I was wondering where to get safety ratings also. Did Consumer Reports ever do a new study after their last one was found to be inaccurate about a year ago? It won't be too long before we have to get a new car seat. Our infant seat only goes up to 22 pounds.

I drive a small 4-door car and I don't like Will facing the back window. It gets hot back there, even in the winter time with him being in the direct sunlight. I haven't seen a shade anywhere that will do a good job of blocking out the sun in a back window. Also, if someone hit us from behind, wouldn't the glass shader on him?

Kristi, is the article you wrote about rear facing seats online? Can you give me a link to it?

DistractedMom - ok, in my honest opinion, if the money is a big issue, then no, I would skip the britax. I DO see a HUGE difference in them to the other carseats, but most of those differences are NOT in safety.

They are just more plush and comfy and much easier to install. We travel a LOT and my girls spends lots of nights sleeping in their carseat while we make 12 hour drives, so to me the comfort was a big issue.

ALL carseats have to meet the exact same safety standards.

So, I say that so that you don't feel bad if you don't get a britax. Britax is top of the line if you can afford it, or get a good enough deal to make it doable (like we did), but I would not break the bank for it.

The biggest concern for me would be the weight/height limits, so you get the most bang for your buck to leave them in the 5 pt harness as long as possible.

Here are some alternatives that I think are really great, and are a bit more affordable:

Evenflo Triumph - it goes to 50 pounds. Not quite as high as the Britax, but still better than most.

And shoot ... there is one I'm searching for. It's a brand I'd never heard of that is actually manufactured by britax (but they don't advertise that), and it's MUCH cheaper b/c it doesn't have the bells and whistles ... I'll keep looking and post a link.

Oh - SarahMay - you DEF want your little one to be 20 pounds AND a year. Not one or the other. Alabama is sadly waaaay behind most other states when it comes to child safety laws. I wouldn't go by their law at all. Even if they reach the weight limit early, their spines are not developed enough to withstand a car crash forward facing before they are one. Or even before they are two, although I admit we have turned our 15 month around at this point.

SarahMay - would this work? http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=728&cmSource=Search

On, and here's a link to a site with some ratings. I am about to go explore it to see how they are rated, etc: http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZ...bdba101891ef9a_ws_MX

Me again. LOL. Finally reading that site, and it confirms what I was saying earlier about them all being equally safe. Here is what they say about their ratings:

All car seats rated by NHTSA meet Federal Safety Standards & strict crash performance standards. While all rated seats are safe, they do differ in their ease of use in four basic catagories:



Evaluation of Instructions
Vehicle Installation Features

Evaluation of Labels
Securing the Child

OMG, you guys are such a big help! All of you, thank you so much!
I think I have a little time to search before my LO hits the weight limit, so I'm going to look around. And my parents seem interested in helping, too, so I may just end up with a Britax or two!

Here you go!

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080210/NEWS/610187302/1005/SPORTS0106

Yes! That rear shade does look like it would work. Thanks!

DistractedMom-
I found a car seat with a higher weight limit. It's the Safety 1st Apex Car Seat. It can be used as a car seat to 65 pounds and then as a booster to 100 pounds. It sells for about $120.

Here are a couple of reviews-
http://www.epinions.com/content_218900172420

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/112382/review_...y_1stcosco_apex.html

Hey, that sounds great! Thanks, SarahMay.