Recommendations for a New Car Seat for My 2 1/2 Year Old

I love my Britax Boulevard. it goes up to 65 pounds and is super easy to install. I have heard that all Britax are very good car seats, I have been happy with mine and would recommend it to anyone!

I love my Britax Regent! It will be the last carseat you have to buy. It goes from 30-80 lbs. It is the one I would suggest as it has such high safety ratings.

Hi,
I bought my daugters one 5.5 years and the other 2.5 years the same car seat b/c it is a five point harness clear up 80 lbs.. It is the Britax regant. If you have a large enough back seat they are great. I have them latched in my suv. I bought the seat at Babyage.com b/c they have free shipping and great prices the seats are on sale right now.. Now I will not have to by a booster seats b/c these seats go up to 80lbs.. I know babyrus has them on line and I don't think they have this one in the store they have the one smaller but it only went up to 65lbs meaning I would eventually have to buy another booster since the law is 80lbs. I rarely transfer them out of my car since they are so big and latched in.. I have a spare booster by Graco that was under 100 dollar that my husband uses in his car to take my daughter 5 min down the road to the bus stop. If I had to transfer the car seat all time it would be a pain.
Best of luck,
Lenc

I love my Evenflo Triumph advance. It holds children up to 50lbs and 50". The straps are very easy to adjust and it is just as sturdy as my Britax Marathon.

My daughter is big for her age as well (almost 4, but the size of a 6 yr old). My husband and I are both tall.

We did not want to put her in anything but the 5 point harness yet. The only one we could find that had good reviews and we could use for a long time was the Britax.

They are expensive, but worth it because they last a while.

Hi S.,

I feel you in this arena, as my daughter is the same age and almost 40 punds. We are going to get a Britax booster I think. I have a friend wwith four kids and she LOVES this brand. She says it is definitely the safest and most reliable. :)

Blessings,

K.S.

There are a lot of good recommendations in a previous post from earlier this week, scroll down the questions and look for the one about convertible carseats. I personally won't buy anything but britax-super easy to use, highest safety ratings, and great for tall/big kids!!

We have a Britax Marathon and have been super happy with it. My daughter is very tall and we're still in it. There are newer models out there of course that you can evaluate, but if it were me, I would start by looking at the Britax convertible seats.

When my son was almost 3, he also outgrew his car seat (he is also tall). We have two carseats that are good for taller kids - Cosco Alpha Elite which goes to 65 pounds with the harness and then can be used as a booster up to 100 pounds. I found it difficult to tighten, but the price is great about $129. The one we have in my car now is the Sunshine Kids Radian- they have two versions one that goes to 65 pounds and the other goes to 80 pounds. We went with the one that goes to 65 pounds since he is 3 1/2 and weighs 40 pounds. I figured that by the time he weighs 80 pounds he will be ready to be in a booster seat and too big to buckle into a harness. Hope that helps.

what kind of carseat do you use? We have a britax marathon, love it (yes, it is expensive, but it lasts and it is great) and the weight goes up to 65 pounds. Many of the other convertible carseats that I have seen also go up to at least 45 - and most higher, so there are certainly options!

S.,

We used with my son, and are using with my daughter, an Evenflo brand conversion carseat. It's one that you can use after they outgrow the infant carseat/carrier, but aren't yet big enough for the booster of the older kid. It's designed for front or rear facing and is good until 80 pounds I think. I'd have to go out to the car to get the instruction book to give you the exact information.

Melissa

Our son is 4.5 yo and this summer we invested in "Eddie Bauer" (not sure for the spelling) car sit. It was about 120 in Target. I'm not sure how the sit rates but I love it. It is 5 point harness and up to 100 lbs. You can also use it for a booster sit later with the car straps. The things I love about it are that the handles are plastic and easy to wipe, plus you can put them up, it has 3 positions, so if my son is tired I can put it up and his head doesn't hangs down if he goes for a nap. Plus the harness are not easy for little hands to open, so he can't do it him-self, even he never attempted to do it. Before that we had another "Eddie Bauer" sit and he couldn't do it for the same reason, so we had one less problem to deal with when we wanted him to stay in his sit. The sit fabric is easy to wipe too. Hope I was helpful.

Sunshine Kids has a great one for bigger kids. Check out healthycar.org for really great recommendations... they have some wonderful suggestions for seats with low toxicity - no off gassing or smells for your lil one to be around!

We had this problem with our 3 year old daughter, we did LOTS of research and decided that although not the most attractive seat, the Graco Nautilus was the safest, and converts to a booster and then a backless booster. My daughter loves it. You can get it at Toys R Us, Amazon.com and Wal-Mart among other places.

We just bought a Costco Alpha Omega Elite for my 2.5 year old niece, it is one of the best on consumer reports. As a side note, the 1st years model is the exact same carseat, they sell both at walmart. The other three on the list are Britax Roundabout ($220), Evenflo triumph ($120), and the Britax Marathon ($250). The Marathon rated quite a bit lower on latch crash test saftey for infants than the other three though.

The Costco one is a 3-way, so it can be used as an infant carrier, forward facing carseat up to 40 pounds, and toddler booster seat up to 100 pounds.

Hi S.!
I won't recommend a brand (I've used several and find that many of them of them are alike, but do not offer the same ammenities). So do your research and keep this in mind:

1. Safety rating: Has there been recalls for safety on this model or a close model?

2. 5-point harness: Is it EASY to take apart (some are simply straps that thread through holes and are all held together on the bottom with a metal clasp)? Beleive it or not some 5-points don't have covers that come off! So don't be afraid to dismantle the model in the store to see what you are getting yourself into.

3. Headrest: There are two kinds of carseats: those with SIDE headrests and those without. The side headrest will allow your son more comfort should he fall asleep in the car, which will happen.

4. Cupholder: Doesn't seem like a big deal? My babies are two and three now and their cupholders make them feel big boy and girl and results in less time for me rumaging on the floor while driving trying to retrieve dropped cups for screaming kids.

5. Reviews: Everywhere has them - see what other moms and dads have to say about a product. Brands people are recommending here should help you narrow your search down.

6. Pound capacity; Some only go to fifty while some go to 100 and some even up to 120. Buy something that will last long time.

I hope something here will aid in your search. Best of luck.

~C.