Advice on convertible car seats

We'll be out of the carrier car seats pretty soon now, and I am clueless about which convertible seat is the best. I feel like I should be researching and reading Consumer Reports or something! :huh: Since the kids will be in these for such a long time, I want to get ones that will hold up well, but don't want to spend a fortune, either.

Which ones have you ladies liked the best? Were they pretty stain resistant/easy to clean? How much were they? (and most importantly, do they come in cute designs? B))

Thanks for any help! (we have a minivan and an SUV, so space-saving isn't much of an issue)

 

We have the Britax Marathon seats and so far love them. Our girls just started using them, and they are great. Britax makes a great convertible carseat. The Marathon can be used up to 65 pounds. They have great patterns available. You can search online for ones that are on sale. They run about $250, but well worth it.

 

We have the Britax Marathon's and absolutely Love them! They are not the least expensive car seats but they got great safety reviews. I do think they come in cute designs, but I only got the all black ones.

 

I researched and on Consumer reports # 1 is the Britax Marathons and #2 is the Evenflo Triumph. The Triumphs are really wide though so depending on the room you need. They are also about 1/2 the price of the marathons but only go to 40 pounds and the Marathons go to 65 so if you bought the Triumph you would end up needing to get another seat anyway. We are getting the Marathons because we might be having another child so we want the room. Plus they are really nice! From what I've heard, the Triumphs are really nice to adjust though.

I am in Canada though so my results from Consumer reports may be different, I'm not sure.

 

We got 2 of the Evenflo Triumph Advances and could not be happier with them.

 

We have the Evenflo Truimph Advances too. They boys love them and so do I! They are really easy to adjust the straps. They fit our budget better, but do take up the entire back seat of my Rav 4. My advice is before you buy the best price online, go to Babies R Us and test them in your car.

 

I wanted something inexpensive and still a good test rating. I wasn't going to spend hundred of dollars and you can. We got the Alpha Omega. We ordered online and the babies love them. We did go to BRU and try them out first. THey were only $90 a piece and when you order over $100 it is free shipping and with 2 to buy...THey have the new ProTech energy absorbing EPP foam for energy absorption. THey do come in several colors.

 

We have the Britax Marathons, too. Our babies still are in their SafeSeats, but our older DS who is 4 is in the Marathon - he's been in it for 3 years and he has plenty of room to grow. For us it was important to get a seat that keeps our kids in a 5pt harness as long as possible. He rode rear-facing in the Marathon until he hit the weight limit (33lbs) and he's been forward facing ever since! I have also heard great things about the Evenflo Triumph Advance and the Alpha Omega Elite. I believe the Triumph Advance can keep kids harnessed until they are 55lbs, so that's something to consider.

Good luck!

 

We got the Alpha Omega Elites from babyage.com for $89 each. The are very soft and you can adjust the straps up and down from the front, so you don't have to remove the seat and unthread the straps as the babies get taller. They also can be used as a booster seat up to 100 lbs. I will say that getting the seat belt through the slot for rear facing is a pain. It is a very narrow space and it hurts my arm! So we decided that these seats will stay in my car, and we're getting a different kind to go back and forth between DH's car and my sister's when she babysits. I also needed to get the car seat positioners to help them tilt back a little further (this has more to do with my car, I think I'd need them with any car seats we bought).

Jen

 

QUOTE(DATJMom @ Jun 13 2008, 11:30 AM) [snapback]824996[/snapback]
We got 2 of the Evenflo Triumph Advances and could not be happier with them.



Ditto!!! Comfy, easy to clean, and very easy to adjust. They are wide, we couldn't fit a 3rd carseat in the back with them, but since we only have 2 babies it's not a huge deal.

 

I have the Britax marathon and love it!

 

Thank you so much for asking this! I was just telling my DH this evening that we will have to start thinking about this (and budgeting for it).

 

QUOTE(prairiemom3 @ Jun 13 2008, 11:29 AM) [snapback]824993[/snapback]
I researched and on Consumer reports # 1 is the Britax Marathons and #2 is the Evenflo Triumph. The Triumphs are really wide though so depending on the room you need. They are also about 1/2 the price of the marathons but only go to 40 pounds and the Marathons go to 65 so if you bought the Triumph you would end up needing to get another seat anyway. We are getting the Marathons because we might be having another child so we want the room. Plus they are really nice! From what I've heard, the Triumphs are really nice to adjust though.

I am in Canada though so my results from Consumer reports may be different, I'm not sure.


The Evenflo Triumph Advance DLX goes to 35 lbs rear facing and 50 lbs forward facing. This is what we got for my vehicle and really like them. I love the easy adjustable shoulder harnes and it is nice and comfy. I have a small SUV (Pontiac Torrent) and they are wide, but fit well enough. We wanted comfy seats in the primary vehicle and they are perfect. We used coupons for BRU and got them for $120.

For DH's vehicle we got the the Safety 1st Uptown which only go to 40 lbs forward facing, but we needed something narrower and less expensive. We got a fantastic deal on them at big lots for $65 each. They are very comfy and make a great second seat. They fit in DH's jeep very nicely.

The Britax are very nice, but we just couldn't afford to come up with 500-600 for the seats in my vehicle and then another 100-200 for the seats in DH's vehicle. If we only needed one set it might have been different. Now we have 370 total in our four seats and are very pleased with them.

Good luck! http://www.car-seat.org is a great resource for reviews and installation info.

 

We have the Sunshine Kids Radian 80 http://www.elitecarseats.com/Sunshine-Kids-Radian-80.pro We got them because for my old car we wanted something more narrow. They are great and the other option we love about them is they fold up and have a carrying strap so that if we have to travel with them it will be a lot easier to manage them.