Best Convertible Car Seats: Safety First

Top 8 Best Convertible Car Seats

It’s all well and good to reminisce about the good old days but, chances are, we’re looking at another time through seriously tinted rose-colored glasses. Sure, more than a few of us used to bounce around on the bench seat of a station wagon or in the bed of a pickup truck but there’s no way anyone can argue in good faith that it was very safe.

They beat the heck out of riding around in the box of a tattered GMC Sierra, too.

This brand name has been around for ages and will appear twice on our list. This particular unit from them is intended for rear-facing infants weighing from 4 to 50 pounds. After they outgrow and out-age that seating position, this seat converts to accept forward-facing toddlers from 22 to 65 pounds.

A 4-position extension panel adjusts to provide 5 inches of additional legroom for the kid, allowing your child to ride in rear-facing safety for a longer period of time. This is more important than you might think, especially for those of us who raised kids that quickly grew to NBA stature - too big to comfortably fit in a rear-facing seat but too young to flip around and face the windshield. This seat solves that conundrum.

As a damning indictment of his rapidly advancing age, reading this brand name immediately puts your author in mind of a certain Pearl Jam song from the '90s. Fortunately, this seat comes without any sign of Seattle's famously soggy weather.

This seat incorporates multiple shoulder harness positions for a better fit and longer use as the kid grows up. Real-world reviews praise its light but sturdy construction with one customer showing the aftermath of a scary crash. Like others, the seat is side-impact tested for this very reason.

In a remarkable case of doing exactly what it says on the can, this brand of car seat is built to grow for extended use through 3 stages of child development. First, it can accommodate children in a rear-facing configuration, bearing from 5 to 40 pounds.

Then, it can be adapted to a forward-facing model good for children weighing between 22 and 65 pounds. Finally, it's also suitable as a belt-positioning booster seat for urchins in the 40 to 100 pounds weight class. Essentially then, this thing should last until the kid is ready for grade school. Heights, by the way, are recommended as 19-40 inches rear-facing and 29-52 forward-facing.

See? We told you Graco would appear on this list for a second time. It's difficult to exclude them from double consideration, given the vast number of car seat permutations they have developed. This unit is marketed as a 4-in-1 solution that should see your kid from newborn to near teen years.

Said to give 10 years of use, it'll go from a rear-facing to forward-facing harness seat. Then, it converts to a high-back seatbelt positioning booster until it finally is can be used as a simple backless booster seat. The latter is good for up to 120 pounds, more than some adults I know.

If you don't mind some of your hard-earned money finding its way into the corporate coffers of the Disney corporation, this car seat has a lot to offer. It is, of course, styled with the famous Mickey/Minnie ears but it is less blatant than one might expect given Disney's propensity for marketing.

The seat is good for rear- or forward-facing duties, carrying kids until they're about 50 pounds in weight. The seat pad is washable and dryer safe, a feature you'll appreciate the first time Junior's stomach disagrees with whatever he just ate.

Here's a 3-in-1 seat that'll take Junior from a rear facing seat all the way up to a booster. Its one click latching system makes for easy installation, a feature that will please harried parents who are trying to juggle many items at once while trying to safely buckle a perturbed youngster who's missed their afternoon nap.

Six different colors are available, all of which are the same price. A quick fit shoulder harness automatically raises the belts and headrest height for comfort, while a flip away buckle keeps the latter out of harm's way. Holders for the harness are incorporated into the seat's design, allowing them to stay out of the way when placing baby in the seat.

You might expect a 9-position recline to be a feature found in a minivan or, in the Before Times, on the seat of an airplane. This car seat incorporates such a thing, allowing parents to adjust it so their youngster is resting in a comfortable position.

The padding is removable thanks to a zip-off cover. Underneath is a rigid shell covered with energy-absorbing foam, good for soaking up impacts from angry toddlers while providing protection in an accident. Interestingly, the ad notes the cup holder is dishwasher safe, a good call-out to practicality.

You know I had to include at least one seat on this list that bears a passing resemblance to a racing seat, right? This unit can be converted to suit children from birth to booster, meaning they had better appreciate whichever one of the 18 colors chosen by dear old mom and dad.

Various cushions and harness setups permit the seating of kids at various life stages, along with a crossbar that looks for all the world like something one would find on a roller coaster. That alone is nearly worth the cash. Speaking of, this thing is very costly; but on the flip side, it should be the only seat you'll ever need to buy (unless you have a passel of kids, that is).

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(Editor’s note: This post is meant to both help you be an informed shopper for automotive products but also to pay for our ‘90s sedan shopping habits operating expenses. Some of you don’t find these posts fun, but they help pay for Junkyard Finds, Rare Rides, Piston Slaps, and whatever else. Thanks for reading.)

[Main photo credit: mathom / Shutterstock.com. Product images provided by the manufacturer.]