A few weeks ago I posted asking the Hellobee community for help solving my convertible car seat conundrum. To quickly recap, we have 2 convertible car seats for 3 year old Big P: (1) a Chicco NextFit Zip Convertible Car Seat, which we like but the straps always tangle, plus it’s expensive and heavy; and (2) a Britax Boulevard ClickTight Convertible Car Seat, which we really like but the straps occasionally tangle and we struggle with the ClickTight installation system, plus it’s also expensive and heavy.

Now that 1 year old Little P is getting bigger (i.e., I can no longer carry him comfortably in his infant car seat), I needed to buy 2 new convertible car seats for him that would hopefully be (1) easy to use/ install for multiple users; (2) keep him rear facing as long as possible (at least to the age of 2 1/2 and hopefully longer); (3) have straps that do not tangle; and (4) be worth the cost.

I asked for help solving my conundrum, and boy this community delivered. Your feedback was so helpful. Here is a recap of what I learned, and what I ultimately ended up buying (and who I ended up buying new seats for):

– Despite what Consumer Reports says, you don’t actually need to switch a baby from an infant to a convertible seat at 1. Children are safe in an infant car seat as long as they meet all the requirements (which Little P at 15 1/2 months does!)

– I was encouraged by how many of you keep your little ones rear facing until 2, 3, and even 4 years. I have new resolve to keep Little P rear facing as long as possible.

– Lots of us struggle with tangled straps! One reader bought a comfort kit for her Chicco NextFit, which helps to solves another problem we have with both our convertible seats – Big P sitting on the buckles which requires digging them out (and I think may exasperate the tangled strap issue).

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– I was relieved to hear that others of you struggle with the Britax ClickTight installation system and even more relieved to hear there is an easy solution! Apparently all you need to do is unbuckle the seatbelt before you try to open the ClickTight panel.

– Many of you buy a lower priced, lighter convertible seat for traveling. I am definitely thinking of doing this not just for traveling but also for our 2nd car that we don’t use with the boys very often (that way we can keep the nicer seats in our primary car and our nanny’s vehicle).

– So many of you recommended the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Primo Convertible Car Seat and the Clek Fllo Convertible Car Seat (many thanks also to the readers who pointed out Clek is a Canadian not a European brand – I have clearly spent too much time at Ikea as my brain apparently just assumed Clek Fllo looked like an Ikea product name and thus must be European. Ooops).

– I was about ready to purchase either the Peg Perego or the Clek Fllo when …a few readers brilliantly suggested I simply pass down Big P’s convertible seats to Little P and buy new combination seats for Big P.

.  .  .  .  .

I am not sure why I didn’t think of buying combination seats for Big P instead of brand new convertible seats for Little P, but I’m very thankful for the readers that did! If your older child is already front facing and over 25 pounds (which my big Big P definitely is!), I highly recommend skipping a 2nd round of convertible car seats and buying combination ones instead.

After a little bit of research, I ended up buying a Britax Frontier ClickTight Harness-2-Booster combination car seat for Big P. We’ve only been using it for a few days, but so far so good! It cost less than a comparable convertible seat, was easy to install, and can be used until he’s over 5 feet tall and 120 pounds!! Phew. I’m cautiously optimistic we’ve solved our convertible car seat conundrum, although I still have a few years ahead of me of tangled straps with Little P and our old convertible seats.

One added bonus – we now own 4 car seats. Little P meets the size requirements for 3 of our 4 seats and is almost big enough for the new combination seat (although I’d like him to stay rear facing as long as possible, it’ll be nice to have the option to put him the combo seat in a pinch). Big P also meets the size requirements for 3 of the 4 seats (alas he will not shrink to fit the infant one). We frequently switch our seats between our 2 vehicles and our nanny’s car and occasionally a grandparent’s car as well. Being able to safely mix and match seats for our 2 boys is an unexpected and much-appreciated bonus.