Question The Convertible Car Seat Spiral

Hi all,

I have been searching and researching and basically just spinning wildly down the carseat spiral for a couple of days now. I thought I would post here to see if any of you wise and experienced carseat gurus can help to pull me out of this never-ending cycle of anxiety and doubt about purchasing a new car seat. Our son is 14 months old, 23 lbs and 31" (just about average, I am told) and is getting close to outgrowing his Graco Snugride 32. I am trying to figure out what seats should replace it. We are expecting to buy two seats, one for each of our cars, because we both drive my son about equally. My husband drives a 2006 Toyota Prius and I drive a 2007 Subaru Forester. There is no latch system in the center rear seat of either of our cars, if I remember correctly. We have the Graco bases installed there with the seatbelt now, because the center seat seemed safer, even if we couldn't use Latch. Is this the correct approach to installing the convertible seats as well? We'd like to keep our son rear-facing past three (or even four), if possible. We are open to buying two different seats for each of our cars and/or buying another seat in a couple of years if necessary. We may also buy a third seat for grandma's car that we could use for travel. Cost is much less of an issue to us than space/safety/ease of installation. We aren't wealthy, but this is an item I am willing to splurge on. Any insight on how to move forward would be greatly appreciated. I have narrowed down our selection of convertible car seats to the following models, but don't know what would work/install best in both our cars. I am growing very weary of all the choices Thanks!

Considering:
- Britax Boulevard or Advocate CS (good build, comfortable, easy installation but don't work rf as long?)
- Safety First Complete Air (cheaper build and uncomfortable?)
- First Years True Fit Premier (I know the least about this one but have heard good things. Not sure about its side impact protection...)
- Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL (hard to install, heavy, too big to install rfing in our cars?)

For Grandma's Car/Travel (opinions on this would be helpful too. We fly a lot.)
Combi Coccoro (cuter, plusher and more comfortable, but is it as safe as the cosco?)
Cosco Scenara (cheaper and safer? But less comfortable?)
Would any of the other choices work well for travel? Or are they all too big/heavy?

Thanks so much! I look forward to your replies.

K

You are in the right place to help you sort out some answers to your questions!!

Installing with a seatbelt is just as safe as installing with LATCH as long as it is installed correctly. So yes, using the middle position with the seatbelt with a convertible will be work fine!

I don't know your specific cars well enough to comment on what seats might fit in them best, sorry!

The True Fit only rf to 35 lb, so while it has a very tall shell, it probably would not get you to 4 rf. It *might* get you to three, depending on how your ds grows. However, I do love my TF. Very comfy according to dd and it has nice tall slots.

The Complete Air is made by Dorel (Safety 1st, Cosco, all the same company) and they have said that their seats MUST be installed with the line level with the ground rf. Which is probably not going to be very comfortable for your son or the people in the front seats. They also have a very strict 40" rf rule, not the 1" rule like most other seats.

Measuring his torso height will give us a better idea of which seats to recommend.

Hope this helps.

Hello and welcome to car-seat.org! :happy-wavehello:

You've definitely come to the right place. The choices in seats can be dizzying! Each seat has it's pros and cons. I definitely recommend trying the seats in your car and seeing how they fit your son once you're narrowed it down to a few you like. Is there a Babies R Us near you?

All the seats you listed are fine seats. The Complete Air and Radian can have intall issues in some cars. The True Fit is a great seat, and the side impact protection is good due to it's deep sides. It's got a nice tall shell and rf to 35 lbs. The Britax seats are good too and rf to 40 lbs. You may also want to check out the Evenflo Triumph 65 or Momentum. The Graco My Ride is a great seat too, rf to 40 lbs, easy install in most vehicles and a favorite of many here.

The Scenera is often recommended as a travel seat, it's light weight and narrow for flying. And it passes the same tests as all the other seats, so it's a safe choice. You may want to opt for the 40 lb rear facing version.

There are always new seats coming out, in fact there are some new ones coming out later this year or next year. So by the time your son outgrows whichever seats you get now, there may be a great new seat that you'll want to get for him. Hope that helps!

The Radian can be installed in a Prius. It can be a bit tricky because it is a very reclined seat and the Prius does not allow for the seat to touch the front seats at all. However, Diono is coming out with an accessory that helps the Radian install more upright. Although I haven't had a chance to try the Radian/Prius/Angle-Adjuster combination yet, I suspect it will be fairly easy to install a Radian in a Prius with the added angle adjuster.

At some time in the fairly near future (but we're not sure exactly when) the level line on the Complete Air is going to be changed. The new rule is going to be to install with the 45° angle for a child under 22 lbs, but anywhere from 45° up to 30° for a child over 22 lbs who is sitting unassisted. The change is not retroactive to seats currently on the market, however they haven't made any structural changes to the seat. The only thing they've changed is the instructions. So... if you're considering the Complete Air, do whatever you think is best with that information. I will say that my daughter seems quite comfortable in her Complete Air and I had a 5 year old riding around in it (FF) while my daughter was still too short to fit, and she really liked that car seat, too. While I've heard a few other people say their kids have complained that it wasn't comfortable, that has not been my experience at all.

