Looking for a new car seat for DD2. She has just about outgrown her carrier and we need TWO convertible car seats for our cars (one drops off at daycare, one picks up - and I don't want to deal with switching the seat).
So, what do you love about the car seat? what do you hate?
Please keep cost in mind because we want to buy two of them eventually and we are both teachers 
lol
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We love our carseats, but they're relatively basic compared to what a lot of people seem to prefer around here. We have Graco Size4me 65s for both of our kids. https://smile.amazon.com/Graco-Size4Me-Convertible-Seat-Finch/dp/B01BGVLTPQ/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1523389651&sr=8-4&keywords=graco+size4me+65+convertible+car+seat
They rear face to 40lbs, and the rear facing height limit is so high that it's basically not relevant. Then they forward face to 65lbs, and I think the height limit is 4'9". My almost 6 year old still fits in his comfortably and he wears size 7 pants. A bit part of why we originally chose them was because of the price point, which was around $150/seat when we bought the first set, but by the time we bought a set for LO #2, I got them on sale for $115/seat
These seats have held up really well for us and will take both kids until they're ready to move to a booster only seat. These seats offered all the features we wanted at a price point we could handle and received a Consumer Reports rating of best. https://carseatblog.com/36420/the-safest-convertible-carseats-new-crash-protection-ratings-and-methods-from-consumer-reports/
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I just asked some questions the other day about convertible car seats.
I have the Maxi Cosi Pria 85 for LO1 (2.5) and like it fine. It’s kinda middle of the road price-wise if you don’t get a special design, super comfy, LO gets in and out great (still rear facing)
I ended up just buying a Chicco next fit for LO2 (12mo). It hasn’t come yet but people seem to like it a lot. It’s a bit thinner than the Maxi Cosi and I wanted to have room to sit between them.
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I have the Graco 4Ever All-in-1 for my 2 yo son ever since he got too heavy for me to lug him around in his infant seat. He has never acted like it was uncomfortable and its really easy to install. I don't know if all brands have the no thread feature, but it makes it really easy to adjust the straps as he grows.
Also if you buy it from Bed Bath & Beyond or Buy Buy Baby, you can use the 20% off a single item coupon on it (not all brands allow that, but Graco does in my experience). The coupon will save you $60 taking it down to $240 before tax and shipping is almost always free over $100.
ETA: You could probably use the coupon on the Graco Size4Me that was recommended above also as long as they carry it.
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Is your LO short, average, tall? Heavier? Anyone else in the back? Is space a concern? How long do you want to rear face? Those are the main factors I would look at.
My LO has always been 95-99% for height, with a lot of her height in her torso, and 85% percentile in weight. So it was really important to focus on height limits and harness height when picking a seat.
We have a graco 4ever in each car that we really like. It rear faces to 40 pounds or 49 inches (a height that is practically impossible to hit before 40 pounds). It forward faces to 65 pounds or 49 inches or a torso height of 18 inches. I also love the multiple recline positions, it is pretty upright. DD is 3 years 4 months and still rear facing.
The extend2fit came out a couple of months after we bought seats though and I wish we had two of those. They rear face to 50 pounds instead of 40 and still have the high height limits. It can also be a bit more compact. The harness height is a littler shorter than the 4ever though.
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We have two Graco Extend2Fits and love them. You can rear-face up to 50 lbs, and our son is very happy with it. They seem comfy, and they have two cupholders, which he actually uses a lot more than I expected, haha. Highly recommend. They aren't super expensive either. If you have some time, you can set up a price alert on camelcamelcamel.com so you get pinged when the Amazon price gets to a point you like. I actually got one of ours for $107, though that was Black Friday. You definitely don't have to spend a ton on a fancy convertible seat, they all have to pass the same safety guidelines!
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We have Chicco NextFits for our boys. They ARE a bit more pricey, but they have held up very well. Our boys are quite tall for their age, but average/low in terms of weight. Our 3.5 year old is still rearfacing just fine. The thing that sold me on the NextFits is the ease of installation. Its easy to get a rock solid install very quickly. I also have the Zip for DS2 and its so easy to wash and clean. The non-Zip isn't BAD per se, but the Zip is so much easier.
That said, we put 2 Cosco Scenera Nexts in our other car, which picks up the kids sometimes, but not as regularly. We got these because they are very cheap, they rarely have to be removed from the vehicle (so a more annoying install is fine), and they are like 9lbs each so we use them for air travel. They rear face until 40lbs and 40' inches and front face to 40lbs and 43 inches. This definitely means they have a shorter life than the pricier seats, but we'll just get a cheap harness to booster for DS1 when he outgrows the seat and DS2 can still use his seat for a good long while. This is also less relevant if your kid isn't as tall as mine are.
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We absolutely love our Graco Extend-2-fits for the same reasons as @MrsSCB: . Comfy, extended limits, 2 cupholders, compact even when RF, good price point (usually $150 somewhere.) We have 3 for LO1 and might buy 3 more for LO2 when she grows out of her infant seat, that's how much we love it.
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We have two of the Graco 4Evers and although price point is a bit higher, I waited for Amazon to drop the price and we ended up paying $210 each with tax. Although more costly we figured it would last much longer! The cup holders are kind of a pain right now (we constantly knock them off) but I foresee them being helpful in the future
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@mrsmacSLP: make sure you have the cupholders on the correct sides - they are marked right and left. They should not come off easily once installed. If they are on the correct side and still coming off contact graco to see what they recommend. The cupholders are required for proper installation.
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I love my Diono Radian R100 and the other 2 models my MIL has (she totes 3 grandkids), but when we had to get car seats for my mom’s car we went with Evenflo for the price and ease of use. The Symphony, Sureride, and Triumph are all models we considered. Of course I can’t remember what we went with but we have a RF and FF Evenflo in my mom’s car and they are both really easy to use and to install. I really don’t like Graco seats but I think I’m the only one 🤷♀️ I can never get them to fit tightly in Subaru’s and the straps always get twisted in the harness and I don’t have these problems with our Diono, Britax, or Evenflo seats.
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@catgirl: What?!? No way! I’ll go out now and check!
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Chicco Nextfit Zip. My daughter threw up in hers yesterday and all I had to do was zip off the cover, rinse it, and throw it in the wash. The end. That alone makes it worth it to me! Also, easy install, and I got it for a decent price.
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