Car seat question

I know it's a couple months off, but I've already starting thinking about
our upcoming trip to my parents' for Passover in April. DD will be nearly a
year, so we're planning on purchasing a less expensive car seat to take with
us. We currently have a Britax and it's in so tight that I don't want to
move it (it cost me $35 to have it installed). We're planning on using it
forward facing (even though she'll be a week shy of her birthday) so it
doesn't have to be a convertible. We want it to be safe, relatively easy to
install, reasonably lightweight and not horrifically expensive (in that
order, i.e. the cost is the least important of the criteria and the safety
is the most important).

Does anyone have any suggestions? We don't want the sit 'n stroll because we
love our stroller and will take it with us. Plus, the sit 'n stroll is $199.

--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03

We like our Eddie Bauer...about $160.00
It is secure
safe
easy to install
easy to uninstall and clean
it can later be converted to a booster as the child grows. (up to 80 lbs.)


just my 2 cents...

jojo



"Melissa" wrote in message
news:PckKb.752566$Tr4.2085058@attbi_s03...
I know it's a couple months off, but I've already starting thinking about
our upcoming trip to my parents' for Passover in April. DD will be nearly
a
year, so we're planning on purchasing a less expensive car seat to take
with
us. We currently have a Britax and it's in so tight that I don't want to
move it (it cost me $35 to have it installed). We're planning on using it
forward facing (even though she'll be a week shy of her birthday) so it
doesn't have to be a convertible. We want it to be safe, relatively easy
to
install, reasonably lightweight and not horrifically expensive (in that
order, i.e. the cost is the least important of the criteria and the safety
is the most important).

Does anyone have any suggestions? We don't want the sit 'n stroll because
we
love our stroller and will take it with us. Plus, the sit 'n stroll is
$199.

--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03

I"m going to buy a second car seat this week for my husband's car, and I think
I"m going to go with the Cosco Alpa Omega, which runs about $130 I believe. It
was a close runner up when we got the Britax, which we love, but already have 2
of them!

I'm going to do some research online tonight and I"ll let you know what I come
up with. FWIW I know that babycatolog.com has the Britax Roundabout for $169 or
$189.

laurie
mommy to Jessica, 2.5 years and
Christopher, 8 months

"Melissa" wrote in message
news:PckKb.752566$Tr4.2085058@attbi_s03...
I know it's a couple months off, but I've already starting
thinking about our upcoming trip to my parents' for
Passover in April. DD will be nearly a year, so we're
planning on purchasing a less expensive car seat to take
with us.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I recently moved Julie into the Graco Platinum CarGo. It converts from
carseat to booster so it would last you several years. It is very
light, and was very easy to install. It's $99.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 9 mo.
And Jaden, 4 months

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

"Melissa" wrote in message news:PckKb.752566$Tr4.2085058@attbi_s03...
I know it's a couple months off, but I've already starting thinking about
our upcoming trip to my parents' for Passover in April. DD will be nearly a
year, so we're planning on purchasing a less expensive car seat to take with
us. We currently have a Britax and it's in so tight that I don't want to
move it (it cost me $35 to have it installed). We're planning on using it
forward facing (even though she'll be a week shy of her birthday) so it
doesn't have to be a convertible. We want it to be safe, relatively easy to
install, reasonably lightweight and not horrifically expensive (in that
order, i.e. the cost is the least important of the criteria and the safety
is the most important).

Does anyone have any suggestions? We don't want the sit 'n stroll because we
love our stroller and will take it with us. Plus, the sit 'n stroll is $199.

Seems to me you could pay to have the Britax installed both at your
parents and then again at your house for less then buying a new
seat...unless you just need two seats. I have two, one for dh's
vehicle and one for mine. The one is dh's vehicle is cheap. I'm
comfortable that it is completely safe but it is hard to adjust the
straps and has minimal padding. We switch seats if we take a long
trip with his truck. I have an Evenflo Horizon which is fairly light.
The straps twist but can be easily adjusted.
--

Nikki

"Cheryl S." wrote:

"Melissa" wrote in message
news:PckKb.752566$Tr4.2085058@attbi_s03...
I know it's a couple months off, but I've already starting
thinking about our upcoming trip to my parents' for
Passover in April. DD will be nearly a year, so we're
planning on purchasing a less expensive car seat to take
with us.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I recently moved Julie into the Graco Platinum CarGo. It converts from
carseat to booster so it would last you several years. It is very
light, and was very easy to install. It's $99.

