Feed my addiction: help me choose a car seat I don't need

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
So my husband says I get to choose a car seat. Any car seat I want. This is a blatant bribe for getting through something difficult for me that I don't want to do but that has to be done. Price is not an object (though reasonable is better, I can get what I want. I may take some time shopping around and/or waiting for a deal.) I probably will find a use for any seat I get, even if it waits a year or two; besides personal use I lend out seats, kids' friends and friends' kids ride in my seats when visiting, and I do presentations on seats and might use them for demos, etc. So nothing I get will probably get no use, unless I end up not liking it at all. Help me choose!

Seats I really want and have a concievable immediate use for:

True Fit Premiere (although I plan on getting this anyway to bring the next baby home from the hospital in, so I can probably wait on this and see if better covers come out)

MyRide (though I'd like better covers on this, too, really, and it's unlikely any child of mine will ever make it to 40 lbs. in this seat before outgrowing by height, and I've already got plenty of tall-shelled seats)

SafeGuard GO

Radian XT

Multi-Tech (or possibly other Swedish seat, though I kind of waffle on the example I'd set using one, as a tech) vetoed by my husband


Seats I kind of want and have a concievable immediate use for:

Recaro Signo (though I only kind of liked the Comos I had so I'm not sure why I even want this at all)

86 Y harness (my dad has lap belts only in his car... But I do already have an RSTV. And either way he'd have to have tether anchors put in, and I already have Radians I can use in his car.)

Recaro Young Sport

Roundabout 50 (I just really like the Pistachio cover...)

Safety 1st Avenue (the Sears boy pattern-- but I already have an Uptown)

Nautilus


Seats I kind of want but really have no concievable use for:

Combi Coccoro

Combi Shuttle (I don't even like infant seats! But I kind of really want one just to play with and stuff)

Mia Moda Viva (see note on Shuttle above)

Sunshine Kids Monterey (wouldn't be able to use a booster for another year or two at the bare minimum)

Parkway Slide Guard (ditto-- but I want one just because I want to play with the ASC)


For reference, seats I already have (or will very very soon) include:

Radians
Uptown
Sceneras
Apex
SafeGuard Child Seats
Regent
RSTV
Boulevard

Oh, and I have a European Chicco seat that I don't use, but let my kids put their dolls in. And possibly a few more I'm forgetting...

Things I like in seats: versatile (note this does not necessarily mean I need a convertible, I also have 2 kids too big to rear-face unless I get a Swedish seat), small/portable, ease of use, unique features (such as unique belt paths, ARBs, etc.), nice colors on covers (I'm kind of over pink though and like green, blue, and red a lot as well as just neat patterns.) I don't have to have all of those, though. If any seat has 2 or more of those, I'll probably be happy with it.

So. Votes? Arguments in favor of, against? Insanely jealous and hate my guts? Think I'm a wasteful spoiled brat and should suck it up and deal with it? Input of any kind?
 
Last edited:
ADS

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
If you come to our house, you can play with ALL my seats. :whistle: I will even pick up kosher snacks and brand new disposible plates, cups, and silverware so that we can make a party of it. :D

Heck, I will invite all the L.A. area CS-O peeps.
 

canmom

New member
Is there even a debate?? Multi-Tech, hands down, done... PM AD ASAP! :p Seriously though, I would in a heartbeat!
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
I do have a few hesitations about a Swedish seat.

1. I am taught in church to uphold the law of the land, and strive to do that. I tell parents they must follow the laws. But then I break it with a Swedish seat... I know it's safe. But it's not legal (in my state anyway.) And I kind of worry about the example I'd be setting, to my kids and clients.

2. I couldn't use it in my everyday car (at least until we get a van.)

3. I have 2 kids who could rear-face in it, and would have to choose which one to rear-face since I can't afford 2 seats. I'd say the 3 year old, but the 5 year old is medically fragile, and could concievably be made seriously ill by complications of a crash that might just cause bruises to her sister (in the right kind of crash.)

