Porter is ten months old now and seriously seems to weigh as much as Cecelia at nearly three years old. The infant carrier we've used for all three kids (Graco SnugRide 35) was slowly turning my legs into bruise factories, my arms would scream in defiance and my back eventually said, 'this is freaking stupid, get the kid a convertible car seat already.' I mean, sure---if Porter actually fell asleep in his infant carrier that would be GREAT but it hasn't happened....ever? Remember: he was a newborn that despised his car seat like nothing I've witnessed before and eventually around three months he started to accept this seat, just barely.
But switching a baby from the infant seat to a convertible kind of feels like a big deal, right? The convenience of placing the already-strapped in baby at the door as I open it for the other kids was really nice. Lori would always have Porter strapped in and ready to go in his seat at daycare pick up. And I definitely liked how cozy it was in the winter months with the sun hood and a blanket and semi-protected from the elements as we'd expose ourselves to the Wisconsin winter momentarily.
And yet, the bulk and awkwardness of hauling a 21 pound baby in the thing was worse than losing the convenience of the carrier. Around 9-10 months we also switched Truman to a convertible, but peanut Cecelia stayed in the infant seat until around a year I believe.
A representative from
Maxi Cosi contacted me about reviewing one of their car seats a few months ago, and I jumped at the chance since we needed a convertible for Porter anyway. I picked their
Pria 70 in their new
limited edition Bohemian Red pattern, since I love bold colors and this particular car seat got good ratings online.
Isn't she lovely?
Our garage and it's chipping paint is my nemesis right now, pay no attention to that. Pretty car seat!
The first thing I noticed when the car seat arrived is that the cover is incredibly soft and I haven't attempted to remove it, but apparently it's quite easy to clean. The seat pad unsnaps and comes off from the frame without having to mess with the straps and without removing the seat from the car. This will be helpful when I get enough energy/get disgusted enough to actually wash our car seat covers. Nate originally installed it and kept the infant insert and strap pads, but I took both of those off once I had our little model try out the seat. I read through the manual and it didn't specify when you should remove the infant insert but I figured he's plenty big, since the seat seemed to fit him better without it. The seat can be used rear facing from nine pounds up to forty pounds, then forward faces until seventy pounds.
With the insert and the pad covers.
I love that this seat has a cupholder and wish our other convertibles did, too. The straps seem very secure and I've only twisted the straps by his butt a few times now (highly annoying). The clasp across the chest is easy to release and the one between his legs is really simple to maneuver, too. I think the straps and clasps are really important in a car seat not just for safety but for functionality, since Lord knows we do and undo car seat straps a million times a year as moms. I like that the Pria 70 has the side impact protection at Porter's head, although it seems like the side pads sort of obstruct his view of his siblings and out the window. He doesn't seem to mind and when he slept in this seat for our road trip, he seemed quite comfy with those pads acting as tiny pillows for his giant head. Our Britax has the side head protection pads too, so it's not really any different than Cecelia having 'horse blinders' either;)
Insert and pad covers removed, everyone is happier!
Nate says this was really easy to install rear facing and it took maybe five minutes one morning before our road trip to St. Louis. The seat seems to be slightly wider than our Britax, which is fine since we do have room in the mini-van for three seats in our middle row. It's not gigantic or anything so I'm sure it would be fine in a sedan, too but it does seem kind of wide. I was worried that this Pria 70 rear facing would take up too much space behind the passenger seat but it's actually fine, even with a pretty steep reclined angle. I still have lots of leg room in the front seat when Nate is driving so we don't have to rearrange all of the car seats just yet.
Regarding car seat arrangements in a mini van (a popular question, one that I know I stressed over for many months before Porter was born): We *could* easily put Truman in his booster seat in the very back row, remove a seat from our middle row, and put Cecelia forward facing in a convertible and Porter rear facing in a convertible in the middle row. Removing a seat from the middle row would make it easier to get back into the third row, but we can also access it by pulling one of the seats forward. We did this sometimes when Porter's infant seat base was in the van, since the entire seat can slide forward and sort of collapse down while the person climbs in the back. Now that we have the convertible on the middle side seat, I don't know if it will be as easy to pull the seat forward to let people into the very back. Lots of variations on how to fit three car seats in a mini-van, and I'm sure it will change as our kids grow! I just really like having all of them together in the middle right now, so I can pass back drinks or snacks or whatever. But someday we will use that third row for something other than a gigantic trunk space, but that part doesn't suck either.
CC is happy that I'm taking so many pictures this morning.
All in all, I'm impressed with the Pria 70 in the Bohemian Red pattern. It's a stylish car seat but it's also sturdy and functional for Porter. The Bohemian Red collection is in both the Pria 70 and their infant seat, the Mico AP---both found on
Amazon here.
