Car Seats

Good Morning,

I have never posted here before, but I have heard great things about this board. I apologize if you already answered this question, or ones similar.

My son will be 15 months on 11/20. At his last check up in August he was 21 lbs. and 29 3/4" long. He is still in his infant carrier because he just started growing, he was in the 3rd percentile forever. Also the carrier I received at my shower was much larger than the ones I normally see. It is definitely time to purchase a new seat for him. I have heard over & over that it is best to keep them rear facing as long as possible for safety and I am fine with that. I don't know what the FF/ RF requirements are though. So my question is; is there a carseat available that he can be in RF now and can be turned around later to FF? Or do you have to buy separate ones, one RF & one FF? Is he too tall for RF now anyway? I imagine he's grown a 1/2" or more since his last check up.

Money is extremely tight (single Mom no child support) so I also need an economical car seat, but safety is of utmost importance ofcourse. I have a Jeep Gr. Cherokee so I don't think room is an issue, he's on the passenger side anyways, and most of my friends are short:)

I hear the term 'convertible' seat alot and am not sure what that means exactly.

I'm sure you've figured out by now I'm a first time mom and pretty clueless. I was so lucky when I got such a great car seat for my shower!

Any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated!

On a different subject, does anybody know if you can just change your screen name? I came up with mine very quickly when I was about 7 weeks pregnant and in complete shock, and although being a mom is still very scary its the best thing I've ever done and do not think that 'tryingnototfreak' is appropriate any longer. 

Thanks Again!

~Sue

As long as your son has 1" of hard shell over his head he's still okay to RF in whatever seat he's in. (And he's under the weight limit ;-) ).

There are lots of seats that go RF to FF.

 The Cheapest one would be the Cosco Scenera, it runs about $40-45 and it RFs up to 35#, FFs to 40#, it lasts kids until 3-4yr old . So if you go with it you'll have to buy another harnessed seat (likely harness to Booster like the Nautilus) in a couple years.

My favorite convertible right now is the Graco MyRide 65, it's $145-150 (sold online at Walmart or in Person at Target) it RF's to 40# and FF's to 65# and should last your son until he's 6yo or more so at that point you could just get him a dedicated booster seat.

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Thank you so much for your reply, this gives me a great place to start looking.

 I think theres still an inch between his head and the top of the seat, but I'm worried about his legs because they are bent a little. I'm afraid of what would happen to them if there was a collision.

I had no idea you could still rear face at 40# I would have thought their legs would be way too long.

Thanks Again!

~Sue

I agree that the Cosco Scenera is the most economical choice. The Graco My Ride is an excellent seat if you able to work it out with your budget.

I wanted to offer a couple of other ideas too... Safety First Avenue which runs about $80. It only harnesses to 35lb rf and 40lbs ff like the Scenera. However, it has a taller shell, slightly higher harness slots and will last a little longer. It's also a step up in plushness with a little more padding.

Another car seat to consider is the Evenflo Triumph Advanced. It usually runs about $130, but I know some people have found it for less. It rf to 35lbs and ff to 50lbs. Most kids will be able to stay in this seat until they are 5 or 6 years old, and depending on the size and maturity of your child, you may be able to move your child from this seat to a booster seat. If you said your budget was $150, then I would definitely recommend the My Ride over this seat though.

You mentioned something about rf children in car seats. Here are some pictures of older children sitting in rf car seats... http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum.aspx. If you click on the pictures, you'll be able to see the big picture of the child with the child's feet position on many seats.

HTH