We're researching now as to which convertible carseat we want to get, we don't need it now as our baby still fits in her infant seat.
Our top choices are:
Maxi-Cosi Pria
Nuna RAVA
Graco 4ever
We're open to other suggestions. We drive a Toyota RAV4 if that helps determine a good fit/size too.
Thank you!
I’m trying to decide on a convertible car seat and overwhelmed with the options. I’m looking for something that swivels/rotates and is fairly compact. My husband and I are both tall, and already with just the infant seat installed it’s a tight fit for my legs when I sit in the passenger seat.
Features that would be nice to have would be flame retardant free (was looking at the Nuna Revv but the height/weight limit is low) and easy to switch between cars.
Does what I’m looking for exist? I took the Safe in the Seat quiz and nothing pops up with all those features. When selecting for compact and swiveling seats, only the Graco Turn2Me was given as an option, however I’ve read conflicting reports on whether or not this is truly compact.
Any help would be much appreciated 😅
ETA: now I’m second guessing the swivel feature, is that truly worth it?
7mo old is 34” and over 20lbs, and all of a sudden HATES his infant car seat. It’s time to upgrade. Any recs? Tia!
For the parents: which brands and styles of convertible car seats fit well inside of the Telly?
My LO is rapidly outgrowing her infant car seat and we need to switch to a convertible ASAP but we are having indecision and seeking advice/recommendations/experience.
Important to us:
Safety, good crash test ratings (not sure whose crash test ratings to trust)
rear facing as long as possible
preferably car seats withOUT flame retardant chemicals
preferably car seat that is easy to clean
slim fit might be nice since Mom likes to sit in the back with the baby and we may have another HOWEVER we anticipating our baby to be above average height so she might benefit from extra leg room
We are currently considering Chicco Nextfit Max ClearTex (more leg room) vs. Britax Poplar S (Slim Fit & anti-rebound bar). However, some websites (Baby Gear Lab) gives these average crash test ratings. We are a little confused and open to all advice and alternative car seats. We would like to make the decision soonish. Thank you in advance for all your help. We are in the United States.
Hi, I'm currently looking into a new convertible car seat for my almost one-year-old son and I have no idea if there's a difference in quality and safety between a 200 USD and 550 USD car seat? I'm looking at the most rated car seat on Amazon (Graco, 200 USD) and the Nuna Rava (550 USD) and I feel completely lost. Why is the Nuna more than twice the price?
This is of course not an item we want to save money on but I also got ripped off when we bought an insanely expensive crib... and they overcharged us when we bought our stroller so I'm trying to be smarter in the future.
The time has come to switch my little to convertible car seat so I have been trying to find one that gets top safety ratings as well as (ideally) swivel for easier in/out. It seems that many of the top rated models on consumer reports (i.e. Chico NextFit, Britax) for safety do not have the swivel. Am I missing something? Does the swivel feature make the seat inherently a bit less safe?
It appears that the Baby Jogger is the only swivel convertible car seat that is in the top 5 on consumer reports. It's pricy at ~$500. Worth it?
Side note--interesting to me that the Chico models are rated so highly for safety and did so well in crashes when they only allow for rear facing up to 40 lb and 43 in (instead of 50 lb & 49 in like many other models).
My son is outgrowing his Chico Bravo Keyfit 30 infant car seat. He is only 14 weeks but he is in the >99th percentile for height. We will continue to use the Keyfit for a few more weeks but are looking to purchase a convertible car seat to have for when he is ready to make the switch. What are your recommendation for a convertible car seat that can grow with him?
The Graco Extend-2-Fit was the best for my very tall child
When it comes to price v longevity, especially for a tall child, you really can't beat the graco extend 2 fit (the 2-in-1 version is good, but the 3-in-one is even better). 2-in-1 has a max rear facing height of 49 inches (which many have), but the more important factor is the max HARNESS height. For reference, in just about every car seat, for rear-facing mode you need the straps to be coming out at, or just below the shoulder (and their head needs to be more than 1 inch below the top of the headrest). So you can have two kids at the same height, but if their leg/torso heights are different, one may safely fit in a seat that the other does not. The max harness height on the graco extend 2fit 2-in1 is 17.5 inches, and the 3-in-1is 18 inches.
To my knowledge, the carseat with the single longest rear-facing capabilities (in terms of height) is the britax one4life. Its got a max harness height of 19 inches.
If you want a car seat with an anti-rebound bar for rear facing mode, I am not sure if either the britax or graco has that option. The clek foonf does, and so does the diono 3qx (and 3qxt) - these both have max harness heights of 17 inches. I have both of these seats and generally like them. The clek foonf has an easier installation (which is important because as its so heavy, you can't really use LATCH installation), buts its also heavy AF. However, the easy installation is a huge draw for me because I can feel pretty confident that my parents and in-laws or anyone else can install it safely. I do not let anyone besides my husband or I install our diono (which is also too heavy to use with LATCH + our toddler).
