Best Carseat to Buy After We Outgrow Rear-facing Infant Carseat?

If Britax (first choice for moms) is too pricy (was for me) try the Evenflo Triumph. Very comfy and safe. Can use rear facing and then forward facing after 1 year. Toddlers can still nicely fit in both the Britax and the Triumph until they are big enough to use a booster with 5 point harness.

I just bought a Britax Advocate from www.hipmonkey.com for 15% off, no shipping charge, and no sales tax. Best of all, the profits go to a foundation providing carseats to those who can't afford them. I also bought a second seat for dh's car, an Evenflo Triumph at BRUS, 15% off and stacked with a $5 off of $25 coupon. So there are deals to be had. I've sent the last few months researching seats...it can be very overwhelming.

I did a lot of research before buying carseats for my twins and ended up getting the The First Years True Fit Convertible Car Seat. This carseat can rear face up to 65. Here are the keypoints listed on Amazon...

The First Years True Fit C630 Convertible Car Seat Receives Highest Given Rating From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Unique removable headrest for a better fit in the back seat when used in the rear-facing position
The True Fit features a 5-point harness that grows with your child from 5 to 65 pounds
Energy-absorbing EPP foam throughout the sides and headrest add extra protection
The easy-off pad snaps off for stress-free cleaning

We have been using it now for 4 months and its been great. My girls are now 14 months and are still rear facing which is extremely important to me. I havent added the headrest yet but will have to very shortly.

Check out

http://www.car-safety.org/guide.html#cr

Especially the section: Recommended Carseats

There is no one carseat that is right for everyone. You need to find one that fits in your car, and that you can easily use. This can be different for everyone. Good luck!!

Britax Marathon....

Good Luck on your research!!

Margaret :)

I agree with the other postings. Britax is definitly the safest. They now sell them at target. But you could definitly price compare with babies r us. When they get new designs they usually clearance the "old" ones. Car seats is where I will not compromise. It is definitly worth the cost to have peace of mind that you have protected your child.
Good Luck!

I completely agree with the Britax suggestion however he does need to be rear facing as long as possible. Also, if he is a big kid you might be able to skip the smaller Britax Marathon for the Frontier which goes up to 100 pounds using the booster seat option. The Marathon only goes up to 65 lbs. They are both $270 approx. Oh, the Frontier is forward-facing only whereas the Marathon is rear-facing and forward-facing.

We've always used the Britax brand of car seats & booster seats & have been very pleased. The books Baby Bargains and Toddler Bargains by Alan & Denise Fields will have detailed reviews of car seats and booster seats and were very helpful to us in trying to figure out which brand to go with & with safety profiles. I believe they update the books every year.

Britax is the best. We have the Boulevard. I will never purchase a different carseat brand again! They are so safe. Be prepared though that the carseat is huge! But well worth it. We even recently took ours with us out of the country. It fit just fine on the plane and in our small rental car. Love this seat!! Once it was installed in the car it wont move an inch. Really safe!!!

We have the Eddie Bauer for my grandkids and my grandson is 3 and over 3 feet tall and he can still fit in his. It is a really good car seat and was not real expensive. Little over a hundred and if you look on Ebay you can get them cheaper and are usually almost brand new.

Heather,
Yes, you will definitely want a Convertible Car Seat (one that fits both rear-facing, and forward-facing) since your big little guy is only 6 months old. He still needs to be rear-facing until at least 1 yr old - and ideally for longer. (not to scare you but the main issue with turning a small child forward facing when their head is still 30% of their body weight is the risk of internal decapitation or other serious neck/spinal injuries in even low speed impacts)
So a convertible seat would be the way to go!

Recommendations: I would highly recommend the First Years True-Fit http://www.elitecarseats.com/the-First-Years-True-Fit.pro
It will keep your son rear facing until 35lbs, and then forward facing in the 5-pt harness (safest way to travel for children!) until 65lbs. By time he hits 65lbs you will prob. only need to get a small belt positioning booster at that (years down the road from now). the other thing I like about this seat is it's removable head extension, the quality and fit, and the safety ratings.
Also it is less expensive then a Britex wiothout sacrificing safety.
Other seats that have a high weight limit and will work for the long-haul are:

Radian XT by sunshine kids http://www.elitecarseats.com/Sunshine-Kids-Radian-XT.pro#... rear faces up to 40lbs, then forward faces to 80lbs in the 5pt harness. extra side impact head protection, and slim design means you can fit 3 of these seats across the back of a a small sedan.

