Recaro Young Sport or ?????

I have a one year old daughter that is 24 lbs. and absolutely hates getting in her "Magic bucket" (its a Chicco Key Fit) so we need a new seat. I keep telling her Mother that longer she is rear facing the better. So eventually we are going to switch, anyways I was looking into the Recaro because I noticed that its side protection seemed hands down superior to any of the offerings from Britax. Not to mention the manufactorer's reputation speaks for itself. I am sure that if anyone is aware of the forces involved in car accidents and how the occupants of the seats are affected I would assume that Recaro would be it. Being a firefighter, I see car accidents all to often, and I am fully aware of how violent they can be. The head and neck are always a priority.

ok your 24 pound little girl is in an infant seat?? sorry I jsut wanted to make sure I read that right...

Clarissa

ok well the chicco is only up to 22 pounds so you need a new seat quick! I would go for a convertible just for the safety any rear facing is much safer than a foward facing seat no matter how much side impact protecton, check out the britax boulivard its great good luck!

Clarissa

Right now she is in a (borrowed) Marathon.

Recaro seats are great, but rear facing is far, far safer for a one year old. The spine of a toddler is very, very fragile. RF protects the spine better than the side impact features of any FF seat.

Here's a bunch of articles -
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx (be sure to view the video at the bottom!)

http://babyproducts.about.com/b/a/244953.htm

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=13&topic_id=44503&mode=full&page=
(Pictures of the development of the spine.)

And, the American Academy of Pediatrics says -

Forward-facing seats
Once your child is at least 1 year of age and at least 20 pounds, he can ride forward-facing. However, it is best for him to ride rear-facing until he reaches the highest weight or height limit allowed by the car safety seat. There are many types of seats that can be used forward-facing including convertible seats, built in seats, combination forward-facing/booster seats, and travel vests.

http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm

The Britax Blvd does have true side impact protection wings for the head area. And, again, any RF seat is super safe. The MSN articles states that in side impacts, RF provided surprising benefits over FF. A tech can hopefully explain the dynamics of this. The TSIP of a Blvd would be icing on the cake.

Popular convertible seats that would be a better choice for a one year old -

Any 65 lb Britax - long lasting (to age 5-6 years), easy to use, nice.
Fisher Price Safe Voyage DX - bascially a stripped down Britax Marathon.
Sunshine Kids Radian - another 65 lb convertible, very high quality and well-liked.
Cosco Scenera - a very inexpensive seat at $40! Nice tall seatback, highest RF limit (35 lbs). Pretty flimsy padding, but my daughter never complained!

A huge downfall of the Recaro Young Sport is that the harness system is only good up to 40 lbs, that's insufficient to get many kids to an appropriate maturity to be trusted to sit properly in it as a booster. I LOVED the Young Sport when I saw it in a store, but my daughter was only 3.5 years old and 38 lbs. We drive a lot, she sleeps a lot, even if she'd have made it to 4 years old, that wasn't enough for us - so I sadly skipped it because she wouldn't get to 5 years old in the harness.

Recaro reportedly is coming out with a convertible in 07, so maybe get a Scenera now and look into the Recaro convertible when its out?

Hope that helps get you started!

Any of the 65 lb convertibles would be great for your daughter (these include the Sunshine Kids Radian and the Britax Marathon/Boulevard/Decathalon), there is also the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Delux (55 lb limit). All RF to 33 lbs.

For the 40 lbs convertibles, I would recommend either the Britax Roundabout or Fisher Price Safe Voyage with a 33 lb RF limit or the Cosco Scenera with a 35 lb RF limit.

In my opinion, anything with a RF limit less than 33lbs is not worth considering, which leaves all Graco, Evenflo & Combi convertibles out of consideration.

I agree for a 1yr old rear facing is the way to go. If you want a side impact protection then the Britax Boulevard is the seat to get. It will accomedate your dd to rear face to 33lbs and then forward face up to 65lbs in a 5pt harness. The Recaro seats while are great seats but only harness to 40lbs while the Britax Boulevard you will get a longer life span out of the seat. My oldest is 5 1/2yrs old and is still harness in a Britax Marathon and is 42lbs. So she is over the Recaro weight limit.