{Adventures In} Car Seats

Buying a convertible car seat is no joke, people. I NEVER thought that so much would go into it. For real. Let me take you on our car seat journey. 

Britax
After doing some research via Amazon reviews and going to Babies R Us and speaking with someone there, we first went with the Britax Pavillion. The main reason we went with Britax is because they are the #1 car seat manufacturer out there. Tried and tested, the best. So how can someone not like the best? The main reason was the tethering system. Britax STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that you tether the car seat to an anchor in the floor by the rails of the passenger seat. That's great. If I had an anchor point there. Since I don't have one there, I'm forced to tether via Australian method which looks something like this:

Baby K is over 22 lbs. and growing. How in the world am I supposed to lift her up over the safety belt EVERY time I take her in and out of her car seat? Oh you don't have to lift her up, you say? Just undo the safety belt EVERY time you take her in and out. Ya, that sounds a lot better. {Insert sarcastic undertone} If you have your car seat installed this way, God bless you. I could not do that.  So your second option is just not to tether at all. This worries me. I know a TON of people do that and when you walk into Buy Buy Baby, they will tell you the same thing. However, if the manufacturer STRONGLY RECOMMENDS it,  and they are a leader in the industry, you should probably do it. I couldn't live with myself if I did get into an accident and something happened to Baby K because I didn't tether.  Lastly, a lot of the reviews of this car seat mentioned that it's not great for tall babies. With Baby K in the 95th percentile for height, this is a huge issue for us. So we reluctantly moved on. 

Chicco

Next up is Chicco's first attempt at a convertible car seat, the Nextfit. Not only does this seat look great, it also does not require tethering. Chicco actually says in the manual, DO NOT TETHER. SCORE! This particular style is exclusive to Buy Buy Baby, so we waited until it came in stock roughly a couple weeks after we returned our Britax. We drove the 45 miles, picked it up, drove the 45 miles back, got it home, put it in the car and it worked perfectly! No tethering needed, level as can be, just perfect. That is until we put Baby K in it to test it out. The safety harness was too tight up top (near her chest) and too loose in her midsection. We confirmed that we weren't the only people in America having this issue by reading some reviews online and as much as it pains me to say it, we returned it. This totally sucked because I REALLY liked this car seat.  

Peg Perego

So we made the 45 mile trek back to Buy Buy Baby to return it and instantly fell in love with the Peg Perego Viaggio. Of course, we would like one of the more expensive car seats that is the only one that is excluded from their 20% off coupon. As such is my life. Anyway, the car seat is gorgeous, made really well and gets great reviews from the parents with the tall kids, so we bought it. We take it home, Baby K is super comfortable in it. Not too tight or too loose, it's great. We get it in the car and it's not level. Not even close. WTF!!!!! We looked online for some help and what do people usually do to level out their car seats? Pool noodles or towels.

I'm sorry, but the safety of my child's head is being impacted by a pool noodle? This is not right. This can't be right. Oh but it is. So my husband makes the 45 mile trek back to return it. While he was doing that, I said to myself, this can't be that hard. We have two options - Either we don't tether or we put a pool noodle down to level the seat.   To make this long story short we ended up going with the Peg Perego and will use a towel instead of a pool noodle. (A towel makes it seem better for some reason). The fact that there is plenty of room for her little legs to grow and I don't have the guilt looming over my head about the tethering issue are the reasons why we chose the Peg Perego. Once we get it in and live with it for a while, I'll be sure to do a review.  So after all was said and done, what were the 2 biggest pieces of information that I absorbed through the process? Britax is pronounced, Bry-Tax. Chicco is pronounced Key-ko. Who knew.