New daddy...a few questions??

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are expecting our first little on in February, and I have been tasked with car seat and stroller research...

I think I have narrowed my stroller search down, but I have some questions about car seats.

1) Convertibles? I see 2-in1, 3-in1 etc...From my reading thus far, it seems the consensus is to go with an infant seat first, then a combo toddler/booster later, is that right?

2) Are any 3-in-1 seats worth it?

3) Rear facing, I have learned that keeping baby rear facing as long as possible is the way to go...however, I am assuming that I would have to move them to a bigger seat at some point?

Are there key features that you would look for in a car seat?

If it helps, we have a Saturn Ion Quad-Coupe (rear doors are suicide style) and a Jeep Patriot (seat will mainly stay in the Jeep)

Lastly, I think I am leaning towards Peg or Graco as we are planning on getting the Uppababy Vista and it has adapters for those two...

Thanks!!!

~Andrew

Hi and welcome! You have definitely found the right place for your search!

I assume you are in Canada since you posted in the Canadian forum.

I hope a few more people stop by to give you their opinions, but here's mine:

1) The infant seat is totally an optional seat, though they are VERY convenient and may fit small babies better than a lot of bigger seats. I prefer to have a bucket style carrier at least for the first few months. The next step is a convertible seat - rear face/front face in a 5 point harness, and you want to look for a high weight harnessing seat with nice, tall top slots to get many years of use out of these seats (5-6 years). After outgrowing a HWH combination, you can likely buy an inexpensive dedicated booster. The other option is combination seats, these harness and then turn into a high back booster seat (and sometimes a low back booster as well).

2) Currently, NO. 3-in-1 seats make nice rearfacing seats, so they are ok if you plan to pass them on to a second baby, but are usually more expensive than they are worth as they are outgrown very quickly, usually by height well before the measly 40-lb weight limit is reached. They also make poor boosters. It's not really worth it with current models.

3) Yes, you want to keep baby rearfacing as long as possible, which with most combination seats means 30-35 lbs (and at least 32 inches, approx.) Most infant buckets go to 22 lb, so after that you need the combination. The Graco SafeSeat (and Chicco Key Fit - someone correct me if I am wrong) are availble in Canada and will accomodate a baby to 30 lb (and ~32 inches). I have this seat and love it, I am still able to take my 21-lb almost 1-yr-old into the store with me in 2 seconds if I don't want to take him out of the harness or if he falls asleep. Another bonus is that if your child fits in this seat by height to 30 lbs, you can avoid getting a convertible seat and go straight to a combination. Another good seat is the front-adjust Graco SnugRide, but it only goes to 22 lbs, so you would need a converible seat sooner. I have my 3.5yr old in convertible seats and they will last him quite some time longer.

Key features to look for are:
- high weight limits
- tall top slots
- front adjust harness
- good fit for your child
- easy installation/use and good fit in your vehicles

Also, look around the site here for ease-of-use reviews. When you start looking for convertible seats, check out this thread.

Hope this helps.

Hi mommycat, thanks for the reply and info!

Alright, so a common way to do this is to go with a 2-in-1 that has a good weight limit with high slots, then get a booster when the need arises?

I like the Graco gear as well, lots of nice looking seats!n I will take a look at the Chicco seats as well.

Thanks again!!

~Andrew

mommycat said:

2) Currently, NO. 3-in-1 seats make nice rearfacing seats, so they are ok if you plan to pass them on to a second baby, but are usually more expensive than they are worth as they are outgrown very quickly, usually by height well before the measly 40-lb weight limit is reached. They also make poor boosters. It's not really worth it with current models.

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Yeah I always liked how they called the 3-in-1's "jack of many trades, master of none". ;-)

Fio

kwdaddy said:

Alright, so a common way to do this is to go with a 2-in-1 that has a good weight limit with high slots, then get a booster when the need arises?

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Exactly so. Unless, like I said, you get the SafeSeat, in which case you might go infant bucket and then HWH/booster combination.

Welcome!

mommycat said:

The Graco SafeSeat (and Chicco Key Fit - someone correct me if I am wrong) are availble in Canada and will accomodate a baby to 30 lb (and ~32 inches).

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The Chicco KeyFit in Canada is the KeyFit 22 NOT the 30 lbs. So for the money, it does not provide as much value as something like the Graco SafeSeat which is a nice seat with high weight limit and reasonable price.

The True Fit convertible (RF/FF seat) is a great seat for the Jeep Patriot.

If you decide forego the infant (bucket) seat and go straight to a convertible, the True Fit fits well RF at the 45° recline angle needed for a newborn because the headrest can be removed for infants <22lbs. It also has a very nice infant insert to improve fit for babies.

If you decide to go with an infant (bucket) seat first for convenience, the True Fit makes a great next seat as it will extend your RF time until 35 lbs. It also fits well RF because for older children who require the headrest, it can be installed more upright (35-45°). If both driver & passenger are tall it must be installed in the centre position though to allow the front seats to come back enough. Two adults can still fit nicely on either side.

