Car Seats

The thing that made me think about starting this blog (since I already have another one that I share stories on about my kids and family and my thoughts about life) is that when I talked with a couple a few weeks ago in Target, they asked me if I had a website. So, now I do!

The couple had twins and were looking at car seats. They had gone with the Britax ($200+ each). But, it was too big and didn't fit in their car.

I remember when we were getting ready for Autumn. We bought the Graco infant car seat and the big stroller that went with it. (I'm so thankful strollers have slimmed down so much in the past 6 years!)

Anyways, we read the book about getting the safest things for our daughter and we thought we needed that big, huge stroller. What we realized later was that it was super heavy and totally impractical for us. I sold it for $20 at a garage sale, I think.

But, back to the car seats =) I've kind of realized that there's an upper tier of children's products that are geared towards wealthy people who are able to spend more than we (my husband and I can). In general, we've found that if we buy the high end item--we regret it because it usually isn't all we'd hoped. And if we buy the low end item--it ends up usually being poor quality or you have to be very careful with it. So, we've found that we try to stick to the middle range.

And in this case, the Graco infant car seat was a great choice. It lasted through 3 babies--but I had to throw it out afterwards. I couldn't give it to a friend because it had worn out. But, to last through 3 kids, I think is pretty good =)

When we transitioned Autumn out of the infant seat--at 9 months, we bought her a Graco car seat ($80) and it lasted until she was 4 because she's so short. She wasn't tall enough for a booster until she was 4. Honestly, it was a great car seat and I highly recommend it. I've been very happy with them. My youngest son is now in one.

Next, we bought booster seats for the girls. I bought Evenflo seats from Walmart for $31 each. I wanted to buy the Graco seat, but it said "Princess" all over it and I didn't think that would go over too well with Eli when he's old enough to sit in it! I've been happy with them. They're basic and durable. We've had no problems with them.

Two years ago, a friend gave me 2 Evenflo car seats similar to the Graco ones that we have. I'll be honest, the Graco is a better transitional seat. The contour for putting a 9 month old into it is much better and I noticed on the new one, there is a head form that will help the baby's head not bobble about. But, you can always buy those separately and put them on the seat.

So, that's my two cents =) Tomorrow, I will write about the gal I met last night at the library book sale and why we chose for me to stay home =)