When DD was 14 months and we were looking for a second carseat
we tried her in the Britax husky, which supposedly goes down to
20 lbs and she was just lost in it - it was really big. Is the Graco meant
for such little ones? (Melissa's daughter will just be a year). And how
big is it? Might be kind of large for air travel. It does look like a nice
seat though - I'm going to look into it when Emma outgrows her Roundabout.

For what its worth (to Melissa), we always travel with our roundabout.
It works great on the plane and is easy to install. We've always been
able to install it in any car, very solidly with little effort.

Mary

"Melissa" wrote
I know it's a couple months off, but I've already starting thinking
about
our upcoming trip to my parents' for Passover in April. DD will be
nearly a
year, so we're planning on purchasing a less expensive car seat to take
with
us. We currently have a Britax and it's in so tight that I don't want to
move it (it cost me $35 to have it installed).

"Nikki" wrote
Seems to me you could pay to have the Britax installed both at your
parents and then again at your house for less then buying a new
seat...unless you just need two seats.

We already have four airplane trips for this year and will have to rent cars
for all of them. Just with those trips, we're already at a cost higher than
the cost of a new carseat. It sounds like the Cosco and Eddie Bauer are
worth looking at. My big concern is that my SIL claims that it's super-easy
to put in a remove a car seat and yet hers is never as tight as mine. As
well, when we used hers over Thanksgiving, we had to tighten it twice when I
noticed that it was loose. This doesn't seem to me to be proper
installation. I guess it's that she hasn't done it right rather than it
being difficult.

Thanks.
--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03

"Cheryl S." wrote in message ...
"Melissa" wrote in message
news:PckKb.752566$Tr4.2085058@attbi_s03...
I know it's a couple months off, but I've already starting
thinking about our upcoming trip to my parents' for
Passover in April. DD will be nearly a year, so we're
planning on purchasing a less expensive car seat to take
with us.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I recently moved Julie into the Graco Platinum CarGo. It converts from
carseat to booster so it would last you several years. It is very
light, and was very easy to install. It's $99.

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but what made you decide on the
Platinum vs the Ultra? I'm looking at both of those, since ds is
shortly going to be too tall for his convertible, and Illinois is now
requiring boosters up to 8 years!

For Melissa - I forget the name of my convertible (my car is in the
shop right now, so I can't check) but it was a basic Graco or Century
model, IIRC. I got it when ds turned 1 and we needed to fly with it,
and the Alpha Omega was too big. (Plus, we wanted one for each car,
and I wasn't thrilled with the Alpha Omega - the straps twist way too
easily.) My only complaint is that he's outgrowing it, heightwise,
about 18 months later, but at least it wasn't a big investment, about
$60. Well, it doesn't have any cupholders, but that's the only frill
I miss vs the Alpha Omega.

Irene
mom to Thomas 7/01
#2 EDD 4/04

"Irene" wrote in message
om...
"Cheryl S." wrote in message
...
I recently moved Julie into the Graco Platinum CarGo.

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but what made you
decide on the Platinum vs the Ultra? I'm looking at both
of those, since ds is shortly going to be too tall for his
convertible, and Illinois is now requiring boosters up to
8 years!

Mainly comfort, IIRC. Have you gone and looked at both at the store?
When I did that the decision was easy for me, though I can't remember
the Ultra well enough to say now exactly why it was so clear. (Four
months' sleep deprivation has completely destroyed my memory.) The
cupholder and little mesh storage thingy have come in handy, even though
when I first looked at the storage basket I thought, "what would I use
that for?" Since she'll theoretically be using it for 5+ years, I
figured $20 wasn't that much more to spend for something that will be
more comfortable and is used so often.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 9 mo.
And Jaden, 4 months

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

"Mary W." wrote in message
...
When DD was 14 months and we were looking for a
second carseat we tried her in the Britax husky, which
supposedly goes down to 20 lbs and she was just lost
in it - it was really big. Is the Graco meant for such little
ones? (Melissa's daughter will just be a year). And how
big is it? Might be kind of large for air travel. It does look
like a nice seat though - I'm going to look into it when
Emma outgrows her Roundabout.

It does have a 20 lb minimum. I didn't think about that. A one year
old would look relatively small in it, though I don't know how important
that really is. If the child is within the seat use limits, I would
think it would be just as safe as for a larger child. When I read that
the OP wanted a lightweight seat I suggested the CarGo because I was
amazed when I went to install it, how much lighter it is than Julie's
(now Jaden's) infant-toddler convertible carseat (a Century Accel SE).
I would much rather carry the CarGo around an airport, even though it is
somewhat taller, because the Accel is so much heavier. Other than
height, there is not much difference in size.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 9 mo.
And Jaden, 4 months

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.