Everything you purchase comes with a manual, whether it is a lawn mower or a DVD player. When you are preparing for a child, multiply that by a bouncer, a high chair, a stroller and a swing. Chances are, you read them to know how to put them together and their basic function.
When Graco announced their first 4-in-1 car seat, I was parts suspicious and parts intrigued. In general, multi-mode child restraints tend to fall short in at least one mode. It’s no small task to make a restraint suitable for a 4 lb newborn all the way up through an 80 lb 10-year-old.
Maxi-Cosi offers two booster models that received a Best Bet rating in the 2014 IIHS Booster Ratings: the mid-priced, RodiAP and the higher end RodiFix. Both boosters offer a fairly high top belt guide so they’re both long-lasting as the child grows. The RodiFix does not convert to a backless booster, includes ISO-FIX connectors to secure it to the vehicle seat when not in use, and has closed shoulder belt guides that keep the seat belt in place. In this review, we’ll take a close look at the RodiFix.
UPPAbaby is a new name in the car seat world, but isn’t new to the baby market. Their higher-end strollers have been around for some time. Due to their prestige in the stroller department, I was extremely excited to try out their newest addition of a rear-facing only seat.
Congrats, you’re going to be a new parent! Things are constantly changing in the newborn world, so even if this isn’t your first, there’s still a lot to learn. To help you mark at least one thing off your list, we’re going to help with narrowing down that dreaded car seat decision.
RECARO was founded in 1906 in Germany. They have been making car seats for over 100 years?! Not quite, but they have been making seats for cars for that long. It wasn’t until 1998 that RECARO entered the child passenger safety scene. It’s now 25 years later and they have just introduced a new high back booster. RECARO was generous enough to provide one of their new Performance BOOSTER seats for me to review.
Looking for an inexpensive or lightweight booster that also has LATCH? The Graco Connext may be for you! Unfortunately the Connext is no longer in production.
Looking for the easiest way to travel via airlines with child, child seat, and everything else? Triple Play Products came up with an innovative child safety seat and stroller combination with the hope that it would save all the hassles of airline travel with children.
The Evenflo SureRide/Titan 65 is quickly making a name for itself in the car seat world. With some of the tallest harness slots of any convertible seat, and the ability to be used from birth, it’ll be one of the only convertibles that will expire before kids outgrow it! Did I mention is retails for $100 or less as well?!
The Combi Coccoro is a bit of a niche seat: it’s small, which means it fits great in tight spaces: both front to back and side to side (see how it stacks up to a variety of rear facing only seats here). But the downfall to a small seat is that it isn’t the longest lasting, it will be outgrown by most kids rear facing by age two and forward facing by age three.
