There are so many great car seats and resources on the internet that there is no excuse to ever have your child at risk while in the car. Ever since my son was born, I've been a strong advocate for car seat safety. In fact, I've written about car seats and car seat reviews dozen of times over the past 5 years and I'm excited to share what I've learned along the way.
It all started when I found out I was pregnant with my son. I poured over car seat reviews and recommendations before completing my Amazon baby registry. I chose a Graco infant car seat and we had a great experience with it. Then, I started blogging and learning more about child safety. When my son outgrew his infant car seat, I knew I wanted a convertible car seat that would still allow him to be rear-facing. After all, children are much safer in the rear-facing position.
Our first convertible car seat was the Combi Cocorro. I had a hard time installing that car seat in our small SUV, so eventually, we switched to a Graco SmartSeat and a Britax Boulevard. Eventually, I reviewed 10 different car seats by the time my son turned 5. I learned SO much in the process.
I started writing articles to discuss car seat safety, things to consider before buying a car seat, and common car seat mistakes people might be making. Apparently, those posts resonated with people and they've been viewed almost 100,000 times.
After my close friends were involved in a pretty horrible car crash, I reached out to ask if she replaced her car seats. She didn't know you had to. I wrote about the current recommendations for replacing a car seat after an accident and shared them with everyone I knew. I also covered why car seats and coats don't mix, how to soothe a crying baby in the car, when you should switch your child to a booster (since people usually do this far too early), and about the use (or misuse) of the car seat top tether.
When my daughter was born, many people asked me when I was going to turn my son around. He was 3-years-old and looked like a giant compared to her. I knew better though. I kept him rear-facing in his Clek Foonf and challenged anyone who questioned me to watch videos like this on YouTube and then tell me he'd be better of forward-facing:
We continued extended rear-facing until he was almost 4-years-old. Although you might think that children might be uncomfortable rear-facing for a prolonged period of time because their legs look squished, they usually aren't. My son never complained about having enough leg room. He usually sat with his legs crisscrossed and always said he was perfectly fine.
Car Seat Reviews
As I've mentioned, our team has reviewed a lot of car seats over the past 5 years. Here are a few car seats we can recommend:
Infant car seat reviews
- Britax B-Safe infant car seat
- Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat Review
- Maxi Cosi Mico AP infant car seat review
Convertible car seat reviews
- Britax Advocate ClickTight Review with car seat installation tips.
- Britax Boulevard ClickTight with anti-rebound bar review(we've also reviewed the Britax Boulevard 70-G3)
- Clek Foonf Convertible Car Seat Review
- Diono Rainier
- Diono Radian RXT Convertible Car Seat Review
- Another look at the Diono Radian RXT for extended rear-facing.
- Graco SlimFit Convertible Car Seat Review
- Graco Extend2Fit 3-in-1 Convertible Car Seat Review
- Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit 4-in-1 Convertible Car Seat Review
- RECARO Performance RIDE Convertible Car Seat Review
Harness to Booster Seat Reviews
- RECARO Performance SPORT Combination Harness to Booster
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