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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Feb 14 2011 at 2:51pm | IP Logged
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Please add your two cents.
I have really been happy with the graco seats.
I can not spend over $100 on this seat
But graco is no longer making any boosters with internal harness or fwd facing only seats.. which means they have the comfort sport and then the belt positioning boosters.. except for the $$$ ones that go from birth to booster. And of course I need a car seat for ds2 to go from now (fwd facing) to booster. dd4 has one (the old graco car-go) but it expires the end of the year.. which is fine.. she'll be ready for a belt positioning booster by then.
But I need a seat for ds2 until he goes to a booster so that ds 5 months can have the comfort sport.. he's getting to that point that I wouldn't remove the carseat from the van even when it's a carrier (we bring it into the house when they're tiny in the winter to keep them from getting so chilled going out). Plus he's growing fast and I'm going to want him out of the infant carrier seat soon anyway.
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Mimip
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| Posted: Feb 14 2011 at 6:22pm | IP Logged
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Jodie,
I think you need one for your 2 year old with a 5 point harness right? We have an Evenflo likethis one that we really like. We don't have this exact one but I needed a bit more room from our convertible car seat and wanted one that could transition to a belt booster. Ours is an Evenflo though.
Good luck finding one, I DESPISE looking for car seats and since our kids are sooo tall and the length regulations are never on these things, it makes it even more difficult!
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Feb 14 2011 at 6:39pm | IP Logged
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Jodie,
Not sure how you feel about used. You do take a chance relying on the truthfulness of the seller that the carseat has never been in an accident before, but you could check sites like Craigslist and ebay as well as calling around to local children's consignment shops. And, if you know what you're looking for, you might even call children's consignment shops that aren't necessarily "local." I have done that before and left a specific item name with a shop that I was looking for and they called me a couple of months later to say that the item I was looking for had just been consigned with them. I didn't mind driving a little for this item at a good price. Of course, that requires knowing a particular type of seat you're looking for.
We really like Britax carseats. I know they have a hefty price tag brand new, but I'm always seeing them for sale for around $50 at our local consignment shop and they're fairly clean and new looking. They fit very snugly into our vehicles and are easy to use.
Good luck!
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jillian
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| Posted: Feb 14 2011 at 6:53pm | IP Logged
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I'm not an expert but Graco isn't making the Nautilus anymore for FF/booster combos?
I would check out www.car-seat.org. They have amazing ladies over there who are certified car seat techs and inspectors who can give better advice than I ever could
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Feb 14 2011 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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Jillian, Graco used to make a fwd facing that wasn't a combo.. they still do the all in one types but those run like $130+ and is way more than I need.
Jen - I don't care for used except from someone I trust, but I tend to use up the time on every seat buying them new.. I just keep passing them down to the next child (only the infant seat has been stored.. the others are in constant use.. the kids just move through them as they grow)
So I have the convertible seat and I have the belt positioning boosters.. I just need the seat in between that has the internal harness for the taller child that isn't ready for a belt positioning booster just yet. I tend to keep my kids in the internal harness until about age 5. And while ds2 will be the first user.. it'll be used by ds 5 months as well so a new one would give us the length of use we'd need.
Mimi, thanks, that's way more than we need really.. I really like the belt positioning boosters we have and will continue to use those.. and my kids are small enough that as long as the internal harness goes up to a taller child (because we keep them in those until age 5+) we don't need the higher weight rating.
I'm just frustrated because they stopped making the seat I used for this stage between the convertible seat and the belt positioning booster.. and I don't want to pay extra for a seat that does so much more.. because it's stuff we wouldn't use it for and I resent having to pay for that.
I don't know.. it's like having hand me downs in every size except one.. and you're told you can buy this very expensive item that works for multiple sizes even though you only need it for this one size.. but you can't get just that one size 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Feb 14 2011 at 7:15pm | IP Logged
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oh and Mimi.. that link from Jillian has a lot of the specs of the seats.. so height for many of them.
I'm just not sure which seats to be looking at. I think I want something more like this..
a friend just recommended the Cosco Scenera it's a possibility.. but it's more in line with what I'm looking for.. I'll still go and check out it and any others I can find about like it.. before deciding.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Pilgrim
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| Posted: Feb 16 2011 at 7:03am | IP Logged
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Our ds who's 3 has one like this Cosco Parker and the Evenflo Winchester looks like it, but maybe a little more comfortable, and the same price. I like this kind of carseat for the "transition" age like your ds is at. We got this one when ds turned two, for the same reason, we had to use his seat for one of the twins. Another nice feature of this kind of more upright seat is they can sit up better and look around.
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Amanda
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| Posted: Feb 16 2011 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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Sorry to go OT, but this means you all take the expiration date seriously an I'm a reckless mama to keep using my old seats?  Before I had my latest babe, I wondered about it, but got the impression from friends with large families that if the seat hadn't been recalled, then they just kept using it.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Feb 16 2011 at 7:15pm | IP Logged
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Amanda, unfortunately, I do believe that the seats expire. The plasics degrade and weaken, especially with the extremes of temperatures that a car is subject to and the sunlight.
Now I certainly don't believe that a car seat is significantly worse on Jan. 1st than it is on Dec. 31st. But still, I do replace seats close to the date on them.
Every decision made in parenting is done with the best information we have at that time. That doesn't make us reckless. And the best thing we can do is if we decide that a particular decision was incorrect is to correct as soon as we can. Beating ourselves up isn't going to help anyone. Learn and move on. 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Amanda
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| Posted: Feb 16 2011 at 7:23pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Jodie. This LO has only been in the car about 3 times, so I don't feel *too* bad.
I didn't even think of the strength of the plastic, and I am usually careful about seats--had our old van retrofitted with an anchor point for the top of our booster, etc. So thanks again.
Now returning to original thread...sorry to hijack. 
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Feb 16 2011 at 8:06pm | IP Logged
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I did a bit of hunting around and I'm checking out the Evenflo Maestro.. harness straps go a bit higher than the graco cargo and the weight for use goes up to 50lbs instead of just 40. Doesn't look like a good option for a belt positioning booster.. but I really like the graco turbo boosters (high back) anyway.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Topic: fwd facing internal harness car seat???
