Britax Boulevard 70

Professional reviewers are enthusiastic about the Britax Boulevard 70 convertible car seat, and parents give it excellent feedback as well. The standout features are the seat's safety wings, which are made with expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam padding -- the stuff used in motorcycle helmets -- and designed to provide additional protection in a side-impact collision. Some reviewers do express concern that the wings block the child's view too much, so if you're considering the Boulevard 70, it might be a good idea to see how your particular child reacts to it first.

The Britax Boulevard 70 also gets good reviewer feedback for its extra-high height and weight limits. While most convertible car seats, including the popular Cosco Scenera (*Est. $50) are only rated for kids who weigh less than 40 pounds, the Boulevard can accommodate children weighing as much as 70 pounds forward-facing in a five-point harness (the weight limit is 5 to 40 pounds rear-facing, and the height limit is 49 inches). The Boulevard is bulky and thus not particularly portable, though. The Sunshine Kids Radian65SL (*Est. $230) is narrower and folds up for transport.  

ConsumerReports.org crash-tests the older Britax Boulevard, but -- keeping in mind that the new Boulevard 70 has added improved safety features -- the test results are still helpful. The Boulevard 70 hadn't hit the market when the most recent edition of the book "Baby Bargains" came out, but the authors -- consumer advocates Denise and Alan Fields -- briefly review the new seat on their blog. Owners have posted a healthy number of reviews for the new Boulevard 70 at Viewpoints.com and Amazon.com.