Ponderings on car seat padding at Target today!

cookie123 · Nov 22, 2013

I went by Target today to check out the Marathon 70 they have on sale. They were out and so I looked at the Graco seats. Neither the Headwise or the My Size have any padding at all in the butt. I was surprised. They seem as bad as the cheapest infant seats. How long do people use the insert thing generally? The 3 in 1 had good padding, maybe that's why people choose it so often.

The Next Fit was on for 203 and change, the Graco Headwise was 154 as a sub for the MA70. I was really considering the Headwise for DD's back up seat but now I don't know. I grabbed a rain check and figured it bought me time to decide. But really, I'm thinking the MA 70.

T4K · Nov 22, 2013

Eh, once that super thin layer if padding is compressed, I don't think it does much. The Graco covers have some substance to them (the MyRide covers I have did at least) so I figured it was fine.

That being said, I have a thread like this on her almost 2 years ago when I also was surprised by the lack of padding.

cookie123 · Nov 22, 2013

Ha ha! Well, I want more for my money! I've always hated that the kids have to sit on cold plastic. Do you suppose it's worse than cold leather?

YinzerMama · Nov 22, 2013

I hate the lack of padding in Graco's seats. Used to be you could get some of the buckets and some of the turbo boosters with graco pedic foam and those are the ones we used and loved - without it the seats are SO HARD. But they don't seem to use the foam for the boosters at all now and I am not sure about the buckets. (The boosters without are the same - there is a row of three holes across the front, that is where the foam snaps in) I have emailed graco and suggested they start putting the foam in some of their convertibles and I got the generic thanks for the suggestion reply. I think the headwise etc is a really great seat but it is just too darn hard. My kids give it a thumbs down when I have them try it.

For occasional use it is probably OK but how much could it cost them to add foam? Maybe $10? I wish they'd test it and do it and offer a "premium" version.

The sure ride has impressive padding for such a budget seat IMO - is that an option as a back up?

Minnesota · Nov 22, 2013

It's funny how few manufacturers have figured out how parents shop for seats. Because I've watched people shop for seats, and that's what they do: approach seat, look at price tag, push their hand into the seat area to see how cushy it feels, maybe glance at some of the highlighted features, and move on. A hard-feeling seat gets dismissed so quickly.

YinzerMama · Nov 22, 2013

I haven't dismissed it quickly. I've made my kids sit in it repeatedly.

katymyers · Nov 22, 2013

My three year old recently sat in my friend's son's Nautilus for half hour drive and his exact words to me were "mom, that's an ouchy seat. My bum hurts." Normally he sits in a Boulevard 70 or his brother's Pioneer if it's just him in the car. I was surprised because he never used to complain in his old MyRide and I don't think that it had any more padding than a Nautilus. It would be nice if they put the Graco Pedic foam on more seats though, we had it on Ella's Snugride 35 and I loved it.

cookie123 · Nov 22, 2013

katymyers said:
My three year old recently sat in my friend's son's Nautilus for half hour drive and his exact words to me were "mom, that's an ouchy seat. My bum hurts." Normally he sits in a Boulevard 70 or his brother's Pioneer if it's just him in the car. I was surprised because he never used to complain in his old MyRide and I don't think that it had any more padding than a Nautilus. It would be nice if they put the Graco Pedic foam on more seats though, we had it on Ella's Snugride 35 and I loved it.

The My RIde is just the same, at least today at Target. Maybe they were better in the past.

gigi · Nov 23, 2013

My son has complained EVERY DAY he rode in his nautilus! I hate that thing but until recently it was the only HBB that worked with my vehicle head rests. I *think* the new SGL will and I plan to buy one as soon as I get it together to try one out. For the moment he is riding backless in a Turbo which he also complains about but not as much. I would never buy another Graco seat...my skinny behind kids seem to need some seat comfort.

LISmama810 · Nov 23, 2013

My skinny son and daughter never complained about their Graco seats. My son rode in a Nautilus FOREVER, and my daughter for a few months. She used the Size4Me rear-facing for about a year.

gigi · Nov 23, 2013

LISmama810 said:
My skinny son and daughter never complained about their Graco seats. My son rode in a Nautilus FOREVER, and my daughter for a few months. She used the Size4Me rear-facing for about a year.

I think it is a sensory thing that some kids mind and others don't. My older one minds. My younger is RF in a boulevard so it hasn't come up.

