The Britax Chaperone

When my daughter was still a bun in the oven, I was a mad researcher. Maybe it was the nesting, or all the free time I had, but I researched the shit out of car seats. I ended up settling on the Britax Chaperone, mostly because of how many safety awards it had received and really it's all about safety in the end, isn't it?

I also really liked that it came in cow print...

That might have sealed the deal.

Here's all the amazing things I LOVE about the Chaperone:

- the Anti-Rebound bar makes this one sturdy mother. Once in it's base, this thing doesn't budge an inch. The only downside to this is that the rebound bar is only good if you have the base, so if you are moving the car seat to someone else's vehicle without the car seat base, it's not doing you any good.

- The Cow Print is awesome. I get compliments ALL the time. I love it. It also looks great in photos.

- I love that instead of having to unthread the buckles, you just pull on a handle in the back and raise or lower it to your hearts desire.

- I love that each shoulder strap is independently buckled into the base buckle instead of having to fit them together first and then wrangle them in... I have a friend with a car seat that is like that and I HATE it.

- I love how large it is. My 10 month old still fits in hers and she's getting pretty large. She doesn't look overly big for it like my friend's son does in his. He's always pulling on his little sun shade and spilling out of his chair, meanwhile my daughter is nicely confined in her seat.

- I love how easy it is to loosen the straps with a simple handle bar under the base buckle. Instead of wrestling her in and out, I just loosen it, take her out, and then put her back in and tighten it when the time comes.

- I love how padded it is. When my daughter falls asleep in the car, she has a very nice head rest, and her neck isn't all crazy bent like it gets in larger car seats. She sleeps really soundly in it.

- I love that it has a level built into the seat so that you know if the seat is at the right angle, either in the base or in a car without the base this is awesome.

- I love the handle bar, you can grab it with your elbow and lug it around a lot easier.

The only Negatives I have to say about this seat are:

- The stupid sunshade is attached by Velcro and onto the handles. It is always coming off and going under the seat.. and it's annoying but definitely not a deal breaker.

- It's amazingly heavy. Wow my arms look good, but it sucks big time to have to lug that thing with a 20 lb child around places. Let's just say I have taken to not bringing the car seat in with me unless it's super hot or my child is passed out and I want to make a smooth transition to the crib.

- It's bulky. Let's face it, it's huge. Part of it being so safe and being so great for an older baby, is that it takes up a lot of room in my car, and it takes up a lot of room if I bring it in the house. Again, not a deal breaker for me. I still love this seat something fierce.

And that is my take on the Britax Chaperone.