What car seat do you have?

The boys current carseat goes up to 40lbs. They still have 10lbs to go, but Nicholas seems to be outgrowing it. The straps are getting pretty tight on him. We did pick up some Graco TurboBooster ones for $45/each, but those are not five point harnesses, and I just didn't feel comfortable putting them in a regular seatbelt at 2.5-so we returned them. We are going on a five hour drive this summer for vacation(Sesame Place!!!), so we are looking to get some before then.

I REALLY wish we got them a carseat that went up to 100lbs. However, we didn't. We did get one for Annabella, so we did that part right, but didn't realize it was only forward facing until we went and installed it. She's nine months old. Doh! So-Anthony is sitting in the pink carseat and Annabella is in his old one.

Alrighty-DH picked an Evenflo one that was $69.99. I liked the Graco one that was $179.99. What are your pros and cons of the carseats? And are they easy to clean? Nicholas used to get carsick in his(until we turned it around), so I'd like to make sure it's easy to clean!

Thanks ladies!

P.S. Britax are out of our league! :lol: But just think, if I went with one of them in the first place...I may not be needing a THIRD carseat! :gah:

 

Can't help you sorry - we are still in our Marathons

 

See! I should have just gone with them from the start!

 

We just bought the Evenflo Chase carseats for our girls. They go to 100 pounds (40 with the internal harness, then it acts as a booster). We like them so far. The girls really like them and actually get excited to sit in them (probably just because it's something new).
We bought them to replace our Cosco seats because I didn't care for those too much and they were going to eventually outgrow them anyways.

ETA: mistake in weight

 

Sorry, we have Marathons, too. ardon:

 

Make sure they are not too tall for the seats too... I know my kids will outgrow their seat in length way before they reach the weight limit (we also have seats that go to 65lb).

At this point I'd definitely get a seat that goes to 100lb though.

 

I have the Evenflo Triumph Symphony ones, they go up to 100 lbs. DH likes them because they are easy to install and I like them because it is easy to adjust the straps. We got them at BRU when the kids were 10 months old on sale with a coupon for a decent price. Good luck!

 

We bought the Graco Nautilus from BRU with coupons and discounts and they were under $140 each (reg. $179). We LOVE them!!

ETA: The 5 point harness can be used up to 65 pounds. It can then be used as a high back booster and then just booster under their bum to 100 pounds.

 

Yep, the things you wish you would have known then. I had the same issue.

Us too. I do LOVE them.

I have heard great things about these seats. And seen some pretty cute girls singing about "sunglasses at night" in these seats :wub:

We also have the Evenflo Triumph Advance for DH's car. Those have a high weight limit of like 50 pounds or so. You could get those and then get a booster seat at some point with they are older and heavier.

 

We have Graco Nautilus seats and love them. Seriously, love them. They have cup holders built onto the front of the armrest, which is a huge cool factor for preschoolers. Plus, there are two little secret compartments on the inside of the seat just perfect for stashing a small stuffed animal. They go up to 100 pounds as a booster, as the PPs have said. And... the head rest part adjusts so that you can keep it lower when your kids are shorter, and raise it up as they grow.

 

We have the Evenflo Triumph Advance LX, but it's only to 50lbs. If I were in the market for a seat now, I'd definitely get one that converts to a booster so you aren't shopping in a few years again anyway. We LOVE our seats, LOVE LOVE LOVE them. I recommend them to EVERYONE that asks. They were fairly inexpensive with the coupon we had, plus BRU's twin discount. Their crash rating is equal to Britax & they're cheaper, although they don't go to the same weight limit. However, almost everyone I talked to with Britax took their kids out before the weight limit due to how the kids fit (or didn't, for that matter), so we felt confident going with one that went to 50 lbs.

Wish I knew more about the seats that converted to boosters, but I don't! Good luck shopping!

 

another Nautilus user here....got them for $125 each at TRU with coupons, and twin discounts....love the seats!! Only downfall (and you wouldn't have to worry about this for the boys) is the pink seats get dirty from shoes - but they do clean easily and well (couple puking incidents)...

 

I love our Evenflo Triumph Advance seats. The kids have been in them since 9 months, and since they are peanuts I know that 50 lb weight limit will take them until school age so long as they don't outgrow it by height. Luckily they are also short so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

We're using the Nautilus seats in 5-point mode (it goes to 65# in 5-point). They can fasten & unfasten the buckles themselves and weigh in at 33 pounds so I don't foresee changing to seatbelt booster mode anytime soon but I like that this seat does change and I won't have to buy boosters later. I paid $120/seat for them on Amazon.

 

Graco Nautilus..we just bought them last year because they went up to 100 lbs and are so versitile. I am really happy with them.

 

We have Graco Nautilus seats. We replaced our Graco Comfortsports recently with the Nautilus seats. My girls are only right around 30-33 pounds, but they outgrew the Comfortsports on height.

The Nautilus can be a 5-point harness seat, booster, then backless booster. So they are the last seats we'll buy. Which is good, since we need 3 sets!

 

Yeah we have the Comfortsports now I believe. That's probably what the issue is with Nicholas-he's outgrowing it on height. I need to go check out the specifics...

I'm leaning towards the Nautilus which is the one I liked. Now I just need to wait for BRU to send out a coupon for them...

 

Meaghan, I got mine from TRU and saved a bundle with a coupon and the twin discount they offer.

 

If you don't want to turn your kids rear facing or pass the seats down, I think the Nautiulus or the Maestro would be your best bets. No need to pay for the rear-facing ability of a convertible seat if you won't be using it. Both the Nautilus and Maestro convert to boosters, but the Maestro won't actually work well as a booster, since the top belt guide isn't much higher than the harness and doesn't move up (eventually, it will be below your kids' shoulders, which won't work). The benefit of the Maestro is that it has nice, tall slots to get your kid to booster age and is very affordable (about $75). You could get that and then get a relatively inexpensive dedicated high back booster (like the Turbo Booster for $50), which might end up being a better booster than the Nautilus.

If you would consider turning your kids rear facing again (which is the safest way for them to travel) or want to pass it down to someone who could use it rear facing, you could get a convertible seat. The Evenflo Triumph Advance, the True Fit, Radian, and Complete Air are all good choices as they all have approximately 17.5" top slots, which will likely last your kids to a mature booster age. Then when they outgrow the harnesses, they could go to a high back booster.

After typing this, overall, I think the Nautilus is your best bet and if you hunt around online and look for coupons, I'm sure you can get a very good deal on it.

 

:laughing: You're awesome!! :wub:

...or sunglasses...or rocks...or..... I'm trying to think of what else my girls have stashed in there.

I was worried about that too, and I don't like things to look too dirty (ummm...yeah...can we say OCD?? :blush: ) so I ended up buying two of the gray ones. :good:

 

We also have the Graco Nautilus. The girls will be five soon, and we just switched them from the five point to the high back booster. We've been very, very happy with the Nautilus.

 

for deals, check out www.diapers.com they will also price match any website's pricing.... I got them to price match from www.babycarseats.com or another one I can't think of... anyway, if you are a new customer you also get 10% or whatever they are running at the time. I did it online and they put the "coupon" for my exact carseat price match in my shopping cart. it was really easy and they came within a few days.

I got carseats that retailed for $300 and paid less than $200 for them because of the double coupons with them. (note diapers.com says that you can't apply the extra new customer discount on top of the price match, but it did just that in the shopping cart...)