My older previously had a Boulevard, an EFTA, and a Maestro and never complained about any of them, ever. The Nautilus has been a daily issue for a year. Plus I hate the buckle and now that we use it as a booster it is hard for my son to buckle...so really other than vehicle fit and harness capacity there is nothing I like about that Nautilus LOL.

cookie123 · Nov 23, 2013

I KNOW I should get them the Graco. Griffin is long torsoed as is his dad, who is on the taller side, too. I just don't know if I can do it. The Radian 120 is fairly cheap at the justkidsstore.com I think it was? I don't recall how the Radian's padding is and don't know if it's different now than when I had one which was quite a while ago.

Really, none of the kids have ever complained about the lack of padding. They all rode forever in the Nautilus and the Radian. Matt has the SecureKid, which I feel is pretty good on padding.

Mysweethoneybee · Nov 23, 2013

When I bought my son's Evenflo Titan Elite I chose it because it seemed to be the most padded in the lower back area. I hated the seat for so many reasons. But I was one of those parents who wanted my kid to be comfortable.

mommyfrog · Nov 23, 2013

I like how my nephew described it when he moved out of his Regent into a booster. "It's just a hunk of plastic with some fabric over it. It's not comfortable."

jacqui276 · Nov 23, 2013

cookie123 said:
I KNOW I should get them the Graco. Griffin is long torsoed as is his dad, who is on the taller side, too. I just don't know if I can do it. The Radian 120 is fairly cheap at the justkidsstore.com I think it was? I don't recall how the Radian's padding is and don't know if it's different now than when I had one which was quite a while ago. Really, none of the kids have ever complained about the lack of padding. They all rode forever in the Nautilus and the Radian. Matt has the Sure Ride, which I feel is pretty good on padding.

The Radian has some decent bum padding. It has a piece of foam inserted in the seat and feels fairly squishy. IIRC the 120 and RXT have it, but the R100 does not.

YinzerMama · Nov 23, 2013

jacqui276 said:
The Radian has some decent bum padding. It has a piece of foam inserted in the seat and feels fairly squishy. IIRC the 120 and RXT have it, but the R100 does not.

Correct. The 120 and rxt have a piece of foam in the bum. The back is not super padded but not horrible. My 5yo testers approved the rxt for comfort.

I find the Nautilus to be about the lower end of acceptable padding. To me while it doesn't have an extra pad like some other seats, it still feels better than the regular turbo boosters or the size4me/clones. My kids have never ruled that one out based on padding.

With kids riding in car seats longer than ever now I don't think it is unreasonable to want comfort and padding. Some of the infant and convertible seats, you make up for lack of padding somewhat since the child is in a diaper - but the big kid seats I want to have something for comfort. It is by no means the ONLY feature I look for but it is one of them. I have ruled out lovely padded seats for other reasons and really really considered seats with horrible padding.

I don't think that considering the level of padding is in any way a sign of an uneducated shopper. It is one feature that obviously some will consider to be more important than others, but I can say with certainty it is a feature my kids prefer (I have tried to sell them on the Headwise and it has failed, repeatedly - even when I point out the cup holder)

Mom2Connor · Nov 23, 2013

My feeling is, no matter how great a car is, I wouldn't buy it if it was uncomfortable to sit in. Nor would I buy an uncomfortable carseat for my kids to sit in daily.

cookie123 · Nov 23, 2013

Mom2Connor said:
My feeling is, no matter how great a car is, I wouldn't buy it if it was uncomfortable to sit in. Nor would I buy an uncomfortable carseat for my kids to sit in daily.

Right? My Prius is not comfortable especially on a long ride. We had one as a rental recently that had the cloth seats rather than leather like our and they seemed marginally better. I wish I could give up the gas mileage because I'd like to trade it it for something else!

LISmama810 · Nov 23, 2013

YinzerMama said:
I don't think that considering the level of padding is in any way a sign of an uneducated shopper.

I don't think anyone suggested such a thing

nannykates · Nov 23, 2013

I think the shell underneath makes a difference too. For example, the sureride, maestro, myride is more or less a single layer or plastic while the nautilus is more reinforced and has all the bars going through under the behind. When the shell underneath flexes its not as uncomfortable to sit on (think plastic lawn chair vs stadium bench).

Ponderings on car seat padding at Target today!

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