Our friends at Evenflo and Go Go Babyz sent us some very nice products for review. I’m impressed by both of them, but will only do quick reviews today. They will be followed by full reviews in the near future, as they are being evaluated by parents with children who can more fully put them through their paces!
First up is the innovative Symphony, the new “All-in-One” offering from Evenflo. What’s the big deal? SureLATCH. Basically, these are lower attachments that have a built-in retractor. In many LATCH equipped vehicles, installation can be done in minutes, or even seconds! No pulling on straps is necessary; the idea is that you push down on the seat and it tightens itself with loud clicks to let you know it’s working! The Infinite Slide harness system is unique. It adjusts for height easily in the front and you can make the adjustment without un-installing the carseat. This model will take a baby rear-facing to 35 pounds (unless outgrown by height first), forward-facing to 40 pounds in a 5-point harness and then converts to a booster up to 100 pounds. The adjustable head restraint section adds nice side impact wings and energy absorbing foam is generous throughout.
The harness height should be sufficient for most kids to reach that 40 pounds limit, too. I estimate almost 16.5 inches for seated shoulder height. My son is tall for being 3 years and almost 5 months old- about 41″ high and nearly 37 pounds. He fits well in the harness and has just over a half inch of room to grow for shoulder height at the top setting. While it doesn’t join the wave of seats with harnesses that go beyond 40 pounds, it will appeal to parents who want something very easy to install and use. SecureLATCH and Infinte Slide really do make it very easy and that is the thing we all want to see. It’s also very well padded (with comfy infant pillows), stylish and has a nice recline adjustment as well. Retail price is $199, starting at Babies R Us stores. More to come soon from Ulrike, who will give a full review in a week or two!
Next is the Go-Go Babyz Infant Cruizer. We were impressed by the Travelmate for convertible seats and the Cruizer does the same for infant carriers. It’s an all-terrain platform for popular infant seats, in this case a Graco Snugride. What’s the big deal? Simple to fold, compact and relatively light weight. This makes it ideal if you live in the city or travel frequently. Even if you prefer a full featured stroller like their Urban Advantage for casual walks in the neighborhood, the Cruizer would be great for taxi rides or gate checking at the airport!
You can also buy a toddler seat adaptor to get some more use out of the Cruizer as your baby grows. It’s not necessarily a replacement for a full size stroller, but on-the-go parents may appreciate the convenience. Assembly is a snap; we put it together in a few minutes on a gravel parking lot. The only mishap was that yours truly skipped a step because he didn’t read the instructions(!). The infant seat clicked right in and the handlebar telescopes quickly and easily. I can’t really say how practical it is or how it handles, as I have neither a baby nor a Graco Snugride on hand;-) So, that’s for our guest mom to tell us in a full review that will appear soon! (I may have even sold her on an Evenflo Symphony, too, lol!).
Retail price is $149 at local and online stores, including elitecarseats.com.
We got this seat to replace the Evenflo Titan 5, whose leg straps were too tight around our son’s legs. I compared reviews and features of the Symphony with a number of other seats, and was initially very pleased with it. It was easy to install and seemed that it would serve us for a long time. My son (2 1/2, 36 inches, 28 pounds) also said initially that it was more comfortable than the Titan.
However, the first time we went on a trip longer than twenty minutes, he complained that something was hurting his neck. When I checked, I found that the red tab on the shoulder straps was cutting into the side of his neck. I wrapped some spare gloves around them, but they worked their way out in the course of ten minutes. Without them, the straps hurt him so much he started trying to wriggle his arms out of them; when I tightened them enough that he couldn’t get his arm underneath, he started screaming that something was hurting his bottom. When I checked, I found that underneath the cushion the plastic X-shaped structure with a beam through the middle (securing the SureLatch straps in the FF position) could be clearly felt through the cushion. It actually left a reddened indentation on his bottom that turned into a bruise the next day.
We are returning this carseat, and I urge everyone to look carefully at the frame underneath the cushions of any seat you’re considering. Carseats should not cut and bruise the children they’re meant to protect.
People concerned about 40lb harness limits are not very informed. Read your vehicle owners manual, most US and foreign auto makers have a 40lb latch limit, the point where your child should move to seat belts securing the restraint device.
Darren… I’ve now tried the seat as a booster… it stinks… please see my thread.
Oh… and what I forgot to put in my thread… it was tippy when I tried to buckle it… I wonder how that would play out during a real drive (as a booster)
My son is a bit over 90th percentile for height and a bit under for weight at his age. Seems to bear out when he’s with kids his age, too. He should make it to 4 years unless he has a huge growth spurt, which is possible.
If a parent wants to use a harness that goes beyond 40 pounds, that’s certainly fine. Other parents may choose the Symphony for ease of installation and use.
for my kids, obesity is not the issue (lucky kids had me as a mom… I know what an improper diet in the early years leads to… I’ve been meticulous to do my best to change the pattern), but all of them have been 40lbs before 4yrs old (one JUST before, but still).
At the time, none were at the top of the chart for weight (the oldest has since filled out and is now at the top for both height and weight), but were in at least the 65th percentiles.
That tells me that the top 50% of kids will be 40lbs before their 4th birthday.
Since I can’t safely recommend anyone to put their child in a booster before age 5-7 (when I’ve found the children truly ready in my experience in the almost 9yrs I’ve been a mom), this means we have to stick to seats that will allow that.
Granted, some 40lb seats are great for the in between phases, because of the bang for the buck, but this is not one of them.
for the price, you could buy an evenflo triumph Advance and a Graco Turbobooster!
The reason I’m not excited about another 40 lbs limit seat is because I live in a part of the country where obesity is higher–for children too.
My own children didn’t hit 40 lbs until several months after they turned 4 yrs old, so they would’ve been fine. However, I hate seeing a 2 yr old leaving a seatcheck in a backless booster because they are already over the 40 lb limit of their seat. Most 2 yr olds won’t sit properly, and some people can’t (or won’t) buy another harnessed seat when they are already struggling financially.
It doesn’t make sense to design a lower weight limit seat when all the statistics show that kid’s weights are generally going UP.
Flay? As in what we should do to the guy that wrote that book? :p
D, you did not just allude to the F word, did you?
You totally did! lol (The F word for c-s.org doesn’t rhyme with Truck)
The question is if the statistics show a significant increase in fatalities or injuries for kids that age who sit in boosters, compared to a 5-point harness. Keep in mind that while your kids might be correctly restrained in that harness, many are not.
Rear-facing past 24 months and harness use past 4 or 5 years sound like great ideas in theory. It would be nice if we had some statistics to show whether a $200 harness seat really is saving lives compared to a $20 booster. In fact, some data suggests that even 2-year olds would do better in a seatbelt than any kind of child restraint…
I would say that about 1/3 of four year olds I have met can sit safely in a booster all the time (or be taught to.) My kid is among the 2/3 of those I’ve met that can’t…
Maybe we grow them different out here?
I don’t mind 40 pound limit harnesses, as long as they can actually accomodate most kids up to 4 years old! The Symphony has a reasonable harness height for a 40 pound seat.
Most kids past 4 years and 40 pounds can ride safety in a booster. There is probably an advantage to a 5-point harness, especially for smaller or squirmy kids. For the typical 4/40 child, there really isn’t any evidence to show how much of an improvement a 5-point harness is over a booster. The important thing is being properly restrained (in either a harness or booster) in the back seat with an unimpaired/undistracted driver. Hopefully, we will see statistics for this in the future!
I’m not excited about another seat with a 40 lb weight limit (sigh).