Question car seat

Hi - I'm looking for recommendations on which car seat to buy next - I have an 18 month old and she weighs 24 pounds. She's still riding in her infant car seat, but the straps are getting tight (no, I NEVER put a coat on under the straps - but they're still getting tight) and I'm ready to move her up to a convertible car seat since I plan to keep her rear-facing for at least another 6 months. I have a 2004 Subaru Forester, so in order to keep her in the middle of the car, it needs to be able to be installed without the LATCH system, but since I'm hoping she'll get a sibling in a year or two, I'd like to make sure it can also be used with the LATCH system as an option (and one that would, ideally, fit beside the Snugride 32 if left in the middle position). Any recommendations? I know I had trouble finding an infant seat that worked in the Forester and am hoping that convertible car seats aren't as tricky. There's also a chance I'll decide to get a mini-van if child#2 comes along, so one that also works well in a mini-van would be a plus! I'd like to spend less than $200 if possible on this car seat, but could go higher if needed.

Also, I would like another car seat recommendation. I'm looking for a car seat that is VERY easy to install - I want to purchase a 2nd car seat for my daughter that can be used for day care or when the grandparents have her, so one that can be installed easily and safely would be great! I'd like to spend less than $150 on this car seat.

Ideally, I'd like both car seats to have high weight limits so it can be used for many, many years.

Thank you!

Welcome to car-seat.org! I think Wendy has some Forrester experience, so I'll PM her for you.

All car seats in the US and Canada can be installed with either lower anchors (LATCH) or the seatbelt. (Of course, how well either works in your vehicle is down to the particular combination of car seat and vehicle design!)

Seats with higher weight limits that I'd recommend under $150 would be the Graco MyRide 65 and the Evenflo Triumph 65 (aka Triumph Advance 65.) Both have about the same size shell (the Triumph 65 is about an inch taller) and both are, while not the easiest seats ever to install, fairly simple installs in most vehicles. They have some very different convenience features so you'll probably want to look at them both to see what you prefer.

Another popular car seat in your price range (at least, on a decent sale) is the True Fit. The rear-facing limit is 35 lbs, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue since it sounds like your child isn't big for her age.

If you want shopping help and good deals, there's a whole forum here for that.

The classic Britaxes (Marathon and Roundabout55) install very well in the center of a Subaru, which I know is a tricky spot. The Evenflo Triumph65 does as well. You could get those for under $200, but they *probably* would not fit next to a Snugride.