4. It's really more than I want to spend. I know I said "no" budget, but if it's more than about $300 shipped, I'll have to wait a wihle before it's feasible (not a long long time, but like a month or so.) I'm an instant gratification kind of gal sometimes.
 

canmom

New member
I can respect that you don't want to break the law. I'm not sure exactly what your church says... but have you never went a tad over the speed limit or something? I'm not trying to advocate breaking the law per se but when it comes to EERF... :eek:
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
We try very hard to not exceed the speed limit. If I notice myself going over, I stop and repent. ;)

Believe me, I know the argument well. I've had it many times in my head.

But my kids are 3 and 5 now. At their ages, in properly installed, tethered seats... I just try not to worry. Statistically, they are very safe. The margin is just not the same as it is for my 14 month old (who is still RF but if she hadn't got a gut problem due to her sensitivities/allergies and lost weight and been slow in beginning to gain it back, it would have been iffy if she'd make it to 2, even with the MR on the market. But now she's settled down in a lower percentile, even with her long torso I'm not as worried; I think she'll last to 35 in the Radian.) There's a line I draw as to for what I'll break that law, and I think even the 3 year old is firmly past it.
 

canmom

New member
I guess it is hard for me to see it that way... I look at sin and law very differently unless it is muder than of course that would be illegal and sinful. All I can say is I would be getting the MT hands down.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Well, I just talked to my husband, who said, "No illegal seats." He agrees that if we had a kid who was absolutely unsafe forward-facing and there was no U.S. seat to hold her, we would get one. But barring that, no Swedish seats for me.

I guess that makes that decision easier. I will go edit my first post.

(I do look at sin and law differently. But when one of the things I have been asked to do is uphold all but blatantly unjust laws, and even those, when possible, protest and work to change them legally rather than defying them, the line gets blurrier. :) )
 

Louisa

CPST Instructor
ok with the MT out, what about a frontier? otherwise i would vote for an Radian xt.

And yes i am insanely jealous! but happy for you none the less!
 

emandbri

Well-known member
Hum, you seem pretty set for now, can you save it for later when a new sear comes out? Or buy something else? A cover, stroller, shoes, purse, iPod, etc.

From your list I'd be tempted to get a radian XT or the roundabout 50 for the pistashio cover. I REALLY love the pastashio cover but really don't need it! I have 2 MA and 4 covers already!
 

HEVY

New member
I agree with you on the law and your beliefs :thumbsup: and this country has a lot of options just as safe to offer. As for choosing, that's hard, there are soooo many choices it boggles my mind :(

But I would choose the MyRide.
 

mommaon112903

New member
Yes, illegal to use yet legal to import...make sense :p

ok i have been wondering about this, the swedish seats are illegal to use in the u.s.?

And ketchupqueen just because I am lusting over a new XT, I say go for the XT. You :love: your Radians and the XT has a super cute girly cover ;)
 

southernbell

New member
Yes, illegal to use yet legal to import...make sense :p



And ketchupqueen just because I am lusting over a new XT, I say go for the XT. You :love: your Radians and the XT has a super cute girly cover ;)

makes complete sense:rolleyes:, and i totally agree i have been drooling over the xt in the girly print:thumbsup:
 

vonfirmath

New member
My beliefs are right in line with yours, ketchupqueen (re the law and breaking it for anything short of the law trying to act against a higher law. IE I would not follow a law that mandated murder, worshipping, etc. but I would follow one that said you must wear a red shirt on Wednesday even if I thought it silly. Oh and if I could not follow a law because it contradicts that higher law, I must accept the consequences for not following the law, even when those consequences are death.)

The seat I'd choose:
Safeguard Go
Combi Coccoro
or
RSTV

Personally, I'm getting a Roundabout 50. But with you having so many tall shell convertibles already, I'd get something for the older group (except for the Coccoro... It's just so cute its hard to ignore!)
 

autumnlily

New member
Hmm, everytime I see your posts I automatically think of how you can fit seats in small spaces (3 radians in corolla)... I think you could really have some fun with the Coccoro AND use it now for your 1 yo. Besides the colors are so yummy!
 

Gypsy

Senior Community Member
XT


FWIW, I don't think they are illegal to use in every state - I asked a CPST-I police officer (one of the instructors in my certification class) about them, and he said they weren't illegal to use in Idaho.
 

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