We have a smallish car - and I like it. Eventually we'll have to get something bigger, but we WON'T get a mini-van. I'm 98% sure I can make it through life without having one. But I'm convinced there's a conspiracy between car seat makers and auto makers - the reason we all have to have giant cars is because the safety of our children depends on the giant seats they sit in.
A friend from Hawaii had recommended a Maxi-Cosi to us, which was on our registry still and an option, but at $240, I thought it was a bit much. Our friend liked it because it was compact and easy to carry with them on long trips. Good news for us. My cousin offered one of her Britax - for free - so we figured we go with that. I did a bit more searching, but free sounded best!
However, that Britax Marathon was a BEAST. The passenger's seat was pushed forward all the way and sitting straight up - i.e., Mom no longer wants to ride with the family in the front.
So, I created a spreadsheet with the facts I could find on Amazon. I wanted to compare them side by side and couldn't find a website that would do that for me. I searched and searched "mom's best convertible car seat" and then could never find the pages again...I think the information changed too often!
Things that were important to us: 1. size, 2. cost, 3. longevity (for our BIG boy) 4. comfort.
Since my cousin's option was so big, and after debating the spreadsheet for so long, we finally decided to buy one from Amazon - for two reasons: free shipping and returns AND there was no where local that sold the one we liked.
It turns out that the Maxi-Cosi our friend had reccomened had updated their seat with a new version. Maxi-Cosi's tag line is something about being designed for Europe's smaller cars. Ding! Important thing #1 check! Price: not so much. It was pricey, but was good up to 70 pounds, so it would work for a while, so our longevity was checked off.
I was stoked to have the car seat dilemma taken care of.
Until.
This. Gi. Gan. Tic. box arrived on my porch.
Seriously?!Not what I was expecting. And when I took it out of the box, it wasn't much smaller. It weighed A TON too. My husband was out of town, so I took baby to my parents and my dad and I tried to install it. The latch belt had been threaded incorrectly (someone else with the same "free returns" idea?!) and since I wasn't sure we were going to keep it, we didn't try too hard. It still took up most of the back seat - and the front passenger seat was uncomfortable.
So, my next stop was my cousin's house - if the Britax was big, I wanted to see if this "compact" version was any smaller. What do you think?
 |
| Maxi-Cosi on the right, Britax Marathon on the left. |
 |
| Maxi-Cosi Pria on the left, Britax Marathon on the right. |
 |
| Looking down at them. The Maxi Cosi was wider too! |
So, off to Target. Why did I not do that before? It was obvious to me in the store which car seats were HUGE and which could would not.
I saw this photo on a box:
 |
| See those "three across" - that's what we all need! Now, what kind of car was that?! |
So, I bought it, brought it home and did a little research. There were a few reviews - but the one woman who was criticizing it was looking at the store's floor model (clearly marked "do not use"). I think there were some problems with her model, because the things she says aren't true of mine - the belt loops all line up below the head rest and the headrest doesn't stick out.
I sat it next to my "European Compact" car seat. Hmmm...who wins? And so, Target win with Eddie Bauer XRS 65. Baby fits until he's 65 pounds, we saved enough money to buy two if we needed to, and Mama can ride as a passenger in our Corolla for a long ride! Ironically, both car seats are made by Juvenile Dorel Group - so, pretty much the same car seat?!
 |
| Happy baby! |
 |
| Small cars need small car seats! |
No comments:
Post a Comment