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Last night, we were hit by a drunk driver. The driver smashed into the drivers' side of our Volvo XC 70 (great car!), smashing our car into a van on the passengers' side. Then our car riccoched back. It was awful-two side impacts. My son walked away from the crash completely fineno whiplash or injuries at all. The German Police (we live in Germany) were admiring this car seat after the crash-the back of our Volvo was smashed in on both sides with the rear windows shattered, and both rear tires deflated (the car is totaled). The car seat had not budged at all, even though the side airbags of the car had deployed. I am buying another one of these seats right now! My son is 7, but is 49" tall (mostly legs) and 49 lbs. This car seat still fits him just fine. I am in agony from whiplash, but wanted to tell other parents how wonderful this car seat is in a side impact-double side impact at that. By the way, my son had been arguing that he should have a booster seat, but because of Autobahn speeds I insisted on the full car seat with a 5 point harness. He asked this morning if we could get the same car seat. The seat is fine, but I'm following the recommendation to buy a new one after a crash. We'll be buying another Volvo, too. We are thankful to be alive!
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I recently purchased 1st Years True Fit Recline, Evenflo Symphony 65 & Safety 1st Complete Air. I was having a tough time deciding between the 3 and since I live in a rural area, where they were not available to see in person, I took advantage of the free return policy at Amazon.
The Pros:
-Very light weight
-Heavy-duty chest clip
-High safety rating & side impact tested
-Adjustable headrest
-Straps adjust very easily
-Lots of cushioning
-High back
The Cons:
-Very large "air" wings (as I call them). As stated in previous reviews, they stick out quite far, and would most likely hamper a childs' line of sight. We have a 20+ minute drive home on gravel roads, so this would be an issue for us.
-Frame is plastic which makes it nice for moving between cars as it is very light weight, but I didn't feel it was as safe as the heavier, Symphony. Although I do realize they have to pass the same safety tests.
-I drive a 2003 Ford Escape, and have the seat almost all the way forward as I am only 5'4". RFing the seat, the top of the seat hit the back of my drivers' seat. This meant that there is no way anyone taller than me would be able to drive my vehicle with this seat installed. The base of the car seat also hung partially off the seat of my car, so I just did not feel that it was a good fit.
-Fabric was not overly soft/comfortable feeling.
I ultimately decided on the Evenflo Symphony, although this was a close 2nd! All 3 seats were great seats, and cost very similar. In the end, you have to choose which seat fits your child & vehicle the best! This one just wasn't right for us.
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I am really happy with my purchase for both of my new convertible car seats. We bought two convertible car seats for my 6 month old son since he had outgrown his Chicco KeyFit car seat since he's a very big boy (FYI...we loved our Chicco KeyFit and I would highly recommend this for an infant car seat, we will be reusing that car seat with our second child since we bought a neutral fabric). He's 23lbs and very broad (12-18 month clothes, to give you an idea how big he is). So we bought both the Britax Pavillion 70-G3 Convertible Car Seat in Onyx and the Safety 1st Complete Air Protect 65 Convertible Car Seat in the fabric Great Lakes. So far we like both of the car seats. It's only been about a month that we've had them but so far we've been pleased. Between the two car seats my husband likes the Safety 1st. I like both of them and I think my husband only likes the Safety 1st one better because it's in our Nissan which sits down lower and the Britax is in our Ford Edge and it sits up higher so it is harder to put him in without trying to bonk his head on the car because of the headrest/side impact protection.
First I will mention, I spent countless hours researching car seats via websites, reviews, discussion with other parents, etc, as I knew my son would need a new car seat by the time he was 6 to 7 months at the rate he was growing so I started my research when he was about 4 months old. Everyone told me to buy a Britax regardless of what model. I love my Britax but I also really like my Safety 1st. I will explain both of the positives and negatives to each of my car seats since I would recommend both at this point. (Also note...we've only used these in the reverse position since he's too young to have them in the front facing position).
Britax:
* True Side Impact--This was a must in both of my car seats! Since side impact is one of the number one causes for infant deaths in a car wreck, this was a must for my prescious cargo. As I mentioned above, this does make it harder to put him in and out the car but it keeps his neck/head safe and also serves as a great pillow in the long car rides. (We took an 8 hour trip to Arkansas through windy roads last weekend and he slept great and was very content in his car seat). You could tell he was much more comfortable in this compared to his infant car seat that he was clearly outgrowing.
* Easy to install--I did not install either of these (my husband did) but he had no issue installing either of the car seats.
* Click Safe Feature--My friend has the older version of the Boulevard and had mentioned this feature in my Pavillion. She told me it wasn't that great of a feature but I have to disagree...I really like it especially when you have family members who are hook your baby in for the first time. His grandmother didn't realize he wasn't in tight enough until I showed her the click safe feature which clicks when you have your baby in tight enough. Yes you can keep tightening and adjusting and it will click more but it really does help for those who are weary about strapping your little one in too tight.
* EZ-Buckle system--I love this feature so I don't have to dig for the buckle like I did with his infant car seat and his Safety 1st seat.
* Color--we bought the onyx since it was neutral and matched better to my black interior of my edge however, I wish the Pavillion offered the same patterns as the Boulevard as I love the Zebra print but I got a deal with Amazon on the Pavillion so I went with that versus the Boulevard since there really isn't a lot of difference between those two models.
* Complaint--the biggest complaint my husband not I had on this car seat was the fact that it was harder to figure out how to use. There was an insert I think to use if you had an infant and since technically we have an infant my husband thought we had to use it but we quickly realized we had to remove that since it made it hard to release the straps to buckle him in.
