INT HIS CASE, THE BIGGEST IS ALSO THE BEST
Written: Apr 07 '02
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Pros: Easier harness adjustment, recline levels, weight limit, comfort.
Cons: Big Big Big seat, Big Big Big price
The Bottom Line: If you need a bigger car seat before your baby turns one year, buy this seat. You won't find a better seat on the market.
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| sophiasmom's Full Review: Evenflo Triumph 5 Convertible Car Seat - Everwood ... |
I began researching convertible car seats when baby turned five months because of how fast she was growing. The current seat was fine, the traditional infant carrier in the base, but only went up to 29 inches and 22 pounds. I researched quite extensively and came up with this as the best choice.
This seat has some features that you absolutely will not find on any other seat on the market. The first and most important to me is the number of recline positions. It can be used rear-facing up to thirty pounds, and has a recline that positions it in the same lying back position as the infant seat in the base. That recline position can only be used rear-facing, and it prevents me from needing to put rolled up towels under the bottom of the seat to recline it correctly. When it is used forward facing, it has the standard straight up position, which to me seems to pitch children forward, depending on the type of vehicle you have, but it also has three other recline positions, so the older kid can lean back comfortably while riding forward facing. The recline levels adjust by a handle in the front of the seat.
The second feature you will not find on another seat, and almost as important as the recline levels to me, is it has a knob on the side you turn to tighten and loosen the harness straps. This is particularly convenient for a number of reasons. First, most toddler seats have a harness that has to be re-thread to adjust the tightness and looseness, which means constant taking the seat out when the weather constantly changes- cold weather clothes will not fit in the seat the way it is adjusted for hot weather clothes. Second, some toddler seats have a strap you can pull from the front to adjust the harness, which is fine in the forward facing position; however, the knob on the seat is located on the sides of the seat, so when baby is in rear facing position, it is still very simple to tighten or loosen the harness straps. Thus, this seat never has to be removed or re-threaded.
Third, and a completely novel feature as well, is a tracking system for the harness so that when you need to put the harness straps to the higher position, such as when baby grows or when you reverse the seat from forward to rear facing, you do not have to re-thread the harness then either. You simply lift up the front material, the front cushion and a plastic backing, and there is a track that the harness system slides up and down, and locks into one of the three harness position slots. Thus, when baby grows, you still do not ever have to remove this seat.
Some little extras or lagniappe as we call it down here- the material on the seat is easily removable and machine washable. The buckle has a sort of diaper shaped cloth underneath it so that sits on baby, so the buckle will never touch baby's skin, good for those really hot days here. It also has a buckle lock indicator, which is a larger piece of plastic behind the buckle that you are unable to see at all if the buckle is latched properly. If it is not completey secure, the color will peek out at you and you know you are not buckled securely.
The harness also opens a lot wider than regular harnesses, to get baby in and out of car more easily. It is also very padded, with padding on the sides where baby's head nods off to sleep, so baby's comfort is guaranteed. The seat pad is machine washable as well.
The seat goes up to 30 pounds rear facing, and between 20-40 pounds forward facing. The seat does not give a height specification, but states that the child is safe riding in it until the middle of the ears reaches over the top of the seat. I don't know if that means much to anyone, but my friend's five year old sat in it before we installed it and he was not too tall for it yet.
The seat, though the best I've seen, is not, of course, without it's drawbacks. The harness chest clip is the two piece kind, which I generally really like because it is harder for older toddlers to disengage them or slide them down, but this particular chest clip is an odd shape, so it took some getting used to.
It is also a whole lot bigger than almost any other seat I've seen, way bigger than the infant seat and base, and way bigger than my two year old's toddler seat. It is not a problem for me because I have an SUV, but I would recommend attempting to try it in your vehicle before you purchase it, especially if you have a smaller car or a two door car.
It also had a very big price tag, I paid $145.00 through Baby Strollers For Less on-line, because they had free shipping. I have seen if for a few dollars less, but could not find anyone who had one in stock when I wanted to buy it. I anticipated that I would buy a cheaper intermediary seat when baby outgrew the infant carrier, until she reached a year and could ride in a seat like my older daughter has, Century NEXT STEP, which has gotten top safety ratings and which my oldest truly adores, and which converts later into a booster seat for up to 80 pounds. However, I did not anticipate that I would need to buy a bigger seat when baby hit six months, and because I spent so much on this one, I will probably use it for a lot longer than I originally expected before I buy the toddler/booster combo.
One other small complaint- the manual that came with the seat is hidden in a pouch under the back of the seat, the part that raises when you adjust the harness tracking, and was at first very difficult to locate.
One small other note is that because it is a very new seat, I have not seen any safety reviews particular to this seat. However, one reviewer indicated that it would probably rate high because it is Evenflo, and similar in structure to other Evenflo seats that have gotten excellent safety ratings in the past.
But all in all, I would highly recommend this seat. It has some unique features that make the seat a whole lot more practical and easier to use than the ordinary car seat, and takes some of the apprehension out of moving baby to a bigger seat.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 145.00
Age Range of Child: 0 to 12 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
sophiasmom
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Location: New Orleans, LA
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I'm still kicking, just not as high.
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