The Evenflo Triumph convertible car seat isn’t a new name in the Evenflo family of car seats — it was discontinued for a time and is now back on the market. The Triumph has a couple of unusual features that many families were quite fond of — the knob harness tension adjuster and the Infinite
Don’t leave a tether strap hanging! A tether strap may have a long tail to accommodate anchors that are far from the vehicle seat. Be sure to appropriately bundle and store the excess so it doesn’t get caught hanging outside of the vehicle or create a strangulation hazard for a child.
Graco has a lot to offer when it comes to convertible car seats. The new Sequel offers the compactness of the much-loved, long-lasting Extend2Fit at a lower price point with a few key differences: a 40 pound rear facing weight limit compared to the Extend2Fit’s 50 pound limit and no extending tray.
Our Facebook page and our Facebook group are home to many, many questions from caregivers. One of the most common questions is how to choose the right car seat. In many cases, the child in question is well over 2 years old and rides forward facing but is not yet ready for a booster. Sometimes a great deal on a convertible car seat seems too good to be true and our users don’t want to pass up what seems like a great deal. The catch is that the convertible or multimode car seat on sale might not be the best value for a child who is already forward facing. That very common scenario begs the question: what type of car seat — convertible, multimode, or combination is best for this kiddo?
The CruiserFix Pro is a belt positioning booster that includes a variety of features that I would not have thought to include on a booster — adjustable thigh support, adjustable sidewings, rigid lower anchors, and shock absorbers. Those features contribute to the awards that this seat has won.
Using the top tether in conjunction with installing a forward facing car seat is one of the easiest things a parent can do to help protect their children. It’s the law in Canada to use a tether for all forward facing seats, and has been since 1989; in Australia all seats have been tethered since the 1970s. And yet in the United States, where it’s been highly encouraged since 2000, tether use is often less than 50%, and in some types of vehicles it’s as low as 17.2% (Jermakian, 2011).
In recent months we have welcomed two new seats from Safety 1st: the Grow and Go, and the Advance EX 65 Air +. Both of these seats are innovative: the Grow and Go replaced the widely panned Alpha Omega with a seat that functions well in all three modes (rear facing, forward facing, and booster), and the Advance Ex 65 is a truly long lasting seat with generous rear facing maximums of 50 lbs and 49″.
It’s nearly impossible to introduce the Baby Trend PROtect Sport Convertible without mentioning its roots. The new PROtect line of convertibles: Sport, Premiere, and Protect Elite, are versions of a seat that some of us used to know and love: the First Years True Fit.
Baby Trend took many of the features that made the True Fit a good value and added their own flavor to the seat. Lower anchor connectors, crotch buckle and chest clip, splitter plate, clear labelling, and an updated cover that’s a big hit at my house!
By now, it is hopefully common knowledge that children should face the rear of the vehicle for at least 2 years, but eventually kids do need to forward face.
One big decision plaguing many caregivers who visit our Facebook group is deciding when it’s time to turn their child’s car seat forward facing. When the child is at least two years old, and has outgrown the rear facing height or weight limits on their convertible car seat, the decision has been made for us, and it’s time to convert the car seat to forward facing mode.
