One Car Seat, Two Car Seat, Three Car Seat... Four?

The car seat. In my opinion the most important safety item you will buy for your little one. Safety, comfort, ease of use and longevity of use- all very important things to consider when looking for the ideal seat.

Infant Car Seat


Choosing an infant seat was easy for us. We went with the seat that received top honors for safety and also rated the highest on various review sites. This infant seat is very user friendly. I loved the "stay in car base".The Graco Snugride also happened to be compatible with our strollers clip and go system. A huge bonus! If baby is sleeping you can keep them in the car seat- just remove the seat from the base and clip baby onto your stroller or carry the seat. All the while baby remains snug and happily sleeping.

We paid just under $200 for this seat. Being that Spencer is in the 97th percentile for height he outgrew his seat in just 3 months! A baby can outgrow this seat pretty quickly. However I imagine it could last the average baby a few months longer than it did ours. Spencer is finished with his infant seat and it is like new. Many people sell their used car seats on websites such as Craigs List. Beware- it is not recommended to purchase a used car seat unless you personally know the previous owner. If a car seat has endured even a minor accident the safety of your baby can be compromised. It's not worth the risk.


Baby & Toddler Convertible Car Seat


After a month of searching for the ideal 2nd stage car seat we settled on the Britax Diplomat. This car seat won us over for a number of reasons. For starters Britax seats (pronounced Br-eye-tax)are considered some of the safest car seats on the market. Secondly their seats received top honours in every review I read. Over and over again parents expressed their love for these seats. They noted ease of use, safety, quality and comfort. I really like the head and body cushions. They keep Spencer snug and offer a place for him to rest his head while sleeping. Also, the height of this seat is great- he loves to look out the window on long drives.

We bought our Britax at Jack & Lola's for $275 plus taxes. We will most likely buy our next seat from them too. Chris and I really appreciated the customer service at Jack and Lola's. Plus they have a small parking lot beside the shop where you can try the floor model car seat in your vehicle. After reading various online reviews that stated the importance of the car seat being "compatible" with your vehicle I thought we had best try the seat before making the purchase. Plus leg room was a concern of ours. After trying the Britax Boulevard (our 1st choice) we decided to go with the slightly smaller Britax Diplomat. It's the exact same seat in nearly every way but one. The Boulevard will hold a child up to 65lbs. where as the Diplomat goes up to 40 lbs.. We are pretty confident that Spencer will outgrow his seat in height well before he reaches 65lbs. and so we decided to go with the Diplomat.

The Diplomat features True Side Impact Protection with deep side walls and head support to provide advanced protection in side impact collisions. Easy-turn knob quickly adjusts headrest and harness height without having to uninstall the seat. This feature is a huge bonus! In two months we have used it three times. Removing the seat to adjust the harness height would be a real pain. Especially since each time I've noticed Spencer needed a harness height adjustment I was on my way to a time sensitive appointment. The tangle-free, five-point harness ensures a snug and secure fit. Premium push-button lower connectors provide a quick, simple and tight installation. Unique features include the patented Versa-Tether for energy management, one-hand recline adjustment for child comfort, and a body pillow for positioning. This seat is also certified for aircraft travel. The Diplomat fits children rear facing from 5 to 30 lbs/22"-30" and children forward facing from at least one year old and 20 lbs, up to 40 lbs./27"-40". The Diplomat is made in the USA with U.S. and global components. You can find crash test results and video demos on their website.

One car seat, two car seat... what will number three be? Maybe the Britax Frontier? We'll see! As for number four. I'm hoping booster seat selection will be as easy as it sounds.