Which seat should I buy?

As most of my friends know, I am a car seat geek. I like all things carseat related and try to stay in the loop with what's available around here locally. I often get the "what seat should I buy?" question, so I decided to write out what I would buy if I were in the market for a seat. New things come out all the time, so this is current as of right now, but may change in a few months as new things come out.

I made this list based on what I would buy. Any new seat purchased in Canada will meet all the standards required by Transport Canada. That being said, there are many I would not buy because they are over-priced, or they are a huge pain in the butt to use. You use your kid's seats everyday, ease of use is essential. It can be as cute as can be and have a great cup holder, but if it is a pain to get the kid in and out, you will not be happy.

These lists aren't exhaustive, just what I would recommend.

Infant carseats
Rear-facing only bucket type seats that fit babies from newborn until about 1 year depending on the seat. Most seats are going towards the 30lb rear-facing limit, which is great because they will fit babies longer. Infant seats are outgrown when your baby reaches the weight limit or they have less than 1" of hard plastic shell above their heads.

What I would buy:

1. Graco Safeseat/Snugride 32- Two different seats that are essentially the same. The safeseat is good to 30lbs rear facing, the snugride 32 is to 32lbs rear facing. I am assuming that the snugride 32 will replace the safeseat eventually, for now both are available. Don't stress over getting the 32lb one over the 30lb one, your baby will not fit height wise in the infant seat by the time they weigh 30-32lbs anyway unless they are very short and stocky. Installs with these seats are great with either the UAS or a seatbelt. It is priced very reasonably.

2. Chicco Keyfit- I adore this seat! There are a couple of downsides though, it is pricey here in Canada still, and we don't have the 30lb rear facing model available yet. This seat fits tiny babies better than any seat I have seen. It has a removable infant insert for use up to 11lbs, which means no need for rolled receiving blankets during the newborn days. If we had the 30lb rearfacing model available here this would be my #1 pick.

3. Graco Snugride with a front adjuster- This is the infant seat I am using right now for Blake. I am perfectly happy with it. It only has a 22lb rear facing limit which means it is outgrown quickly, a huge downside for sure. Another downside to this seat is that is has the tendency to tip when installed with a seatbelt. Graco rectified that problem when they made the Safeseat, it has built-in lock offs on the base. Anyway, no real complaints about this seat. It can be found for as low as $89.99 from what I could find. Make sure if you get this seat that it has a front adjuster for adjusting the harness, you will make your life much easier.

Now, you wonder, where is the famed PegPerego seat on my list? Maybe #4 I suppose. Yes, it is a very nice seat. It comes in lots of cool colours. It has the fancy wings for side impact protection. I do like it, don't get me wrong, but it is so over-priced. It only goes to 22lbs rear facing. The average baby outgrows this seat by 8 months. A big baby outgrows this seat by 4-5 months. It's not worth it to spend the $300+ on this seat. Save your money and buy a better convertible seat.

Seats to avoid: Anything Eddie Bauer, Safety 1st, or Evenflo. They have twisty straps and are difficult to install and use.

Infant/Child (convertible) Seats
This is the seat you will move your child into after they outgrow their infant seat. It can be used rear facing until the height or weight limits are outgrown. It will then be used forward facing. The minimum requirement for turning your child forward facing is 1 year and 20lbs (both must be met, a 21lb 9 month old NEEDS to be rear facing). Using your seat until it is outgrown by height or weight is highly recommended. I hope one day that the law will be changed to a minimum of 2 years and 30lbs, but for now it's still 1 and 20lbs. I would not have a 1 year old forward facing, but that is another blog post for another day.

What I would buy:

1. Britax Marathon/Boulevard- This seat rear faces to 33lbs and forward faces to 65lbs. They can be tethered rear facing, which increases side impact protection. They are fabulous to install and use.The straps do not twist and the seat is super comfy. The only downside is that they are a little bit more expensive. They do go on sale at Babies R Us quite often though.

2. Evenflo Triumph Advance (make sure it says "Advance")- This seat rear faces to 30lbs and then forward faces to 47lbs. It is very reasonably priced, between $129 for the basic and $189 for the premier (plush cover). This seat has an infinite slide harness adjuster, so no need to re-thread the harness. Some people think it's great, others can take it or leave it. It installs well in most vehicles in my experience with it.


3. The First Years True Fit- This would be #2 if it weren't for it being a little trickier to install and to adjust rear facing. It rear faces to 35lbs, which is awesome. Britax seats are stickered to 35lbs rear facing in the US, we will have them at 35lbs here soon I hope. It's nice to see that the pressure to increase the limits on all seats is here. Anyway, as for the True Fit, it has lots of nice features like a plush cover, a no-rethread harness, and a cover that is easily removed for washing.

4. Britax Roundabout- Same great features as the Marathon and Boulevard, smaller shell. This means it is outgrown faster, the downside. It is a great option if you drive a smaller vehicle.

5. Sunshine Kids Radian 65 -Nice seat, but heavy! (as me how I know, I hauled this seat to Mexico and back!). This seat is super narrow, great for getting 3 across in a vehicle. It is the only other seat that can be tethered rear facing. No real complaints about the seat itself. I find the harness a bit twisty, but that is compared to my non-twisting Marathon straps.

Seats to avoid: Anything Eddie Bauer/Safety 1st 3-in-one and the like that claim to be "the only carseat you'll ever need." Trust me, you will need another seat. Your kid will outgrow the harness mode by height before they weigh enough to use it as a booster. Not to mention how big of a pain it is to install these seats rear facing. These seats are very popular and I don't know why, they aren't super cheap or anything, but everybody buys them. Please don't, you will thank me!

Boosters/High Weigh Limit harnessed seats (Child/Booster)
Your child has outgrown their convertible carseat when they either reach the weight limit or the tips of their ears are above the top of the shell. The minimum for moving to a booster is 40lbs. With all the higher weight limit seats on the market, there is no need to put your child in a booster at 40lbs. Especially if they reach that weight by age 3 or 4. Every step up in seats is a step down in safety. There are currently two seats on the market that fill the niche for high weight limit harnessed seat that turns into a booster.

1. Graco Nautilus- Forward facing only harnessed seat that harnesses to 65lbs. It then converts to a booster for use up to 100lbs. The booster can be used as a high back or no back booster.

2. Britax Frontier-Forward facing only to 65lbs then converts to a booster up to 100lbs.

I would choose the Nautilus over the Frontier, it is significantly cheaper. As well, the Frontier is a little trickier to install.

I hope this list helps somebody!