Question Convertible Carseat for Newborn in F150 Extended Cab (Canada)

I am currently pregnant with my first and am overwhelmed by all the car seat options. I would like to get a convertible that will stay rear facing for as long as possible.

Both my husband and I are tall and come from families with high birth weights (I was 9lbs 6oz at birth and he was 8lbs 4oz at birth) so I'm not really worried about needing a seat that accommodates under 5 pounds.

I am looking to convertible as I would like to get one seat that the baby can grow with rather then needing to replace every year or two.

I drive a 2011 F150 with an extended cab so that is also a consideration space-wise.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated as I am so overwhelmed.

Congrats on your pregnancy! Make sure you think carefully about starting off with a convertible as this might make things more difficult at times. When are you due? A lot of people prefer not to use a convertible for a newborn during winter as it is harder to keep them warm when transferring them from to and from the car and putting them in a cold car seat. And are you ok with baby wearing? If you want to run to the store and buy something with just you and the baby you'll have to take the baby out of the seat (possibly wake them up) and wear him/her, if you go to a restaurant with the baby are you ok with needing to hold and or having them in a slink while you try to eat?

Some people do decide to skip the infant carrier and are fine with it, but its defiantly something you should consider carefully before just skipping it to save money.

I totally agree with 1mommy. Some infants seats last longer and you can sell it when it's outgrown or keep it if you plan on having other children!

Definitely consider an infant seat for winter... My lo grew out of his low weight limit infant seat at 5 mos In December.... I bought a keyfit 30 to get through the winter bc I hated the convertible, I felt like I couldn't keep him warm between the house/car/daycare.... He still fits in the keyfit at 1 yr, 22 lbs, not sure of exact height but he has about two inches left above his head...

Welcome! And congrats

With your first you have the luxury of working around baby's schedule more or less. But I think you'll still find times that you wish you could buckle baby up in the warmth of the house or store rather than in a cold car. Or that you could run in and buy that carton of milk without waking baby. Are you planning to have more children within the next 5 years? Being able to pass down a seat also takes some of the sting out of the price tag . If you're looking for an inexpensive infant seat, I would look at the Comfy Carry Elite (the front adjust version). It's a nice seat under $100; rare for Canada

If you decide you definitely want to skip the bucket, take into consideration the fact that you have to install most convertibles at 45 degrees for a newborn. That causes a lot of convertibles (eg. Radian) to take up a TON of room with a newborn. There are a few seats like the Britax convertibles, Evenflo Triumph, and Maxi Cosi Pria that use the shape of the seat or inserts to provide an appropriate infant recline without reclining the whole seat. Downside of the Britax seats is a lack of leg room and shorter shell. Sorry, not too familiar with the Evenflo or Maxi Cosi. I believe they have max rear-facing height limits of 37" & 36" respectively.

Then there's the True Fit. I believe it is still $115 at Toys R Us and fits larger newborns okay. It has a removable top portion of the shell so that it doesn't take up a lot of room. Unfortunately it only goes to 35lb rear-facing. Graco My Ride works for some newborns, especially if you can get your hands on an older style insert. You'd probably need a rolled-up washcloth at the crotch buckle for a long time though (the buckle is quite far forward and allows babies to slump down), and it doesn't have a terribly tall shell, like Britax I think.

If you're looking for a budget seat, the Evenflo Sureride is supposed to be coming to Canada, and will be $140-ish. I think it fits newborns well. It also has a 37" rear-facing height limit. Another option is the Peg Perego. I personally love this seat but don't own one yet. Not sure how compact it is front-to-back at a newborn recline, sorry. It's the only I've listed so far that has a 45lb RF limit.

The other 45lb RF option in Canada is the Radian 120 & RXT. I left it (them) off the list because of the huge amount of room they take up at newborn recline. They're a good option for tall babies, though, if you go with an infant seat first because they can install more upright with an angle adjuster for toddlers.

Thanks all for the suggestions. It's given me more to consider. For some reason (likely because it's summer now) I didn't even consider the whole getting the baby into the car situation. I know they can't really wear heavy coats in a car seat so this may cause some problems given that the baby will be brand new in the dead of winter, and I live in the Yukon. I am planning on mostly baby wearing when out and about so that I'm not so concerned about. Most strollers don't work well here as there is typically several feet of snow on the ground in the winters that is not regularly shoveled, and we don't have malls or anything like that.

You've all given me more to think about; thank you for your advice and suggestions.

FYI - I looked into the Peg Perego convertible, and apparently you cannot use the top 3 slots in ERF, meaning that you can only be RF until 14.2". So unless I have a very short child, that would make the RF to 45 lbs essentially useless. Just something to be aware of with that seat.

I am though looking into the True Fit more carefully as I like that the headrest can be removed up to 22 lbs, meaning it'll be easier to fit in the back of my truck when at the 45 degree angle.

CanColleen said:

FYI - I looked into the Peg Perego convertible, and apparently you cannot use the top 3 slots in ERF, meaning that you can only be RF until 14.2". So unless I have a very short child, that would make the RF to 45 lbs essentially useless. Just something to be aware of with that seat.

I am though looking into the True Fit more carefully as I like that the headrest can be removed up to 22 lbs, meaning it'll be easier to fit in the back of my truck when at the 45 degree angle.

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You're right about the Peg not being likely to get to 45lbs because of only going to the 7th slot. I just like it because it's a nice seat LOL. When rear-facing, there's no limit to how far the shoulders are allowed to go over the top slots. So the limit is 1" of headrest above the head. It'll last about the same amount of time as the MyRide.