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I knew Britax was a good brand(from friends and HB) and I read a lot of Amazon reviews!

Haha, I'm about to start a best-of roundup for another site on convertibles. If $$$ is no object, the Britax seats (Marathon, Advocate, Boulevard) are the gold standard, but they're not the best for tall kids because the shell is shorter and your LO can't rear-face as long. If $$$ is no object for a taller LO, the Radian RXT is probably your best bet.

If you need budget or small-car recs, let me know!

I would also consider how many seats you need, you don't have to spend a ton of money and have all of the same seats for different needs (occassional pick up, grandparents, air travel).

If you're LO is tall, don't even consider the Britax seats. They have a very short shell.

I agree that if your LO is tall, Radian RXT is a great option. Thats what we're doing.

This website is a great place to start. The ladies are very knowledgeable. http://www.car-seat.org/

@Mrs. Yoyo: Thanks! That does ring a bell, I think maybe I read about it before I started salivating over the Radian. But if it fits way better, I should probably give it a chance. At this point they are all running together in my head...I think sleep deprivation + too much internetting has taken its toll.

@tororojo: You may be able to fit the Radian RF with an angle adjuster, but I'm almost positive you won't without it. How old is your LO? They don't recommend the adjuster for LOs under 1, but others think it's OK as long the child can sit up independently. Here's an Amazon review from someone with a Corolla:

http://www.amazon.com/review/RA9KARETE3GR9/ref=cm_srch_res_rtr_alt_7

@dagret: Ah, good to know!

I always start with Consumer Reports, and that, plus some of the ladies here, are having me lean towards the Evenflo Symphony.

@tororojo: one other I forgot since it is new is the Chicco NextFit. People say it isn't a space hog RF though it is a bit wide. Everyone raves about easy installation, which I would expect from Chicco!

Join the group "car seats for littles" on Facebook. They can give you great recommendations based on your child's size and your car.

@Smurfette: I read tons of reviews and ended up getting two convertibles. we got the britax marathon 70 G3 for my car and the Grace snugride 65 for DH's car. The britax is way better!

We just bought a convertible car seat last weekend. After doing lots of research, the consensus from most experts was that the safest carseat was the one that fits your car and your LO the best. This was a big deal for us since I have a very small car. We ended up going to a Babies R Us that would let us try car seats in my car. We ended up trying the Graco MySize and the Chicco NextFit. The MySize barely fit, but the NextFit did the trick. So that's how we decided.

I think you need to make a decision on how long you plan to rear face as well, and go from there. If it's important for you to rear face longer, you might need a bigger seat.

@Smurfette: The main concern is whether she's trending tall. If she isn't, you have more options. If she's always been on the tall end of the growth chart, she'll likely follow that pattern, and you'll want a seat with a taller shell if you want to RF for awhile. Example: my son is 80th percentile for height and has been for awhile. He outgrew his Marathon RF at like 21 months, way before I was ready to turn him.

@Smurfette: We chose the Foonf because LO is 95th %tile for height and I want to RF him as long as possible. We have it installed in our Jeep Liberty, which has a pretty small backseat, especially front to back (not very much legroom back there), and it fits well in the middle. I felt like it was the safest option for us, and the seat we would get the most usage out of. It's expensive, but we decided it was worth it.

@Smurfette: A car seat tech can help with sizing.

@sotofamilia: the online reviews on babies r us seemed pretty good. We've only had the seat for a few days now, but so far we like it. It seems very comfortable, and I like how there are so many adjustment options to get the seat level. It actually fits behind my passenger side seat and leaves room for a passenger. It's taken some practice getting the straps tight enough on LO, but I think it's just the difference between an infant seat and a convertible seat. I thought the infant seat was difficult before I got used to it.

@Mrs. Yoyo: @Smurfette: We have the Chicco Nextfit. Love it so far. The install was CRAZY easy. Also, it has 9 different recline settings, so no angle adjustor needed. Rear-facing, it takes up slightly less room fore-aft than the Keyfit did. The straps can be tricky to get tight...but now that I have them set, I just leave them be! I think that is the case with a lot of them, rear-racing, since the angle to adjust the straps is awkward! So far, very very happy with it. Oh, and we've been using it about 2 months now. @coastmama: @sotofamilia: tagging you two, since you seemed interested in it too!

We have the Chicco Next Fit. Not using it yet because M is still fitting fine in the Key Fit. But we tried installing it and it couldn't have been easier. It doesn't take up tons of space, it's attractive, and I trust Chicco. Even though the NextFit itself is new, Chicco has been making safe car seats for so long.