I can't decide on a car seat: please help!

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My daughter is 19 months old, weighs 21 pounds, and is 32-33" long. I want to purchase a second car seat so we will have one for both vehicles. ('02 Camry and '03 Town & Country) I already own an Evenflo Titan Elite DLX, and would like to buy something that will eventually work as a booster up to at least 60 lbs. Basically, I'm having a lot of trouble finding something that is safe, easy to use, very well padded, attractive, and inexpensive. I would really appreciate any ideas that someone could offer me.

[Ahzryn]

Unfortunately you aren't going to find anything that both rear-faces, as your daughter should be at her age and weight, and goes to 60 pounds and then becomes a booster. At this stage in the game it would be much more cost effective to get an inexpensive secondary convertible seat like a $40 Scenera. You may even find you like the Scenera better than your Titan, which can be difficult to adjust and install.

New seats come out all the time; by the time she outgrows your current seats first rf and then ff there are bound to be more options.

If you don't like your Titan, we may be able to suggest some other seats that would be easier to install and use, and potentially last a little longer, and you could use the Titan as a backup seat.

[wendytthomas]

At 19 months and 21 pounds she needs a seat that will rear face for a long time, and then use a harness for quite a while. Boostering to only 60 pounds is not safe. By "booster" do you mean a carseat with a harness? A booster by definition does not have a harness.

There are no good seats that go from rear facing to forward facing to booster and do it all well. They're good rear facing seats, so so forward facing, and then lousy boosters. Kids usually outgrow them by torso height or weight before they're mature enough for a booster (about 5-6 years old).

What's generally most cost effective is to buy a good convertible seat now that will last to a mature booster age, and then buy a dedicated booster then. Or decide you want to harness longer and buy another harnessed seat. But that decision is made around age six and it's up to you.

Since you have such a petite little girl the first seat I would point you toward would be the Evenflo Triumph Advance. It has a 35 pound rear facing limit, a tall shell, deep sides, and lots of leg support. Forward facing it goes to 50 pounds with 17.5" top harness height. It's $130-$170.

For $270-$300 you can get one of the big Britax convertibles. The Marathon and Boulevard rear face to 35 pounds and forward face to 65 with 17" top slots. The Decathlon rear faces to 33 pounds and forward faces to 65 with 17" top slots. Since your daughter is such a lightweight she likely won't make it to 50 pounds in any seat, nevermind 65 (my daughter didn't hit 21 pounds until she was two years old and she will outgrow her Britax seat probably around 40 pounds).

Those would be my first recommendations.

Wendy

Are there any good 3 in 1 car seats out there?

[joolsplus3]

No, there really aren't any. Go ahead and concentrate on finding a convertible that will fit her rearfacing now and forward facing to about age 5, then you can look at an even taller harnessed seat if she needs it, or at a good booster to get her to age 11ish when she fits the adult seatbelt.

[keri1292]

3in1's do not make good boosters. But for a similar price you can get a Triumph Advance ($129) and a highback booster ($40 and up). The Advance should last your petite little one until she's 6, possibly longer. My 7.5yo still fits in an Advance.

Thanks for the help!