It’s been 12 months since we last updated our list of recommended child restraints. Some models have been updated, some discontinued and many new products have been introduced. A few weeks ago we started the process of revising and updating the entire list and after much thought and discussion we arrived at a consensus. Behold our Updated 2013 List of Recommended Carseats!
We acknowledge that many certified child passenger safety technicians have had it ingrained upon them that they are supposed to act completely neutral toward child restraints. All current seats pass the same FMVSS 213 testing, they are all safe when used correctly, etc., etc. In the class to become certified, most techs were told never to tell a parent that one child seat or brand is better than any other. Instead, technicians are instructed to tell parents that the best seat is the one that fits their child, installs well in their vehicle and is easiest for them to use correctly. Nothing wrong with that.
However, the reality is that once you’ve installed even a dozen different seats, you quickly learn that there are real differences. Some child restraints do tend to install better in general, while some really are easier to use in general. Features like lock-offs for seatbelt installations and premium push-on lower LATCH connectors do make a difference in the vast majority of installations but that doesn’t necessarily mean that every seat that lacks those features is a bust or not worthy of your consideration.
Several years ago, the mighty NHTSA started recommending seats. They didn’t make these recommendations based upon crash testing. No, they were made upon a subjective determination of factors relating to ease-of-use. Ironically, these factors were no more likely to apply to someone’s child and vehicle than the recommendations of an experienced technician! Enter another respected institution, the IIHS. A few years back they began rating booster seats based on fit to a standardized 6 year old dummy. Again, no crash testing whatsoever. Again, no guarantees that the results would apply to your child in your vehicle.
So, who is CarseatBlog to go recommending specific child seats? Well, Heather and Kecia are very experienced Child Passenger Safety Technician-Instructors. Darren has been a certified technician for over a dozen years and has like a zillion websites on the topic. Our newest blog writers, Jennie (an experienced CPS Technician) and Alicia (nurse and former tech), are moms with younger kids who can actually use the infant seats and convertible seats that our own kids have long outgrown. We also like to think that we’ve earned a respectable reputation in the child passenger safety community of manufacturers, agencies and advocates. Most importantly, though, we’re just parents who have used a lot of different car seats. Collectively, we have 12 kids ranging in age from newborn to 16. We’ve been through every stage, survived every transition, and personally used an astonishing number of different carseats and boosters. Like many other products we use daily, we know which ones we tend to like in general, which ones we’d use without reservation for our own kids and which ones we are comfortable recommending to CarseatBlog readers and visitors.
With all that said, please take our recommendations with a grain of salt. They are merely opinions, after all. And while we did thoughtfully consider the pros and cons of each seat and combine that with our personal experiences with the product – there’s no crash testing involved. Some seats were omitted because we opted to include a similar model from the same manufacturer. For others, we simply didn’t have enough experience with the product yet to form an opinion. There are a number of products that we don’t mention, if only because a list of every seat we like would be too inclusive, so products that we don’t include may still be worth your consideration! Conversely, some seats we do list may just not work well for you, your child or your vehicle. We’re not saying these are the best or safest choices in child car seats, we’re just saying they’re models we think you should consider. If nothing else, it’s a good place to start when you are carseat or booster shopping!
Please feel free to leave a comment if you think one of our recommendations is rubbish or if you know of a product that you feel deserves a mention! Unlike some other organizations that think their word is the final one, we know our readers have experiences and opinions just as valid as our own!
@Art – there is nothing problematic about the Marathon . We just chose to recommend the Britax convertibles with enhanced side-impact protection features and we included the Roundabout because it’s a little more budget-friendly.
Out of curiosity, is there a reason that the Marathon doesn’t make the list while the Roundabout, Boulevard, and Advocate do? I thought the Britax seats were mostly identical as far as shells and basic safety features, but now wondering if there is something problematic about the Marathon relative to the rest of their lineup!
What about the Britax Marathon 70-G3? How does it fair compared to the The First Years True Fit SI C680. Currently, I’m debating between the two.
What were your reservations about the Cybex Aton? Your review was pretty positive, as I recall — and it’s such a great fit for small cars.
Curious as to why the Pioneer was left off? I’ve been looking at this seat!
@Isaiah’s Mom, how old is your ds? What carseat is he currently using?
@Christine, please read our review of the Shuttle 33 here: https://carseatblog.com/7153/combi-shuttle-33-review-is-this-the-one-for-you/ . I realize it’s not reviewing the most current version of this seat, but it still applies. Specifically, our thoughts are summed up in the last paragraph. There are better infant seats we feel should be on our list.
Just curious, what quirks/ease of use issues do y’all have with the Shuttle? I’m currently using one and can’t really think of any. They replaced the puzzle buckle with a standard IMMI buckle; I know that was a previous complaint.
My little boy weighs 35 pounds and is very tall. He has outgrown his current car seat (height wise) and I need to purchase a replacement. The research is quite overwhelming…I’m trying to find something safe yet something within my $125 budget. Should I go for a 5 point harness booster? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Does it make sense to still include the text about forward-facing-only vs. combination seats? Are there any FF-only seats still on the market that aren’t combos?
@Christine – the Shuttle is a nice seat but it has some quirks and a few ease-of-use issues that kept us from recommending it at this time. The infant seats on our list are limited to those that we felt comfortable recommending without reservation.
@APORTHOLE – we do wish Evenflo would ditch the 37″ standing height limit and just go back to stating the 1″ rule as a height limit for rear-facing. We’re not sure what prompted the change to a standing height limit which we all agree is silly since seated height is the only thing that really matters. However, for the record, a 37″ standing height limit isn’t terrible. According to the CDC clinical growth charts, a 37″ limit will get a boy in the 95th percentile for height to just past 24 months. It will get a boy in the 50th percentile for height to almost 36 months. We have other seats on our recommended list with even lower RF height limits – Scenera & Coccoro. The bottom line is that the Symphony is still a nice 3-in-1 with several innovative ease-of-use features. It may not be the best choice for someone looking to RF their child for as long as possible but it’s a great seat for the average parent who isn’t interested in rear-facing until age 3 or 4.
What about the Combi Shuttle?
Aimee, we will have our review of the Foonf within a month or two and may well add it to this list at that time!
What about the Combi Shuttle? No-re-thread harness, high height limit (33″), height weight limit (35#), head wings…GREAT seat! Not cost-prohibitive either, especially lined up next to the others on the list.
I’d love to see a mention of the Symphony’s 37″ rear facing standing height limit listed under its drawbacks. No mention at all of its low rear facing height limit which is a huge drawback.
I just figured because it is very cumbersome with lots of “parts”. I still love it for some reason though.
Definitely should look at the Foonf! It’s expensive but the fabric is great and with the seatbelt in RF position it’s so easy to install. Seems very easy to get a proper install in many vehicles. Definitely heavy which is a drawback, but I think the pros of the seat outweighs the cons.
@CSO1997 – it wasn’t excluded because we have issues with it, we just don’t have a review of it yet and didn’t have enough personal experiences between us to feel comfortable adding it to the list right now. As soon as we have a completed review, we’ll consider adding it.
What about the Foonf caused it to be excluded? Just curious.