Moving to Convertible. Which Seat?

I posted a couple of days ago about my three month-old starting to outgrow his infant seat (Britax Chaperone).

I've been researching the best I can, but would really like advice on what to get.

Right now he is 25 inches long and about 11 1/2 pounds. His seated shoulder height is 9.5 inches. I'm hoping to get him to six months in this seat, so I have a couple of months to decide. We want to RF to 3-4 years if possible.

We own a 1997 Toyota Camry, and a 2000 Buick Lasabre. My husband is 6'2", so he needs his seat back pretty far to drive. I would really like to be able to install in the center, but it is not a deal-breaker.

One of my biggest concerns is that since he will still be so young/little, I want a seat that is comfy and feels safe to him, and allows a good recline. He loves being snug in his chaperone.

So far the TrueFit and Radian have been suggested. I know a lot of people love them, but the radian doesn't look like it would give him a good snug fit/sense of security, and it bugs me that there isn't any/much protection on the sides...especially if I install outboard.

But, I am open. Budget is $250 as I need two. I might be able to stretch some, for the right seat. $600 total would be our max.

You could always get two different seats, I love the truefit premiere it is a nice tall seat, very cozy but only has a 35lb rfing weight limit which may or may not be sufficent.

Another seat to consider is the Evenflo Momentum, also a tallish shell with a 40lb rfing limit, it is quite deep and cozy looking as well.

Graco is also releasing a new seat this week that looks promising Graco Size 4 Me 70.

We love the Momentum! I have pictures somewhere ...

Here is DD2 in it at 3 hours old


Here she is when she was 6 months


And for comparison, this is my (then) 4 year old in a floor model the day we decided it was the seat for us. It isn't installed, but she would have fit rearfacing by height in it (she was 44lbs so she exceeded the RF weight). At the time of this picture she had definitely outgrown the MR rear facing and almost FF too.

Thank you! That definitely looks like one I will look into more.

Any other suggestions? What about Recaro Proride?

I would skip the ProRide, it is a pain getting a child in/out of that seat because it sits up so high on a base, plus it has very little rf leg room (I had one for a while and liked it until my ds was about 18mo. and then he was so squished that I moved him into a Radian.)
The Radian is my favorite rf seat and I have a RXT for my daycare kiddos and use it daily with the angle adjustor
The MyRide is another seat to consider

3 month old outgrowing infant seat? Yikes. Crossing that one off the list!

In addition to all the other great seats that have been suggested, you might look at the Maxi Cosi Pria. It is very nicely padded and has Air Protect SIP wings, since you mentioned some concern with the sides of the Radian. I am currently considering it for my 18 month old, and aside from a minor harness issue (that I haven't heard of anyone else having), I absolutely love the seat. It also has great leg-room for an older child if you plan to rf for awhile.

Happy shopping!

Thanks, everyone! I saw seats in person today and ended up deciding on the radian.