« Big Girl | Main | Can you say mom? »
Car Seat
September 16, 2005
Those car seat manufacturers sure are tricky. They sell their infant seats as the seat for infants to 1 year OR 20 lbs OR 26 inches. Well I read this assuming that they'd get to the weight/length limits somewhere around 1 year. WRONG! I don't even know why they put the 1 year limit on there. Any kid that is still not that size by the time they're a year old has bigger problems. I of course have no idea when a baby might hit 20lbs or 26 inches when I was shopping for her seat the first time. Now I know. About 3 1/2 months. She's 15 pounds and 25 1/2 inches. So, off we go car seat shopping again.
Now, Britax has done a bang up job of positioning themselves as the market leader. Ask anyone what the best car seat is and they'll tell you Britax. Then ask them what makes it the best. Those answers aren't as quick to come. But, it costs $289, so it must be the best one, right?
I'm more than happy to spend whatever I need to to keep Mia safe. But, here's the thing: they all have to meet the same safety requirements or they don't get to go on the market. So, then Britax must go above and beyond-- they're even safer that the rest, right? Not according to the safety ratings that I found. In most categories it didn't do any better than the rest, and in some it fared worse! Well, then it must be more convenient to use. Nope. Online reviewers complain about it being big, hard to install, the straps get tangled... the list goes on and on.
So, I think we'll save our $289 and find a perfectly safe, more convenient to use, and significantly cheaper seat.
Posted by Kimberly at September 16, 2005 09:20 PM