Saturday, December 20, 2008

Carseats .. Leave your opinions please

Thank you everyone for your support on my last post .. we are working through it. I think we have a few compounded reasons for all the mishappenings and slowly but surely we will just get through them all. We have had a pretty fun weekend. And nap/sleeping have been done with ease for now. No more biting .. Thank god because, I am not sure it could take anymore abuse like that for a while.

I measured MT yesterday to make sure that we were still within the limitations on his car seat. He was measuring ~29inches. (not sure what his weight is but it is no where near the 30lbs limit) With him being ~29 inches, I have 1 more inch to go before he outgrows the seat requirements. So I really need to on the ball and order a new car seat. I have been trying to get my husband to help with this decision, but he told me "buy what i wanted" ... GREAT.. too bad We weren't discussing cars, jewelry, or animals ... Not extremely helpful. So, I have some questions that maybe you experts could help me out on.

I know that the brit.ax seems to be a popular choice. The rou.ndabout seems to have a lower height max than the marat.hon by 9 inches. That seems to be the major difference ... Oh and that Money thing. That's about $80 difference depending what website and week it is. But I know there are other car seats besides brit.ax.

Now here is my questions:

Do/Did you use your second car seat until your child is/was 49inches/65lbs?

What I am asking is, in the practical exercise, did you really use your car seat for that long? ~4 yrs for the same child? Is it likely to happen?

I want a safe car seat, I do not want to cut corners on safety, but I want to make sure that I send my money wisely. Consumer reports rates the eve.nflo triump.h line at a higher ranking than the br.itax. (could that be because of the money savings?) The ev.enflo is rank 1 the rou.ndabout is rank 2. The rou.ndabout received a very good for infant belt crash whereas the evenflo received an excellent .. They are $100 difference. This is a big difference. The overall rankings for both are the same score. The ma.rathon is ranked 4th. It only received a good rating in the infant latch crash protection and fair in the infant latch fit in vehicles. (i assume that is because the seat's dimensions are large to accommodate a 65lb'er). The overal mar.athon ranking was 30 points less than the 1-2 ranked.

Ok with all that said. There is a new evenflo symphony that has caught my eye. It's a new car seat that goes from 5-100 lbs. It's pretty new, not a whole lot of positive feedback from it. But it is new ... Anyone else see it? What are ordering, going to order? Have thoughts? What convertible seats are you using? There are tons ... Give me your opinions

9 comments:

Kim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kim said...

I'm a huge carseat nut.. so I absolutely recommend the Marathon.

It's so easy to adjust the harness straps to fit baby.

Car seat harness straps don't twist.

Recline angle and harness strap height can be adjusted in seconds.

They're super comfy and the prints are all adorable - okay, that could just be my preference ;o).

It will get him to 65 pounds.. but you may also do what we're doing. Briley is 4 and 40 pounds and we're moving her to the Regent (80 pounds) and Mia will get her Marathon if she ever outgrows her infant seat, since we still have 3 years left until it expires. And then we'll bump Mia up to a Regent, as well.

So overall, the cost works out in the end - especially if you plan to keep him in a 5 point harness as long as possible (which I highly recommend, not to start a huge debate, though).

But you're right, there ARE other seats and there ARE less expensive seats. But for US, we've tried a few and ended up with a Britax in the end and would never go back.

FattyPants said...

I know most people love the marathon but I have and adore the triumph. It is safe and so easy to use and adjust. B is very comfy in it too. We got it before B was born because my babes tend to be big and grow fast so we knew he would outgrow any seat that was just rear facing way too fast. Also its easy to clean vomit out of. A plus in any seat.

Rachel Inbar said...

We also have the Triumph. I find the straps annoying, but they're about the same on the other seats we have. It's a big and comfy seat - haven't gotten to use it that long because it moves from kid to kid.

I think at 4, especially if your child is tall, you'd probably switch to a booster (one with a back). At 4, I think it's not so nice to have to strap a kid between the legs... (especially a girl in a dress).

We also have 2 Cosco carseats (which must have had good safety ratings if my husband bought them) and I think the straps are easier to close. One has armrests (a little harder to put the child in) and they both have cupholders (not critical, but cute).

Allison said...

we bought the evenflo triumph for our first after the infant seat. we just couldn't afford a britax at the time. DS was always comfy in it and we did keep it to use fo DD BUT the straps are super annoying and get twisted. they may have improved this though by now.

when DD was ready for a bigger car seat we upgraded our son to a marathon and WOW! it is sooooo comfy and nice. and the straps are soooo easy. now it is a pretty large seat so I am not sure what kind of car you are driving.

personally I would go with the marathon in this choice. I am not a "britax only" person as we buy a radian for DS's booster but the marathon is just a great seat.

go to babies r us and try them! then buy online. britax does have sales two times/year (usually sept. and feb/march) but it sounds likw you can't wait that long. good luck.

Jen said...

oh yes, the car seat dilemna! I actually just bought N his new seat. I went to http://www.albeebaby.com/
and bought the roundabout. It was cheaper than bru. I ordered a new seat, the color I wanted and it came very quick. I once asked a fireman carseat guy what his opinion was, and he said that all car seats are regulated to be just about the same. So, buy what you like. I know the bri.tax claims to have some special kind of foam. I've been through several seats, a cosco, eddie baurer, evenflo, graco, and I just bought a bri.tax. I went with the bri.tax because I found it in the price I wanted and wanted to try it. It's amazing how much time and thought comes with these "little" decisions. Glad you are having a better week.

Courtney said...

Thank you SO MUCH for bringing this subject up. We have a rear facing seat, and while we still have some time, I know that making a decision about a second seat will be a difficult one.

Unknown said...

I love you for asking this question :) You are one step ahead of me...ha! Let me know what you decide...

And yes we do have the same taste in clothes :)

ms. c said...

We received the Marathon as a baby gift when Sacha was born, so the choice was made for us.

If it comes down to money, I think you should buy what you can afford. Every seat has their pluses and minuses (with price sometimes being a big minus!) And like Rachel said, when a child is old enough to go into a booster, I think that's the easiest for you and for the child (form my experience with my nieces...), so you might not get allll the use out of a seat that goes to a bigger height/weight.

Good luck! I am dreading taking Sacha out of his easy to get around in bucket! It will be any day now for us.