News Evenflo Symphony Lifespan

Kat_Momof3

New member
So I emailed and Angela from evenflo contacted me back.

Here it is -


Hi Kat,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Evenflo Symphony 3 in 1 Car Seat. I appreciate you contacting us with your questions. I am excited to inform you, this seat does have a longer life span of 8 years instead of 6. Due to the design of being able to be used for all stages, the longer life span was a necessity.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions, I will be glad to help.

Thank you for contacting Evenflo ParentLink. I appreciate the time you took to email us.
Angela Hicks

Senior ParentLink Representative

Evenflo Company, Inc.
 
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72msfish

New member
hi ladies.

i'm a newbie posting here, however i have been reading your opinions of the new evenflo symphony car seat. we have them at our local babies r us store and thought i loved it...until i started reading your reviews of it. now i'm not so sure :(.

what i need is a car seat for my 17 lb. 26" 4 mo. old that will be able to become a booster seat. right now he is still in his infant car seat (a graco). since he is growing so quickly, i have started shopping around for another car seat. my head is starting to spin ! if this seat is not a sure sell for you, what others would you suggest? I would really like one that will last into the booster years.

thanks for your help!
kim
 

armywife12

New member
There really isn't any 3 in 1 seat on the market now that I would buy. Most of them only harness to 40lbs and most children don't make it to 40lbs before outgrowing the seat in height. I don't know much about the Symphony though. It may have higher top slots than the rest. There is the new Alpha Omega that just came out that harnesses to 50lbs. They have also made the top slot higher so it is more likely to hold a child closer to 4 yrs and 40lbs, which is really bare minimum for a booster. With that said, I am a huge advocate of extended harnessing so none of these seats are that great, IMO. The Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard, Evenflo Triumph ADVANCE, Compass True Fit and Sunshine Kids Radian are all great seats that offer extended rear facing and extended harnessing. These seats are more likely to keep the child harnessed until the child is truely ready for a booster.

hi ladies.

i'm a newbie posting here, however i have been reading your opinions of the new evenflo symphony car seat. we have them at our local babies r us store and thought i loved it...until i started reading your reviews of it. now i'm not so sure :(.

what i need is a car seat for my 17 lb. 26" 4 mo. old that will be able to become a booster seat. right now he is still in his infant car seat (a graco). since he is growing so quickly, i have started shopping around for another car seat. my head is starting to spin ! if this seat is not a sure sell for you, what others would you suggest? I would really like one that will last into the booster years.

thanks for your help!
kim
 

scatterbunny

New member
I agree with the previous poster; while there have been some great improvements in 3-in-1 seats lately (this new Symphony, the updated Alpha Omega Elite that harnesses to 50 pounds instead of 40, and has taller top slots than the regular AOE), but the improvements still aren't enough for many kids. Here's my reasoning:

*the Symphony has good rear-facing capabilities (we want kids rear-facing to at least age 2, preferably longer, until the rear-facing limits have been met), but it falls short forward-facing harnessed due to a 40 pound harnessed weight limit. Many children reach 40 pounds at 2-4 years old and are simply not mature enough to stay seated properly in a belt positioning booster seat using the vehicle seatbelt. Since there are many options to harness beyond 40 pounds these days, the Symphony's forward-facing harnessed weight limit is a disappointment.

*the new Alpha Omega Elite has two major improvements over the regular Alpha Omega Elite/other Cosco/Safety 1st/Eddie Bauer 3-in-1s: a 50 pound forward-facing harnessed weight limit instead of the usual 40 pounds, and a top harness slot position of 17+ inches, which is a harness height that should actually get kids to 50 pounds, or close to it, without getting too tall first. The older-style 3-in-1s had a top harness position of 15ish inches, and many kids got too tall for that seat even before 40 pounds (my own included). The AOE has great rear-facing capabilities, and the newer ones have those taller top slots and higher weight limit, which is awesome, but these seats fall short in booster mode. Their design just doesn't position the seatbelt optimally on many children, allowing the lapbelt to ride too high on the abdomen.


For a baby who's soon-to-outgrow the infant seat, I'd focus on a convertible seat (one that rear-faces and forward-faces) that has a high (33-35 pound) rear-facing weight limit, tall seat shell (so kiddo doesn't get too tall to rear-face before getting close to or reaching the RF weight limit), a high (50+ pound) forward-facing weight limit, and tall (17+) inch top harness slot height. The Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard, First Years True Fit, and Evenflo Triumph Advance are all great choices. The new Alpha Omega Elite with 50 pound weight limit is also a good choice, as long as you know you'll probably want a dedicated belt positioning booster once the harness is outgrown.

You could also save a bit of money in the short term and go with a seat like the Safety 1st Uptown or Avenue (mostly the same seat, Uptown has a bit more padding/less shoulder room and a more plush cover, Avenue has cuter print covers, more shoulder room). It has great rear-facing capabilities (nice, tall seat shell and 35 pound RF weight limit), a 40 pound FF weight limit and 16 inch top slots (a good height for a 40 pound seat, most kids will have no problem reaching the full weight limit with 16 inch top slots). The downside of saving money now and going with a 40 pound weight limit seat is that you'll probably want/need to get another harnessed seat once the 40 pound seat is outgrown in order to get your child to a mature enough age to use a booster seat. The good news is, there are some great higher weight limit combination seat (forward-facing-only harness, converts to belt positioning booster) options right now (Graco Nautilus, Britax Frontier). And, by the time your little one needs to be forward-facing, there will be lots of other cool choices. :p So, my advice is to focus on a great convertible to keep your baby rear-facing for a couple more years, and worry about boostering when he's about 5. ;)
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
I concur... there simply is no seat that can TRULY do it all.

The symphony came very close, but it fails to deliver in weight limit.

As you can see, your baby is on the bigger side (my own second son was a 20lber at 4-5mo and then 30lbs at 1yr).

What you need is not a seat that will rearface, forward face, and then booster.

You need a seat that will keep your child rearfacing as long as possible, then harness him until he's truly ready for a booster.

If there was a three in one that could do that AND become a booster... we'd be thrilled and it would be recommended here over everything.

Since it doesn't exist... I would recommend the Evenflo Triumph Advance or the Compass Truefit... those are your similarly priced seats that do exactly what you need.

Most children will be ready for a booster after them (if they aren't at least 5-7yrs when they outgrow them, then think Regent... for that 98-100+% kid)
 

72msfish

New member
thank you for all of your input! after discussing it with hubby over the weekend i think we'll look into the britax blvd. more. i like the harness weight going to 65#. my chunky monkey needs something that can keep up with him and the britax looks like it is the best choice for us. now i need to start price comparing. hopefully i can find a great deal! you ladies are a great resource!!! thanks again!!!!! :D
kim
 

scatterbunny

New member
Glad to help. :) One word of caution about the Britax 65 pound weight limit, though: most kids outgrow these seats around 45-55 pounds, because they get too tall (shoulders over top slots=outgrown by height). So it's really important to pay attention to those top slots when choosing a seat. Other great choices to consider with top slots at least as tall as the Britax 65# seats are the Evenflo Triumph Advance (harnesses to 50 pounds), the First Years True Fit (harnesses to 65 pounds), and the Recaro Como and Signo (harnesses to 70 pounds).
 

72msfish

New member
i bought a ma today...but please see/comment on the thread i posted on the safety/car seat topic string. i could really use the help! :confused:

thanks...kim
 

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