Happy Monday y'all! Its time that we re-visit the final portion of carseat commotion!
Now in part one, we discussed infant carriers. Ultimately we chose the Chicco KeyFit30, but we certainly didn't walk right in and pick that one. It took months of research and testing. So, in part three I will show you the top two contenders that we looked at and give you reasons we didn't choose them!
Lets get started! Our first runner up was the Britax B-Safe 30. It looks like this:
While this seat is very similar to the Chicco, there were a few things we didn't like. The first issue being with the infant insert. Since we knew from day one that we would have a small baby - we knew that we would need a seat with an exceptionally supportive infant insert. This particular seat fell short. The padding on the head support was less than sub par, it honestly felt as though they stick a thin layer of quilt batting in the headrest and called it a day. The second issue with this seat was the visor, or canopy (while many of these issues seem minor, they meant a lot to us). The Chicco has a neat feature on its canopy where there is a flip down section that extends the canopy an extra 4-5inches, giving that much more sun protection. The third and most monumental issue with this seat was the base. I tried for fifteen minutes to install this particular base into my car at Babies 'R Us (if you ask nicely, they will allow you to test fit seats and bases), the self leveling system did not work nearly as easily as the Chicco and the latch buckles took more of a mathematical equation and science problem to ensure they were even on both sides, so they wouldn't pull the base to one side or another.
Our Second runner up is the Graco SnugRide35. It looks like this:
I think when many people think baby gear, they think 'Graco' - while this is great for Graco, its not so great for every other manufacturer out there who has set out to set the bar a little higher. The first reason (and issue) we looked at this one was obviously the '35' in the name, meaning it will hold a baby from 4-35lbs., while we thought this was great - we felt it was a bit unnecessary. Since baby bee was born early, we knew that obviously she won't be the next sumo wrestler or basketball star, but if we were going purely on weight, she would have been in this seat until she was six or seven. The second issue arose with the padding, while the Britax didn't have enough padding- this one had far too much. So much, in fact, that it was HOT. I put my hand in the deepest part of the seat for three minutes in each seat to see how breathable it was, this seat was not. AT. ALL. Three minutes in and I had a very sweaty palm, gross. The third turn off for this seat was how cheap it felt. While it may be the 'lightest seat on the market today', that actually makes it feel cheap and flimsy. I'd rather lug around a 20lb. carseat and 20lb. kid any day over a seat thats 5lbs. if it meant the seat felt like it might actually do its job in the event of a crash. This brings me to my last and final reason we didn't choose this seat, the safety ratings. In the US all car seats have to meet a certain threshold to even be on the market, now there are independent labs that will actually test the same exact seats to actually see how they do, this one did very poorly in side impact ratings, part of this was due to where Graco recommended it to be placed in the vehicle (drivers side - outboard). This seat buckled on BOTH SIDES when hit at 45mph.
Our other contenders right out of the gate were; the Baby Trend FlexLoc, utimately we didn't choose this one because of poor safety ratings in a side impact crash and rollover crash. We also looked at the Combi Shuttle, this one was not a top contender due to the poor design and tendency to break babes legs when rear ended.
Now, in part two of carseat commotion, we discussed convertible carseats. Ultimately we chose the Recaro ProRide. Here are the top two contenders that didn't quite make the cut for us!
Our first runner up was the Britax Marathon 70 G3. It looks like this:
The primary reason we didn't choose this seat was how difficult it was to adjust straps. You'll recall on the Recaro, it only take a turn of a knob to adjust the straps. On the Marathon G3, you have to take the seat out of the car, take the seat apart, pull the straps through the correct height setting, make sure they are connected to the T-buckle correctly and then re-install it. Sounded like too much work and effort for my tastes. The second reason we didn't choose this seat was the crotch buckle cover. As in there wasn't one. I have a deathly fear of burning my child with her car seat buckles and since this one didn't have the crotch buckle cover it was a no-fly zone for it. The third reason we didn't choose this seat was the strap covers. They are made of rubber and while they are an ingenious design by Britax in terms of a safety innovation, I could very easily see a rash breaking out or rubber burns happening from them.
The second runner up for the convertible seat was the Graco MyRide 65 DLX. It looks like this:
There was two main reasons we didn't choose this seat, the first being that it was so narrow that I have a very hard time believing that a full size toddler (or preschooler even) will fit in this seat. When we purchased our convertible seat, we purchased with the intent of not needing to replace it for some time and I foresaw us replacing this seat with another convertible around the time she was 2.5-3. The second reason we didn't choose this seat was the material of the seat, much like the infant seat from Graco - it felt cheap, and much like something you might find on an athletic shoe. Not a car seat.
There was only one other consideration for a convertible seat right out of the gate, it was the Evenflo SureRide DLX. I hated it, it looked cheap, had almost no padding in it and looked like it would be better suited as an office chair than a child's car seat. It also had some of the lowest crash reviews.
Happy Hump Week, friends! We have officially made it through half the year!!
I will see you back in here in just a few short days to show off my newest crock-pot recipe!
Until next time,
A.B.
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