Deb's Favorites Car Seats for toddlers

Now that your child is growing out of the infant rear facing car seat, it’s time to move on. Choosing the forward facing car seat that is right for you and your child is not an easy decision. No one seat is the safest or the best. Every car seat manufactured for sale in the United States must meet government safety standards.

Don’t base your decision on price alone. As with the infant car seat, there are many factors to be taken into consideration…your car, your child’s age, weight and height and the ease with which you can install it. Once you’ve picked a seat that you like, try it out in your car to be sure it is a good fit. Put your child in the seat and adjust the harnesses. Make sure it’s a good fit to your car. If not return it and try another.

Car seats will often go wherever your child goes, especially when your child gets to be a toddler. If one person drives them to day care and another picks them up the car seat will be taken out of one vehicle and put into another.

Even if you buy the most expensive car seat on the market it won’t make a difference if it’s not properly installed. Statistics show that 80% of the car seats in use are installed improperly. So, when you buy a car seat make sure you understand how to easily install it. The directions should be printed on the seat, but if not keep a copy so that you can refer to them when you need to. Don’t forget that, like the infant car seat, this seat is safest in the rear seat and if possible place it in the center. It’s a great idea to have a CPS (Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians) check your car seat installation. You can contact them toll free at 866.SEATCHECK or 866.732.8243.

The toddler car seat options can be daunting, so here are the few that are highly rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Consumer Reports and my personal favorites.

Britax Roundabout $220
Evenflo Triumph $120
Graco ComfortSport $90
Graco Toddler Safeseat $170
SafeGuard Child Seat $430

Britax Roundabout $220

This car seat is a convertible, which means it can change from a rear facing seat that will accommodate up to a 33 pound baby to a forward facing seat that will hold a 40 pound child maximum height 40”. Whenever something does more than one thing, it usually doesn’t do them both as well. That’s the case with the Roundabout. It is a better forward facing car seat than a rear facing one. The fact that it can convert may seem like a good idea at first, but in reality, but this seat is too bulky to use as a carrier like a traditional rear facing seat, so it’s not as functional as it sounds. It has a 5 point harness, which is crucial for a forward facing car seat. It has EPS foam to cushion and protect your child in case there’s a collision and it can be tethered in both the rear and forward facing positions.

Some parents find this seat to be too big for their car, so try it out in your car before purchasing and check with www.carseatdata.org. They have also said that at first it’s difficult to install especially rear facing position, but it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it. NHTSA and Consumer Reports consider this an excellent car seat. It’s a few dollars more than the competition, but based on its safety record, it is well worth it.

Evenflo Triumph $120
The Evenflo Triumph Car Seat has lots of the same features as the Britax Roundabout but can be bought for $100 less. Like the Roundabout, it’s a convertible car seat but this one can be used up to 35 pounds rear facing and 20-50 pounds forward facing.

It has a Multi Position recline and a special Memory Harness that was designed to ‘remember’ it’s previous setting, making it easier to use for more than one child. It also boasts of a ‘Tension Right’ feature that will let you adjust the harness without re-threading it. Some parents say that both of these mechanisms can take a bit of getting used to. They seem to be a good idea, but might need some refining. It has EPP energy absorbing foam protection (which must be another name for EPS foam) and the base is 2-3” bigger than most car seats, which can be an issue in smaller cars.

The consistent complaint from parents about the Triumph is that the straps can get twisted, aren’t easy to use and that the seat is heavy, so it doesn’t move from one car to another easily. This can present a problem because carpooling will require changing toddlers from one car to another often.

But, this seat is rated as highly by the NHTSA and Consumer Reports as the Britax. So, make sure you’re comfortable with the way all the bells and whistles on this seat work before you commit to buying it.

Graco ComfortSport Convertible Car Seat $90-$140

This convertible 5 point harness car seat that can be used up to 30 pounds rear facing and 40 pounds and 40” tall forward facing. This can be convenient since the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends keeping your child in the rear facing position as long as possible, (minimum 20 pound and 1 year). So once you’re child has outgrown your traditional rear facing infant car seat, you can use this one rear facing then turn it around when your toddler reaches 30 pounds.

There are several different models of this car seat. You can get everything from bare bones to nice padding, cup holders, and lots of extras if you invest a few extra dollars. Even if you’re purchasing a less expensive one for Grandma’s car, make sure you buy one of the models with a 5 point harness.

It has EPS energy absorbing foam lining, a front adjusting harness straps and deep side wings. This seat only weighs 11 pounds and the base is 17” wide (smaller base than the Evenflo) so it fits nicely into smaller cars and is certified for use on an airplane.

Parents find the straps don’t twist and they’re easy to work with, but the harness adjuster is tough to reach when the seat is in its forward facing position.

The ComfortSport Convertible has received a good rating from the NHTSA and an average rating in the crash test from Consumer Reports. So if you’re looking for the simplest of convertible car seats, this one might just be for you.

Graco Toddler Safeseat $130- $190

This Graco car seat is a forward facing seat only. It has a 5 point harness with front adjustment, which makes buckling and unbuckling easier for the parents as well as the child. It’s designed for a child who weighs 20-40 and is a maximum of 43” tall.

The SafeSeat also has a 5 position seat recline feature which can be adjusted with one hand while the seat is installed in the car. This allows parents to have access to the adjustable belt.
It has EPS energy absorbing foam protection and 3 harness height positions to accommodate your growing child.
Graco has thought a lot about the parents needs when they included extras like EZ Wash padding (a removable pad that doesn’t require removing the harness) and an easy to install belt path. It also comes with deep plush padded wings, removable cup holder and snack tray, harness covers and head pillow and body support.
Although it is not rated yet by Consumer Reports, it has been rated A by the NHTSA.

SafeGuard Child Seat $430

The SafeGuard Child Seat is a forward facing seat only that can be used for toddlers from 22-65 pounds and 57” tall. One of its claim to fames is that it’s built of airplane aluminum which I’m sure you can imagine is stronger than the traditional plastic frame.

They’ve built in a retractable Posi-LATCH system that is designed to make installation easier. Also included is SmartCore Foam, which is their version of EPS energy absorbing foam, to protect the child in case of a collision and memory foam which will make the seat more comfy for long rides. In addition the SafeGuard Child Seat has a retractable harness, like the ones we use in our car seat belts.

It seems that most of the parents who are using this seat give it great reviews. The only negative feed back seems to be the about the harness strap system. Although some parents rave about it, some are having problems working with it. So make sure you’ve tried it and like it before you have to deal with it on a daily basis.

The NHTSA has given it an A and although it has not yet been crash tested by Consumer Reports, they have their own in house testing facility to make sure that the seat will meet the same criteria as their competitors.

Parents who have this seat say they feel it’s the most secure seat on the market. This seat makes the Britax Roundabout seat look like a good value, so for $430 it better be.

A few Do’s and Don’t’s to remember:
• When using a car seat, it is best to install it in the rear seat in the center.
• A five point harness is always the best choice.
• It’s best to avoid buying a used car seat for several reasons. It may have been in an accident and seats are not meant to withstand more than one major accident. It’s also possible that it may have already been recalled or could be recalled in the future and if you didn’t buy this brand new, you would not get a notice. It may be more than 6 years old and since plastic can dry out it has expired.

For the latest information on recalls check with the Consumer Product Safety Commission www.consumerproductsafetycommission.com , the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration www.NHTSA.dot.gov or the SafetyBeltSafe USA at www.carseat.org .