Remember, an infant carrier is outgrown when there is 1" of hard shell, of the carseat, above the top of their head OR when they have reached the maximum weight for the seat, 20, 22 or 30lbs. When a child is in an infant carrier, the harness should be routed through the harness slot that is AT or BELOW the child's shoulders.
Graco SafeSeat-- http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/product.aspx?modelNumber=8A00PSN&CategoryID=1 This seat will harness your child 5-30lbs and around 32" tall, so you do not have to worry about a new convertible seat for possibly some time. Graco boasts that it will hold up to 97% of 1 year olds! These do fit in the Graco strollers. It has 4 handle positions and can be in any of the 3 positions when installed in the vehicle. It is FAA Approved and you can use this carrier without the base.
Chicco Keyfit 30 (pronounced Key-Ko)-- http://www.chiccousa.com/product.php?productid=250&cat=3&page=1
This seat will harness your child 4-30lbs and around 30" tall. Has an infant insert that can be used from 4-11lbs. Handle must be all the way down when installed in the vehicle. It is FAA approved. You can use this carrier without the base. 3 harness slots.
Chicco Keyfit 22-- http://www.chiccousa.com/product.php?productid=1&cat=3&page=1 holds 4-22lbs and around 30" tall. I have found that if you have smaller children, this seat fits them really well. It is FAA Approved and the carrier can be used without the base. Handle must be all the way down when installed and being used in the vehicle. 3 harness slots.
Baby Trend EzFlex-Loc/Latch-Loc/Rigid Latch-Loc-- http://www.babytrend.com/ Harnesses from 5-22lbs and up to 28.5" tall. The base is pretty narrow and the carseat is really light.
Britax Companion--http://www.britaxusa.com/products/product_detail.aspx?ID=2 Harnesses 4-22lbs and 30" tall. What I really like about this seat is that it has the anti-rebound bar on the base. What is rebound? Think of how the carseat is installed in a vehicle. The front of the carseat is toward the back of the vehicle and the back of the carseat is toward the front of the vehicle. When you are in a crash, the back of the carseat compresses into the vehicle seat, then it rebounds into the back of the vehicle seat--towards the back of the vehicle. The Anti-rebound bar STOPS the carseat from going into the back of the seat too much. Britax just announced 9/2008 that they are discontinuing this seat.
i have a graco snugride and i love the seat, but i wanted to get a safeseat because i had the step 2 but i just ordered the evenflo triumph advance delux seat and i don't have to worry about what to do when the baby out grows the infant seat.
come join my group for mommy's who have kids who love litte einstiens! http://www.cafemom.com/group/little_einsteins
My daughter has a Graco Safe Seat - and I love it! We had an Evenflo Embrace and it was terrible..she would have outgrown it in height in no time.
The Safe Seat is very easy to install with the latch and great even without latch as it has the lock offs. It is a bit bigger than most carriers, but still fits in the back of every car I have put it in.
My son had the babytrend and i hated it. it was pretty heavey to me and it has no padding it was rock hard. I did love the triangle handle even though ive heard others say they hated it.
My daughter had a graco three years ago. Dunno the name cuz i wasnt car seat savey like i am now lol. but i liked that one much better then the babytrend. i did like the latch on the babytrend better. it was easier to get off cuz it has the buttons like our britax
I have the Keyfit 30 and love it. My son was in it up until 9 mons, which for my kids was great.
I just found out that you can order just the coverings for the carseats for $52.00 from Chicco. In the spring they will have a girly pink one, YEAH, just in time for my baby girl!!
We had the Graco safe seat and loved it!
Jen, wife to Brian and mama to Will
New Carseats.
- CarSeatJunkie
on Jan. 14, 2008 at 9:03 PM