A call for help and input! We are at the point where we know we need to switch Finn over from his infant car seat to a child car seat in the near future. We will still face it backward but we feel it is time for a "big boy" car seat. That being said, I honestly know nothing about car seats and what to look for! We've looked casually when we've been at Babies-R-Us and Target but there is such a large range in price. You could spend $60 or $350! If it is a matter of quality and safety, I would obviously go for the more expensive, but aren't they all regulated and have to be safe? What features and details should we look for? What things don't matter? It is very overwhelming, I just don't know where to start and it is very important to us because it is a matter of Finn's safety. For other baby items, I would just look at reviews and ratings and go with that based on what price point I wanted to pay. I feel I need a little more guidance with this. If you've recently bought a car seat or have any thoughts, suggestions or advice, please share it with us!
Finn loves to look outside and watch two things the most: 1. the snow falling and 2. cars driving by! Don't pets usually do that? At least he doesn't lay in the sunshine...yet! Ha, ha.
He just loves it. The guy across the street was shoveling today, so there was even more activity to see (minus the huge aloe plant in his way!). This is the first time I put him in his Bumbo chair so he could see, but he is constantly trying to look out the window when he is eating. I just turned it to face the window when he was done and while I was cleaning up and doing dishes. Worked great.
He just loves it. The guy across the street was shoveling today, so there was even more activity to see (minus the huge aloe plant in his way!). This is the first time I put him in his Bumbo chair so he could see, but he is constantly trying to look out the window when he is eating. I just turned it to face the window when he was done and while I was cleaning up and doing dishes. Worked great.
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I will tell you that we had one type- the ALpha omega and we actually ditched it even though there was nothing techincally wrong with it and bought the graco nautilus and have loved it ever since so much so we bough a 2nd one for Geoff's car 2 weeks later. It is only like $179 and comes with a cup holder which is quite handy for when they want a sippy cup in the car-- and it has 2 pockets on either side of Gavin for him to stash toys and stuff to play with while driving.
We put him forward facing at a year even though he didn't have the weight because his feet were hitting the seat itself facing backwards... the nice thing is the nautilus then converts to the next version when they hit 4 which is a backless booster-- so it is the last carseat you will ever buy, and it is so easy to install! The old bad thing is it is heavy because it holds children up to 100lbs-- but still manageable to move between cars...
hope that helps!
All car seats have to meet certain safety regulations, so essentially they are all safe regardless of price.
I think cost has mostly to do with extra features. Try them out, see how easy they are to adjust straps, etc. We've bought 3 different seats with 3 different brands in the lower price range. The one we bought just last week was Evenflo brand for $60. Of course we've never gotten in an accident to truly test out safety, but we've been happy with all of them.
Hey! Funny you should write about this because I was on the car seat search a few weeks ago. We are going with the Britax Boulevard. A little spendy, but after doing my internship with car seat clinics and having a friend who is an installer, I've learned that this is a purchase I feel justified in spending more in to make sure baby is above all safe, and comfy too. Yes all seats are regulated to be safe, but some are much better than others. I'm going to forward you on facebook my convo with my installer friend who told me everything you could ever need to know about which car seats to get!! :)
another thing, i have to play devils advocate since i saw the comment above about switching to forward facing before they hit the weight requirement... it sends shivers up my spine because i've heard first hand the horror stories (from our local hospital) about the injuries kids get when you switch them forward facing too soon. a year is the miniumum age to switch to forward facing but it is reccommended to go much older before switching. my friend, the installer, is a nanny as well and she keeps kids rear facing (RF) until 2.5ish. When they are smaller (even 1) the muscles in their neck/spine aren't strong enough to handle the head jerk in a collision. keeping them rear facing means that their head will follow the motion of the car in an accident. (envision what happens to your head when you slam on the breaks). I've heard too many stories of kids who've broke their neck because of being forward facing too soon (even the recom. 1 year). The big misconception parents have is if their feet/legs hit the seat, they should switch to forward facing and this is just not true. Kids are very flexible and can bend or cross there legs in their seat.. commonly said by car seat experts, "a broken leg/foot is easier to heal than a broken neck". just something to think about - i'm not trying to bash anyone for doing differenty, just want you to know the reason behind Rear facing longer. :) SORRY SO LONG!!!! :)
we got the Britax Marathon....it has really good ratings and my sister used it for all three of her kids. We got one for each car...you can turn it from rear/front facing...and you use it till they are ready for just a booster seat.
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