Experienced parents: How much would you estimate you've spent on car seats?

Nedra

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
Okay, so because I'm an obsessive planner, I've come up with an "ideal car seat plan" for my family.

Assuming 2 kids spaced 3 years apart (we only have one kid right now but the plan for passing down seats only works if we have at least 3 years between kiddos), seats in two cars, rear-facing until 4 (in the main vehicle and until at least 3 in the secondary vehicle) and harnessing until 8, out of regular boosters by 11, and out of the Incognito by 14, I mapped out what I would ideally use for my kiddos for the next 14 years. I also considered our travel patterns and lifestyle needs and included solutions that will work for home configurations as well as travel.

Then I priced out how much I'd project we'd spend on child restraints, total.

Obviously, I am assuming a LOT. Including that the current offerings will still be around, still be considered safe, and still be offered at today's prices. Also, that the seats I'm imagining will actually fit my current and future kids, fit our current and future cars, etc and that I won't hate any of them and firesale them on craigslist, etc.

All in all, the cost was $1,470 based on current Amazon prices (rounded up to the nearest $5 since it's all a guesstimate anyway).

So here's my question: How does this compare to real-life?

How much have you spent on car seats and for how many kids and how many cars? Did you find that you were able to pass down car seats to younger kids easily? Or did the spacing/sizing not work out and each kid ended up with fresh seats?

I am hoping that this thread may be a good source for parents to go to when estimating the costs involved. I am also hoping it might give me a reality check about whether this estimate is reasonable. In other words, I want to know if I'm being a sucker and there are way cheaper ways to raise 2 kids, or whether I'm being overly ambitious by assuming that I can possibly skate by without two kids needing to use the same seat at the same time. What I definitely do not want is to offend anyone, so please know that I mean absolutely no disrespect even though I know money is a sensitive issue. Of course you should not feel obligated to reply unless you feel comfortable doing so.

For those who are curious, my plan assumed the purchase of the following:

1 Cybex Aton (we actually have an Aton 2, but I only used the cost of an Aton because that's what we originally purchased. Our Aton 2 was paid for by insurance.)
1 extra Aton base
1 Britax Pavillion G4
1 Chicco Nextfit
1 CARES airplane harness
1 Safety 1st Go Hybrid
1 Frontier 90
2 Bubble Bum Boosters
1 Incognito

ETA: The only items on this list that we've actually bought are the first two. The rest are all just daydreams at this point.
 
ADS

D&L's-mommy

New member
I think it's really hard to project that far ahead accurately. Your needs will unexpectedly change. Plus, each time you're ready to move onto the next seat, they may no longer be available, or there may be new seats available at that time that aren't now that you like more. I give you a lot of credit for thinking ahead, since you want to get the most bang for your buck, while still following best practice here's what I'd do


1. infant seat, your aton
2. long lasting convertible that can be used until booster age
3. quality high back booster that converts to backless booster
4. incognito if you want

as far as passing seats down to a younger sibling, it will really depend on exactly how far they are spaced out, the life span of that particular seat, and how each child is built (since kids out grow seats at different ages depending on height, weight).
The best advice I can say is to pick a seat that you love, that fits your vehicle and child properly, and that will last you as long as you are comfortable with (since some seats have shorter or longer lifespans, and have different height/weight limits). Don't buy a seat based solely on a child that doesn't exist yet, buy what works for the child and vehicles you have now. I don't think it's really possible to co-ordinate a plan that allows for each child to outgrow their current seat at the same time so the oldest will outgrow their seat, get a new seat and pass down the current seat to a sibling that has just maxed out their seat. You just have to make the best educated guess as to their a growth, and take it from there. Of course there's a lot of educated people here to help you narrow down your choices. good luck!
 

BananaBoat

Well-known member
I've bought too many seats from being on this board, but I think in the end I only need 3 seats:
Keyfit 30
Radian XT (or XTSL or whatever it is now, we have the XTSL)
Graco Turbo SS
Total cost: $500~

We only have 1 car & our girls are exactly 3 years apart. I could have easily only had those 3 had I known exactly what my preferences were ahead of time.

That said, I have a bunch of other seats: TrueFit, Roundabout 55, Avenue, RSTV & CARES. I need to sell the TrueFit, but all the rest I use either as spare seats or for travel. I loan out the RSTV & CARES as much as I use or more, but I :love: them for travel! If you don't get on a plane ever, they aren't something that most are even aware of.
 

