It's Fun To Say Rear

So as many of you may know, I have been trying to figure out what car seat to get my darling, ever-growing, child. I didn't really expect that I would spend so much goddamn time researching this. I should have done this last year when I registered but I spent so much time reading up on natural childbirthing that I really didn't have time for much else! (Thank goodness for downtime at work). So lately I have been looking at ratings and reviews like mad, trying to pick one that fits our needs. It's one of those things that I figured were all the same, but little did I know how many features and standards I would be running into.

I figured that I would just buy whatever, but then I have that paranoia that we are going to get into an accident. So I start thinking that I should get a good one... just in case.

Everyone that had a Britax seat couldn't stop raving about them. All the ratings were great, but I kept looking at others. In the meantime until I buy my favorite, I purchased an Alpha-Omega from BJs. John and I spent some time wrestling with it. I can't get it to be stable in my car without removing the base. This is NOT good. So finally John got it somewhat stable using the LATCHes in a rear-facing set-up. She's still under a year, so we are keeping her rear-facing. Plus it's fun to say rear.

I drove to my parents' house on Sunday, with her in the new seat. It was actually surprisingly easy to belt her in BUT.... both ways all she did was the "whine cry." I figured that maybe on the way there she was just cranky but she did it ALL the way back too. So, really, what was I going to do? I couldn't take her out of it, and I tried adjusting it. No dice. Whhhhhhine.

My conclusion was that she really doesn't feel comfortable in it. So this will not work for me because I can't have her miserable in the car all the time.

But the big FAIL of this seat is that it rattles ALL THE EFFING TIME. Right next to my ear. Rattle. Clank. Rattle. Clank. I even tried turning up the radio. That didn't really work. Soooo I am fairly certain that this is either going back or being used as a backup for when she is over my in-laws and she's old enough to put it front-facing. They have a Volvo which, like my Jetta, doesn't offer much in the way of backseat space, but I think it will be fine as a front-facer.

After much research I think I have decided to try out a Sunshine Kids Radian car seat. This, for all you TLC nerds, is the carseat of the Gosselins. Not that that fact alone swayed me, but at least I know that it won't be overwhelming in a small car. They are only 17 inches in width! They are heavy but sturdy and they fold up! So I am pretty excited to try one out. I will be heading to Impish in Northampton to check them out in person. If I decide to get it, I'll definitely give an update. At this point if it's quiet, I'm sold. Oh, and it's really safe too. Yah, and hopefully quiet.