This month I am totally geeked out about buying Nicholas's new car seat. He is officially one (and started walking last week!! Woohoo!) and is nearing the height limitations on his infant carrier. Before he was born, I had been under the impression that as soon as he turned one, it would be safe to turn him around to forward-facing in his car seat, and our lives would be much easier. I have since been shown way too many graphic videos that show just what can happen in a car accident if your child is turned around too early, and we have officially decided to keep Nicholas rear-facing as long as we can. At least another year, but we will see how big he is by then.
Our little guy was 20.5 lbs at his one-year check up (10-20%) and 30.5 inches long (75%!!!), so he is a little bean pole. A precious bean pole that I would do anything to protect. Including ride in the back seat for our 20 hour road trips just to keep him company and keep him from screaming (even though back seat rides leave me nauseous). That also means I did lots of research on his new car seat and decided that the insane $369 price tag on the Britax Advocate 70 CS was worth it. The side impact wings may seem like overkill, but I would rather overdo it than risk the alternative. The list of features alone makes me drool the way I used to over a pair of Ferragamo heels or new ceramic hair straightener. I have watched the product video at least a dozen times. I was sold when I discovered that you can remove the cover without undoing the harness straps or taking the car seat out of the car.
Of course, I never pay full price for anything (Nicholas's brand new pair of Robeez cost just $3.50 at a consignment store), so I did some research and found the same car seat on albeebaby.com for $277 with free shipping. The website was recommended to me, so I knew it was a legit site. I was already going to get the car seat at that price, too, but then a gift from Nicholas's grandparents caused the price to drop for us significantly more, and we wound up paying less than $100 out of pocket for the best car seat I could find on the market.
I am aware that this isn't doable for everyone. Britax has the best reputation out there for safety and quality, but you really are paying for the extra comfy padding and convenience features. The Advocate is also the most expensive seat they make,. The Evenflo Triumph is a convertible car seat with equally good safety ratings, and it is priced far, far less than Britax. We just go on 20 hour road trips twice a year, and Nicholas will be spending a lot of time in his seat, so I wanted to get one that would make it as comfortable for him as possible.
The most important thing to me is that parents are made aware that it is best to keep your child rear-facing as long as possible. I know it is a pain. Nicholas hates being in the back unable to see us, but I would rather listen to him fuss than to lose him in an accident. Chances are we will never be in a wreck that would be bad enough for this to be important, but I am not going to bet my child's life on it.