Baylor

New member
I have 500.00 in my car now and 240 in dh'a car.

Probably another 800 in buckets, transitional seats.

Way more than I thought
 

amyd

New member
I'm in Canada so prices are higher but I think this is what I've had/spent:

Snugride 22- $150
Marathon- $300
True Fit - $150
XTSL- $330
My Ride- $120
Nautilus- $100 (clearance!)
Maestro- $90
Peg bucket- $300
Frontier CT/90- $340
Parkway SG- $100
Evenflo Amp- $60

Oh gosh, that's over $2k:eek:

Also have an RXT and a Monterey but I didn't pay for those. Oh wait, I have a Snugride 35 too.

These are for 3 kids in 2 vehicles. I bought the first one 6 yrs ago.
 

SnoGurl

New member
Okay, let's see (in Canada, but most bought on sale/clearence)...

Evenflo-something-er-other bucket -- no idea, was part of a travel system
Scenera1-- 90.00
Scenera2-- 70.00
Via35 (X2)-- 80.00 (each, so 160.00)
Myride-- 135.00
Triumph-- 150.00

So far-- 605.00+the evenflo thing. For one child, two vehicles.
 

MommyShannon

New member
I've spent a lot but then again I have 4 kids (2-2.5 years apart) and did not do good research at first and bought wrong seats that I later ditched. The biggest problem I see in your plan is you will likely need good high back boosters and/or no back boosters. Bubble bums aren't great for day to day. I tend to like back up seats and changing things up every 1-2 years. I love the Britax seats the first 2 years rf but prefer something roomier for ages 2-4 rf. Then I prefer a combo seat for FF instead of FF a convertible. I did like the nautilus as a booster at first but then a dedicated high back after that.
 

bubbaray

New member
For two children:

Infant bucket (Graco SR)
ComfortSport
2nd ComfortSport for daycare
Britax MA
2nd MA
RN
2nd RN
GN
Monterey
PW
HBTB
Two literiders
ETA: FR

I have no clue how much all these cost. I don't want to think about it.
 

katymyers

Active member
Well I'm not going to go into how much I've actually spent in the four and a half years since my first was born (a lot, waaaay too much probably). I will tell you my current plan for my four kids. A year ago I bought two Britax Boulevards for my boys (3.5 and almost 3) my oldest used it forward facing since he was over forty pounds and my two year old used his rear facing. My 18 month old kept using her infant seat. Baby number four came along in August and I bought a B Safe for her and a Pioneer for my oldest. I turned my younger son forward facing at this time and gave my daughter the other Boulevard. My plan is to max out the B Safe with my baby and then buy a second Pioneer for my younger son when she does and then give her his Boulevard. I don't want to deal with the Pioneers as boosters so I want to get two Parkways when my boys are ready for boosters. I plan on getting them both Bubble Bums to keep in their backpacks just in case. When my girls become ready for boosters I'll pass the Parkways to them and get Incognitos for the boys.
 

MommyShannon

New member
This would be possible but I've never liked the same seat long enough to use until expectation before. If you don't have the 2nd child right at 3 you could have problems with seats expiring before you are done with them too. Really car seats aren't a significant enough expense to worry about the timing of kids though. I mean having to drive child 1 to school by himself for a 3 years and child 2 by herself for 3 years after #1 graduates, could add up to more in gas than adding another car seat.
So #1
year 0-1 Aton
Year 1-4 NextFit and Britax Pavillion RF until outgrown
Years 4-7 Frontier 90 and Hybrid Go (shorter so may not last until 7)
7+ I prefer a HBB until 8 and then for trips and sleepy times until outgrown

#2
Year 3-4 (age 0-1) Aton
Years 4-7 (age 1-4) NextFit and Britax Pavillion
Years 7-10 (age 4-7) FR90 and Go Hybrid
Years 10+ (age 7+) could use FR90 still as harness or booster or pass down HBB and get older child a nbb if needed
 

jjordan

Moderator
I have 4 kids, ages 7, 5, 2, and infant. I usually try to shop sales and I've gotten some great deals, so the costs below are sometimes much lower than what you would expect. Car seats I've bought so far with cost estimates:

1 snugride rear-adjust + extra base (sold this after dd, net cost $90)
1 Compass infant seat + extra base ($130)
1 Britax Chaperone ($100)

