New Car Seats

We've recently taken the plunge and purchased 2 new car seats. They were both quite necessary, not frivolous, since Macie will have to move up to a convertible car seat in a few months. So the plan was (and still is) to purchase new seats for Ivie and let Mac move into Ivie's old ones...

As much as I wanted to, for ease, flexibility, and budget sake, get 2 high-back booster seats for Ivie and call it a day, I decided that I first better do some research. Several friends have told us to wait as long as possible to go with the booster-style seat, since along with the ease comes the fact that the pre-schooler is able to get in and out of the seat without an adult's help... Knowing Ivie's tendency to NOT WANT TO SIT STILL, I worried about this. Additionally, my research showed that it is safer to keep children in harness-style booster seats until they outgrow the weight limits on them.

So we (well, mostly me) ultimately decided to go with one of each. A Britax Marathon (which is harness-style, fits kids up to a whopping 65 pounds, and costs more than I think I should have to spend on a car seat) for my car, since it's the car we're in most often, especially on long trips...


And a Graco TurboBooster (which uses the car's seat belt, will turn into a backless booster when Ivie weighs over 40 pounds and grows a few inches, and is much more budget-friendly for families that own 7 total car seats/bases) for Dale's car, which is really only used for trips to and from school...


So, taking a quick look at these 2 different seats, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know, almost immediately, which Ivie is going to prefer. In fact, she is soooo in love with her "lizard" car seat (look closely, it has cute little lizards on it!), that she has taken to pouting when I either take her to or pick her up from school in MY car, which has the much-less-preferred "TOO TIIIIIGHT" car seat.

I'm hoping that this attitude will go away soon, with the novelty of the lizards wearing off, so that we don't have to continue to have this struggle on a daily basis. Because if it doesn't cease, I'm going to be in the market for some little lizard stickers to put on the Britax. As if I really think for a second that that would help...