Roman-dude

What are the car seats that you are using? Want to get something that is comfortable but also matches the interior (mine is black) and fits on the seat (so that there are no permanent imprints later).
thanks
PS if anyone has pics that'd be great too..

STL

I'm also interested in this, so chime in parents!

moda_way

I have had Graco products. They all work really well. My son just turned 1 yr old and we turned him around. Let's just say my passengers have quite a bit more leg room. Luckily my wife is short. Any other specific questions?

No matter what you do, the seat is gonna leave marks if you want it in tight enough. They do make seat pads, but I found them to make the seats less stable.

However, the leather comes right back and this is after a year of a seat being in the car 24x7.

Another thing to watch out for is your child sneezing. My boy only drinks water in the car, if that. But coming home from grandma's, he always sneezes from the sun or whatever and that makes a quite artistic impression on the seat, depending upon what he last ate. A little water or leather cleaner solves that though.

I used to have my son facing backwards in the middle of the back seat, but found you had to get in and out with him. That took its toll on the door sill and plastic trim... and I'm VERY careful.

Just realize, the car is going to show more wear with kids, but I have have also seen the TSX interior to stand up well to it.

Black_6spd

I have a 16-mo boy (20 lbs) and I use the Britax by Baby Bjorn:


I have Ebony interior and although it contrasts a bit, it still matches, IMO. I use it in conjunction with a seat pad to protect the leather. Although its expensive ($150+), it provides great lateral support and can be forward or rear facing.

I tried asking my wife if I could just get the Recaro baby seats and she didn't even answer...

dom

I have a Graco base mounted in the center of the rear now.

moda_way

I have these:



-bought extra bases. When behind the passenger, it was a little cramped for them, but you didn't have to reach all the way over to get their seat out.



Now using this one and it was mounted in the middle when he was facing backwards, but again, PIA because I had to get in the car to strap him in.

Now that he is facing forward, he is behind the passenger.

dmrothfus

We had our first a little one over 4 months ago and this is what we ended up with...

Graco: SnugRide Infant Car Seat - Shelton Print
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...=baby&n=542448

Two Stage Seat Saver from Prince Lionheart - (These can be found at other retailers cheaper)
http://www.ciaobellababy.com/twostsesafrp.html

The car seat is a black and silver/gray plaid and the seat base comes in silver. So it matches/contrasts nicely wit hthe black interior.

Likewise, I normally agree that the pads make the seats unstable, but the Lionheart pad works really well, it was recommended by a friend. Overall, it's thinner than other pads, but gives great protection. Granted you do have to muscle the seat into place to get a good fit, but with using the Latch, the seat doesn't move once installed. The thing I like about the seat pad is that the back portion folds on itself to provide double protection to the back of the car's seat.

I noticed this was very helpful when the baby seat is facing backwards because the seat base and the lower part of the car seat had ridges that would dig into the car's seat back.

So with four months under our belt the seats in my wife's car and in mine are fine.

JPL530i

i have graco. when my son was a baby, we had the same one moda_way has.

waterrockets

We use Graco for rear-facing.

Nothing beats a Britax front facing. They're very comfortable, as our 3-year-old will tell you upon asking. It's more expensive than most seats, but your kid will be in it for three years, so it's worth it to get a nice one. Plus, these seats have molded smooth bottoms, so they won't put a grid pattern in your leather. We're also using seat protectors, but the Britax bottoms are just easier on your car:


We also just got the Britax booster for use later this year, when we'll have a kid rear-facing, one front facing, and one in the booster in the middle. (Expecting our third in Sept)


We have found that the Dual Britax Roundabouts on the sides allows the Britax Starriser booster to fit in between -- all in the back seat.

lito

JDM child seat

Belzebutt

I have the same thing as everyone else here, Graco for the baby one (goes with the carriage, which barely fits in the trunk by the way) and recently bought the Britax Marathon, which I'm told is the Lexus of baby car seats. I haven't got around to trying it yet.