2 Britax Boulevards ($550)
1 FPSVD ($130)
1 Britax Boulevard CS ($200)
1 Radian 80 ($180)
1 Radian XTSL ($200)

1 Recaro Prosport ($200)
1 Graco Turbobooster ($40)

Before we are done we'll be buying a few more boosters, but probably not much else. Total so far is around $1800. So probably the grand total will be at least $2000 for the four kids. If we end up with more kids there might be another seat or two thrown in.
 

penguingrooves

Active member
this could be one of the most depressing, financially shocking thread for this group...

i've only bought 4 so far for my 3 kids: britax roundabout, 2 swedish britaxes and a coccoro, totaling a little over $1,000. i'll have to add a few boosters, so i'm probably looking at $1500.

i had no trouble passing down seats, but the coccoro was needed for 3-across. also, the roundabout expired, but with two kids, it would've been fine.

i only have seats in our primary vehicle and no backup seats. many people have seats in second cars, grandparents' cars, nanny cars, travel seats, backup seats, etc...
 

Keeyamah

Active member
I have a Truefit, Scenera, Evenflo big kid amp, FR85, Sureride and Radian. The TF was a baby shower gift (skipped the bucket) and the Scenera was bought with a gift card. FR85 was found on sale for $219, Sureride was $100, radian bought from a member here for $160, Amp was $40. So all of $519 of my own money spent on seats so far. I plan on getting a bucket if we have a third. Hopefully after the bucket is outgrown/ out of use, I'll be able to hand some of the current seats down and just get some boosters. We'll see how it works out.
 

Keeks64

New member
So my boys are 5y5m & 17m

So far we've owned:

Dorel travel system - car seat was $129
Alpha omega clones - 2 both were $99 walmart specials
Britax Marathon - 2 one was $249 the other $299
Britax Frontier CT - $379
Graco SR 35 - $219
Graco MyRide - $179
Scenera - $99
Graco Nautilus $75 special when they were clearancing non compliant seats
Graco TB SS - $89

So I'm just over $1900 & I still need to buy DS2 a peg infant/child set, DS1 another booster or 2 & likely a travel seat for them both come summer.

I'd estimate I'll be about $3000 in the hole by the time my kids are done with boosters. We still want another baby though so I would add about $650 onto that :)
 

christineka

New member
You're asking the wrong people- we are obsessed with buying more and more car seats! I'll post as much history as I can remember, though.

Dd1
Second-hand t-shield infant seat $0
Evenflo On My Way $60
Century Grow With Me OHS $65
Graco Treasured Cargo $40
Graco Turbobooster $0 (Used points)
Pink Turbobooster $30 target gift card (effectively, $0 for our family)
Second-hand from trusted source Parkway $15
Harmony Cruz $16

Total: $196

Dd2
Reused the OMW, and the GWM
Cosco hbb $40
Graco Turbobooster $0 (Also purchased with points)
Second-hand from trusted source Recaro Vivo $70
Second-hand, etc Parkway $40
Harmony Literider $13

Total: $163

Ds 1

Reused OMW, GWM, Graco Cargo, and Turbo #1.
Sk Radian 80 $160
Traded for Graco Nautilus (cost 1 radian 80)
Recaro Vivo $40 (super sale)
Sold Nautilus -$75
Second-hand, etc Britax Bodyguard Traded for something I purchased for $45
Sk Radian 80 (yes, another) $145
Britax Frontier 85 $0 (Bought 3 for $110 each and sold two for $360)
Recaro Probooster $65

Total: $360

Dd 3
Reused OMW, GWM
Program Tribute $20 donation.
Reused Cosco hbb $0
Cosco Scenera $40
SK Radian 80 $210
Reused Parkway
Sold Radian 80 -$80
Recaro Probooster $65

Total: $235

Ds 2

Evenflo Embrace $75 (but it was gift money)
Sold Embrace -$50
Reused Tribute
SK Radian 80 $145
Sold Radian for ? Maybe $90?
True Fit Premier $240 (Price was ghastly back then)
Reused Radian 80 from other child

Total: $300

Dd4

Chicco Keyfit 30 $144
Sold keyfit -$90
Reused Radian 80
Britax Marathon $165
Sold Marathon -$140
Reused Radian.
SK Radian 65sl $110
Sold 65sl -$100
Diono Radian R120 $165

