car seats

Hi, my son is almost 22 pounds (and only 9 1/2 months!) so he is ready to step up from the infant car seat to the convertible car seat. Any recommendations? My biggest issue is that I drop them off at my in-laws in the morning, they have them all day and my husband picks them up at night. Right now we all have bases and just switch the infant seats. Would we be able to get additional bases with the convertible car seats? I haven't seen them. I really don't want to spend alot of $ but the ones I see are $250+. Help!

 

After tons of research and asking a lot of questions, we bought the Britax Roundabout and I LOVE them! They are pricey though. Is there a consignment shop near you or a Mom's club where maybe you could purchase a used set so the grandparents have their own?

 

That's what we did. We bought the Roundabouts for our car and then found a used pair of Roundabouts for our second car. We got the second set for $100 from a woman in our twins club. It's worked out great. There is no base with the convertible carseats and when they are rear-facing (as yours will be for a few months at least), it's hard to take them in and out. As long as the carseats aren't too old and haven't been in an accident, buying them used is a great alternative.

 

I would recommend the Britax Marathon. All my kids are above average and then you'll get more out a Marathon than a Roundabout. I would definitely recommend spending a little extra. Online you can find them for a little over $200 including free shipping and don't forget to ask for twin discount. It's worth the investment since it's recommended to keep them harnassed until 40lbs AND 4yo, so buying another seat in 2 years would be a waste too.

 

QUOTE(Sofiesmom @ Jun 19 2007, 02:54 PM) [snapback]298286[/snapback]
I would recommend the Britax Marathon. All my kids are above average and then you'll get more out a Marathon than a Roundabout. I would definitely recommend spending a little extra. Online you can find them for a little over $200 including free shipping and don't forget to ask for twin discount. It's worth the investment since it's recommended to keep them harnassed until 40lbs AND 4yo, so buying another seat in 2 years would be a waste too.


ITA. I got the Marathon for my first son because he was a bigger baby and I thought the Roundabout would be too short for him long before he'd outgrow it on weight. I'm so glad I made that choice because he's still in it and other mom friends of mine with toddlers the same age are now switching from their Roundabouts to Marathons for the height reasons. I got a second and plan on getting a third for the twins to use. The only drawback (other than price of course) is that it's a very tall seat so if you have size or height / visibilty constraints in your backseat area you might need a smaller seat. I recommend trying it in your car (in a store parking lot, for instance) before you buy it. You can get some great deals online once you know what you want.

Convertible seats do not click in and out of bases so unfortunately you would need to remove the entire seat and relocate it to another vehicle, but if your cars have LATCH it's not hard to do (once the seat's forward-facing).

 

We bought the Roundabout as well and it was wonderful. Since your son is big you might want to go with the Marathon because he'll be able to use it longer, possibly all the way until he's old enough for a booster. The Britax seats are very easy to use and that's important, especially when you have other people who are caring for your baby and are using the carseats with them.

 

We have Britax Marathons & my 95th percentile 3yo still fits in it fine with plenty of room to grow. There are lots of good, safe options for less $$ but you may end up spending more on another harnessed seat b/f it's time for boosters. You may want to check out the Evenflo Triumph...a lot of people recommend it & I heard they're coming out with a version that will harness to a higher weight soon.