Which Toddler Car Seat Worked for You?

Consumer reports are really biased in their findings are not to be trusted. The crash tests that they do are car seats that were installed incorrectly and not by the manufacturers instructions. Every car seat on the United States market passes a set of standards. I am realistic and I realize that certain car seats will do better in others, however, we would never know which car seats do better than others and in what situtations. For example, car seat A may do better in side impacts and car seat B may do better in front impacts.

But the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations say that a properly used rear facing car seat is always safer than a properly used forward facing car seat. So that is a great thing to hear that you want to rear-face your child for as long as possible. You sound to be really informed on this matter!

I would lean toward Graco if your only brand choices are between Graco and Britax. This is because Britax convertibles have short shells. Only the shell can be used for rear facing; the headrest positions are not part of the shell. Their convertibles do go up to 40 lbs in the rear facing position, but many children will outgrow these convertibles by height before weight.

Their next generation convertibles are very similar to each other. The Britax Boulevard 70 has some extra padding "wings" beside the child's head. While the Advocate 70 is a Boulevard 70 with huge side-impact cushions. Britax convertibles also have a tall base, which means you must lift up your child into the seat. A common complaint I do hear among parents with a Britax convertible is that the convertible offers less leg room than their own infant car seat! This is not a safety issue and is not a comfort issue for the child, however parents are often concerned by this.

I don't want to sound too negative about Britax either because their car seats are VERY easy to install without putting in a ton of effort and it will install rock-solid in a variety of vehicles. Also, built in lock-offs helps aid installation and any "tipping" the car seat might do from a locked shoulder seat belt. They also work well in compact cars that need the front-to-back space, especially in the center seating position.

I would go with the Graco Size 4 Me 70 also known as the Graco My Size 70. This is because this car seat has the tallest height limits on the market for a rear facing car seat. Graco says that the car seat is outgrown rear facing when the child is 40 lbs or when the child's head is 1 inch from the red plastic in the top most headrest position.

Another popular extend-rear facing car seat is the Diono Radian. It has a steel frame and the R120 and the RXT model goes up to 45 lbs in the rear facing position. Do not assume that a rear facing car seat that goes up to 45 lbs will last longer than a 40 lb rear facing car seat. The Graco Size 4 Me 70 convertible has taller height limits, but the Diono Radian has a very low base for easy child boarding and offers a ton more leg room than other car seats on the market. Unlike Britax, the Diono Radian tends to take up a ton of front-to-back space in the vehicle, however Diono has created an angle adjuster to solve this issue.

Edit: The Britax B-Safe infant car seat only goes up to 30 lbs in the rear facing position, unless you are talking about an older convertible that you have.

Awesome! Good to know you plan on RF as long as possible.

I would look at the Diono Radians, Safety 1st Complete Air and Graco Size4Me70 (aka MySize70).

I used a Graco MyRide 65 and Evenflo Triumph 65 for extended rear facing. The MyRide lasted until 2.5 years old and the Triumph to 3 years old when they were outgrown by height rear facing, for a boy who is over the 97th percentile for both height and weight. Both seats should last you longer if your little girl isn't extremely tall.

If you're going to go Britax again, skip the Roundabout. It will last the least amount of time of their convertibles.

Our favorite two long-lasting seats are the First Years True Fit and the Diono Radian 100. The True Fit is full of padding and quite roomy. The Diono fit fine in our car with no problems, getting the seat ready to go took a bit of time (they have videos for each step). This seat is also steel frame. Our car is older so we did a seat belt install, it also includes LATCH and superLATCH (you pick which of the three installs). What is great - this fit our lil one at 5 pounds and also fits our just turned 6 yr old can fit in the harness so it will last. The difference, the True Fit has the top of the shell that can be removed for better rear facing fit in some cars. We rear faced to about age 3 or older in these seats with plenty of room.

We use a Graco MyRide 65 for the toddler stage. It is comfortable and safe, and I kept both my kids rear facing until about 2. They both like it fine and have no complaints. The Graco does not have all the "features" of the Britax, but I personally found the Britax I tried impossible to use. Could not install it into my car properly. Also, Britax seats have higher levels of contaminants like heavy metals: http://www.healthystuff.org/departments/childrens-...

Now we have a Britax Marathon, and it is fine with the seatbelt or Latch connections. Double examine within the manual or along with your supplier about Latch, though- almost every automobile made considering that 2003 has it.

we used Graco for all three of our kid. we used the Graco MyRide 65