Total $254

Here and there were some more purchases that were mainly for secondary cars:
Sm rstv $45
large rstv $45
Sold large rstv -$70
2 bubble bums $50
2nd Harmony literider $13
Sold 2nd literider -$5
Safety 1st Avenue $80
Sold -$35
FPSVD booster $30
Sold -$50
Graco Headwise

Total: $263

The grand total for six children is $1,944 Which, on the whole doesn't seem so bad compared to some other obsessed people. If I had been smarter (or the angle adjuster came out earlier), I could have definitely reduced costs by a lot. I also bought and sold things to earn money to pay for many of the latter seats, so it wasn't out of the family finances.
 
Last edited:

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
I can't actually remember all the car seats I've had over the years. :eek: Much less what I paid for them (I know I didn't pay retail for most of them...)

I do know that when looking at renters' insurance, I had my husband buy extra because of the dollar value it would cost to replace all the car seats and strollers. :eek:
 

tmahanes

Active member
Let's see.... B will be 4 in February.

Snugride 22 - part of a travel system
+ 2 extra bases - sold
Snugride 35 - $150 or so I can't really remember
+ 2 extra bases
Radian XTSL - on sale for about $200 when you could still stack codes at diapers.com
Radian 120 - about $220 I think
Complete Air - no clue
Nautilus - $60 clearance from Sears
Roundabout Classic - $100 sold for $85
Marathon Classic - $100

:eek: I think we will just hide this list written out like this from DH :-D

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Car-Seat.Org
 

SynEpona

New member
I'm not entirely sure I should tally it up!

But, DS had 2 infant seats (both hand-me-downs from trusted friends), which we used stationary in each vehicle. One Peg, one Graco (returned these before he was 12mth)

Then he had an Enspira, then another 3-in-1, in DH's vehicle (we no longer have either of these)

A Radian in my vehicle. (which we no longer have)

Later, a Maestro as a spare/guest seat for DS. (we now keep in my car, in booster mode generally for DS's friends)

Now, a Monterey in one car, a Parkway SGL in the other.

DD has 2 Radians, and has since birth.

Despite DD having 'expensive' seats (one R120 Diono, one SKJP w/ the headwings), her birth to booster seating is far more economical than DS's 6 seats for the same time frame, even though we didn't pay for the infant seats.

New baby will get the same, 2 Radians, one for each vehicle.

DS will keep his boosters till he doesn't fit them, and I expect to buy DD her own boosters. They are 4.5yrs apart. New baby will be 3 yrs younger than DD, and I expect to do the same. So we'll end up buying a total of 6 dedicated boosters, even if we pass down some highbacks to the younger ones, we'd buy no-back for the older(s) at that point. I don't buy seats far in advance, so they should all be useful as long as we need them before they reach expiry.

We'll likely buy one more spare seat that fits a range of sizes/ages/stages reasonably well, once the Maestro expires.
 

Syllieann

New member
So far:
1st infant seat was free from trusted source and I got an extra base as a gift, but it retails around $40, sold for $20
3 scenera about $120 and sold for $60

The rest of the seats I've purchased I still own and are listed in my sig but I've gotten pretty good deals on some them. I think around $1300. That is 3 kids in 3 vehicles, but it definitely could have been done cheaper if I had gotten budget seats for the extra vehicles instead of higher end models. I still plan to buy a ra55 for the baby and other than that I *think* I am done with harnessed seats unless we have another kid or get into a wreck.
 

Carolinadaisy

New member
Keyfit 30 (gift to us and I sold for $50)
Britax Boulevard (purchased on sale in 2008 not sure of price but no more than $250)
Britax frontier 85 $225
Recaro vivo booster ($40 on sale from nbd)
Chicco nextfit $250 (purchased for ds2 at age 2 because he was rapidly outgrowing boulevard and I was not ready to think of forward facing)

We always keep seats for both kids in one vehicle and move as necessary. The vivo was purchased the summer before ds1 started kindergarten so that DH could drop off at school before heading to work most mornings.

We will eventually need a backless booster for ds1, but so far passing down seats has worked nicely. If we have another baby, I will probably try to use the nextfit from birth rather than purchase another infant bucket seat. I wore ds2 a lot and the bucket is too heavy for me to carry much after 4 months. I have big boys!
 

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