We're all about car seats this week and we want to know what you are sporting. Infant rear facing? Convertible? Booster? How did you decide on the model you have? Did you consult consumer reports or some other media? What's the best/worst feature on the model that you have? What's most important to you when picking out a car seat. That kind of thing.

We have 3 up to 100lbs tethered seats which are the same for all my kids (7 years and 4 year old twins). There was a video floating around Youtube about a boy who died because his seatbelt didn't function properly so the boy who was in a 5-point harness flew around the van still attached to his seat. My wife (and several of her friends) freaked out and wanted to run and buy the $400 dollar Britax seats mentioned in the video as being the only ones rated for older kids. I don't want to come across as not being about safety but we had two perfectly good seats for my daughters and a boster seat for my son, I just didn't want to shell out $1200 in new seats.<br><br>I was able to calm her down by showing her it wasn't the seat that caused the death but the seatbelt. It would have done the same thing to any person sitting there who was too big to use a tethered carseat. I wanted her to understand that you need to have some faith in the seatbelt because some day our kids are going to be too big for carseats. What makes it not alright to use a seatbelt one day and perfectly fine the next?<br><br>It worked for about a week but then she found some much more affordable seats that had the same rating so she convinced me to buy them. Recently the State of Michigan passed a law that any kid under 8 years old and 4' 9 need to be in booster seats. It adds a extra pain in my but because I am a Wolf Cub Scout Den Leader and all the boys are under 8 but this is the first year the boys don't have to drag a parent along. Whenever we go on field trips we have to account for 9 booster seats and plan accordingly.<br><br>The only thing that bothers me about carseats is that the manufacturers pick the colors that stain the easiest.

That Michigan law is insanity. My mother is about 4' 9. I wonder if she should be using a booster seat when she drives??

It is a pain. She wouldn't because of the age but the real pain was that it took us forever to figure out the rules. Half the time the publications said it that both requirements needed to be met and the other half said it was either requirement.<br><br>It is also a real cramp in my Cub Scout Leader butt, because all my boys are just under 8 but they are in their first year of not requiring a parent to be with them all the time. We planned all sorts of outings but had to scale back because we don't have enough vehicles that can handle all the boosters required.

Do canoes need booster seats? Because if they don't maybe you could just strap some canoes to a trailer and have the kids hold on!<br><br>I haven't even started drinking yet today!

How about the county's big ol' yellow school buses?? Did they install booster seats in those?? Last time I checked, kids don't even wear seat belts in the school buses!

They (can) have seat belts now. I believe that there are some incidents where seat belts caused problems with children not being able to unfasten them in time to avoid injury. Or it might just be a test case. My wife sits in on a lot of school bus meetings as an electrical engineer for a truck manufacturer.

We're sporting two identical Britax Martathons, thanks to the helpful comments here on DL. Our boy's a bruiser at almost 7 months and we found ourselves scrambling for a new seat that could go forward and rear facing without needing to shop again. It helped that we found these on sale online for about the same price as the other options (and they had free shipping, which probably saved $80).<br><br>I definitely think it needs to be pointed out that the LATCH system rocks! In my 2002 Trailblazer, the seat is strapped in using the shoulder belt and it works fine. In my wife's 2005 Equinox, the LATCH system holds the seat better side to side and we can easily move it to grandma's car when he visits without us.

Totally agree WRT to LATCH. In my opinion, even if the seatbelt and the LATCH have exactly the same load bearing ability, the LATCH wins out because it has completely foolproof installation. You can hear a nice firm click, pull on the taut straps, and be 100% confident that puppy is in there nice and tight. I just don't get the same confidence out of the seat belt installation.

We have the Graco SafeSeat. It seems to be what most people are using. I'll give a thumbs up to the LATCH system as well. I don't know how someone can get it wrong when you have the LATCH system. The only problem is in my truck the two outboard seats are LATCH but the center is not.<br><br>In Ontario we have a booster seat law as well for pre-school to 8 years old<br>From Ontario Ministry Transportation<br>The law requires booster seats for children who have outgrown a child car seat but are too small for a regular seat belt.<br><br>Booster seats are required for children under the age of eight, weighing 18 kg or more but less than 36 kg (40-80 lbs) and who stand less than 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) tall.<br><br>A child can start using a seatbelt alone once any one of the following criteria is met:<br>child turns eight years old<br>child weighs 36 kg (80 lbs.)<br>child is 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) tall.

