Recommendations for 1 year old - what car seat to pick?

[Victoria]

Hi all,

It appears the best place in the whole WWW to ask for advice on car seats - the collective knowledge of users on this site is fantastic! I would appreciate your advice on picking a car seat for my 1-year old daughter.

Her stats:

Age: 12 months, coming towards 13 months
Height: 28.5 inches
Weight: approximately 9.5 kgs
Current seat: Graco SafeSeat

As she is approaching the time when her SafeSeat is going to be too small (it's already challenging to harness her when she wears her winter jackets), I need to make a decision on the next seat for her.

My requirements are as follows:
1) best quality
2) comfortable for the child
3) lasts as long as possible, as the child grows.
4) would be nice to get value for the money, though money is not an issue.

I was looking at Britax Marathon, Graco Nautilus and The First Years True Fit Convertible Car Seat, but I am not sure what to choose.

I will appreciate your thoughts - thanks in advance!

[Judi]

First of all. Make sure to take off the winter jacket. Those are to bulky to wear in the car seat. Also, did you extend both harnesses (hip and shoulder) under the car seat?

The Nautilus is a forward facing only seat, so I would not go with that one. Rear facing is 400-500% safer than forward facing.

[canadiangie]

Hello and Welcome. :)

Your goal from here on out will be to keep her rear facing for as long as possible. Age 1 and 20lbs is the bare bones minimum to turn a child forward facing, and hasn't been recommended since approx 2002.

Rear facing is about 5 times safer in all types of collisions, but especially in front and side impact collsions, which are the most common, and most severe. With that in mind you can cross the Graco Nautilus off your list. It's a forward facing only seat and not entirely appropriate for your young daughter.

Can you post back with what vehicle you drive (year, make, model), and the we can narrow down a few options for you.

Assuming your vehicle is car seat friendly though I'd suggest the TrueFit. It rear faces to 35lbs, has a super tall shell, can later be used forward facing up to a max of 65lbs; meaning even the heaviest of kids can stay harnessed until an appropriate booster age (5-6y/o for the most part). It's a nice roomy seat, it's fairly easy to install, and it's affordable. If you need more than one seat (one in each vehicle) the TF won't break the bank. Zellers often has them on sale for $149. :thumbsup:

Hope that helps,

ETA: here, read this! http://baby411.typepad.com/babybargains/2009/04/experts-toddlers-belong-in-rearfacing-car-seat-until-age-2.html


***please note that Britax seats in Canada only rear face to 30lbs***

[sparkyd]

I am going second the recommendation for the True Fit for two main reasons: (1) 35 lb rear-facing limit and (2) value for money. The Marathon is a very nice seat but I've got both and the True Fit wins the contest hands down.

The only thing that can be annoying about the True Fit is that when installed rear-facing the harness adjuster can be difficult to access (how difficult depends on how reclined the seat is and on your vehicle seat back). However, the way the harness works you shouldn't actually need to adjust it very often; you get kiddo strapped in properly the first time, then leave it alone until they grow and you need to change it. It has a "continuous" harness which means you can pull a bunch of slack out at the hips on one side to get the first arm in then pull it back on the other side for the second arm.

As Judi's post said about taking off the coat in the car seat, the harness should be adjusted so it fits properly when they are just wearing regular clothing (like a normal cotton shirt) and you shouldn't be loosening the harness to fit them in with more clothing on. A sweater or thin coat might make the harness seem a little snugger than with just the shirt, but you should still be able to get it on and it shouldn't be too tight. If you can't get them in and do up the harness at the same tightness as just the shirt, then their clothes are too poofy for the car. I'm hoping someone will post a link with a good discussion about the reasons for this (there have been many) since I don't have time to find one.

See here for info on tightening the harness:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=49030

Feel free to ask all kinds of questions!

[Victoria]

Thanks so much - like I said, you guys are great! We have a 2005 Toyota Highlander (SUV). I hope the space in the back will be sufficient to accommodate True Fit.

Will look forward to those Zellers sales!

Thanks again!