Red has always been a big baby. Except for, maybe the first 3 weeks of this life when he was long and skinny, what you see above has been the rule. Tall & “Solid” (as my Father-in-Law says). That meant he outgrew his infant carrier car seat pretty fast. By about 6 months he was too long for the seat recommendations, and way too heavy for me to lug around without some kind of snap-n-go contraption.
So Santa Mama and Santa Daddy thought early and thought hard. A new carseat would be a perfect early Xmas gift. Well, hell’s bells – now which one do we get???? If you are not familiar with car seats, there are a few “stages” or categories. Stage 1 is anything that resembles a bucket:
It clicks into a base installed in your car, and usually will accommodate babies up to 30 lbs, depending on the manufacturer recommendations. Stage 2 carseats are sometimes known as “convertibles” switching from the mandatory rear facing position (for babies under 40 lbs or a certain age) to a forward facing position for older babies and toddlers up to a certain poundage. Some convertible car seats can actually do all three stages, making them good for many parents and situations – including child care, multiple children in the family, etc. like the Graco Smart Seat. Here is a stage 1-2 convertible (doesn’t go to stage 3):
Then there are the Stage 3 car seats, which are larger booster seats for toddlers usually over 2 years or a certain poundage, forward facing ONLY:
Another thing to factor in is car seats have an expiration date or lifespan. It’s usually around the 6-8 year mark. This is due to materials wearing out and degrading, as well as technologies advancing. Because we were getting a stage 2 or convertible car seat SO early, we opted for only a stage 2 carseat because if the car seat only had a 6 year span, and we needed the car seat for 8 years – well – we were going to have to buy a new one anyway.
We chose the Evenflo Triumph you see posted above. And I love it. It’s sooooo easy to adjust the straps at a moment’s notice with no rethreading, easy as peas to install in and out of Hubs (my husband) and my cars, and the seat completely removes in less than a minute to machine wash and dry. NICE. Lifespan of about 6 years. And, with a coupon AND a sale, I got it at Babies R Us for $106. Bam!
Whenever Red reaches the 40 lbs mark, or is so scrunched, we will turn him around to face front (always in the backseat, people!) until he reaches the 60 lbs mark. Then we wil re-evaluate to move to a booster. It was a painstaking, choosy process, but we got the seat that best fits our needs.
EDIT: I’ve been using the Evenflo Triumph LX for just shy of a year, and I can say I love it more than any other car seat I’ve interacted with. It’s a breeze to adjust, Red likes to sit in it VERY much, and the cover cleans like a dream. Looking back at the incredible price point, I would buy this car seat again in a heartbeat. I’ve recommended it to 3 friends with babies, and each of them chose this car seat over all others for stage 2.
EDIT: Red needed another car seat in Hub’s car, and with his advance size, we chose the Nautilus, making this seat last longer. One over the Triumph: the cup holder. When you child is old enough, having an available drink on the long ride is helpful, and the secret toy compartments add entertainment on the way. We’re still using the triumph in my car, and the no-thread belts combined with the easy release buckle still make it my favorite.
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thanks doll! i’m looking into a convertible so this helps… a lot!
No problem! Ask me anything else and I’ll try to give you my experiences or answer your question!
I think the “experation” for a car seat is actually 5 years. Just a heads up. 🙂
I know my Evenflo is 6 years, per the manufacturer manual, and I read somewhere that the Graco Smart Seat was nearly 8 years. That might be incorrect, as the Graco website states that most of their seats have an expiration of 6 years (my bad)! Thank you so much for reading! And ask me questions if you have them, or recommend topics – I’m totally open, Mama!
I’m so glad you posted this when you did! We just transitioned last week from the Stage 2 seat little Hayden’s had for a few years now to a booster seat! (At least in one car, we’re working on it for the second car.)
Car seats can be so overwhelming! You picked one really, really similar to the one we’ve been using, and we’ve loved it. It keeps kiddo safe, is easy to clean, and is really durable.
Hayden has always been really small for his age, so it wasn’t until he hit a recent growth spurt that he got anywhere close to outgrowing his Stage 2 (he’ll be five in March, so we definitely got our money’s worth out of that carseat!). We thought about getting one of the convertible booster seats, mostly so he’d have something on the side to rest on during the long car trips he has every week between his mom’s house in Charleston and our house over three hours away, but since he is (finally!) tall and heavy enough for the “big kid seat” as he calls it, we went with that one.
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