My oldest is now over 5' and 100lb, so he's in the back, just the seatbelt. My 7 yr old uses a Graco Turbo Booster. I like those because they move easily from car to car. My youngest is 4 and as big as my 7. I started driving him to school every day, so I wanted something more substantial that the Turbo Booster, so I got the Graco Nautilus, which I like because it uses LATCH and tether -- it can be a 5-point, but I'm using the full back booster config. Problem is, that thing is a beast. In my Mazda 3, Coop's feet were jammed into the back of my seat, and he had a hard time getting in and out. So, I got a Mazda 6, basically to fit my carseat. Which may be a bit bass-ackwards.

Hey, how's that goin' for ya? (The new car) Still sleepin' in it? Or has the boss come around? (Sorry for the derail)

Took her two weeks before she would actually get in the thing. Shipping the kids off to the grands for the weekend and concentrating on making it up to her this weekend.

Oh, haven't posted what we have... We are using a Graco as well. 'Tis a convertible, and one reason I chose it, it matches the interior of the Outback... NO, that wasn't the only reason, but it was a nice bonus. It's still rear facing now, and because it has large sides, it makes the hole of the door for getting the boy in and out much smaller. Not terribly difficult, but it might be an issue for some. It has the typical five point harness, and is fairly easy to snap in and out, though not so easy I think he'll be doing it himself. It's a bit harder now that it's colder, and he's more bundled, but that'd be with any seat I think. I HIGHLY suggest keeping all the packaging in pristine order until you test the seat-meaning installing it, AND putting your child in and out of the car. Don't be afraid to return it if it won't work for you and your vehicle.<br><br>We also have one of those stroller car seats, that the stroller wheels fold up under and into the seat. Actually designed more for air travel, though I doubt he'll ever fly in it. It's not easy to put in the car loaded with the boy, and his feet are a bit bunched with it rear facing because the whole seat is short(front to back), but it works in a pinch when we need it. It'll be a better forward facing seat. I like the convenience of being able to just pull him and the seat out, and convert to a stroller, though it takes a bit of elbow grease. I REALLY miss the carrier days with the snap in base and nice big handle and the snap on stroller base too, but alas, he's too big now... they grow up so fast... *sigh*

One of my biggest sins was always wanting to get the seats turned around, then out as fast as I could. I would make the move as soon as the minimum height/weight for the next stage was met. I really wanted to see the little guys, and then I really wanted to be done with the bulky seat and 5-point harness ASAP. I'm really lucky that we didn't get into any accidents because this was stupid. Keep them in the safest config for as long as possible. Safety first.

We have 2 Evenflo Advance convertible seats and we currently have them in the rearfacing position. My girls are 17 months old and just over 20 lbs, they're tiny little chickadies. We picked these seats for 3 reasons, great reviews on www.car-seats.org, they can rear-face up to 35 lbs, and the straps are SO easy to adjust (no switching shoulder slots since the shoulder part goes up and down on a track so it basically custom fits the kid every time you put them in it). Oh, and they cost about $100 less than the Britax seats. And since we have to buy 2 seats at once for every stage of their life saving money is a huge bonus!<br><br>Here's a great youtube about why extended rear-facing is really the safest for your child. <br><br>

We have the Orbit Baby infant travel system. We got it with our first child. He is now in the toddler seat, still rear facing. We plan on ERFing (extended rear facing) to the max rear facing weight. We also plan on EHing (extended harnessing) our kids as well. His toddler seat will rear face up to 35 lbs. Our newborn is in the Orbit infant seat which we used with her brother, of course, rear facing. We will bump her up to her brother's toddler seat when she outgrows the infant carrier, and then our son will more than likely be going up to a First Years True Fit.

I am all about safety, but it has to LOOK good too. That is why we went with the Graco Nautilus. Not to mention it holds up to 100lbs so MAYBE this will be the last car seat we need. Check it out here, www.allreviews.com/car-seats/2010/02/03/...ldren-up-to-100-lbs/

I have a Graco Nautilus in my car currently. As a matter of fact, I even went so far as to BUY A BIGGER CAR in order to accommodate the Nautilus. It was too big for my pre-schooler to sit comfortably in the back seat of a Mazda 3. So I upgraded to a 6 (in my defense, I had other safety concerns as well).

I don't have a carseat yet, as we're not expecting until November, but I'm pretty sure we won't be buying an Evenflo for two reasons:

Reason 1:

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Moms!? I'm looking for a carseat for my Outback, not my Bel Air! Get with the times!

Reason 2:
As much as I love Pearl Jam, I just can't have that song popping into my head every time I get into or out of the car.

I bought a Maxi-Cosi Pebble car seat and the matching FamilyFix isofix base for our car.
It is quite nifty as it has three visual indicators and a buzzer that let you know whether everything is correctly installed and affixed.
All feels very well made and thought out, like the sun shade that can be hidden behing a soft rubber lip, when not needed. Also the belts can be tightend with a single pull strap.

Over here they won't let you leave the hospital, unless you show them your car seat...