As Chila mentioned, what are your goals for rear facing your baby? Here, we hope to see kids rear face as long as possible, long past the bare minimum and until the RF limit of your car seat. Your baby is 500% safer remaining rear facing, at the very least until age 2. Little ones have disproportionate head to body ratios and ossification doesn't start to really strengthen up their bones until closer to that 2 year mark. A severe enough crash leaves them succeptable to severe neck injury or even internal decapitation if forward facing at too young of an age.
Britax is a premium seat...it has nice covers, ease of use features (built in lock offs, premium LATCH connectors), approved for RF tethering and is easy to install. However, it does NOT have a high RF weight rating at this time. 35lbs is all she wrote, which seems fine, but there are taller shells out there as your munchkin might hit the RF height limit before weight.
The Complete Air will give you more bang for your buck as mentioned. It does have a taller shell, it has a continuous loop harness (its one big loop rather than 2 dedicated straps which some people love) and of course it has the air filled wings. They aren't my favorite seat, but again, thats just personal opinion.
Have you thought about a True Fit? Its a highly recommended seat on here. It has a removable headrest if your little guy is short enough (making it easier to install and give the passengers ahead some leg room). It has a no-rethread, continuous loop harness. Its pretty cushy. There is a regular TF and a TF Premier which has an anti-rebound foot to help with overrotation in a crash event. Most people like it because it allows easier access to the harness adjuster strap
. This seat is a 35lb RF limit (taller shell though), 65lb FF limit and averages $150-$200. Its available at BRU, Zellers.
Another recommended seat is the Graco My Ride 65. It rear faces to 40lbs, forward faces to 65lbs and is pretty cushy. It has built in cup holders. You have to rethread the harness but not a huge deal and the entire base needs to be on the vehicle seat. Pricing on this one ranges from $125 (IF you can find one on rollback at WalMart) up to around $220 and is available at a number of retailers (BRU, Zellers, Sears, WalMart).
Another to consider is a SK Radian, but I suspect you'd have issues in an SUV with alloting enough space for the front passengers at a proper recline angle. This has the highest RF weight on the market at 45lbs, FF weight limit of 65lbs. Its considered the "skinny seat" as you can often get 3 across in a vehicle with this seat. The bottom folds for travel. Its the only other one on the market approved for RF tethering if thats what you're into. There are 3 Radian varieties you'll see out there - Radian 65, XT and Premier and they average around the $300-$330 range and are available at most higher end baby retailers (E-Children, Kacz' Kids, and one model at Sears). Or, you can check out
www.snugglebugz.ca for this seat and the Britax seats - excellent customer service and shipping :thumbsup:
If you have some of those retailers available where you are, I'd take your little guy in and strap him into some seats that are more commonly available. See how they fit and see what features you like or don't like. When you think you like one, see if the store will allow you to try out the demo model in your vehicle to see if you can get a decent installation. The safest carseats aren't the most expensive but rather the ones that are installed correctly and used properly each and every time your child rides in it.
Oh, and I'm not sure of the Sequoia, but if your infant seat is installed centre second row, make sure if its a LATCH install that you aren't "borrowing" the outboard anchors unless approved in your vehicle manual. Majority aren't allowed, making a seatbelt installation necessary.
Any other questions, I can guarantee someone will be eager to assist you with! And, you may still get some better vehicle specific recommentations