I have the Graco behind the driver's seat. I didn't put it in the middle because no matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop it from wiggling more than I liked. If I ever move it I'll probably put it behind the passenger seat but it's worked out so far.

daddydliv

Just got a new one, I think by Evenflo, recently. This and my last one, Graco I believe, both match the ebony interior well - black with small beige or grey dots. I got the most recent one though because the tighten/loosen mechanism works much better. The Britax ones also have good tighteners as that's what is in my wife's car. Sorry I don't have specific model #'s.

moda_way

This is no joke... I found a way to make it fit better though. If you turn the front wheels, once it is collapsed, in the direction they would be facing if the stroller was going backwards (so now they protrude more outward) then it fits soooo much better. In any case, that stroller is a PIA and takes up a bunch of room. Fits much better in the wife's 01 Civic EX though.

crisco

With two kids (ages 2 yrs and 7 mos) I have a Cosco and an evenflo booster (20-80 lbs). The evenflo is nice cause its all black with a little dark grey. We also recently purchased a Chariot Corsaire double stroller with bike attachment and jogger attachment - I can't believe it fits in the trunk!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...#more-pictures

waterrockets

Maclaren Techno is the only way to go for strollers. It's super lightweight, handles like your TSX, and folds down SMALL. I would advise new parents to stay away from "travel systems" as they encourage parents to leave baby in the car seat all the time. This is tough on their soft skulls and can lead to flat spots on their heads. Better to move them around more often.

The stroller handling was a big surprise to me. Back when we were shopping, I went to a baby store and tried a bunch of strollers with 30 lbs of children's books sitting in them. They all handle completely differently, and most of them turn into big noodles. The Maclaren handles great with a load. It's also not bogged down with cupholders and crap you don't need.

They are expensive at $250-$300, but we've had ours for 3.5 years with two kids and it's still perfect. By the time we're done with kids, we'll have used it for 7 years.

Roman-dude

does anyone have seat back protectors? those that hang on the back of the front seat to avoid marks from kids' shoes? did not do it on my maxima and now the seat is a mess.... anything in particular that fits nicely?
thx
something like this here

bbbuzzy

We have two Graco Snugride bases. One in each car (in the middle). In the TSX, our local fire department installed it using LATCH connections from each side. The base is in very solidly. It's probably denting the leather but we wont know until we remove it for the forward facing seat we'll need to buy soon. The other car (Volvo XC70 has the same base. I installed it in the same manner as the TSX and our fire dept. said I did a "fine job". It's rock solid. You have to really push down hard on the base prior to tightening the LATCH connections to get a solid mounting. I was literally kneeling on it with all my weight and pulling as hard as I could. Under the base we have a "Supermat" I picked up from Target. Works great, non-skid backing makes it very solid. Definately preventing the denting of the leather from the base mounting. Too me the worst thing about the child seats is the fear of removing them to lower the seat backs. Good luck.

Belzebutt

Holy cow, once my little guy graduates from the Graco I was going to get one of those $15 strollers that looks about the same as that (minus the hood).

The one thing I might consider spending a bit more on is one of those jogging ones...

MrChad

Why don't the OEM's sell child safety seats for their cars?
I would seem just too easy to have a seat that would clip right in wouldn't it?

jeffb

I've got the Graco Turbo Booster - Lacrosse. The color of the seat matches the ABP and black interior - looks great. The seat doesn't really work in the center position so he rides in the right side.

Matell

From 18lb up there's always Recaro's ($249US MSRP)

http://www.recaro-nao.com/produkte/p...g_sport_gr.jpg

As of November they'll also have an infants seat for 5-22lbs


http://www.recaro-nao.com/PDF/DOWNLO...youngseats.pdf

I don't have a child (don't even have a long term partner to practice making one ), but I have had to put a few in and out of my car. If I was in the market for a childs seat I'd be looking at Recaro

moda_way

Before I had a child, I totally thought about getting this seat. Now that I have a little one, only one thing prevents me from putting down that kind of $$... babies like to



So I bought something a little more reasonable.

waterrockets

That's a funny stream of emotes dude.

moda_way

yes... it has been a wonderful experience being a parent for the first time.

I love my son and I have grown to accept his contributions to the TSX.

Nothing says performance like a baby seat.

waterrockets

The thing about the Maclaren is that it weighs about 1/2 as much as an umbrella stroller -- aside from the handling differences. Plus it reclines completely for infants/newborns and has a 5-point harness to hold the small ones in there. One stroller is all you need.

For running strollers, I recommend the Kool Strides. We have a single and a double, and they are awesome. I'm 6'4" and can run at full stride without kicking these strollers. We bought used to save some $$. Whatever jogger you get, go for the largest wheels you can afford.