Let talk car seats

[thelittlesrunmylife]

So, as this tiny human is now just over 4mos and nearing 14lbs, I am seriously growing to hate the carrier car seat. It's hard to get in the car, a pain to get out of the car plus I have lost all use of one of my seats that leads to the third row of my Durango. With 4 full time kiddos, I have to use all seats and when the sd shows up, we have to pull out the base to the infant seat.

Here's my question: what are you all thinking for convertable seats? What are your criteria for choosing?

I need narrow seats as I have around 36 inches (if dh measured right) to fit 2 seats and both have to be in the middle row due to lack of tethers in the 3rd row.

Let's help each other out! I thought this may be a good time with tax returns coming soon some of us may be thinking about buying now while the toys r us trade in is happening.

[anewadventure]

dh and i were just looking at this last night, for shits and giggles. we basically got as far as seeing that there are a zillion options, and stopped. lol.

not much help, i know. i'm counting on some STMs for some good advice.

we're not in a hurry over here because LO is my first so there isn't such a space crunch in our cars. i don't recall - are your other kids way older? right? otherwise wouldn't you currently be using convertibles and have a direct opinion to share with the group?

[arkansasmom22]

We will be using a Diono Radian RXT for DD when we transition her out of the infant bucket seat. We have been using them for our DS and I like how secure and sturdy they are, and we can put two in the car and still have room for a person to sit as they are narrow enough to do 3 across. They also have higher limits for rear facing. They are not cheap (around $270) but I got lucky and saw them for $190 on an Amazon lightning deal in the Plum color so we bought one for each car.
Also it depends on what type of car you have as some convertibles take up a ton of space rear facing. For instance my SIL has a Britax and when she changed from her Armada to a Santa Fe she could not comfortably put it rear facing as it took up a bunch of leg room since she had to have the seat further forward. There are some good sites out there that compare them if you need something for a compact vehicle.

[thelittlesrunmylife]

I have two big kiddos that are 13 and nearly 12 so they aren't in seats. For them I had seats that aren't in production any more and can't remember what they were. And I'm pretty sure that when I was 19/20 years old, they weren't correct for them anyway.

My 3 year old is in an alpha omega and it is HUGE! Super comfy and she's tiny so it fits her well now. It's going to be put in dh's car as a backup seat for her because I am tired of having to be stuck at a basketball practice for my oldest with the littles and no way for dh to come get one of them. It's too difficult to unbuckle and rebuckle the seats once they are in my car.

Having to buy 2 seats, I am not looking forward to spending so much and I am absolutely taking advantage of the trade in for 25% off.

[algonquingirl]

We went with the clek fllo because our guy hates the car, it has incredible safety ratings, is all made in Canada, and he seemed the most comfortable in it when we sat him in that vs the dionos, and they are also good for 3 across. Now we just have to wait for it to come in, and try it out!
Edited because words are hard.

[sparklegrump]

We have Diono Radians for the boys and that's the only convertible car seats we'll buy forever and ever. I love them.

[bella2425]

We will switch when he can sit up really well unassisted. That way he can sit in the shopping cart seat, in high chairs and restaurants, and we can set him down once we get home easily. We switched with my oldest around 7 months.

[nikkiveeee]

We have the alpha omega one and that is fine. Mil has the Cosco one in her car. All car seats are safe, you just pay more for all the bells and whistles.