Hellobee Boards

We bought two Britax car seats (well one was gifted from our shower) for our two cars. It worked out nicely because when DS became old enough we didn't have to buy another car seat for him.

We now have one kid car, so we don't have enough car seats for two cars.

We bought two Graco My Size 70s. And I waited for them to be on sale (each were ~$137). But if I was going to get something like the Foonf, I'd probably get the Foonf for the more used car and something cheaper for the other car!

We will be buying two car seats once she is out of the infant seat. Right now my car is the main family car. But next year we are getting DH a new car, so that will be the weekend family car. So we need a good seat in both cars. I do drop off and pickup at day care.

I want the Foonf for my car. We are going to wait and see how it fits before we bite the bullet. We bought the Chicco NextFit on Monday (amazon glitch for $150) so that will probably be in DH's car.

We have two cheap car seats.

We have 2 Britax, one in each car. The Britax always rates right at the top of consumer reports and surveys so I didn't see any reason to spend an additional $100+ on each seat to get something else. We also bought a car seat for my parents car.

We do a seat per car where my son travels, so at the moment, we have three seats. They are all different brands and models.

I think if your goal is to rear face for an extended time, you're buying at a good time, because the other manufacturers of car seats are starting to get hip to the fact that Clek is stealing some of their market share....Britax hasn't gotten there yet, but Graco and Diono for sure are.

We have the infant bucket seat (Graco 35) in my car, and a convertible (can't remember the brand!) in DH's truck. She only rides in his car to daycare, because it's a 2-door truck and I don't feel comfortable with her being in it very often. I actually wanted the bigger, beefier car seat in his truck for that reason. I figure it's got more protection. When he gets a new truck next year we will buy another convertible for my car.

We plan to have one for each car.

Bit the bullet and bought two expensive car seats. But had finances been an issue, we would have found less expensive, but good ones! There's no way I'm going to reinstall car seats. That just causes wear and tear on the components. We split drop off and pick up, so one seat is not an option for our family

We only had one infant seat, the base lived in my car (which we used 90% of the time) and if we ever needed to use his car we'd just strap it in without the base. Now that she's in a convertible we have a Britax Boulevard in my car, and a Safety 1st 'got it on sale but does the trick' in his car. We like the Britax better but it was easier for us each to have a seat for daycare pickups/dropoffs.

I don't see the point of the foonf....sure it's pretty, but so much money when there are lots of other cheap safe options out there.

We have a sedan an and SUV and 1 car seat in the SUV. (Recaro proride-love it!). I think head protection is super important.
We usually only use the SUV with LO, so there was really no need for another seat.

Two Britax Boulevards! We need 2 more convertible seats.

We have one Britax in my car (who has her 95% of the time) and a cheaper one for DH's car that is installed in case of emergencies or if he for some reason has to do dropoff/pickup.

I didn't want to spend the money on a Clek when I knew there were just as safe of options out there for cheaper. I for sure woudln't have bought two of them!

I think it's also important to note a few things though....

Just because you (general) purchase an expensive car seat, it doesn't mean that you will install it correctly. Given how complicated the installs can be, especially when you factor in the variables on the size and pitch of the seats and the updated lower LATCH limit rules in effect for 2014, a terrifyingly large number of seats in the US are installed improperly. Add that to too much slack on the straps and you've got a deadly combination no matter how much you spent on your seat.

Also, with respect to testing the seats, they're only tested to a minimum safety rating by the NHTSA, so you can quote all the statistics you want, but until ALL seats are vigorously tested using the same testing methodology, there is no simple way for parents to measure the safety of their seats.

I think that's the thing we as parents need to rally behind...better testing.

We have one for each car. There is too much margin for installation error when you're switching them, plus they're a PITA.

Im going to echo @Adira: and say I LOVE our My Size 70. Got it on sale for $149. I was deciding between it, the Radian, the NextFit and the Foonf... the Graco won for us. It holds up against the more expensive seats for sure and C loves it too. It's the only seat we've owned that she will sleep longer that 30 minutes in. Huzzah!

"Also, with respect to testing the seats, they're only tested to a minimum safety rating by the NHTSA, so you can quote all the statistics you want, but until ALL seats are vigorously tested using the same testing methodology, there is no simple way for parents to measure the safety of their seats."

This x 1000.

@looch: I get what your saying about an improper install negating (or reducing) some--or all--of the safety of a car seat. But, for the purposes of evaluating the car seats--comparing features between/amongst the different seats--you have to assume that all the seats have been installed correctly. Otherwise, a comparison would not be possible. It may be an imperfect baseline, but you need one from which to operate.

We had to get six (yes, six) car seats. Two for my car, two for my mom's car (she bought them, thank god, because she takes them two days a week) and two for the nanny. My mom and I bought nicer ones, because we use them so regularly- we bought Evenflo 65DLXs. I bought cheap ones for the nanny, as she uses them so rarely, and they're still safe.

@MsLipGloss: yes, that is true, but the fact is most seats aren't installed perfectly in reality. And furthermore, unless the tests on the most expensive and the least expensive seats are completed by the same agency, the results of your manufacturer against my manufacturer can't be compared with intellectual honesty.

That is not my point though. I don't want any parents to feel that if they don't spend $500 on a car seat, they are not doing right by their child. It simply isn't the case.

@MsLipGloss: I hope you don't think I was implying that you personally (or anyone else that purchased a Foonf) wasted money.

I just don't want parents that can not afford expensive seats to feel as though they're not protecting their child.

Ok, phew!!!