to have something that fits better, that we could use on an airplane, and that isn't so very expensive ($600 is a lot for us). On the other hand, if I actually knew what would make her the safest, I would always choose that option, whatever that may be. There seem to a group who really believe the Britax seats are the best/safest, but how do I know? Third, I'm not convinced that the Britax seats will fit anyway, especially after hearing the trouble someone else had getting it in her car which is definitely bigger than ours.

PLEASE HELP!!!
Thanks!

	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.

	Convertible Car Seats Convertible seats are for infants and toddlers. The seat can be used as a rear-facing seats for younger children, and switched to a forward-facing seat on the child's first birthday if the child weighs at least 20 pounds. However, experts recommend keeping the child in a rear-facing position until he or she outgrows the weight or height allowed by the safety seat.

	Infant Car Seats Infant-only rear-facing seats are for babies up to about 22 to 30 pounds, depending on the specific car seat. You will need a new seat when your child gets bigger. Infant-only seats have handles that allow you to move the seat from the car to the house or other locations. Some have a base that you can leave installed in the car, so you can just click the car seat into place each time you use it.

	Booster Seat A booster seat raises your child up so that the car's lap and shoulder belts fit correctly. The lap belt should fall across the upper thighs. The shoulder belt should go across the middle of the shoulder and chest. A booster seat is used for older children up to about 80 pounds. Some states have passed laws requiring booster seats for children up to age 8 or 80 pounds. Check your state's law.

[Jewels]

Congrats on being a mom and for researching! All seats have to pass the same tests to be able to be sold in Canada and the US. So as far as that test goes, all seats are safe.

First of all, how old is your baby and how much does she weigh? Height isn't so important because infant seats are outgrown when the max. weight is met or they have less then 1" of hard shell above their head. Remember the straps should always be at or below her shoulders for RF. A convertable seat is outgrown RF by height when the head is even with the top of the seat shell.

Secondly, rearfacing (RF) is the safest position for her to be until the max RF weight limit of the seat. A bigger seat like a Britax Marathon (MA) would give her more height room for both RF and FF as opposed to other seats. If she has a long torso, I would look for a seat with a high top harness slot. As you can see at the common measurements is many seats have different top harness slots. With the MA at 17" and the Radian at 18". A seat like the Cosco Scenera or Uptown will allow her to RF til 35lbs.

Thirdly, 40lbs is still pretty little for using a booster! I would not buy a combo seat at this age. Remember that carseats expire after 6 years and you want to get the most out of your seats.

I would suggest getting a cheap Cosco Scenera ($40) and keep her RF until 35lbs (hopefully getting her to 2.5-3) and when she is ready to go FF get something like the Radian or Cosco Apex that harness to 65lbs or even better the Regent which harness' to 80lbs!!! I would put a Regent in one vehicle and one of the others I would use in the second vehicle.

For the small car, I didn't find my RF MA to take up anymore room then my RF Graco snugride or RF Graco Comfortsport. What kind of car is it? As for flying the MA, the Radian and the Scenera will all fit in the plane.

	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.

	Booster Seat A booster seat raises your child up so that the car's lap and shoulder belts fit correctly. The lap belt should fall across the upper thighs. The shoulder belt should go across the middle of the shoulder and chest. A booster seat is used for older children up to about 80 pounds. Some states have passed laws requiring booster seats for children up to age 8 or 80 pounds. Check your state's law.

	Britax Marathon - Click for more info Increasing the time a child can safely stay in their convertible car seat is a big issue and Britax engineers have come through in a big way with the introduction of the Britax Marathon with LATCH. A LATCH Compatible Convertible Child Seat, the Britax Marathon can be used rear facing 5 to 33 pounds and forward facing from 20 to 65 pounds. Compare the numbers and you will see it is hard to find a seat with these weight limits that is safe and functional.

	Britax Regent - Click for more info The Britax Regent is the safe way to carry your older and larger passengers, all the way up to 80 lbs. Known as the "king of all car seats," the Britax Regent will accomodate your little king or queen for far longer than traditional car seats or booster seats. The Regent features a large roto-molded shell, comfy extra-thick comfort foam, washable covers, Patented Versa-Tether™, flexible buckle LATCH system, patented HUGS™ system, and tangle-free polyester 5-point harness.

