2 baby gear questions

[Deleted]

1) We are looking at convertible car seats b/c the boys are tall (already ~26 inches, they grew 5 inches in 4 months). They will almost definitely need convertible seats before they're a year old. Ideally I'd like 2 Britax ones but the thought of spending between $600 and 700 on car seats is terrifying lol. I've also looked at Graco and Safety 1st ones. What non-Britax ones would you recommend? The longer the boys could use them, the better. This could be something we may have to buy in the next handful of months, with the possibility of Jake still being unemployed.

2) We are also looking at SBS double strollers. We like to walk a lot. We have a tandem one that doesn't take the infant seats now but it's really heavy to lug up and down the stairs to the apartment. What are ones you'd recommend? I'd like something sturdier than just a double umbrella stroller, that we could use for years. This purchase is less timely b/c we do have a non-infant-seat-stroller. I'm just looking for recs of brands so I can do research and keep an eye out on Craigslist when we're ready to buy.

[revolution]

DD has an Evenflo Triumph Advance. I've loved it and so does she. She'll be 5 in November and has been in it since just before a year old.

I can't help with the SBS stoller. Sorry.

ETA: DH can get the seat in and out easily, the thing never moves. And, the cover comes off easily without taking the seat out so I can throw it in the washing machine when she spills stuff.

[EmilieMadison]

1) There's nothing safer about Britax than any other properly used seat, so dont spend the money unless you have it to spare and really love those seats. The Graco MyRide, First Years TrueFIt, Evenflo Triumph65 are all great seats and should last RF until at least age 2, and then FF until age 5-ish.

2) I dont have a lot of stroller recs at the moment, sorry!

[Deleted]

1. i have a britax and thus have no recommendations for alternatives. we did get a deal on amazon.

2. city mini has a double that my up the street neighbors with twins love. they also have a maclaren double umbrella type stroller that is pretty lightweight. not super cheap, but apparently very hardy (the leave it outside on their porch a ton and it's still in great shape). i think it's this one. www.amazon.com/Maclaren-Triumph-Stroller-Black-Charcoal/dp/B006ZN3I82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344869382&sr=8-1&keywords=maclaren+twin+triumph

[dragonfly08]

I really loved our Britax seats (I had both a Marathon and Roundabout). Very easy to install properly (which more than anything else is what makes them safe), easy to use, totally comfortable for the kids, high weight limit on the Marathon. But if your budget doesn't extend to that, I also really like the Graco Nautilus. Both of my girls ride in those now as a high backed booster, but used them first as five point harness carseats. And when we travel by plane and will be renting a car at our destination I convert them to backless boosters to make them easy to carry. As a 3 in 1 it'll be the only seat you'll need unless they outgrow it before it expires and/or they're legally able to ride without a seat at all.

No help on a stroller, sorry...I never had two in a stroller at the same time.

[EmilieMadison]

Aug 13, 2012 10:22:56 GMT -5 dragonfly08 said:

I really loved our Britax seats (I had both a Marathon and Roundabout). Very easy to install properly (which more than anything else is what makes them safe), easy to use, totally comfortable for the kids, high weight limit on the Marathon. But if your budget doesn't extend to that, I also really like the Graco Nautilus. Both of my girls ride in those now as a high backed booster, but used them first as five point harness carseats. And when we travel by plane and will be renting a car at our destination I convert them to backless boosters to make them easy to carry. As a 3 in 1 it'll be the only seat you'll need unless they outgrow it before it expires and/or they're legally able to ride without a seat at all.

No help on a stroller, sorry...I never had two in a stroller at the same time.

The OP's babies are only 4 months old- the Graco Nautilus is FF only and is meant for children over age 2 and she still needs seats that RF

[Deleted]

Thanks all! Yes, we will be RF as long as possible -- hopefully over 2yrs but we'll see how long they get. Does height growth slow down at some point in infancy?? lol

[Deleted]

That's awesome! We have a Matrix, so convertibles RF will be a tight fit. I'm going to look into these, thanks!!

