December 5, 2012

Sitting Pretty

After spending about an hour at Sears today with a sales associate who walked me through just about every detail possible, I finally decided which carseat would be the last carseat we ever buy for Emmy.

I had done some online research and narrowed it down to the following options:

Graco Nautilus Gavit 3-in-1 Multi-stage car seat:
What I liked about it:
> it reminds me of a captains chair, so it seems like it would be very comfy
> it has a very tall sitting height, which will be good for our long-torsoed little Lemon
> ease of recline and ease of harness height adjustment
> good safety rating
> converts to a booster and then a backless booster

What I didn't like about it:
> it's wide. If we ever (easy Mum, I'm just saying) had another baby it might be tricky to have this, another carseat AND an adult in a backseat

Diono RadianR100 Convertible+Booster:
What I liked about it:
> it has a simple installation with LATCH hooks that are similar to the ones in our Britax 
> it has a very tall sitting height like it's competition, which will be good for our long-torsoed little Lemon
> good safety rating
> the carseat sits very low on the seat of the car (because of the short base) so it's easy for Emmy to get in and out of it on her own, which we tested right there at Sears
> if we ever had another baby (seriously Mum, who knows what may happen in four years) he/she could use this carseat right out of the hospital

What I didn't like about it:
> it didn't have a drink holder (kind of a silly thing, but the other one did, so this stood out)
> moving the harness height up seems a bit more involved than it's competition even though everything I had read said that it is simple to do
> it doesn't convert to a backless booster which the lovely Sears associate said could be a problem if an older child doesn't want to sit in a "baby seat" to which I replied "She will sit where I tell her to sit!". 

I waffled back and forth, but when it came time to pull the trigger, I chose the RadianR100 and I can't wait to get it installed in our car and see what Emmy thinks! Our current seat will move to Grama and Grampa's car so we aren't constantly transferring one seat back and forth from car to car! 


4 comments:

Jessica said...

The Nautilus is wide, but I have a Nissan Maxima and I was able to fit the Nautilus and an infant carrier side by side. It can work ☺

And YAY for the Nautilus! I also think it looks like a captain's chair. We called Colin, Captain Colin for a few week's after buying it, hehe

Jodi said...

I would have been happy with both of them - I seriously changed my mind about five times and I think the Sears associate was starting to get a bit impatient, but they were both good choices, so it was a hard decision to make!

Anonymous said...

don't forget that when emmy can fit into a booster (with just the belt of the car) in a few years, i brought mom and dad that compass one. :) i like the one you bought... it's so nice to be able to have them climb up and in by themselves... also by then their little fingers are dextrous enough to do up the belt by themselves -- gives a great sense of "hey i AM a big kid!!!". love you!!

Jodi said...

^^ I haven't forgotten, don't worry. That's the booster she will use in Grama and Grampa's car when the time comes. :)