Safety 1st - Uptown vs Avenue?

Hi,
I am new to this site but thank goodness I found it!! I have been searching for a convertible seat that is the right "fit" for us. We have limited funds - would like something under $100 if possible. I can't quite figure out the difference between the Uptown and the Avenue, does anyone have any insight here? Would you go with the Safety 1st or the Cosco Scenera? Or are there other seats in that price range you'd recommend?

My daughter is almost 9 months and I'm guessing around 21lbs (was 18lbs at 6 mo) She currently is in a Graco Safeseat which I love.

Thanks so much!!!

-Carrie

has she outgrown the safe seat by height? the safe seat goes to 30 lbs, not 22 like many other infant seat... if not, i suggest leaving her in it & saving up some money to get a better seat... i would suggest the evenflo triumph advance... it's around $130, rear faces to 35 lbs, forward faces to 50 lbs, it has an infinite harness adjuster (no rethreading the adjust), knobs to adjust... i have one & like it... for the price you cant beat it... sorry didnt really answer your question... i also have two sceneras & dont care too much for them... the uptown seems pretty padded, the avenue, im not familiar with... hope that helps!

Welcome! Thanks for coming and asking questions.

Since your daughter is in a SafeSeat1---it has a 30 pound limit. The Snugride has a 22 pound limit. As long as she is below the weight limit and has at least 1" of hard shell above her head, she can continue to ride in her current seat. To see how much shell she has above her head...put her in and look at it straight on from the side.

As for whether or not to get the uptown or the avenue....doesn't matter. They are the same seat with a different cover. It came out first as the uptown with a blue cover and then they changed the cover and gave it a new name.

I would get an uptown or avenue for everyday use before getting the Scenera. The Uptown/Avenue has energy absorbing foam and the scenera does not.

Susan

I'd keep her in the infant safe seat till she outgrows it at 30 lbs and 32 inches and then buy a Britax. Save your money no need to buy a new seat when she still fits in the one she has. Remember rear facing is the safest position in a car. Don't let people talk you into turning her around at 1. My son is 9 months old and still on the first harness slots on his Infant Safe Seat. This is a great seat and one of the safest for your lil one to be in. Why spend the money when you don't need to. Save up money for a Britax when she turns 2 and is ready to be turned forward facing.

jazzpurr88 said:

I'd keep her in the infant safe seat till she outgrows it at 30 lbs and 32 inches and then buy a Britax. Save your money no need to buy a new seat when she still fits in the one she has. Remember rear facing is the safest position in a car. Don't let people talk you into turning her around at 1. My son is 9 months old and still on the first harness slots on his Infant Safe Seat. This is a great seat and one of the safest for your lil one to be in. Why spend the money when you don't need to. Save up money for a Britax when she turns 2 and is ready to be turned forward facing.

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Um. First, it's 30 pounds or when she has less than an inch of hard shell above her head. Not necessarily 32". Second, Britax is not the be all and end all and we don't tell people here what seat to buy unless there is simply one option, and one alone, that will work for them. When the time comes she has the option for Dorel, Britax, Evenflo, Sunshine Kids, Learning Curve, and Recaro seats. Not just Britax. Nor is Britax the best. It's generally easier to install than a lot, but overall the Evenflo Triumph Advance will last longer for a lighter child. For less money you can get taller top slots on the Recaros. Telling someone to buy a Britax is not at all what this board is about. It's about education and options.

I definitely agree with not turning at one year. However, there's no reason that at two she'll be ready to be forward facing. The AAP recommends, as do we, to rear face to the maximum limits of the convertible seat. Which for seats now is 35 pounds, and most seats are tall enough to get kids to that weight (with the exception of the Evenflo Titan Elite, the Britax Roundabout and the Britax Diplomat. See, don't just run out and buy a Britax). Many kids happily rear face to two years and well beyond.

Wendy

2 yrs is not when they are ready to be turned forward facing. Children should be kept rear facing as long as possible. Study after study shows that. The most recent study out of Europe studied crash test data from the US, european counties and I believe Australia. It concluded that children should remain RF until 4.

Unfortunatly the highest RF weight we have here is 35 pounds and that is not enough to get the vast majority of our children to 4 yrs before FF.

Keep them RF as long as their convertible will allow, and know you did your best with what you had.

Susan

I think that I would try and save a little more money before buying a new car seat. The Evenflo Truimph deluxe is suppost to be a great car seat and will cost you about $130.00. I have owned the Cosco Scenera at this seat was horrible, but I understand if you are in need then go for it.

Original poster here - She definitely hasn't grown out of the safe seat yet - but at 28 inches it seems like it won't be long. I will definitely keep her RF as long as possible - although since she's big for her age, I doubt it'll be much past 2, but we'll see! Are the evenflo's easy to install - we'll only be getting one seat and occasionally (2 or 3 times a year) we need to switch cars when we travel. The safe seat base is SO easy to install, it feels rock solid every time I do it. I guess I was originally thinking we'd get a cheaper seat now, and then transition to something like the graco nautilus later on. Would that be an OK plan, or would people just really recommend against it?

