Baby Car Seat Question.?

Question

I need some reccomendations for a good car seat because my son is 4 1/2 months now and I think he needs a new car seat cause the one I bought is getting too small. I dont know which one is a good one? he's 25 inches and 15 pounds already. I have the GRACO fortune travel system and I dislike the stroller too because it doesnt recline flat and the cover is hard to close and open at times. Any reccomendations? thanks!

Answer 1

When shopping for a car seat, Remember these rules:

1)the BEST seat is the one that fits your child, fits your car, and will be used correctly 100% of the time. (This is why convenience features DO make a difference and ARE worth the money! If its easy to use, you're more likely to use it correctly.

2)children need to stay rear facing as long as possible.

Turning kids forward at 20lbs/1year is an outdated practice that could cost you your child's life!

  A)A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 5 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than a rear-facing child of the same age.

  B)A child's vertabrae do not fully fuse until 3-6 years old, before then, she is at great risk for internal decapitation. The spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches in a crash BUT the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 inch before it snaps and baby is gone.

  C)Current research suggests that children under the age of two years are 75 percent less likely to die or be seriously injured when they are riding rear facing.

  D)In a recent article from Injury Prevention, it was found that the odds of severe injury to forward facing children age 12-23 months old was 5.32 times higher than a rear facing child. (Car Safety Seats For Children: Rear Facing For Best Protection; Injury Prevention 2007; 13:398-402.)

3)Once you do turn them forward facing, they need to stay in a 5 point harness as long as possible. 4 years/40lbs is the minimum for riding in a booster, and most 4 year olds have no business using one yet. If they can't sit upright for an entire trip, they need the harness of a car seat still. And, even if they do sit properly, a 5 point harness is safer, so you want to keep them in one as long as possible. This is important to consider b/c most car seats only forward face to 40lbs. My son just turned 3, and is in the 95th% for height and weight - 40" tall and weighs 41lbs. He outgrew the 40lbs seats shortly after his 2nd birthday. It was a total waste of money. He now has a Britax Marathon, which goes to 65lbs, and will be able to fit it for some time yet. If I'd have bought it when he was born, I could have had one car seat this whole time instead of the 3 I wasted money on. They are more expensive for many reasons, this is one.

So...knowing all that, here's some about specific seats. Please don't get a Graco Comfort Sport. Car seat techs call it the 'crappysport'. LOL Its a crappy seat that won't last your child very long b/c it has a really short shell. The straps twist all the time, and if they're twisted they won't support your child in a wreck properly. They're hard to install. There's nothing good about these seats except perhaps they're cheap sometimes. Ditto the Safety1st 3-in-1/Cosco Alpha Omega/Eddie Bauer 3-in1 seats. These are all the same company - same seat, just different covers. They stink. Hard to install, b/c of narrow belt paths. Ever tried to wash a skinny cup by hand? Now imagine that skinny cup with pointy edges. That's what putting your hand through these to install them is like. AND they have too short a shell to really go to 40lbs. And that's another misleading thing the box says - 5-100lbs. What the box fails to mention (you don't find out until reading the manual!) is that the harness only goes to 40lbs, NOT 100lbs! After 40lbs it must be used as a booster.And they do not make good boosters. Also, most kids have to use boosters until they're at least 8 years old. Car seats expire 6 years after the date of manufacture, so no matter what they say it is NOT the last seat you'll ever need to buy.

The Britax Marathon/Boulevard/Decathalon (These 3 are the same seat, just different variances of luxury additions, with the Marathon being the cheapest base model) can be found for regular price of $269, and on sale at Albee Baby online for $209-$219. The Marathon a wide open easy to route belt path, which makes using it correctly a lot easier, as do the built in lockoffs, which mean you never again have to use a locking clip. I can get it into 4 different vehicles in under 2 minutes. Because of the way the base is made, it fits in most cars. And, it is worth the money, b/c it lasts usually twice as long as most other car seats (all car seats expire 6 years after the date of manufacture) lasting a baby till they are 5-6 years old, where most at Walmart will only last till 2-4 years old. Rear faces to 33lbs, then forward to 65lbs. and top slots 17inches tall, lasts most kids to ages 5-6 years old.

