Any recommendations on a convertible car seat that can be used rear-facing? My daughter is 15mos but only 17lbs so we have a ways to go before she can face forward. She is still in her infant seat but she is outgrowing it length-wise. We would like to find a next-step seat with a 5-point harness system. We looked at the Graco Nautilus but you can’t use it for rear-facing.
Thanks for any help.
We wound up going with the Learning Years True Fit carseat. I was able to find a good price on a brand new on on eBay and then recently found a great deal on a second one for the grandmother's car on Woot.com. I really like this carseat. It seems comfortable and the material looks luxurious. It is also easy to remove the cover for washing and easy to get it back on.
I had the EARLY ( 7 yrs ago ) version of the Evenflo Triumph it had great ratings then and still does now. My daughter didn't stay in her infant seat very long because she was so big so we had to go to this seat at around 7 months. and she kept it for a long time. It's a convertible seat so it can go front or rear facing and they've up ed the poundage that the seat can accommodate rear facing to 35 lbs.
Britax Boulevard. It works great. My daughter was/is a lightweight like yours and she loves it. Expensive but worth it.
Hi there -
I think the best next step car seat out there is the Evenflo Triumph. The best part of it is that the belt tighteners are on the side. It is the easiest to adjust as far as harness hight too. It fits perfectly every time regardless of clothes etc. Also very comfortable for baby. I loved it with my first.. even "upgraded to a newer one so my four year old can still use it. The ones that adjust in the front are useless rear facing. Good luck.
We had this same problem with our skinny daddy-long-legged daughter. We talked to our pediatrician who said since she had good head/neck muscles, it was okay to turn her around in her car seat. Check with your pediatrician. My daughter is now 9 1/2 and finally met the weight requirements to be out of the booster seat! Height-wise, the seatbelt has been at the right spot for awhile. Just another thing, you'll look forward too. :) Now, will you go feed that starving child of yours - just kidding! :)
Britax is the best and safest seat on the market--expensive, but when you consider what's at risk, worth every penny and more. They have several different convertible models to choose from.
My daughter is small just like yours and we recently purchased the evenflo triumph for her. It was reasonably priced and had great saftey ratings. Below are two websites that I found very helpful. At the second website I listed you can enter your cars make and model and it will list seats with the best safety rating for your particular car.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/nhtsa_eou/info.jsp?type=combi...
We love our Recaro Signo. After extensive research, this is the seat I picked for its safety, comfort and ease of use. We are using it rear facing with our 18 month old and intend to use it rear facing until she reaches the 35 pound rating. Then she will be forawrd facing with the 5 point harness until the 65 pound limit or until she's too tall. This seat has the highest pound and height rating I could find for a 5 point harness system that could also be used both rear and forward facing. Its a little pricey, but if you figure she'll probably use it for many more years, its worth the money to have the best safety available. Also includes the new side impact pads that will probably be the next standard safety measure.
depending on the infant seat you have she may be pretty close to outgrowing the typical convertible rearfacing in height too. i would say consider a britax marathon then, you get the added height but not as pricy as the boulevard, though if you can afford it the boulevard has the true side impact protection. as someone else said their is the triumph, the triumph advance is taller so will give more room too, i just personally hated the triumph rearfacing
HI!
Good for you for keeping her RF!!! I know you have done it because of her weight but it is SO very important for her spinal safety too:) When children are forward faced too soon, they can internally decapitate with a simple 40 mph crash from the whiplash. There spinal cords just arent strong enough to handle the impact. Im not trying to scare you, just be aware, you want to keep her Rf to the MAX limit on the seat. We use the Britax Boulavard and I cant tell you how happy I am with this seat! LOVE it!! It is pricy but your daughter sounds long and thin like mine, she would be in this seat until 6 or 7 years of age. Regardless of what seat, keep her harnessed until 65lbs, espeacially with the 'small' frame she is. Many people jump right to boosters with just the seat belt bc there child is within the limit, they EASILY fly out of these in car crashes. To me, 300 bucks for a 6 year car seat is well worth it, and you cant beat the saftey of Britax. I wish you guys the very best!
First off congrats on keeping her rearfacing, and keep her rear facing to the max limit of the seat weight limit, or unless she out grows it by height first.
First Years True Fit $190. Tallest shell of any convertible. 35lb rearfacing 65lb forward facing. It has a deep shell, more leg room for longer rearfacing. low profile so its easier for child do climb into. no need to re-thread the harness, just pull two knobs to adjust the harness, easy install with built in lock offs for rearfacing and forward facing. Energy absorbing foam (the stuff helmets are made from). Only problem while rearfacing is it can be tricky to tighten the harness because of where the harness adjuster is. There is a new true fit coming out with the Anti Rebound bar. I am assuming it would be easier to adjust the harness since it should be higher up on the seat because of the anti-rebound bar. The seat is good for 7 years from the date of manufacture, unless in a car crash then you need a new one. which insurance will cover.
Then there is the Britax Boulvard $309 rf 35lb ff65lbs My 2.6yr old 329lb 31in tall 15in torso is still RF in this seat and will be until 35lbs. she is a peanut and will out grow it by weight first RF then by height. Normally car seats are out grown by height befor weight. This seat installs like a dream in any car. I can RF in my Pilot out board using LATCH and I also Tether to the front seat by wraping the D-Ring (it comes with the car seat) around a bolted down part on the front seat. I can install it RF and FF in less then 2 Min and it is soild install. I would buy this car seat again in a heart beat. When its time for my daughter to move up to another knotch on the harness I just turn the knobs and I am done. I have no problems tighting or losening the harness adjuster. It is $$ but its piece of mind, easy install, and my daughters head never slumps when she falls asleep (which is daily).
If your on a budget there is also Cosco Scenera 35lb rf and only 40lbs ff. $70. Safety First Avenue 35lb rf 40ff. $95 at sears. the difference between the 2 is the Avenue has energy absorbing foam and the Scenera does not.
After your child out grows these seats your daughter will need another harness seat like graco Nautulus, britax Frontier, or a new seat on the market. I will not put my 41 lb 5yr old daugher in an Adult seat belt in a booster. My 5yr old rides in a Graco Nautilus and Britax Regent. These seats are fine to use. All car seat must pass the same test. They are not made public so we dont know which seats did better or which did worse. all seats passed
I live in the goose creek area and if you need any help at all installing your seat, please feel free to ask me I am more then willing to help you install your seat the right way. Less then 1in of movement AT THE BELT PATH. Also check out car-seat.org. there are car seat techs there that can help you choose the right seat for your child, budget and car. I have learned alot from this site.
The safest car seat is one that is used right every time, chest clip at arm pit level or the chest not the belly, harness tight and less then 1in of movement at the belt path.
The Britax Marathon is the seat we chose for the same reasons, and it goes up to 65 lbs. We have been super happy with the seat, it's comfortable & ranks high on consumer report's safety ratings.
Good Luck!