Britax Marathon http://www.elitecarseats.com/Britax-Marathon-CS.pro
the standard in carseat safety. known for thier rock solid installations (no budging) and very plushy and comfortable.

I'm a big fan of convertibles that will last for YEARS and not be outgrown for height before they are out grown for weight. these 3 fit the bill, and considering they are expected to save your little ones life - they are a great investment.
Small tip: remember to save your receipt! If you are ever in an accident, the insurance company will have to reimburse you the full amount of your carseat(s). This happened to us last year, and only my Amazon.com recipets were able to get me the full amount back for replacement seats.

good Luck!

A Friend and I have Britax and it works really nice and the price is reasonable. My son is three and he has it since he was one. Still looks good.

Britax is great, and I would for sure buy it online because they are much cheaper than the stores. Try to seach on google shopping for the best price.

anything by britax is great. i personally have an advocate model and a boulevard. both are awesome for safety and have higher weight/height limits than most car seats. expensive, but worth it.

Britix all the way- we would not have it any other way

Britax is a good but more expensive brand

I have an Eddie Bauer for my daughter and a Britax for my son. The Britax is much more expensive, but I found mine on sale online for nearly half price. I would look around and try to get a reasonable Britax....I do think they are the safest around, but they are REALLY big, so keep that in mind. Even if you plan on purchasing online, you may want to try out a couple of models rear-facing in your car first before you buy (Babies R Us will let you do this) just to make sure it fits!

I also did alot of research on which carseat to buy. My son was very big for his age and still is at 3 1/2. My husband is 6'4" so I really wanted a carseat my son could use for a long time. I purchased the Britax Marathon and I and my son love it. It was expensive but when you consider they are going to use it for many years it makes sense. Also when i was looking at them at babies r us a lady came up to me and said her brother was in a car wreck and he had the marathon carseat and even though his car was totaled the carseat stayed very secure and the child did not get hurt. Also I would advise you to look online at babies rus and target and read the people's reviews. this helped me alot. i actually bought two of these carseats online and got a better price and free shipping. Good luck!

I have a Britax as well, but I admit that they are a bit pricey. We travel alot and it is easy to install and my very tall toddler fits in it comfortably. Before we got this seat, I had a Eddie Bauer brand that my toddler didn't like and the crotch strap was too short and I accidentally pinched his legs a couple of times because of this. If the price doesn't bother you too much, go for the Britax. Also make sure that whatever seat you buy has some sort of cloth cover around any metal buckles because they get really hot.

There are several great convertible carseats, but let me remind you, that children should be rearfacing as long as possible, at least until age 2 (they are 5 times safer rearfacing)

Now, some good convertibles I will recommend are the Britax Marathon, Complete Air, Graco MyRide 65, Evenflo Triumph Advance...those would be my choices, the prices vary (My Ride being the cheapest) and both the MyRide and Complete Air rear face to 40 Lbs, there is also the Radian which is a great seat.

If your son has less than an inch of HARD shell (not padding) left above his head, he needs a new seat immediatly.

Please email me if you have any qusetions, I'm sort of a car seat junkie :)

I have LOVED our Britax Marathon!!!! Both of our kids have one. You couldn't sell me on anything other than the Britax. They sit up high so the kids can see out the window well, they are comfy for the kids, my 5 year old is still no where near the weight or height limit and they are very easy to install/uninstall. They are expensive, however. Just know, you will not need to buy another. The next seat you would most likely need is a $25 booster. Maybe do some research on the various models they offer. Don't buy the Round-a-bout because he'll grow out of it faster. Even though, it's a good one too!

If you don't want to spend the money on the Britax, the Evenflo Triumph is just as big as the Marathon and has excellent safety ratings. It's not cheap either, but is less than half the price of the Marathon. We used the Triumph after much research into carseats. My sister, doing independent research (and didn't remember which seat we had--we live in different states) also bought the Triumph.

The only drawback was that you have to unscrew the seat to get the cover off to wash it, but I know they've gone back and forth with that feature, so I don't know if the new seats have that problem or not.

Check out the recarro. Race car drivers require unprecedented safety and there seats are designed to protect them against extreme crashes. Recaro car seats use the highest quality foam (same grade used in helmets) which is not the case in most other brand seats. This brand may not be the easiest to buy but it is the safest most comfortable seat and is widely used in Europe where child safety laws are more stringent. My son is 8mo 22lbs and not a fan of the car. He likes this seat though and I will/can send pics if you like.