I could get a FP Safe Voyage Deluxe on Albeebaby - that was my other option.

The Scenera is a safe basic seat. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but for your $40 you do get a rear facing seat with s 35 lb rf limit that will last the average kid past their second birthday. A small child may make it to three or more rear facing.

Unregistered said:

Hi,
I am new to this site but thank goodness I found it!! I have been searching for a convertible seat that is the right "fit" for us. We have limited funds - would like something under $100 if possible. I can't quite figure out the difference between the Uptown and the Avenue, does anyone have any insight here? Would you go with the Safety 1st or the Cosco Scenera? Or are there other seats in that price range you'd recommend?

My daughter is almost 9 months and I'm guessing around 21lbs (was 18lbs at 6 mo) She currently is in a Graco Safeseat which I love.

Thanks so much!!!

-Carrie

Click to expand...

Returning to some of your original questions, the Uptown and Avenue are basically the same seat (as another poster pointed out); the Avenue is the newer version, with different fabrics, and perhaps somewhat less padding than the Uptown. The padding on the Uptown made the shoulder area a bit squashed for some larger children, so some reduction may be a good thing. Both seats are more padded than the Scenera, and I'm fairly sure they have higher top slots than the Scenera (16" top slots is what I've seen for both Uptown and Avenue). The Uptown is on clearance at some Big Lots stores at the moment. The Avenue is apparently available through Sears. The Uptown/Avenue is a nice seat, with a 35lb rear-facing weight limit, and fairly high slots for a seat that harnesses to 40lb max. forward-facing. High slots means it will last the child longer, as most kids outgrow seats by height rather than by weight. In my opinion, it is a good choice in the price range (and really a nice seat regardless of price range).

If you decide later that you want to keep your child harnessed longer, you have a number of years to plan ahead for a possible higher-weight-harness seat (sometimes abbreviated HWH here).

As others have recommended, I would get maximum use out of your current seat (observing weight limit, and top of head at least 1" below top of shell). No point in buying your next seat early, as carseats have a limited life span, regardless of whether they are being used or not. In other words, you don't really want to buy them much ahead of time, as you are losing part of the life of the product. Also gives you more time to research, which may be a good thing, LOL, if you don't start drowning in details.

Katrin

Less expensive seats are safe too! My dd is 3.5 years and still has oodles of rfing room in the scenera.

Starting out, though I think the most frugal carseat purchases would be:
opt 1 Radian, followed by a high back booster =$250
opt 2 scenera followed by a nautilus = $190

If your child has a short torso, then you could substitute the true fit or efta for the radian.
(+ or - as inflation goes)

Seats are all so different. What works for me might not work for you and most of what works for others doesn't work for me (and my 5 kids in a minivan).

Unregistered said:

Hi,
I am new to this site but thank goodness I found it!! I have been searching for a convertible seat that is the right "fit" for us. We have limited funds - would like something under $100 if possible. I can't quite figure out the difference between the Uptown and the Avenue, does anyone have any insight here? Would you go with the Safety 1st or the Cosco Scenera? Or are there other seats in that price range you'd recommend?

My daughter is almost 9 months and I'm guessing around 21lbs (was 18lbs at 6 mo) She currently is in a Graco Safeseat which I love.

Thanks so much!!!

-Carrie

Click to expand...

I would keep your DD in the safeseat as long as you can. It's a great seat, and you already have it. If it gets too heavy to carry, don't carry it. Treat it like a convertible seat and leave it in the car and just put your DD in and out. When she's close to either the weight limit or only 1" above her head, then look at other seats - but start saving a little now to push your budget up, so you have more options.

I have an Uptown and we really like it. It used to be in DH's car, and now it's in the babysitters car. There's a few tricks for a good Latch install, but once I worked that out, it's very easy to install. We also take it travelling, so I've put it in several different cars. My DS has is short for his age, he's 3.5 yo and he has 1" to the 2nd to top harness slots, and still has the top harness slots to go. It'll easily last him until 4.5yo. For an average kid, it won't last as long and then you'll need to get another harnessed seat as 3 or 4 is too young for a booster. But the Avenue is $65 (?) so that plus a Nautilus would be $220 or so. Not bad for car seats at all. There are other options that you can consider too. I saw the EFTA - $130 at BRU and it harnesses to 50lbs and has high slots. But if I was you, I would wait until your DC was definitely out of the safeseat to look for a seat.

Original Poster here - Thank you ALL so much for your recommendations. I've decided to hold out and see how far the safe seat takes us! We go for her 9 mo checkup on Saturday, so we'll see how close she is to the safe seats limits. I suspect she'll be able to use it awhile longer, even thought she's on the larger side.

I still like the uptown - and I'll keep it in mind since it seems like a good seat - but maybe there will be something new out , ya never know!

Thank you all so much!

.....off to become a registered member!

Just popping in to say that I ADORE our uptown and wish it was in Daily use. Its a great little seat.