For tall babies though, especially ones with longer legs, I really do hear great things about the extend 2 fit. Its main draw is that it has a function which allows several extra inches of leg room (less leg room doesn't make a carseat unsafe, its really not relevant to rear-facing safety, but it can definitely increase comfort). That said, if you go with this seat - or any of the seats really, make sure it can fit safely in your vehicle. The extend 2 fit would be fine in my husband's truck, but would be essentially useless in my smaller sedan because you couldn't safely install it in its extended mode. We use the diono radian in my car and we needed the special foam pad that pushes the incline up (makes the incline straighter) in order to get it to fit!
2 Questions I would love some input on!
Thoughts on the Nuna Revv 360? Is it worth the $$$ or is something along the lines of the Jogger City Turn, Chicco, Britax or Evenflo a better buy?
Is the swivel feature worth it, or is the Nuna RAVA or Exec worth considering as well?
My little one is 12 months old now and has outgrown his Chicco Keyfit 35. I'm looking for a compact convertible that is narrow. I have a Tesla Model 3 which is quite tight in the back seat.
I was initially looking for rotating ones, but discovered they are quite bulky compared to the normal slim ones.
Ideally under $450, having washable fabric is a plus but not required.
My main priorities are safety, comfort for the kiddo and possibly a narrow one. I live in the US.
Thanks for your help.
My son just turned one and he already seems kind of big/long and uncomfortable in his rear facing car seat. I also feel like he gets very warm as the AC doesn't hit him as well so looking to upgrade.
I'm vaguely familiar with some terms and brands so ideally we find a seat that's Isofix, rotates 360 etc. Basically has all the features you could want and comes from one of the good brands like Joie, Maxi Cosi, Chicco etc. Ideal age range would be 1-6 years I think. No budget.
What are currently the best seats available? Cheers
FTM, due in May. For anyone that skipped the infant car seat and went straight to convertible, what are your experiences with that?
It seems so convenient to go with the infant car seat, but it’s a big cost savings to start with the convertible. Plus, it seems like babies grow out of the infant so fast or it just gets hard to carry pretty quickly.
We live in the suburbs. We’d probably just be taking him to the grocery store, doctors, parents house (15 min away the first couple months. We may have a few trips to see family about 1.5 hours away as well in the first 6 months or so. Having the baby in May, I’m not super concerned about cold weather and having to bundle up baby inside the house.
Will we regret not getting the infant seat? What do you think?
PS: if you have brand recommendations for convertible seats from birth, those are welcome too. Thank you!
I got the infant seat and thought I would regret it but it was just so damn convenient. You can carry them places and if they fall asleep in the car you can bring them upstairs before trying to transfer them to a bed.
The amount my newborn slept, we'd have had so many angry baby moments without that car seat.
So the bucket is nice to pop into a stroller and you can't do that with a convertible.
Where will you put baby before they can sit in the grocery store etc? Baby wear? That works - that's really the only thing I can think of with not getting a bucket seat. Also will your stroller have a lay flat feature or a bassinet so you can use it right away or will you need to baby wear?
looking to purchase a new car seat for LO during black friday sales. originally was thinking the nuna rava but also like the idea of the 360 turning seats such as the evenflo revolve360 or cybex sirona 360.
would love to hear which seats yall use and why you recommend it? :)
Hi everyone! I'm in the market for a convertible car seat in the next couple months for my 6 month old and want to hear your opinions on what is the BEST stage 2/convertible car seat!
Budget is not an issue - I want to know what is the best, most comfortable and ideally not too difficult to install car seat.
I've been looking at the Nuna Rava, various Britax and Clek car seats.
I have a kia forte 2022 sedan. Currently using a chicco keyfit 30 which fits pretty good in the backseat.
Thanks in advance!
Wanting to graduate from the capsule and looking for a convertible car seat that will last a good few years rear facing! Please send me your recommendations and reviews! I can’t make heads or tails of any of them. It would be going in a 4wd
My 17 month old needs a new car seat and I am completely overwhelmed! Any recs of ones you love? I have sedan and I want it to be safe/be able to stay rear facing as long as possible that's my only preferences. There is so much on the market I get bogged down with all the choices and the reviews. Any recs would be amazing and help us so much!
Edit: thank you for all the answers wow! 3 months of using the graco extend to fit and love it! It fits fine in my sedan. I will note I only have 1 kiddo in the back seat so I don't notice/ mind it's size. It's super comfy for LO and aligns with my desire to keep rear facing as long as possible. Noting this in case anyone comes across this post also overwhelmed lol
Trying to balance safety and comfort, would love to hear which car seats you’ve loved!