The Holidays are coming quickly upon us, which means the beginning of the Holiday travel season is here too. Our family's trip to grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner doesn't require a car ride as it is next door, however we will be embarking on a 1000 mile road trip in December to reach our Christmas ski trip destination.
I can't say I'm overly excited about a couple 16 hour car rides with all 5 kids and my hubby, who would be? Driving anywhere with kids can be a bit stressful at times, 16 hours with a crew that includes 17 month old twins is bound to make for a long day or two. It is nearly an understatement to say that I'll be thrilled once we get there to enjoy our holidays together with other family safe and sound.
However, I have one less thing to stress about this trip, the twins' car seats. Both my husband and I hated our previous set of convertible car seats for the twins. Despite a million adjustments the fit was never quite right and among my many complaints was a chest clip that was so pliable that even when tightly buckled in, one of the twins could move it down on his own freeing his arms while we were driving. I had to pull over mid errand run to fix him at least a half dozen times. My reply from the company was of course one implying my own user error. Gee, Thanks!
Thankfully all the Car Seat Drama is behind me now though. As I mentioned in my previous post found here, the Safety 1st Company sent the Complete Air Convertible Car Seat to test and review with the help of my twins. I'm happy to report that I liked this seat so much that I purchased a second one for the other twin within one week of the first seats arrival.
I'm not a car seat expert, so I'll give you all the highly impressive technical mumbo jumbo at the bottom of my post. First, I'd like to offer my personal thoughts and observations as a Mommy of 5 who has been using these seats with her twins for a little over a month now.
I was highly impressed with the video and technical data I watched/ read on these seats. Who doesn't want their children to be as safe as possible at all times? Now the people at Safety 1st had to prove to me that these advanced protection seats would work for us on a daily basis with little to no hassle. And guess what? They did.
The Complete Air Convertible Car Seat has proven to be wonderfully reliable and easy to use from the moment it arrived. Installation was simple and I was quite pleased with the overall fit in both my Buick Enclave and in my husband's Lincoln Navigator. The straps are easy to fit on the twins and the chest clip actually stays firmly in place. Strap adjustment is quick to do, gone are the days of assigned seats. I also found that the straps seem to have far less issues with twisting and flipping then in other seats I have owned.
The special Air Protect side impact head rest is also very easily adjusted to fit either twin, which is a plus since they have a rather large gap in height. The lining of these safety seats stays in place too, other seats with the easy adjustment straps tend to have lining that falls apart in order to allow for this feature. This is not the case with the Complete Air, luckily all adjustments can be done without all the lining and cushion separations found in other models. No more flipped over cushions underneath my kids was another added bonus to these seats.
As another added personal observation, the Complete Air Convertible Car Seats are currently sold exclusively at BabiesRus in two very pleasing color palates. I have two in the Harvest color, which looks wonderful with any beige or brown interior car. For those of you with black and/or gray interior there is also a Gray/black model.
Anything I didn't like about these seats? The included detachable cup holders seem to detach rather easily. Admittedly, my older kids have to constantly climb over these seats to get in and out of my car's third row, so 50% of the problem is probably my kids excessively bumping them. The solution was simple, we just stopped using the cup holders in my car.
You've read my personal observations, now here is some info on the revolutionary technology behind these ground breaking seats:
According to the Safety1st website: "1 in 4 car crashes involving children are side impact collisions. They are by far the deadliest type of collision for children, accounting for 1 in 3 child fatalities; nearly all of which are caused by head trauma. These are frightening facts, but Safety 1st® has been by your side for 25 years providing innovative products to help protect your child from becoming a statistic. It is in this tradition that we proudly announce Air Protect™ side impact technology.The Safety 1st® Complete Air™ Convertible Car Seat with Air Protect™ Side Impact Technology is perfect for infants rear-facing from 5-40 lbs. and 19"-40" and toddlers forward-facing from 22-50 lbs. and 34"-45". Features include:
Safety 1st® engineers designed Air Protect™ using next generation testing methods that simulate the most violent types of side impact crashes, those with vehicle intrusion. Using this advanced methodology, Air Protect™ was engineered to defend your child in two vital ways. During a crash, the system immediately shields your child's head from the impact. In a second layer of defense, Air Protect™ allows air to escape from the headrest: channeling crash energy away from your child, creating more ride down time. It is this double layer of protection that makes Air Protect™ technology unique."
- Air Protect™ Revolutionary Side Impact Technology: Breakthrough system shields head and immediately reduces side impact forces through the precise release of air.
- QuickFit™ Harness System adjusts harness height from the front in one easy step without uninstalling from the car.
- Harness accommodates children up to 50 lbs.
- One Click LATCH installation system allows for faster and easier installation when moving between vehicles.
- 5-position adjustable headrest easily accommodates your growing child.
- Removable cup holder.
- Styles: McKenna (Black/Grey), Harvest (Brown/Orange)
- MSRP $219.99 at Babies"R"Us