Recommended toddler car seats?

May 9, 2015 9:38 AM

We're looking for a convertible (rear- to front-facing) car seat for our 16 month old. We have a Britex Boulevard CS we got as a hand-me-down, but we don't love it. The biggest problem with it is that our daughter is prone to motion sickness and the Boulevard is hard to clean.

Do you have a recommendation for an easy-to-clean car seat? Bonus: do you have a recommendation for a car seat that's less prone to inducing motion sickness? The motion sickness has mostly been a problem once we switched to the new car seat - she rarely got sick in her infant car seat.

posted by pombe to Grab Bag (7 answers total)

When we had a First Years True Fit car seat, the covers were very easy to take off. They snapped right off and we didn't even have to take the belts off to do so.

I'm thinking the reason for the increased car sickness is reduced visibility for your daughter to the sides. Many seats these days have very deep "wings" on the sides that do increase safety but definitely reduce visibility. The True Fit we had didn't have sides as deep but it looks like newer versions are about as deep as the Britaxes.
posted by zsazsa at 9:48 AM on May 9, 2015

We have a Cosco Apt40RF and a Chicco NextFit and they both rearface to 40" and 40lbs. We have recently switched our toddler from the Chicco to the Cosco to make way for her little sister (it's easier to get a good fit for a newborn in the Chicco) and she seems to really be enjoying it. It's a deeper seat so it's harder for her to see out of which may help with the motion sickness. The Cosco cover is easier to remove and clean and you can order a spare from the manufacturer so you can have one in use while cleaning the other. You can get a good bit of information on car seats and use the comparison tool on Car Seats For the Littles, I hope that helps!
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 10:03 AM on May 9, 2015

Seconding a seat cover and strap covers. They also make (or you can rig) a cover for the center snap, which is the grossest and hardest to clean. They now make a rubbery bib that has a cup-like protrusion- when I saw it I wished I had known about it when my kid was rear-facing. I think that it could've solved the bulk of the mess issue. I have a carsick kid too and it's hard. We ended up buying a second seat so we could switch it out when the inevitable happened.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 10:43 AM on May 9, 2015

We have a Graco my ride. I just today learned how easy it is to clean. Much much easier than our britaxes.
posted by dpx.mfx at 8:59 PM on May 9, 2015

Chicco makes a version of the NextFit where the cover literally zips off (with a zipper) for easier cleaning. It's pretty deep like the Britax seats though.

The Diono seats (Radian, etc) aren't deep at all and have increased visibility which might help with motion sickness. The newer ones have covers that aren't too bad to get off and on.
posted by checkitnice at 2:09 AM on May 10, 2015

It's pricey, but worth it, the Clek Foonf or Flo. It sits super high and allows kiddos to see out the back window. I can't speak to the cleaning, but it does use a fabric that is impervious to spills. You can always use puppy pee pads in the seats too.
posted by MayNicholas at 5:33 AM on May 10, 2015

I know this isn't what you asked, but you could try turning the car seat to face forward, if you haven't done so already. Once the child is one, this is usually allowed, and it might help with the motion sickness. We turned our daughter (who is not prone to motion sickness) to face forward shortly after she turned one, and riding in the car became much more fun for everyone -- we decided it was worth the increased risk of harm in the unlikely event of a serious accident.
posted by parkin at 4:16 PM on May 10, 2015