Recommendation for car seat

Hi, I'm new to the forum and as looking for some assistance with picking a new car seat out for our son.

He's currently 7 weeks old, 14lbs and just over 25 inches long. We are going on a long road trip in a few months and I don't want to take him in his bucket seat since he doesn't really like it that much already.

I would like to keep him RF as long as possible. Cost isn't a factor - I just want the best seat possible for him. I drive a 2006 Hyundai Tucson. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Hello, an welcome!

You are definitely on the right track wanting to RF your son as long as possible. :thumbsup: Most of us here aim for anywhere between a min of 2yrs to 3 or 4yrs. You have a number of great choices available now which will help you reach your RF goal. In general, you want to look for a seat with a higher RF weight limit, and also one which has a taller shell since many children will outgrow a seat by height rather than weight. High cost does not always equal the best seat, either, there are a range of choices which work well. :thumbsup:

We have a list of higher capacity seats here, look at the "Convertible seats in Canada that RearFace past 30lbs" list:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=36056

The current most popular suggestions when cost is not a big issue are the:
- Sunshine Kids Radian seats (you get excellent limits in both height and weight but at times has installation or vehicle-fit issues)
- Safety 1st Complete Air (won't fit small babies, not sure if your son would be tall enough to fit in the bottom slots yet, the FF weight limit is lower so not as good for top-of-weight-curves kids)
- Graco MyRide (not the best choice for tall/long kids since the shell is a bti shorter, and I would try out the FF install to see how well it fits)
- and for lighter/average kids, the First Years True Fit (tall but only 35lbs RF weight limit, the anti-rebound feature tends to be well thought of).

I have tried out all these seats, but haven't used all of them RF for any length of time besides the MR and the TF (briefly), and have the least experience with the CA since I don't own it. I like them all. Maybe you can have a look around the reviews, etc and see if anything stands out or if you have any questions. Ideally, you would want to find a store locally which would let you test out the seats in your vehicle and try your son in them to see what fits, what you can install well, and what you personally prefer. Toys R Us and some local baby boutiques allow trying out their demo seats.

Just to expand on something mommycat said - not all convertible seats fit new-ish babies well. Make sure that your son's shoulders are at least level with the lowest harness setting; the harness needs to be at or below his shoulders. It tends to be the seats that come with extra padding for little ones that fit them better (although some just have slots low enough to fit). Just because the seat says it will fit a 5 lb baby, doesn't mean it actually will. Fox example, I have a Britax Marathon that says it will fit a 5 lb baby, but both of my boys were *just* big enough to fit in it when they outgrew their Snugride car seat (which is a 22 lb, 29" seat).