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Convertible Car Seats Reviews
Updated November 2007
This report covers convertible car seats for newborns. These car seats are rear-facing for newborns up to about 30 pounds, and front-facing for older babies and toddlers up to about 40 pounds (or more depending on the model). See our companion report on infant car seats if you want a car seat that doubles as an infant carrier. Also see our report on booster seats for toddler car seats and booster seats for older kids. The most extensive safety testing can be found in Consumer Reports magazine, which conducts crash testing with methods similar to those performed by the federal government. The book Baby Bargains also offers a wealth of information on baby gear. While editors don't conduct crash testing, they examine every other aspect of the car seats and compare their own reviews to those of Consumer Reports, explaining any discrepancies between the two. The Baby Bargains website contains updates to the information provided in the book. Baby Bargains covers far more models than Consumer Reports, which has only tested five seats for its latest update. The third and final site that is top-marked in our review section is the official site of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which offers a comprehensive ease-of-use rating system. This system assigns each seat a grade of "A," "B" or "C" to a variety of aspects regarding the car seat, including ease of installation and the complexity of the instructions. While this is helpful, it's not nearly as comprehensive as the convertible car seat reviews found in Consumer Reports and Baby Bargains. Convertible car seats serve
a few purposes. First, they are an alternative for those that do not wish
to buy three car seats, since they can generally hold an infant from birth
until the child has reached 40 pounds (or as high as 65 or 80 pounds for some
convertible car seats). Most experts say that a child should be in a dedicated
infant car seat for the first year due to the recline of the seat and the
fact that most infant seats can be taken out of the car without waking the
baby, causing less stress for new parents. The second and generally
intended purpose of convertible car seats is to hold children who are too
large for an infant car seat, yet are still under a year old and need to be
rear-facing in the car. Convertible car seats can face the rear until the
child is of the right height and weight, at which time they can be switched
around (or converted) to face the front. It is estimated by experts that most
children will require a convertible car seat at some point. Britax, a company that has
been marketing car seats for the US market for ten years, sweeps reviewers'
picks for the best convertible car seats, even though they are more expensive
-- sometimes by twice as much -- as other convertible car seats. Parents and
owner-written car seat reviews alike echo the sentiment that the price is
worth it.
A less expensive alternative to the Britax line would be the Graco ComfortSport (*est. $90) . Car seat reviews say it has all the basic features and costs over $100 less than a Britax car seat. While the ComfortSport is not at the bottom rung in terms of price, it is the least expensive car seat that has been ranked at an excellent level of quality. ... Continued
Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
While the individual numbers suggest a very close race, Britax is easily the most highly regarded manufacturer of convertible car seats. While they are expensive, many car seat reviews and parents say a Britax car seat is ultimately worth the higher cost. The Sunshine Kids Radian is a newer seat on the market and is starting to get some positive reviews. Less expensive alternatives are the Graco ComfortSport and Evenflo Triumph 5. Advertisement
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Convertible Car Seats Reviews |
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, a part of The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.
ConsumerSearch and ConsumerSearch.com are registered trademarks of ConsumerSearch, Inc. Other trademarks or service marks on this site are the property of their respective owners. ConsumerSearch is not sponsored by any source reviewed, and we accept no consideration or payment for including, excluding, or ranking any reviews, products or services in our reports.
* Pricing information is approximate as of the time this report was written and is based on observed market selling prices and/or list prices. Actual selling prices may differ.
