Best convertible car seat to buy?

Hi,

My DS is almost past the 20lb mark and ready for a new car seat.
Please help me by giving me your opinions on what to buy and why.
If you found a particular website inexpensive and reliable, that would be great also!

THANKS[f]

The seat that fits your child, fits your car and that you will use correctly each and every time is the best car seat.

You want to avoid 3-in-1 convertibles, as they have low top slots and only harness to 40 lbs FF, and are outgrown long before a child is mature enough or big enough to be able to use a booster seat safely.

Avoid the Graco ComfortSport - low RF weight limit of 30 lbs, LOW top sots and a SHORT shell. This seat is outgrown by most kids around 1 Y/O RF and at 2 - 3 years old when FF.
Avoid the Evenflo Titan. They increased the weight limits, but did not increase the shell height or slot height, so again, it is outgrown early.

Seats to look for: A seat with a high RF weight limit (33 - 45 lbs) and a tall shell and tall top slots, and greater than 40 lbs FF weight limit.

The new Britax Roundabout 50 is a seat to consider. It's basically the Marathon shell, but with the Roundabout features. 17 ish" top slots, 35 lbs RF weight limit, 50 lbs FF.

The Britax Marathon, Boulevard and Decathlon all RF to 35 lbs now (pre March 08 models RF to 33 lbs), and FF to 65 lbs. Approx 17", 16.5" and 17" (respective to order listed above) tall top slots and tall shells.

The Evenflo Triumph Advance RF to 35 lbs, FF to 50 lbs and has a bit over 17" top slots and a tall shell (taller than the Marathon by about 1/2 an inch).

The Sunshine Kids Radian Rf to 33 lbs, FF to 65 lbs or 80 dependent on model chosen, and has a tall shell and 18" top slots.
SK Radian is releasing an SL version which will have a 45 lbs RF weight limit (except the 65 model, it is 40 lbs RF), and then the different models for different FF weight limits.
HOWEVER, if you have a post September 2005 vehicle, you can use the new SL versions to LATCH install to the full FF weight limits on the seat version you have (though, this would be a parental decision to make as car manufacturers have not okayed the use of the lower anchors to above their stated weight limit.
MORE INFO HERE and HERE

The Recaro Signo & Como RF to 35 lbs, FF 80 lbs. Tall top slots, tall shell.

The Compass TrueFit, RF to 35 lbs, FF to 65 lbs. Only the bottom two slots can be used when RF, which sucks a bit, but it has 17.5 - 18" (I've read both measurements, not sure which is most accurate) tall top slots for FF. *I *think* that Compass/Learning Curves changed the guidelines, and I think you can use the bottom 3 slots when RF now - you will need to confirm this.
HTH

ETA: I've ordered form www.Albeebaby.com with good success.
A new site that is worth looking into is www.hipmonkey.com. The store owners is the family of Kyle David Miller, and all proceeds go to the KyleDavidMiller Foundation.

A new seat coming to market/available now: Graco MyRide 40 lbs RF weight limit 65 lbs FF weight limit I've read 9" bottom slots and 17" top slots.
ETA: I have not read a current measurement on the top slots for this seat, but I put Taylor (5.5 Y/O and just outgrew her Marathon about 2 months ago) in it last weekend and she was over the top slots by at least 3" - so there's no way they are 17". PIC HERE

Manufacturer's website for more info. Also, the VERY newest AOE that has a 50 lbs FF (they raised the top slot height to about 17") weight limit is worth buying, BUT still advise against using it in booster mode - it's still crap for a booster.

See the post above mine? The pic of the little girl in the pink car seat? That's what my 3 1/2 yr old is in now, and it is very nice. She is on the avg-tall side and will likely fit in the seat another year or two. It is the Britax Marathon. When she was 20 lbs/1 yr, I bought her a Evenflo Triumph. Had to move her to the Marathon when she got too big for the Triumph. If I had to do it over again (which I do--- my other DD is 1 yr and close to 20 lbs!) I will buy a Marathon for her - I am guessing she will be in it for at least 4 years, likely 5 or more, as she is a bit smaller overall.

ORIGINAL: ms_magiana

See the post above mine? The pic of the little girl in the pink car seat? That's what my 3 1/2 yr old is in now, and it is very nice. She is on the avg-tall side and will likely fit in the seat another year or two. It is the Britax Marathon. When she was 20 lbs/1 yr, I bought her a Evenflo Triumph. Had to move her to the Marathon when she got too big for the Triumph. If I had to do it over again (which I do--- my other DD is 1 yr and close to 20 lbs!) I will buy a Marathon for her - I am guessing she will be in it for at least 4 years, likely 5 or more, as she is a bit smaller overall.