* Price--more expensive than the Safety 1st but you pay more for the great features and I got my Britax at a super great price off Amazon
* Size--too large to fit in our Nissan but fits great in our Edge with room to spare
Safety 1st
* Easy Install--apparently was easier than the Britax to install. Britax wasn't hard but husband said this took 5 minutes and the Britax took about 10 based on the instructions. (My husband's good at putting thing together so I am sure this is different for everyone).
* Safetyagain like the Britax I love the air pillow that keeps my baby's head/neck safe. He falls asleep often in the car and uses it as a rest for his head as well.
* Color--I wanted a more neutral color which they offered but my deal was for the Great Lakes color so I went with that. They offer a good selection of colors and neutral colors and the fabric seemed nice but not as soft as my Britax. I have no idea about washing as I haven't needed to wash either yet.
* Buckle--the buckle is very easy to figure out (much easier than the Britax)...my only complaint would be that I have to dig for that darn buckle like I did with that infant car seat (I am spoiled with the Britax on this feature)
* Size--Since the Britax is rather large, it didn't fit in our Nissan hence why we bought a different car seat. This fits snug but great in our Nissan. I think all convertible car seats are large in nature so you just have to test them out. We went to one of our local boxed stores in our area and tried them out before purchasing them on Amazon.
* Comfortable--he seems to like it and use this car seat mainly to and from daycare. We haven't done any long trips in this car yet but I wouldn't think any issue with it. He seems very comfortable and happy.
Overall, I am very happy with both car seats. The Britax has more features but it's also bulkier and more expensive than the Safety 1st. I think for the price and the safety features in the Safety 1st it's a great deal. I guess it depends on the size of the car and price point that you are looking for. I like both car seats so I am happy with both based on each of their purposes. Hope that helps!
Honest reviews on Safety 1st Complete Air 65 Protect Convertible Car Seat
Very comfortable, solid yet lightweight. Opened up the box when we received it, set it up in the living room, and my 3 year old daughter fell asleep in it within 15 minutes.
Would be perfect if all you need is a front facing seat.
However, we bought it for my one year old son. Planning on keeping him rear facing until he's at least two. Part of the reason we upgraded to this seat is because it's convertible. But rear facing, to keep the seat in the "designed" level position, barely fits in my crew cab Ford F-250, which has one of the longest leg room dimensions of any rear seat. When we tried putting it in my wife's Volvo SUV, no chance without pushing the driver's seat all the way forward, and it still scratched our DVD player in the driver's headrest. The engineer team that designed this seat in the rear facing position should be fired.
We even read all the reviews here about how mush room it takes in the back seat when rear facing, but figured a 7-seat suv could handle it.... only if you put the middle row down and use the third row... but then that would make loading the kid in the seat a real chore?
So we bought a Graco from Target for my wife's car
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I do not understand why a lot of reviews out there claim that this seat is too upright, too big, to difficult to install. It is none of these things! If you have a small car, I'm sorry, but any convertible carseat you buy you will have issues with having to move your seats up. I have actually found that this is one of the "smaller" convertible carseats out there I have seen some HUGE ones! I have a 2011 Toyota Tacoma and this carseat fits in there with room to spare. We do not have to move seats up at all.
There is a debate whether or not the carseat should be touching any portion of the front seats because of the continuation of impact affect it will have on the carseat and your child. This information is from a trusted site:
Q48: My rear-facing carseat is touching the back of the seat in front of it? Is that OK?
Please consult the owner's manual of your carseat. For most carseats, this is not a problem and may actually improve safety. You should also check your vehicle manual to confirm that it allows a rear-facing car seat to touch the back of the seat in front of it; this may interfere with the "smart" air bag sensors in some newer vehicles. Best practice from the NHTSA training manual states, "A rear-facing seat can be installed so it rests against the back of the vehicle seat ahead if not counter to manufacturers instructions....If the gap is small or the child is on the heavy side, it is much better to be already touching any forward structure prior to a crash than to hit it during the crash. Resting against a forward seat back is only one way to achieve these benefits."
Another negative review I've seen is the concern about the angle. I really don't like when my little guy's head falls on his chest when he falls asleep in the car either but we have no issues with that. We put it at more of an angle with a tightly rolled towel. A friend has an entirely different brand and model and she still has this issue but it is so big that she can't even put a rolled up towel under it! A lot of moms are saying that they don't feel like they should have to rig up something like this but to me it is a very simple fix. You can always go with the LX model if you still don't feel comfortable because it does have a reclining option. Again, information from the same website:
Q47: Is it OK to put a towel under my carseat to adjust the angle?
You may put a tightly rolled towel or foam pool "noodle" under the front of a rear-facing carseat (near the crack of the vehicle seat) to get the necessary recline. You must not put a noodle, thick towels, or any compressible material under a forward-facing carseat.
This carseat is very comfortable for my baby boy too! Very easy to install with the LATCH system or regular seatbelt. I like the LATCH system because it feels more secure and safe.
There are also reviews that comment on how hard this was to install or couldn't get it installed correctly. We just did not really understand that because it is actually very easy! The incline issue and touching the front seats issue which I addressed should help for those who thought those were negative aspects of the carseat. You do have to put some muscle into it to get it tight like we like it. I usually just press my knee down on the seat while my husband uses his strength to click it in place.
Overall, this carseat is EXCELLENT and I am very picky about products! Extremely nice quality, fabric comes off easily for washing. I know the AIR system is definitely meant to protect their head from a collision but it also doubles as an EXCELLENT head rest when they fall asleep.
