Car seats, all the same or one better than the others?

[BIGdaddy]

I have 3 kids, here's my thoughts:

Baby/infant seat: Buy the graco stroller travel system.
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Passage-.../dp/B002RL7US0

With it you will get:
-Baby seat
-Stroller that the baby seat clips into, that will eventually be able to hold a larger child
-Seat base
THEN, add to this purchase a spare base for each additional car. $30.00 or so: http://www.amazon.com/Graco-SnugRide...8287456&sr=1-1

This baby seat will be rear facing only
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Child/toddler seat: Graco Comfortsport convertible infant/toddler seat. cost is around $100
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-ComfortS...8287522&sr=1-3

We've had two of these, and the quality/ratings are high. These are seats that will rearface, and then be able to forward-face when you're/they're ready.
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Toddler/preschooler seat: Cosco 5-point booster. Around $40.00 @ walmart/target
http://www.amazon.com/Cosco-Juvenile...8287603&sr=1-6

This seat has high ratings and is as big as it needs to be and as small as possible.
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Our oldest is six, so we've had a long time to form our opinions on these products, and their cost vs. value. I know some will put thousands into their child restraint systems but honestly the ones above have been beat to crap in our cars and by our kids, and are still very functional. By the way, that graco stroller is the one we choose when we go to theme parks even though we have a graco double (front/back like an f14 fighter) stroller. It will hold 3 kids with creative placement which is especially useful at the end of the day when everyone is pooped out.

[mdz79]

In the USA we do not get the ISOFIX base or the same seats.

Ok - I had no idea. I thought it is worldwide.

[enigmadsm]

I have 2 Recaros, one goes from rear facing to front facing, the other goes from standard front facing to booster seat. I can't imagine having anything else

[Lynn]

With our two girls we went through a ton o' stuff.

We had one Britax, which are supposed to be among the best, but bulky. We've also had several others. We pretty much looked over them closely and decided what looked best to us. IIRC Consumer Reports did a test of car seats a couple of years ago and they pretty much all failed. Not too encouraging, but brought me to the point I wouldn't go by brand.

Definitely go with some form of drop-in infant carrier. As mentioned earlier, you don't want to disturb the critter any more than necessary. Also nice when visiting a friend. Pop out the carrier and bring it in the house for a kid seat. Most I've seen have a rounded base so that they can be rocked. Matter of fact, for a few weeks our daughter would only sleep in the infant carrier.

Restaurants usually have a hammock thingy for the infant seat, as well.

And the infant carrier has a nice handle that babies lack. When you're bringing the groceries home you can set the carrier on the driveway, load up your armload of groceries, and just pick the carrier up and go. So much more convenient that trying to cradle a baby in your arms while trying to do other things.

Also recommend one of the simple strollers that the infant seat clicks into. Here's an example I snatched off the web, but we had a simple one we bought at a consignment store for about $20:

graco_universal_infant_seat_stroller_30_vero_beach_10096924.jpg

We had one of the graco 'systems.' IMHO the strollers are really heavy and bulky. Pretty much need a minivan or truck to haul it around.

After the kiddo gets too big for the infant seat, just get a cheap umbrella stroller. So light and easy to deal with. The only advantage to the big strollers is using them as a shopping cart on major mall trips. My wife even did one black Friday sale with the stroller and no kids...

YMMV