Question rec for city family adopting newborn

Hi all. Looking for advice on the following (or direct me to a previous thread if appropriate - I searched and didn't find one):

Some friends of mine here in Toronto are adopting (hopefully!!!) a newborn in June-ish. They don't currently own a car, but want to get a carseat that would be used in rental cars, maybe a taxi occasionally. It would probably be used fairly infrequently.

What do you think would be the best seat for longevity and ease of installing/storing?

TIA!

Jennifer

Hi! DO they want a bucket seat, or skip right on to a convertible and wear the baby/use a stroller? What is their budget and do they have any idea of if the baby may be small/big/short/tall based on bio parents?

My preference for infants is an infant bucket. The Graco 32 or 35lb buckets will last a good long time, I think 1yo for most kids and longer for some. I used ours for DS2 until he was ~18mo and outgrew it by height. The base has a lockoff that makes any install a breeze (or it can be installed without the base) and they could get a stroller to snap it into.

If they want to skip the bucket altogether and go straight to a convertible... there are lots of choices. Are they hoping for it to be light? Narrow? Inexpensive? That would help narrow it down. A really inexpensive seat option that is light and narrow and usually simple to install, but won't last as long as other seats, is the Cosco Scenera. It is pretty bare-bones and as I said will be outgrown sooner, but it RF a very decent amount of time for the price. It does tend to fit newborns quite well unless they are quite small. Once it is outgrown they can re-assess whether they would like to get another RF seat or if the baby is ready to FF. Should last ~3yrs RF for an average child.

The Radian stores nicely and lasts a very long time both RF and FF but can be finicky to install in some vehicles and is very heavy. And much more expensive.

There's a whole range of seats in between but I will hold off and wait for more details on their criteria.

Thanks for the reply - that's a good starting point. They are new to this whole carseat thing (and may have to think a bit about the options) so I'll share this with them and see what added preferences they have.

Jennifer

They should also come visit me, Im in the Scarborough area. (Or I can meet somewhere closer to them)

I prefer bucket seats also, like the Graco 32/35. They can get the average child to 18 mo.


You can pm me here or they can email me: carseat_techs @ yahoo.ca

Maybe even the coccorro and flash stroller.

Stefanie - CPStech in Iowa

Sorry, no Coccoro in Canada - I wish!

I have a Canadian friend in the same situation and they went with a MyRide for their son, fit him as a newb and he's 5 months now. Not the lightest seat but it's been super easy for her to us in taxis and the like. One thing she has found is that she needs to use a locking clip frequently when they take a taxi, so if your friend isn't comfortable with that maybe think about a seat with lockoffs?

Since you mention lockoffs - I was thinking the same, about them being a bonus if you do taxis and installs in various vehicles. Convertible seats with lockoffs include the Britax convertibles and the TrueFit. Am I missing any?

You guys rock (of course)! I'll get back to you with more info.

And HONEYhas3, I'll definitely pass along the info.