	Graco SnugRide - Click for more info The Graco SnugRide with EPS infant car seat is a highly popular and top-rated infant car seat that provides first-rate transportation safety for your baby, plus convenient mobility options for you. Even with its relatively low price, the Graco SnugRide with EPS receives unmatched praise for its safety by leading consumer magazines and websites.

	Graco - Click for more info Graco is one of the world's best known and most trusted juvenile products companies. They started the entire juvenile products industry with an invention called the Graco Swyngomatic. Since then they have invented products that have changed the way that parents travel with their children such as the travel system, which has made it so parents can lock an infant car seat into a stroller easily, without waking their sleeping baby. Their Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat is pretty much synonymous with the term “infant car seat” because of its safety and design features coupled with its affordability. Today Graco continues designing and developing top-quality products that inspire parents and keeps children safe. Check out the new Infant Safe Seat Step 1 and Toddler Safe Seat Step 2 for proof of Graco’s continued commitment to child safety.

	Graco ComfortSport - Click for more info The Graco ComfortSport is a well-priced convertible child car seat, with all the key features you'd expect, including a 5-point easy-to-adjust harness, a two-piece harness tie (chest and crotch), washable fabric, and a indicator that lets you know if you've installed the seat safely level. Various "soft goods" options are available in the different models, ranging from no extra soft goods (Prague) to the Metropolitan's detachable head support, harness covers, and toddler pillow.

	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.

[newmommy]

Hi Jewels,

Thank you for your informative reply. I don't actually know her current height and weight, but we'll find out at the doctor's next week. She's now over 8 months, but at her last visit (6 months) she was 27" and just under 15 pounds. She's in a Graco Snugride now and, although her legs seem a little long for it, her head is still more than an inch below the seat top so we probably have a little more time to figure this out. So your comparing the fit of the britax to the snugride was particularly helpful. The cars we need to fit the seats in are a 96 Nissan Sentra 4 door sedan and a 94 ford escort.

If the above answers to your questions give you any other ideas to offer, please feel free to let me know. Otherwise, thank you so much for the info you've given. I didn't know there was a seat sort of between the convertibles and the boosters. I had thought the convertible had to bring her up to the booster so that info was particularly helpful.

Thanks again,
Elizabeth, SAHM of 8 month old DD

	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.

	Convertible Car Seats Convertible seats are for infants and toddlers. The seat can be used as a rear-facing seats for younger children, and switched to a forward-facing seat on the child's first birthday if the child weighs at least 20 pounds. However, experts recommend keeping the child in a rear-facing position until he or she outgrows the weight or height allowed by the safety seat.

	Booster Seat A booster seat raises your child up so that the car's lap and shoulder belts fit correctly. The lap belt should fall across the upper thighs. The shoulder belt should go across the middle of the shoulder and chest. A booster seat is used for older children up to about 80 pounds. Some states have passed laws requiring booster seats for children up to age 8 or 80 pounds. Check your state's law.

	Graco SnugRide - Click for more info The Graco SnugRide with EPS infant car seat is a highly popular and top-rated infant car seat that provides first-rate transportation safety for your baby, plus convenient mobility options for you. Even with its relatively low price, the Graco SnugRide with EPS receives unmatched praise for its safety by leading consumer magazines and websites.

	Graco - Click for more info Graco is one of the world's best known and most trusted juvenile products companies. They started the entire juvenile products industry with an invention called the Graco Swyngomatic. Since then they have invented products that have changed the way that parents travel with their children such as the travel system, which has made it so parents can lock an infant car seat into a stroller easily, without waking their sleeping baby. Their Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat is pretty much synonymous with the term “infant car seat” because of its safety and design features coupled with its affordability. Today Graco continues designing and developing top-quality products that inspire parents and keeps children safe. Check out the new Infant Safe Seat Step 1 and Toddler Safe Seat Step 2 for proof of Graco’s continued commitment to child safety.

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[Jewels]

Just so you know, Britax allows their seats to brace the vehicles seat when RF as long as the car manufacturers allow it; which I don't think would be a problem in those vehicles just double check the manual to see if they don't allow it. The bracing also allows you that little bit of extra room in smaller vehicles

	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.

[newmommy]

that's good to know. thanks!