Just to clarify, because it can be confusing. The old style Triumphs are different. They only RF to 30 lbs, had short shells and short top slots.

Oh, and yeah, my oldest lasted in her Marathon until 5 years and 9 months, at 48 ish lbs and about a 16.75" torso, 44.5" overall height. (her first seat was also the Triumph 5, which I upgraded to the Marathon from and gave the T5 to my SIL's child).

We love the Evenflo Triumph Advance [tu] [f]

I love the system of adjusting the straps... very simple and means that it's always at the perfect position. It's very comfortable for DS and RF to 35 lbs.

ORIGINAL: JSindell

We love the Evenflo Triumph Advance [tu] [f]

I love the system of adjusting the straps... very simple and means that it's always at the perfect position. It's very comfortable for DS and RF to 35 lbs.

I second the Evenflo Triumph Advance! It's very easy to use!

Thank you to all for your very helpful advice.I am very grateful that you took the time to help me.
So for me its between the evenflo or the britax. Just going to go and see which one he seems to be most snug in.

I have the Evenflo Triumph Advance DLX from Babies R Us. I love it! DS loves it too and I got the one in the color sandbox, it's great because I looked at another Evenflo seat and it had a leather surface on it that I was scared of where there one has Comfort Touch and it's so soft all over! Two of the things I love also is the adjustment knob it's much much easier and the infinite slide for the harness height. Love it!

We love the Britax Marathon and so do our kids. It has great padding for naps and both are super comfortable, so much that they really don't like any other car seats.

Stephanie

We just got this seat:

http://www.albeebaby.com/br20macocars15.html

I really like Britax seats. Albee baby also has other ones on sale. I received mine within 5 days of ordering so that is nice.

I will also say that we love the Evenflo Triumph Advance. I have the one with the leather patches and don't see any problem with them. I have 2 and am going out tonight to buy my 3rd!! My MIL wants one so she'll be getting one of mine, and I get the new one!
I found KMart to be the cheapest at 124.99 and Wal Mart to be next at 129.99.

We love the Britax Marathon so much we got one for each vehicle! I got rid of the Eddie Bauer we had that really didn't seem to be as tightly fitted on the seat as the Britax. So easy to use, and so cute too!

Just have to second Carolyn, I have the Comfort Sport and hate it. DS will be too tall for it very soon and he is only 16mos. We are currently researching what to replace it with and wish I hadn't spent the $$ on this one.

I have the Evenflo Triumph Advance DLX

This is the seat we just bought our 7 month old and I love it. It seems very safe and secure.

OP asked me to add this information here to her thread, she PM'd me about the Maxi Cosi Priori vs the Marathon, and also about the SIP on the MCP. Here is what I told her in PM:

I hear it is a beast to change the harness on it.
Also, it won't keep your child RF as long as a seat with a taller shell and higher limits.
HERE is a review on the seat by a CPST.

Plus, EVERY 5 point harness seat has SIP, it's a benefit of being harnessed. It looks like the Maxi Cosi Priori has deeper side wings, and that's cool, but I wouldn't choose it over a seat that will last longer RF and FF, especially knowing that the harness is difficult to adjust.

hth[f]

[!!]

Can anyone speak to compatibility of car seats in smaller cars? I'm starting to research a convertible seat for my son and like the sound of the Britax models and Evenflo Triumph Advance seats discussed here but I wondered if any of them work well in small cars. I have a 2-door Honda Civic and my husband drives a 4-door Mazda Protege.

bump.
we have a nissan altima and need a seat that will fit without the front seat having to be all the way up. so i'm curious about overall size too

As far as the Britax seats in small cars, I can only speak from my own experience (and I am not a carseat tech) installing in a Saturn wagon, Subaru Forester, Nissan Sentra, and Toyota Matrix.. so smallish cars, not tiny though.

We have had a Roundabout and a Marathon, currently have a Wizard. Rearfacing, the Roundabout is smaller so definitely fits better. The down side is that if you have a tall or heavy child it will be outgrown relatively quickly. DS had outgrown his by 2 years of age, and he is exactly average in both height and weight. So, of course the advantage of the Marathon is that it will last longer--for most kids until age 4 or 5. DS is almost 4 and still has about 1/2" left to go in his Marathon. But when RF, the Marathon and Wizard require the front seat to be pulled up quite a ways in many cars. Again, depends how big your backseat is. I could do it better in my DH's Mazda 626 because the back seat is fairly roomy, but if a tall RF seat is to be reclined it's going to take up quite a bit of space.

I thought the Roundabout would last longer than it did, but we were able to recoup most of our $ by selling it, so it wasn't that bad a deal. For the person with a 2-door Civic, it certainly might be worth a try! That's a reallllly small car.

are there RF "reclined" seat measurements anywhere?