Three seat choices; seeking advice

My baby is 10 1/2 months old, 20 pounds, and almost 30 inches tall. She is just about to outgrow her Chicco KeyFit 30 car seat.

I have a $150 boutique store credit that I would like to use towards a new car seat, if possible. This means my choices are limited to just three seats:

Britax Boulevard 70 CS
Maxi-Cosi Priori
Combi Coccoro

I am leaning towards the Britax. My daughter is tall and has long legs, and I am concerned that she will get too tall for the rear facing position with the Maxi Cosi or Combi Coccoro sooner than it would be smart to turn her front facing. Any thoughts?

I have a 1997 Ford Explorer. Does anyone know which of these seats would best fit the car? (I will of course check this out in person, but thought I'd ask.)

Finally, I was wondering if anyone has had experience with any of these seats on aircraft. We travel frequently so that's a consideration as well.

If none of these seats is the right choice then naturally I will go with something else. It just would be nice to use that credit towards this expensive purchase. Thanks for any feedback and advice.

Of those three I'd pick the Britax. It'll last the longest. But you'll probably pay out of pocket as much as you would for an Evenflo Triumph 65, Graco My Ride, or Learning Curve True Fit, and the Boulevard won't last as long rear facing as those.

Why not buy one of those seats I mentioned, and buy a Coccoro specifically for travel? That's what we've done.

Wendy

I agree with Wendy. If you choose from those, the Britax. The cs feature doesn't work well or at all. The 70 has better leg room then the old version, but has a shorter shell then the old version.

The coccorro would be a nice travel seat with the flash stroller but won't last as long.

The graco myride and first years truefit. I found both online for under $130 the other day for a friend.

Stefanie - CPStech in Iowa

Thanks for the ideas. I really don't want to buy more than one car seat if I can avoid it. Is there a reason I couldn't travel with the Britax? I don't need to use the store credit on a seat if any of those three seats aren't the right choice. @Stephanie, what do you mean the cs feature doesn't work well or at all?

The CS feature is a starting point for tightness. And if you don't remove the slack from the harness before you tighten it, it'll click at a point that is still unsafe. For most parents this is giving them a false sense of tightness.

The Britax is FAA approved. You can travel with it. You'll install it on the plane like you do in the car, just put the armrest up. And no LATCH, of course. However, it's big and heavy. I've traveled with Britaxes in the past. Now I travel with a Coccoro. And I much prefer the Coccoro. It's narrow and lightweight. When we're not traveling it's in my husband's car. I love not having to uninstall or install a seat in the parking garage at the airport at 5 in the morning or midnight, or whenever we've landed or leaving. After a trip we've been known to be stressed, and we actually broke the LATCH on our Britax Wizard because we were both too frustrated to actually listen to one another. So when we come home the Coccoro goes in the trunk and Laine goes in her seat in the car. I can deal with it all later.

I like a Traveling Toddler to get a carseat through the airport. Some people like the GoGo Kidz, especially if you check luggage. Others just get a luggage cart and bungee.

Wendy

Gahhh this all seems very complicated!

Given my hope to have a seat that 1) allows my tall baby to use it rear facing as long as possible; 2) won't be outgrown in a year; 3) will fit well into my car (1997 Exolorer); and 4) is light enough to travel with reasonably... what seat would you pick -- not being limited to the three I mentioned earlier?

Have you checked to see if you could order a seat through the boutique? If you can, your options might open up. Even if they will only order from the manufacturers they already carry, you could get a Britax Roundabout 55 for not much more than your $150 credit, I would think.

I would look at the complete air 65. Its light weight, will last a long time both rf and ff, and most don't need pool noodles (some seats need noodles for recline).

Stefanie - CPStech in Iowa

I would get the Britax Marathon. We love ours and they aren't hard to travel with in my opinion. They are a little bit heavy but I scoot ours around quite a bit. Good luck!