Let's talk about car seats

I'm going to try and not to make this whole post about car seat safety.  For tips about car safety, you can visit the lovely people at Car Seat For the Littles on Facebook or on their website here.  They are experts in car seat safety.  The main points they discuss: Extended RF past 2 years (pretty much EVERYONE should do it) and how dangerous it can be to prematurely move your toddler into a booster without a 5 point harness.  DON'T DO IT.  Also make sure you actually know how to install your car seat and read the damn manuals.  So many people install their car seats incorrectly.  Oh and always use the tether when FF and all that jazz.

Instead, I just want to talk about the car seats I have used in the last 3-4 years.  We've had a bunch.  My kids are 2 and 3 and we've gone through so many car seats already. 

1. Graco SnugRide® Classic Connect™ 35 Infant Car Seat: $179.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When my first child was a baby we had this classic Graco bucket seat.  The base is easy to install and they stayed in this bucket seat until they were about 9 months old I think.  There's not much to say about this seat, it was fine. We used it again when our second child was born.

 

 

2. Safety 1st Complete Air 65 Convertible Car Seat: $169.00

 

Then I moved my first child to this seat.  We kept her RF in this seat until she was almost 3 I believe.  I really like this seat.  It's easy to install, and easy to use.  My 2 year old is still in this seat in one of cars rear facing.

 

 

3. Safety 1st Alpha Omega Convertible Car Seat: $100.00

 

Then we bought this whopper of a car seat (without properly researching how crappy the reviews were for this seat).  We put our younger child in this seat rear facing.  We still have this seat but it's in the nanny's van now forward facing because it SUCKS as a rear facing seat.  First of all it's a massive seat and really wide so it's not good for small cars.  Then that dumb red lever handle you see is supposed to incline the seat for rear facing but it hardly moves and your child is hardly reclined when rear facing, so their heads fall forward.  It's also hard to install because it's hard to get a tight fit using either the LATCH or seatbelt installation.  I would never buy this seat again, it's pretty awful.  I've also read that it's a dangerous car seat when used in booster mode, so I'll be giving it away before we use it as a booster.

 

4. Guide 65 Sport Convertible Car Seat (made by Dorel in their Safety 1st line): $99.00

 

 

This is one of the cheaper car seats out there.  My mom bought this one to have as an extra seat in her car in case they ever needed it.  I ended up having to put it in the back seat of my Jetta and it worked great because it's simple to install, easy to use and pretty narrow.  However, after using it for about a year (for the 2 year old rear facing), the belt you pull at the bottom to loosen and tighten the harness got REALLY frayed.  It's a safety issue when the strap is so frayed so I called Dorel and they provided me with a new seat free of charge!  So now I have this seat again in my car for the 2.5 year old rear facing.  I recommend this as a simple seat with decent RF facing limits to about 40 lbs I believe. 

 

5. Graco Comfortsport Convertible car seat: $89.00

 

 

Then my friend gave me an older model Graco Comfort Sport that looks just like the one above so I could have an extra seat for my car for my almost 4 year old to be forward facing.  This seat is ok but my almost 4 year old's head reached the top of the seat (which means she outgrew it) so I have this one sitting in my closet for use as a back up.  It expires soon though so I'll have to trash it.  It would work fine for a younger child under 3 feet tall I think.  The rear facing limits are also only to 30 lbs so my 2.5 year old couldn't RF in it anymore since she's a little over 30 lbs. 

 

Ok, I just checked and the limits for forward facing are only 20-40 lbs and only up to 40" so it would be a pretty awful seat to buy because it would only work until your child was 3 or 4, and it doesn't work as a booster after that.  Most convertible seats now have limits of 65 lbs for forward facing, though most toddlers would outgrow the height limits way before they got to 65 lbs.  The seat worked fine for me for about a year.

 

6. Diono Radian RXT $271.00

 

 

Now we have two of THE world's most beautiful car seats.  We just purchased 2 Diono Radian RXTs for our almost 4 year old to sit in.  I wish I would have purchased these seats earlier and skipped all the other seats.  I would have moved our kids straight from the bucket seat into this seat had I known how wonderful it was!  The seat claims to work until your child weighs 120 lbs and is 57" tall, but I have heard people comment that it won't actually fit your child for that long.  So far my almost 4 year old is about 39" tall and weighs 36 lbs so I think she has a few more years in this seat.  Then the younger child can use it.

 

This seat also has really high rear facing limits (45 lbs) so we might put our 2.5 year old in one of these to continue rear facing her.  For now though we are using these seats in each of our cars for our almost 4 year old to sit forward facing. 

 

This seat is very narrow so it works great in smaller cars, but it's REALLY heavy because the frames are made of steel.  They're easy to install, just make sure you really read the manual so you can learn about using the stop latch when necessary.  The issue I had when trying to rear face it is that the incline is very deep so you have to push the front seats really far up to fit this in the back seat rear facing.  There is a rear facing angle adjuster you can buy from the company to help lessen the incline but we didn't purchase it.  For now I'm really happy with this seat and I hope we can get at least a few years of use out of it.

 

It's also one of the only car seats that I've seen that folds up for easy storage like so. 

 

 

7. Harmony Defender 360 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat: $99.00

 

Finally, I recently purchased this seat for the nanny's car for my almost 4 year old to sit in.  It's a forward facing only seat that claims to turn into a booster until 110 lbs.  I read some good reviews for this seat and so far I'm happy with it.  It also converts into a high back and backless booster.  I plan to keep my oldest in it using the 5 point harness until she's at least 5 or 6 then we'll see how it works as a booster.

 

And those are ALL the car seats we've had in just 4 short years.  I've really learned a lot about car seats over the years.  I would love to become a car seat technician but you have to take a 4 day course and I just don't have the time to do it yet. 

 

Here's a recap about what I've learned about car seat safety over the years:

 

1. Rear face your child for as long as possible (until the limits of the seats ideally or at LEAST until your child turns 2)

 

2. Read your manuals very carefully and make sure you install your car seats as tightly as possible, leaving less than in inch of wiggle room.

 

3. Always use the tether behind the car seat when installing a forward facing seat.  Do you know how many people DO NOT use the tether? It's infuriating.  Do people just not know to use the tether? Do they not care about safety? When I walk around parking lots I peek into people's cars and I swear less than 10% of the forward facing car seats I see are NOT using the tether.  I'm tempted to leave people notes on their cars telling people they're endangering their kids lives.

 

4. Keep your child in a 5 point harness as long as possible.  Just do it.  They can be in a booster later in life.  I keep seeing 3 year olds in boosters with a seat belts only and it looks so dangerous.  Ugh.

 

Finally, if you're still not convinced, let's see how professional race car drivers sit in their seats.

 

The restraint used on NASCAR race cars is a five-point harness. Two straps come down over the driver's shoulders, two straps wrap around his waist and one comes up between his legs. The straps are made from thick, padded nylon webbing. They are much stronger than the seatbelts in a street car.

 

Now of course, professional race car drivers drive at speeds of over 200 mph and NEED five-point (or 6 point) harness seat belts, but it does say something about how important it is for children to stay in a more secure five point harness for many years.

 

Finally, you know who else wears harnesses? Airplane pilots of course!