We have a Radian, a True Fit and a Complete Air. We like all of them for their own reasons. My personal favorite is the True Fit, none of the kids have complained about any of them being uncomfortable.

The Radian can be a bear to install in some cars. I personally am comfortable with using the Complete Air a bit above 45*, but not as upright as the new rule will be.

A Scenera is definitely a good idea for a travel seat!

I like a lot of those seats. the britaxes you've listed i especially like for ease of installation and I've seen them in both of those cars (not as sure on the year of the forester), and for regular sized kids the boulevard lasts a long time. If you're looking for two seats, you could buy one and use it in both cars for a while, see where you like it better, then buy the next one.

Also, if you're not concerned about car seats being a big expense, you can let yourself off the hook by saying, hey, if we get to age 3 and kiddo is outgrowing the seat, we just buy another bigger one. That lets you not stress too terribly much about making the perfect decision for later now, and you can focus on now now. You know know?

FYI--I am not a guru. I'm a 2003 Forester owner doing the same search. A couple of forums have recommended True Fit Premiere specifically for center-install RF Foresters. I'm trying to find one to test, and no luck yet. Decided against Radian because forums indicate it's VERY hard to install in a Forester. Just tried a Graco SmartSeat today, and it did fit, but I didn't actually install it. Decided against it just now because GSS forum says it is not FAA approved.

If I buy one this weekend, it will be the TFP, online. Good Luck!

Unregistered said:

FYI--I am not a guru. I'm a 2003 Forester owner doing the same search. A couple of forums have recommended True Fit Premiere specifically for center-install RF Foresters. I'm trying to find one to test, and no luck yet. Decided against Radian because forums indicate it's VERY hard to install in a Forester. Just tried a Graco SmartSeat today, and it did fit, but I didn't actually install it. Decided against it just now because GSS forum says it is not FAA approved.

If I buy one this weekend, it will be the TFP, online. Good Luck!

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Babies R Us should have the TFP under the Lamaze name on the shelf for you to take out to the car.

The regular True Fit will buy you an inch or two front to back. I have a TFP in my car, and a TF in my husband's Audi A4.

Wendy

I have a Britax Marathon and love it! I had an older style boulevard for my first daughter and decided I'd give the Complete Air a try when DD2 outgrew her infant carrier. Turns out I hated it and missed a Britax so much. Went back to Britax and never looked back. I was car shopping this week which meant I had to install/uninstall the seat at least once a day. I could do it in under a minute, can't beat that.
We have a Scenera for travel and it is fine, but I've had a really hard time installing it rfing. If I had 2 Britaxes I wouldn't bother with a travel seat, I'd just use one of those since the install is so easy.

I would go to Babies R Us to try out the seats. You can try the True Fit (By Lamaze), the Britax seats, and a Graco MyRide. This will give you an idea of features you like and how well they install in your vehicle.

I have a britax marathon in a 2005 forester, and I was not able to get a fit I was comfortable with in the center seat. Additionally, both outboard buckles are covered by the base, making the entire back seat unusable (this is pretty common on any smaller vehicle). After trying both outboard and center, the difference in stability of the seat was too great and I opted for an outboard install using latch. The tech I spoke with agreed that a solid outboard install is safer than a center install that is not as good of a fit (not due to the lack of latch, but due to the hump in the seat and back).

The marathon gives quite a bit more room for the seats to go back than the infant seat did (chicco keyfit 22). My wife is 5'4" and I am 6' and both can sit fine on either side.

I can understand how confusing and frustrating car seats can be...especially when you are trying to fit them in a smaller vehicle. I have a Ford Fusion and my dh has a Honda Civic and we had a hard time getting seats rear facing comfortably in the car (without having the passenger sitting on the dashboard that is . We tried the Radian and couldn't get it in the backseat comfortably because it was too tall (partially because we needed it reclined 45 degrees for a newborn). We also tried the Complete Air and that too wouldn't fit because it was too tall. The only seat that actually fit that was good for extended rear facing was the Graco Myride so I second you looking at that seat. The Britax seats are great and we had one of the older models rear facing comfortably two years ago for my nephew. I don't have much experience with the newer models though.

In response to your travel seats, the Cosco Scenera only fit in the middle position in both our cars because of the seat height but was extremely easy to use and lightweight. It is also very inexpensive so may be a good option for an extra seat or travel seat. The Combi Coccoro is absolutely awesome but it doesn't last very long. My sister has one and she travels with it all the time. My nephew got to 2 years old rear facing and then had to switch seats. It is a great lightweight seat though.

An idea may be to get the Scenera or the Coccoro and use that rear facing for awhile until he outgrows it. Then maybe the new Comfort Air may be out or a newer seat that works better for you may be out. You could then retire the Scenera or Coccoro for a spare. Just a thought! Good luck on your search!!!