Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Convertible Car Seat


I had somebody ask for my advice on a convertible car seat tonight. I love this question because it has probably been my most debated baby gear decision thus far in the game. I ended up buying a Britax Roundabout (actually my insurance company bought it but that is another story). This is after I asked all my friends who had kids bigger than me, did a church wide post on the church website, purchased and returned a Britax Marathon and picked up every car seat I could get my hands on. And still, if I could do it over again I would have chose something different. Not because I don't love my Roundabout, I do. There is nothing I don't love about it, except for the crumbs Charlie leaves all over it.

Could I do it again, I would have bought the Sunshine Kids Radian for the following reasons that I think it would suit our need better than a Britax:
- It folds up. Talk about convenience when traveling!
- You can fit three in the backseat of an average size vehicle without a problem
- The weight limit is higher than the Roundabout yet it is still a manageable size (which, I didn't feel the Marathon was). You can choose a 65 or 80 lb limit.
-The price is a bit less than the Britax


That being said, everybody's needs are different. I will likely (hopefully!) need to fit three car seats in the back of my wagon someday and I have a big boy who may need a bigger car seat before a sibling is ready for the Roundabout.


When I purchased the Britax the best deal I found was on Best Buy Baby. It is good to check from day to day however depending on who has a good coupon or free shipping. I rarely pay shipping and never pay tax on these types of online purchases. Let me know if you need help finding the lowest price on a Radian.

Also, let me know if you have any other questions on car seats. I spent a lot of time and energy researching this so I may be able to direct you towards a good article, link or product!
**I received a comment questioning the safety of the Radian. As a disclaimer, I must say you need to research this decsion on your own and decide what is safest for you family. We use the Latch system and I feel confident from my research that this is a very safe car seat for that setup. http://www.car-seat.org/ is a good site with a ton of information.
Other sites I found helpful:

2 comments:

The Hunter Family said...

Great advice! Baby Cheapskate (http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/) is saying Britax Fall sale starts 9/15.

Anonymous said...

The research that I have done and a seat belt installation person (can't remember the appropriate title for him) told me that the Britax was the safest car seat by far and not to purchase any other brand. Even though they are expensive, I think it is worth the money and it's really easy to install plus they are really comfy for the little ones!