Toddler Toddler Car Seats

I love the Graco Nautilus!!!! I had an Eddie Bauer High back booster and didn't like it. My sons head would flop down, chin on chest when he fell asleep. That doesn't happen with the Graco Nautilus and I really like that it can be used up to 65 lbs as a 5 pt harness and up to 100 lbs as a booster. I'm confident that it will be the last car seat I have to buy for my 2 1/2 year old son.

I don't think age matters for a booster, it's the size of the child. I put my son in a booster at 3. I wouldn't spend the money on a carseat that you're only going to end up using for a year.

I agree with recommendations about the car seats, go with the roundabout if you can afford it. That is one area of your child's safety to not play with. DO NOT BUY USED! You don't know what happened to that carseat and I would never believe what anyone said on ebay or craiglist etc. It is worth buying a less expensive new one instead of a used Britas.

The Graco Nautilis is awesome! We got it for our then-2-year-old in the spring because she weighed 38 lbs at the time and was rapidly outgrowing her old seat. The harness on it goes to 65 lbs although we'll probably be using it as a booster before then. She has plenty of room... many we tried out said they went to 65 lbs but were WAY to small to physically hold a child that size. My 6 year old son is 55 lbs and he actually fits in her carseat! He's been in a booster for several years, though, and won't be switching back to a harness. Especially since a few reports have come out recently that state that a child is just as protected in a seat belt (booster seat) as in a 5-pt harness once they are 4 and sitting well/still in the seat.

GRACO NAUTILUS!!!!!!!!!!!

You can harness to 65 pounds! Then it becomes a high back booster, and a backless boster to 100 pounds! The last car seat you'll ever need to buy.

I definitely recommend it!!!

C.,

Looks like you got a lot of great advice!

I also wanted you to know that our group, the Northeast Ohio Early Childhood PTA, is having a speaker from the Mentor Police Department talk about Child Safety seats on October 9th, 7pm, at the Mentor Public Library. I you or anyone else would like to come, I encourage you to join us! Feel free to visit our website at www.neoecpta.com or email me for more info about the speaker, or our group! We're a very new group and looking for new members!

Sincerely,
M.

We have 2 different ones, Graco, and Cosco, they are both awesome, and switch to a regular booster when the time is right, but are not flimsy like some of the convertable ones!!
Good luck!
Lea

We bought a Britax Roundabout and love it. A little bit pricey, but totally worth it. I think they are having their twice yearly sale right now. We got ours for about 149.00, including free shipping. It rocks. My daughter seems to love it. We bought a cheapo one for my husband's car (doesn't recline, and is way too big - I believe it was the Evenflo Tribute) and it isn't very great, but useable for the ocassional trip. Just wanted to let you know what we thought.

Thanks,
A.

Hey C... you'll prob get alot of advice on which one to use. I personally got the alpha omega elite I can't remember who it's by.. but what I did was I called the non-emergency police dept. The actual officer recommended that specific brand b/c he had it for his grandkids. It goes from 5-100 lbs w/ a back and then can become backless. It's like $130 buck though..but it's well worth it for us b/c we're going on our 3rd baby. So we're getting our monies worth. Also the nice thing is that you can take whatever carseat to ur local PD and they can help you install it and make sure it's okay. See my son is going to be 4, but he's 46 lbs and 43" so he was able to go to a backless booster. Call to see what the PD says they know the rules and what maybe you should be looking at. Good Luck!

We chose the Cosco Summit carseat which has a 5-point harness AND converts to a booster seat for bigger kids. My daughter is 4-1/2 years old and weighs about 42 pounds and the 5-point harness still fits. I believe that once it's converted to a booster and we start using the car seat belt, it's supposed to fit kids up to 100#. At the time we bought ours (roughly 2 years ago), this particular seat was about $80.

Beautiful question! This is right up my alley. I recently spent HOURS researching this very topic to the point where my husband called me "obsessed". Here's what we bought after all:
1. A Britax Roundabout for my SUV (he's in there most often)
It's pricey, but we got a deal on ebay for a brand, new still in the box, sealed carseat. It rated #1 in Consumer Reports for safety and features.
2. For my husband's car (my son is only in there about 5 min. a day to get to the sitter's) we purchased the Evenflo Triumph Advance seat. (It used to be the Evenflo Triumph 5 but was renamed for whatever reason.) It rated #2 in Consumer Reports (pretty much tied the Britax Roundabout) and is only $130. It would probably be fine for an everday car seat given it got awesome safety ratings, but I'm anal and figured baby #2 would also use the Britax so we splurged. (The Britax looks so comfortable I want to crawl in there!)
Contact me if you have any questions-I'd be MORE THAN GLAD to help you in this area! LOL!
Also: I was super excited to turn my son forward when he turned one (which was yesterday, actually-very emotional! Whew!), but it's SO MUCH SAFER to leave them rear facing as long as possible so we are going to. Just a tip for you!
Good Luck!

