1) Graco SafeSeat Infant Car Seat. We started with the Graco Infant Car Seat and I wasn’t thrilled with it as a car seat, though it’s quite popular. The benefit of the Graco is that it’s very versatile. In addition to using it as a car seat, it can be placed in a stroller (listed below) or on any surface area. It just doesn’t seem that comfortable. Infants don’t really notice though. It has 4.5 stars from 53 Amazon customers. (You may want to check out the Graco Snugride Infant Car Seat. It has 4 stars from 74 Amazon customers.)
In terms of chemical concerns, I recently read about concerns about PBDEs in foam that can be in car seats, furniture and under carpets. It reminded me of the fact that the Graco car seat cover was slipping over the foam underneath and my daughter had been picking apart the foam and sometimes putting it in her mouth. If I could do things differently, I probably would have still bought the Graco car seat for its versatility, but I would have purchased another car seat cover so that my daughter could not access the foam. Click here to read more about minimizing exposure to PBDEs.
1a) Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat. This better secures the car seat to the car. If you get the Graco car seat, then I highly recommend this and the stroller frame down below. This has 4.5 stars from 172 Amazon customers.
2) Britax Convertible Car Seat. My daughter recently outgrew the Graco so we just purchased a Britax Convertible Car Seat and it’s fabulous! The Department of Transportation installed it and said that it is among the safest and is very popular — a good choice. It’s also much more comfortable for my daughter than the Graco. It’s just a bit tall, but that doesn’t bother us. This has 4.5 stars from 228 Amazon customers at the time of this writing.
FYI, I kept hearing that if a car seat was installed properly, then it was a real hassle to install. The DOT will do it for parents, as do some police stations.
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The email correspondence below is from a NYC mommy group:
i bought the combi coccoro car seat and the flash stroller. overall i am happy with it although it isn’t perfect. previously i was using the graco snugride with the maclaren traveller and it functions the same way. it’s great for travel (in the city and on the plane & train) and eliminates the need to bring a separate stroller and car seat. it’s small compared to other 2nd stage car seats.
things that could be improved:
when i put the carseat down on the floor it needs to be leaning against something or it tips over (for me this is the biggest drawback)
there’s no sun protection
the seatbelt is threaded under the child’s legs (instead of over the lap like the infant carseat) which makes it a little more difflcult to strap in with the child already in the seat. i am getting more comfortable and better at this as i use it but its not ideal.
hope this is helpful. if you want to try it out let me know.
my best,
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We plan to get the Combi
Coccoro soon.
My contributions to the car seat conversation come from the Car Seat
Lady, which I think I’ve shared with the group before.
http://www.thecarseatlady.com/
They helped us install our infant car seat ($60 for someone to work as
long as it takes to get the seat installed properly in your car), and
they told us to give a call when we’re ready to upgrade to the next
size up. I called the other day because Nan appears to be busting out
of her Graco Snug Ride, and I got lots of helpful info. First, it’s
OK if the baby’s shoulders are above where the straps come out, in
fact, it makes them more secure. The issue is that the top of their
head not get to within 1 inch of the top of the car seat. This is
great, as it buys us more time with the infant seat! Who knew.
She also told us the best car seats to leave in our car (the right car
seat depends on the make/model of your car). Some car seats don’t fit
well in certain cars.
Then she told us what we should look at for our taxi needs, and the
one she recommended was a Combi Coccoro, which has its own Snap N Go
It supposedly can last to up to 3 or 4 years old, depending on how
your kids grow.
http://www.combicoccoro.com/
Also, here are two handouts she created that she asked that I share
with other mommies:
- Tips for Safe Taxi Travel
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfg2957c_371c8wzpqkb
- Rear-facing for Toddlers
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfg2957c_373p6sgxqc9
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The Combi looks great. I think I’m down to the Britax Marathon / Go Go Babyz vs. Combi / Flash combo. How long do you think the Combi / Flash could be used by a child – up to about 3? Would they really sit in it as a stroller or do you think it’s more practical from the apartment to the cab standpoint?
http://www.combi-intl.com/Products/Item.aspx?Item=49
Thanks again,
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They say it is can be used up to 33 lbs on the flash stroller. I bought it too, but haven’t used it yet. The other thing that doesn’t make it ideal for older children is that the seat only faces you when used as a stroller. I assume it will be good enough when I need to take a taxi and travel. I didn’t consider the britax/gogo option, but it seems like it is between having child close to the ground/heavy seat with britax/gogo vs facing in/other nonideal features that sara mentioned with combi/flash.
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the combi coccoro goes up to 40 lbs OR 40 inches so it won’t last as long as the britax marathon which goes up to 65 lbs OR 49 inches.
the combi is a legit stroller option. i have been facing it out, away from me (i thought it was the right way until i watched the video!) and it feels secure.
if i were planning on keeping it in the car i wouldn’t buy the coccoro, i would go for the britax.
Some more relevant email correspondence among my mommy email group:
We have the Marathon CS (click safe) and a Go Go Babyz (for transport). We have yet to try it on a plane, but I have transported from apt to car using the Go Go Babyz.
I’m happy (and Max seems happy, too), with it. I still have him rear facing and he can easily see out the window. It took me about a half an hour to install the first time, but now it’s very easy for me to do so using the LATCH system.
Yes – it’s not light, but not terrible if you have the Go Go Babyz to travel with. Hope this helps. If you want to try ours out, let me know. It’s in Grandpa’s car today, but we’ll have it this week.
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i’m curious about this too. looking for feedback on the britax or graco convertible seats…
i bought the maxi cosi and went to the police station in white plains for installation….they claim to do the most in the state of ny. they basically told me it wasn’t a great seat and was too wobbly in my car. also, they claimed that the straps are much harder to adjust than other manufacturers, and getting it in and out of the car is more challenging.
so now i am back to square one and considering a britax or graco.
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We have a Britax Boulevard and it is great for the car. Samantha is very comfortable and can see out just fine. She has yet to adjust it and I’m not sure she will ever be able too.
As for taking it on the plane…we just took ours on the plane on our trip to barbados and we felt it was a huge mistake. First it didn’t fit down the aisle of the plane and my husband had to carry it over the seats. Second it was too big for the seat and her feet kicked the seat in front of her the whole time. Plus she didn’t want to sit in it. On the way back we put the car seat in a spare seat in the back of the plane and just let her sit on the seat and held her in our lap for take off and landing. If you do decide to bring the seat on the plane I got the gogo kidz travel mate which was really a good way to transport her in the carseat through the airport. We are flying again in March and I bought a kids airplane travel harness, I’m hoping it works well.
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