[Cayl]

We have the Safety First seats in my car (the more expensive ones, I think they go for about $180 each) and we just bought the Evenflo DLXs for H's car, which were super cheap (we got two for $95 combined). If you get them from BRU you can use 20% coupons plus ask for the twins discount, which is an additional 10%. We started using the convertible seats a few weeks ago because they were just getting way too heavy in the infant seats (when carrying them both). They also started fussing a lot in the car, and now they're happy in the car again.

We have the City Mini Double and love it. It's not cheap, but it's pretty light, super easy to fold, and we use it almost every day to go for a walk. The seats recline so we've been using it for quite some time now.

[Deleted]

We get Graco ones from Sams for $70 or something. I have no complaints except I've managed to lose the cover clip for both while washing them. The covers pop off easily without them.

[vanillacourage]

We have two Britax seats for DS1, and now I'm buying two more seats for the baby (he's 4 months and the size of a 12-month-old). I got one Evenflo Triumph LX when it was 50% off at Target a few weeks back, and for the 2nd one I'm looking at either another Britax Marathon or a Dionio high-limit seat.

Since you'll have 2 RFing, I would strongly recommend you go to BRU or another baby store and get seats to try in your car before buying. They have sample seats you can take out to your car, so you can see how far up you have to push the seat in front of it. RFing convertible seats, especially some of the seats recommended in this thread, can be huge. When DS2 is RFing in my car DH will likely only be able to ride as a (very cramped) passenger, and if you have 2 kids RFing at the same time it will likely impact both the driver and passenger seat in the front.

[cleo29]

We have a Britax and an Evenflo. Both are great seats. It is really easy to adjust the strap height on both, but the only thing I do not like about the evendflo is the way the buckle turns in towards the child's stomach when you tighten the straps. I know the Britax are not cheap, but if you consider they could be in them for 3-4 years, I think it's worth the money. Also, with the new latch system, they are really easy to put and take out of the car.

For SBS, I like the City Mini. It folds easily, is not too heavy and it is really easy to wash the fabric.

[malibu]

I got the Graco MyRide for DD. It fits in my two door coupe's backseat, and goes up to 65 pounds. Target has on sale sometimes during baby sales and I got it for $100. I think it's usually around $150 not on sale.

Not sure on the double stroller, sorry.

[Deleted]

Yeah, Cleo, I think the money is worth it, we just may not be able to afford them. I agree that since they'll be in them until they're 3-5 it's worth spending more in general.

[cleo29]

Aug 13, 2012 12:39:58 GMT -5 ninjabridemom said:

Yeah, Cleo, I think the money is worth it, we just may not be able to afford them. I agree that since they'll be in them until they're 3-5 it's worth spending more in general.

Hmmm, what is your budget for the seats?

[missmaddie]

I love our Evenflo Triumph, but it didn't fit properly in one of our cars, and we have a Safety 1st one in the other car. It makes me love the Triumph even more. That said, DS looks more comfortable in the S1, and it was easy to install, but not nearly as convenient to loosen and tighten over and over as the Triumph knob.

[Deleted]

What is the Safety 1st one you guys have? I've been looking at the Alpha Omega ones.

Cleo, if we had to buy right now (which we don't) it'd be probably $400 for both. We're starting to try to save for them, knowing the expense is coming up sooner than we'd thought.

I did forget about the twin discount, too, so that will help some!! I'll have to look at what BRU offers.

[cleo29]

OK, because I am getting a ton of Britax seats in the mid to low 200s on Amazon. We are in the same boat right now as K is quickly growing out of her infant seat, much faster than C did.

[Cayl]

Ninja I have two of this one:

www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4232163&searchURL=false

and H has two of this one:

www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11468534&prodFindSrc=search

The Evenflo ones are definitely not ones that we would use for long car trips because there's so much less padding that they seem a lot less comfortable, but for $90 they are perfect for H's car since they're only in it a couple times a week. But we wanted 4 since I'll drop off and H will pick up sometimes.

[Deleted]

Thanks, guys! Good information.