+1 for saying an expensive carseat is NO more "safe" than a cheap one. A WELL INSTALLED carseat (regardless of price point) is more safe than an improperly installed one. A more expensive one CAN be more convenient but don't pick one based on its price. Question if you need the feature. For instance, easy installing/reinstalling. Important? It is if you are going to be sharing between two cars. If you're not? I take ours out when I clean the car 2x a year. I never cared about twisting car seat straps...um, untangle them? Its not rocket science (to me). The no-rethread harness, eh, nice to have but with only four "slots" in the old style one you by definition only have to rethread it three times. I second the opinion that the Scenera, $39 right now on Walmart.com, its a great seat and we own two
http://www.walmart.com/ip/16932756?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227000889282&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40331530232&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78292782752&veh=semThat said, in the interest of full disclosure (putting up my hands in preparation for face punches) We have 8 carseats for two children. Yep, one for each of my husband and my car, another set for both sets of grandparents. We could live with any amount of tangling straps but the idea of installing/uninstalling every week (each set of grandparents watch the kids 1x a week in the summer)...nope, not interested. Others come up with other value propositions. Decide what's important to you. I also am the type to rear face for a long time so my 2.5 year old is still rear facing and my 6 year old is still 5-point harnessed so that means I prioritized things other may not. My purchases were like this:
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bucket seat - used for both kids for 1 year each - CHEAP, I wanted it light for carrying as I have RA, nothing else mattered (again, they are ALL safe if installed properly) but TO ME the ability not to wake the baby every time we got into/out of the car = priceless. As does being able to put a blanket over them in cold weather since they aren't supposed to wear puffy coats in carseats.
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rear facing seat - used for both kids - expires after 6 years but luckily our kids are close enough to each other that this worked, used for 2-3 years per kid
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front facing seat - used by my oldest and will be passed down to my youngest in a few months (when her rear facing seat expires, conveniently right after she turns 3 years old)
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booster seat - don't own yet but oldest kid will go into when I give his front facing seat to younger kid - might be as soon as when he's 6.5 years old which means he's been harnessed 2.5 years longer than many but honestly, he can buckle/unbuckle himself, he looks like a race car and when he falls asleep it keeps him upright, I don't understand the rush to move him on.
As for strollers, I think they're practically useless but this is one of those cases where it depends on your lifestyle. I babywear (
http://mobywrap.com/) and think strollers are a big PITA, I'm aware others, particularly joggers, get a lot of use out of theirs. I use it MAYBE 1x a year as our hiking doesn't allow for strollers and when I go to the zoo/aquarium the kid can't see anything from the stroller anyways. I would save the money and see how you feel when LO shows up. If anything, "umbrella strollers" are like $15.