I have to 2nd the Graco Nautilus!! It harnesses to 65 lbs (a harness is 10X safer than a seat belt alone on ANY child as long as the harness is made for a child of that weight) , then becomes a high back booster to 100lbs or a low back booster if you so choose. It also has a 7 yr life span (CAR SEATS DO EXPIRE!) with the back on or if you use the low back booster mode in a few years, you get 2 more years of life on it making it a total of 9 yrs it will be good for...you can't beat that anywhere! It also has almost 19" top harness slots which is almost the highest out there. If you have a tall child, or even one with a tall torso (sit the child against a wall, and measure from their butt to shoulder..that is torso height), that is HUGE since once the shoulders are above the top harness slots, the child is too big for it..even if they weigh under the seat's weight limits, they CAN outgrow it in height first. My son is 3 and was already at the top harness slots in the Alpha Mega mentioned, sooooooooooo glad I tried it out at BRU before I bought it.
I got my Nautilus at Walmart.com in July for $127 but they are a little higher now. They can also be found at Babies R Us, Target and Baby Depot inside of Burlington Coat factory. Just to add, Consumer Reports isn't always the best bet for information. They basically report on what consumers are buying. Just because a Britax costs $300 doesn't make it any safer than my $127 Graco, they ALL have to pass the EXACT same safety standards to be put on the market. Yes, Britax has more bells and whistles but unless your child is in the car 6+ hours a day, is all that really necessary? My son has been in his Nautilus since July 4 and LOVES it. He loves his head rest, his HUGE cup holder and the 2 cubbies he has for his sunglasses and toys...and he's so comfy he falls asleep in it everytime we are out in the after noon.
Also as an FYI, your best bet is a hospital or fire dept where there is a CERTIFIED CAR SEAT TECH on duty. Not all cops are certified and most have no clue on car seat information. How do I know this? My dh is a cop and NOT ONE officer on his dept is certified..but there is 1 on his fire dept. and 2 on our neighboring FD. THere is also a website you can go to, to type in your zip and they will tell you where to find a tech in your area. I'll look it up and update this.
HTH and good luck

***** Here is the website to find a certified car seat tech in your area.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/People/Injury/Childps/CPSFitting...

We have the Alpha Omega Elite. IT's good from 8-100 pounds (20-100 forward-facing), and can be used as a booster when they are ready. It was the best rated on Consumer reports (80/100) behind the Evenflo Triumph and a Britax (tied at 81/100).

Hi C.. My car seats were all bought at the local Wal-Mart :) However, for an "expert" opinion, you could stop up to your local health department and stop into the WIC office. They provide car seats to low income families, which means they can provide you with the name of a brand for your child's age and size that the State has deemed the most safe & durable. Hope that Helps, best of Luck!

I also have a Britax round a bout and purchased it on ebay.

Hey C.,

When it was time for us to transfer our youngest to a toddler seat we did TONS of research on safety before making a decision. We found the Evenflow Triumph Advance was second (I believe) in rating and looked so comfy, and we only paid about $125 for it. My husband calls it the Cadillac of car seats. The fabric is soft and comfortable for her, and we never hear a complaint on long trips. Hope this information helps.

I have the Eddie Bauer series with the booster seat and the base. The base allows the seat to tilt back, has cup holders and adjustable arm rests. My boys love them. The tilt really helps their posture when they fall asleep so their heads don't bobble around.

I used Graco before, but I didn't like the support they game. I thought those were more cheaply made. I also had an Evenflo, but I still like the Eddie Bauer better. I found them at Big Lots. They were marked down about 50-60%, so it pays to look around. They were brand new, still in the box unopened.

I have the Eddie Bauer High Back booster. We found it at Sam's Club. I like it except for the top tether - it's really hard to get good and tight.

both eddie bauer infant seats that we had got recalled. My sister in law had no luck with the brand either. WE have the Graco TurboBooster now and LOVE it!!!

We have a Cosco Alpha Omega Elite, got it when my son outgrew the infant carrier. It goes to like 100 lbs and converts to a booster when the time is ready. We love it, he loved it when he first started sitting in it - it is slightly more upright and he could see out the car window better. He also loves the cupholder that came with it!!! Also, a good price (not more than $150) considering the length of time we will use it. We plan on getting another one of these when number 2 is ready for a bigger seat!