The Evenflo Triumph Advance (not the original Triumph, make sure it says Advance) is a great seat. $150 version at Babies R Us has padding similar to Britax seats, top slots of 17", harnesses to 35lbs rear facing, and 50lbs forward facing. $120 Walmart version just has little less plush padding. Wide open belt path, easy to install, though it doesn't have built in lockoffs. The harness adjusts at the front of the car seat, you don't have to take the car seat out of the car just to raise/lower the straps. It has infinite harness adjustment so the harness always fits perfectly until its outgrown. No more tugging straps to tighten them either. You tighten and loosen the harness using k***s on the side of the seat. As a major bonus, it can be used in a recline position even in forward facing mode. Awesome for kids who still sleep in the car. I LOVE THIS SEAT! LOL My son, who is too big for every other car seat at Walmart has the same amount of room in this as the Britax Marathon.

The Compass Tue Fit, also sold as The First Years True Fit, is a great choice, too. Here's a thread talking all about it: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t... Has 16.5 inch top harness slots, half inch shorter than the Britax Marathon and Evenflo Triumph Advance. Rear faces to 35lbs, forward faces to 65lbs, has built-in lockoffs, and you never have to rethread the harness to change harness height. The headrest is removable to fit better in smaller cars. $179 for the one cover Walmart offers it in, check Babies R Us and other stores for different covers at a little more expensive price.

As for the stroller - I'd recommend getting a higher end one, especially if you hope to use it for more than one child. The Graco, Safety1st/Cosco/Eddie Bauer, Evenflo varieties just can't compare in ease of use, how long they'll last or anything else. Check out Maclaren, Combi, Quinny, Mia Moda, Peg Perego. And actually, Kolcraft has a couple really nice ones - their contour line has a couple. One really nice feature in some higher end ones, is being able to have the stroller seat face front or rear. They also tend to be lighter, easier to fold, easier to steer, and some even hold to higher weight limits. I believe Maclaren goes to 55lbs on all of its strollers. And, unlike car seats which must be bought new for safety, its perfectly alright to get a used stroller, so check out your local craigslist or even eBay, or Once Upon a Child. There is no one perfect stroller - there's lots of goodones and it just depends on what features are important to you. You may even need more than one - if you do frequent walk/runs, you'll want a jogging or all terrain stroller. If you have little trunk space and want something incredibly light weight for every day use, then take that into account.

Answer 2

my daughter started in one of the graco baby seats, and graduated to the britax boulevard around 8 or 9 months.  she's just about 3 now, and there's still plenty of room to grow with the seat.  britax has a number of convertible seats (rear and forward facing).  but i would say the boulevard is the best, because you don't have to rethread the seat belt each time you need to adjust for height.  i think you have to on the others.

Answer 3

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/childps/planner...

I just look this up real quick maybe theres something there to help good luck!

http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.h...

Answer 4

Infant seats are outgrown when a child reaches the weight limit, or more commonly when the child has less than one inch of plastic shell above his head.

Infants then move to a rearfacing (RF) convertible seats and MUST remain RF until at least 1 year AND 20lbs, but should remain RF until the limits of the seat (30-35lbs in the US).

The recommendation from safety experts and the American Academy of Pediatrics is to rearface (RF) to the limits of the seat which is 30-35lbs on all convertible car seats sold in the US. My daughter rode RF until she was 3 ½ and would love it if she still could, but she reached the weight limit on her Britax Marathons and had to be turned FF.

I have included several links with great pictures and videos of what happens to children’s necks when they are FF in a crash.

Most people are concerned about their child's legs being scrunched or broken in a crash. There is absolutely no evidence that shows a child's legs are in danger and I would much rather deal with a broken leg, than a broken neck.

Highly recommended convertible carseats are the Britax Decathalon, Boulevard and Marathon; Sunshine Kids Radian; Evenflo Triumph ADVANCE; Cosco Scenera and Safety First Uptown.  

Stay away from the Alpha Omega 3-in-1 seats only harness to 40lbs and most 40lb weight limit seats are outgrown before a child is mature enough for a booster seat.  They also have very low top harness slots, so are outgrown by height at around 2 or 3 years old.  The Graco Comfortsport also has very low top slots.

Answer 5

My second baby was nearly 10 pounds at birth and he grew fast, so by 4 months he was out of an infant seat and in a convertible car seat.  I really liked the Evenflo Triumph and the Britax Roundabout.  We went with the Evenflo for the first 2 years, then I moved him to a Britax Marathon.  These are some of the best car seats and I felt they were the  most comfortable for my son.