Kate has been using the infant carseat we got at Devin’s baby shower, a Graco Safe Seat 1. It goes up to 30 lbs and was one of the first infant seats of the larger, higher weight limit variety – at the time most went up to 22lbs. I figured I would be wearing my baby more than lugging around the seat (because it is heavy, even without a baby in it!) so I was more concerned with a higher limit than portability. I love that seat. It installed easily, it fit Kate great from day 1, it still fits her comfortably today, and it’s easy to use. The only annoyance is having to re-thread the harness straps when you want to move them, but that’s the same for any infant seat out there. Kate is currently only around 19lbs and on the middle harness height (of 3) so she still has plenty of room to grow in it. I probably could have kept her in it until she was 18 months, and with her it’s a sure bet she’d outgrow it by height than weight. So in hindsight I didn’t really need the higher weight limit, but maybe my next kid will be a chunker. (The Safe Seat has been replaced with new higher-limit SnugRide infant seats.)

Regardless, a few months ago I got all excited at a sale and purchased Kate a convertable car seat. (Note: Put off purchasing a car seat as long as possible, especially if you plan to use it for multiple children. A car seat has an expiration date, typically 6 or 7 years, and the longer you put off buying a seat the longer you’ll be able to use it.) I finally decided I really wanted to install it just to see how I liked it. I want to figure out if I’ll be using the MyRide as her primary carseat in my SUV or putting it into Den’s car as a secondary. Either way I need to buy a second convertable seat and I need to decide what to get.

I chose the MyRide for a few reasons. Firstly, it has a rear-facing weight limit of 40lbs, which is fantastic. I plan to keep Kate rear-facing until at least 3, so I needed a large rear-facing seat. She will be outgrowing by height long before she hits the 40lb weight limit. Now there are multiple carseats on the market now that are great for extended rear-facing, and I chose the Graco mainly because of how much I loved the infant seat. I liked their buckle and chest strap, both of which are significantly different than any other brand’s. (Smart move on their part!) I checked out reviews and found that the MyRide was getting a lot of good buzz. It sells for around $140, which is significantly less than the Britax seats I was originally going to get. And lastly it comes in a completely awesome pink and brown fabric cover that I love, hee hee.

Installation didn’t go as well as I had hoped the first try – and it wasn’t the seat’s fault. The SUV’s LATCH locations are apparently completely assanine, so I can’t use them in the center (or on the sides, for that matter. They’re placed in the middle of the center and outboard seats, what the fuck?). The center seat has a simple lap belt, which actually is perfect for installing car seats… if you can manage to adjust the stupid thing. I grunted and pulled and wiggled and tugged and that sucker is TIGHT. And Kate, wathcing me from her position strapped into her infant seat sitting in the back of the SUV, got tired of the arrangement and started crying. I gave up, left it, and called Den to let him know I was stuck at home until he could get the seat installed. When he got home it took him about 60 seconds to adjust the seatbelt, I pushed on the carseat while he buckled it in. And man, that is the most solid carseat install I’ve ever seen in my life. Perfect angle without any pool noodles or towels, no futzing around, just carseat click and that thing doesn’t budge.

At first I was not entirely happy with the MyRide. Going from an infant seat to a convertable – especially a large one – looks weird to start with. Kate looked so small in it! There is nothing for her to rest her head on when she sleeps (which is not a safety concern, just a general comfort thing). It does sit pretty high, about the same as the infant seat did, and I sometimes bonk her head on the ceiling when lifting her in to her seat, so that was a bummer. My main concern was that the harness adjuster seemed to require a lot of force to pull on. The infant seat was always so easy to snug tight – and I do get it very snug, I’m obsessive about that – so I was irritated. It’s also a very wide seat, so if you’re trying to fit three across in your car this is not the right seat for you. Kate will be in the center until we have another child, then they will both have to be put on the outside seats – but my SUV is very narrow and we are going to have that problem with just about every seat out there except for the Radian (which I don’t want). But I wanted to use it for a week or two before making a decision.

After a couple of days I’m liking it more and more, and getting less concerned about it. Kate seems to like it just fine, she happily kicks her legs, plays with the strap, babbles, and chills out like normal. The first day she whined as I was tightening the harness, but that could have been because I was taking too long or because she was confused about this new seat or something else entirely. (Regardless, even after whining she was still perfectly happy as soon as I started driving so it obviously didn’t bother her much.) I removed the harness covers (which are optional) and I’m quicker at tightening the harness and today she didn’t complain at all, plus I think she figured out that this is her new seat. She even fell asleep in it a couple of times, she didn’t seem concerned by the lack of headrest.

Would it be nice to have some luxury features that come with a Britax? Oh yeah. The Britax seats had a very smooth, easy harness adjustment, velcro on the straps to hold them open, and extra padding in the seat. The new Marathon and Boulevard also have an adjustable headrest which allows you to adjust the height of the shoulder straps without uninstalling the car, a very nice perk! But are they work the extra $100? Hard to say. If I were to do it again would I get a MyRide? Maybe not. But regardless, the MyRide will rear-face for pretty much the same length of time (same rear-facing weight limits, approximately the same shell height), and I’m still very pleased with my purchase. Even if I end up getting a fancier car seat for my vehicle it will make an excellent secondary seat for our other vehicle. And at this point, as long as Kate likes it and it doesn’t give me any trouble, I’ll probably be keeping it.

Plus it is SO pretty. ;)