It also installs well FF, has fairly tall top slots and a 65lb FF weight limit. The lock-offs also aid installation if you will be moving it between vehicles, but the seat is big, so I don't think I'd want to be moving it too much.

The PP have lots of great advice.

Based on my experience the past 2 years with 2 kids -
1. we went with an infant seat and then up to a another seat that will RF.

2. 3-1 seats aren't worth it IMHO. We had an Eddie Bauer 3-1. DS outgrew it by height RF at 20 months and would have moved up to the top slot FF at 23 months. By comparison he's still RF in a Marathon and would be in a TrueFit, Radian and I believe an EFTA as well. He's a little on the tall side but nothing freakishly off the charts or anything. It was a pain to install, the straps were twisting all of the time and I generally hated the thing.

3. if you go with an infant seat you will have to move them into another RF seat to keep them RF as long as possible. As previously mentioned most people find the infant seats convenient enough to warrant buying them but some people find it possible to skip it and go straight to the bigger RF seat. I tend to have ~6 pounders and I like being able to get them settled in the seat in the house before heading out in the winter so an infant seat is worth it to me.

Key features for me
- able to get a consistent tight, solid install (especially important if you are going to move the seat)
- take up as little space as possible front to back. Up until a week ago we had it in a civic and some seats had to have the front seats in the dash so they could fit which my tall DH didn't appreciate.
- non twisty straps
- easy to tighten/loosen harness
- HIGH HARNESS top slots

FWIW we had a Snug Ride with the first and decided to buy a Safe Seat for the second in the hopes of making it through 2 winters (or at least part way into the second). We had an EB3-1 and hated it so bought a Marathon to keep him RF longer and absolutely love it. The Radian took up a lot of space front to back (but is THE seat if you ever want to do 3 across a vehicle). The adjustment knob on the EFTA bothered me personally and the TrueFit hadn't come out yet but is another great option (and cheaper too). The Boulevard is another new one that wasn't available when we were shopping.

I would also recommend finding a tech to check it over once you have it installed. We had a pretty good install but she had some tricks that made it easier and faster to get it that way which saved me some cursing (and cab fares while installing it while traveling on a couple occasions).

FYI the True Fit seems to go on sale a lot at Zellers - it is on sale on Saturday for the 3rd time already. That makes twice they have put it on for $149.97+tax. Very affordable for a seat with such nice weight/height limits.

Does the Jeep Patriot have the problematic fixed headrests that some other Jeeps have?

TerisBoys said:

Does the Jeep Patriot have the problematic fixed headrests that some other Jeeps have?

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The Jeep Patriot does have fixed headrests in the two rear outboard positions. I don't know yet how problematic they are because I have not had a lot of FF experience in this vehicle yet. I have test installed both of DS's seats (Radian & TF) FF outboard and seemed to get good installs, but I can't recall which seats usually have the problems with the headrests in the other Jeeps. :shrug-shoulders:

Headrests from the vehicle manual:


Back View:


Side View:

Wow...I completely forgot I had started this thread!

Thank you so much for all your advice! Yes, that is my lovely Jeep!

I think we have decided to go with a SafeSeat, and then move into a 2-1 I think one they outgrow the SS.

Is there a list somewhere of techs? We live in Kitchener.

Thanks!

~Andrew

I'd just like to cast another vote for the True Fit when you are done with the infant bucket seat. The extra 5 pounds you will get rear-facing is totally worth it IMHO. Keep your precious cargo rear-facing as long as you can. It is currently the only seat that rear-faces to 35 lbs in Canada. However, by the time you need it, there may be other options. I'd come back here then and see what is the latest and greatest. Assuming you won't be on here everyday from now on getting addicted to car seat safety.

kwdaddy said:

Is there a list somewhere of techs? We live in Kitchener.

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If you are in the K-W area, there are St. John Ambulance and the Infant & Toddler Safety Association that have techs.

SJA Kitchener-Waterloo Branch
250 Gage Avenue, Kitchener, Ontario L8W 2C6
Tel.: (519) 579-6285

ITSA
385 Fairway Rd S, Suite 4A - 230
Kitchener, ON N2C 2N9
Tel: 519-570-0181

I LOVE my Graco Safeseat. DS is almost 16 mos and still using it (just getting close to outgrowing it by height now). I actually had a different infant seat but he outgrew it at 4 months, and then I bought the safeseat because I wasn't "done" with an infant seat and wanted something with a handle for the winter, and I'm sooo glad I did.

The next step for us is probably going to be a Britax Marathon or Roundabout. The Roundabout (from what I have learned so far) will not last as long rearfacing for tall kiddos, and the Marathon is several inches taller. I might get the Roundabout because I have space contraints in my back seat. The Marathon seems like a really popular seat for extended rearfacing, and it will last a long time forward facing, too.

May I suggest (feel free to ignore, as this is totally unsolicited opinion... lol) that jogging strollers are simply THE BEST if you live anywhere with snow.

Happy gear shopping! And congrats to you and your wife!

Maybe you could get a bucket for the car you use daily and put a convertible in the other car?

I like the Peg Primo Viaggion, but I have the EU (higher weight limit) version), but my lo is [slightly] over 1 and still under 22 lbs.