transitioning to a convertible car seat. Any tips? Please recommend your seat.

[Anonymous]

Just wondering if there are any tips or unexpected things I should know about before transitioning to a convertible car seat. DS is almost 7- months old and getting way too big and heavy for his infant seat.

Also, please recommend your seat.

Thanks for the advice!

[Anonymous]

Many people will recommend Britax. I personally liked the Evenflo Triumph. A few things to think about: (1) if you have 2 cars, you will probably be buying 2 car seats, because convertibles don't snap in like the infant seat. (2) Make sure they have very good safety ratings. (3) go for easy harness adjustments, because getting them in and out is something you will do several times a day (4) if you have a small car, check to be sure it will fit in the back in the rear-facing position, which you will need at least until 1 yr. They are large and stick out farther than you might imagine.

[Anonymous]

Britax Marathon - because of the higher height/weight limits plus an all over great seat. The Evenflo Triumph the pp recommended is fine, but my children outgrew it at age 3.5 before they were ready for a booster and we ended up replacing it with a britax anyways.

[Anonymous]

I love my Recaro Signo. Gets great ratings from NHTSB and is easy to install and use. It is big, though, so we have a Britax Roundabout for our smaller car - also a good seat, but the Recaro seems sturdier and has more side-impact protection.

[Anonymous]

Is it true that you have to switch out of the infant car seat once they hit 29 inches? My DS is only 5 months, but 27 inches already.

Does this mean that I'm going to have to switch in just a few months?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that you have to switch out of the infant car seat once they hit 29 inches? My DS is only 5 months, but 27 inches already.

Does this mean that I'm going to have to switch in just a few months?

You have to switch them once they outgrow the length on YOUR infant seat. Check the owner's manual--or look it up online if you don't have it any more.

My kids both outgrew their infant seats between 3 and 4 months and it was fine. We've been happy with Britax. We used the Roundabouts at first (easier for plane travel and moving from car to car) but they only fit in them a few years, so if you go that route, know that you'll have to by larger ones later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that you have to switch out of the infant car seat once they hit 29 inches? My DS is only 5 months, but 27 inches already.

Does this mean that I'm going to have to switch in just a few months?

Car seats vary in height/weight restrictions, so check the manual for exact limits. But yes, I think most infants hit those restrictions before one year old.

[Anonymous]

Maxi-Cosi Priori. Great safety ratings, super-comfy, and looks cool.

[Anonymous]

Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe -- it's made and tested by Britax but carries the FP badge. Very similar to the Marathon, but at half the price. Rear-facing to 33 lbs., front-facing up to 55 lbs.

[Anonymous]

14:27 here again. Even once your son turns 1, think about keeping him rear-facing as long as possible. He won't know the difference, and it's far safer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Britax Marathon - because of the higher height/weight limits plus an all over great seat. The Evenflo Triumph the pp recommended is fine, but my children outgrew it at age 3.5 before they were ready for a booster and we ended up replacing it with a britax anyways.

We love out Evenflo triumph. Our DD is almost 3 and in the 95 percentile for height/weight and still has a long way to go before outgrowing it. However, we are moving her to a booster now because our DS will be arriving soon. He will get her Evenflo Triumph (never used a carrier seat with DD and don't plan to with DS) and she will be in boosters. PP noted her DC were not ready for a booster at 3.5, but there are boosters that are rated for younger children with harness straps and later convert to using the seat belt. We will end up just using 2 carseats for our DD in total.

[Anonymous]

Britax Roundabout. Rear-facing at 7 months, and forward facing at 1 year. Great seat. Comfortable (or so it appears) and no problems. Bought it at Target.

[Anonymous]

I'd recommend going to a Babies R Us and trying out the seats in your car. The BRUS on Rt 7 let us give them our ID and then take many different seats out to our car to see if they fit. We found that the Roundabout is the only one that fit in our car. It happens to be on sale at Great Beginnings online right now too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:14:27 here again. Even once your son turns 1, think about keeping him rear-facing as long as possible. He won't know the difference, and it's far safer.

When we had our seats installed by the county's police service, they said the recommendations had been changed from one year to two for moving them to forward facing seats.

[Anonymous]

Re: keeping them backwards longer. I'd heard it was better to keep them backwards as long as possible but at the 1 year check up our ped told us we should switch her over to a forward facing one so she could look around more in the car (figuring she's learning by whatever she sees/takes in). She seems happier in the front-facing version too.