The best
Orbit Baby Toddler Car Seat, Mocha Cheap
Features:
- Parenting made easier: the only convertible car seat that saves your back with easy docking at nearly any angle onto the car seat base
- Simplifying travel: the only convertible car seat you can easily dock onto a stroller, meaning you can just bring one seat when you travel
- Baby-safe, planet-friendly: orbitgreen: Certified Fabrics with Oeko-Tex certification
- For use with children from 15-65 lbs; 15-35 lbs rear-facing and 20-65 lbs, 50 in forward-facing
Description:
List Price: $ 360.00
Price: $ 360.00
Stay away from this car seat!,
I don’t even know where to begin – basically, it is a horrible car seat. I would like to slap myself for ever falling for the bells and whistles of the swivel/dock feature Orbit is so proud of. I recommend you to stay away from Orbit, the toddler car seat in particular. Your wallet will thank you and you will save yourself a headache. If you feel like reading why, go ahead.
We have the Orbit Baby G2 travel system (the frame, the base, and the infant car seat) and felt somehow trapped as we thought since we already have the expensive base we should get the Orbit toddler car seat to put it to further use (our 12-month old baby is getting too big for the infant seat). Unfortunately, we were unable to see the toddler car seat in person because no retailer seems to have a floor model of this thing. I was hesitant to order it online so we went to a store hoping we would be able to take it out of the box to further examine its functions because I wasn’t sure whether it has a recline function (Orbit website does not mention this function at all). So we went and were told by the shop that they do not have a floor model (surprise) and that the box cannot be opened. So I asked a few questions and was assured and reassured that it does, indeed, recline into a very comfortable position to accommodate babies and small toddlers. We paid almost $400 ($360 + NYC tax) and brought this thing home where we discovered that it DOES NOT RECLINE!!! I was furious because I asked 3 different sales persons and all of them assured me that it does recline. Every other convertible car seat on the market has a reclining function, especially at this price point. And frankly, for almost $600 ($360 seat + $220 base) it should recline automatically when I say “recline”. The seat is so upright I do not understand that Orbit says it is designed for babies from 15 pounds! No way. My son was 15 pounds when he was only 3.5 months old. There is absolutely NO WAY a 3-month old baby would ever be comfortable in an upright position when they can’t even sit. Actually, they shouldn’t be in an upright position this early at all! I tested the seat with my 12-month old son who weighs 22 pounds now and measures 31 inches (BTW, the infant car seat is for babies up to 30 pounds or 32 inches, so he’s only 1 inch away, and frankly, he’s not very comfortable in it anymore). Do you think my 12-mo/22-lb/31-in baby was comfortable in his new toddler car seat? … No, he was not. We drove for about half an hour (we couldn’t take it longer), he slept and his poor head was literally resting on his chest. It looked horrible and very uncomfortable. For those who think it is normal, let me assure you that it is not. I have used Chicco and Maxi-Cosi convertible car seats in Europe and they all recline, so I have never experienced this problem. I knew instantly I would be returning this seat. Which is exactly what I did.
I only owned this seat for 4 days, therefore I didn’t get a chance to experience any problems with the belt twisting as reported by other reviewers.
Another major con is that this seat has only 4 harness slots to adjust harness height (of which only the lower 2 are allowed for rare facing installation)! That’s totally inadequate – other convertible car seats offer more than double (Britax Next Generation: 10 slots, Maxi-Cosi Pria: 11 slots). This important detail (along with the fact that it doesn’t recline and that you can’t use the swivel base while forward facing) is conveniently not mentioned at the Orbit Baby website. You’ll discover this when you take the seat out of the box and read the manual.
I contacted Orbit because I am still in shock that such an expensive car seat from a company that claims to be so innovative lacks standard features. I wrote an email which included the following:
“… What is a consumer supposed to do if his/her baby’s head is literally resting on its chest while sleeping in the seat – this looks super uncomfortable for the baby and seems unsafe too. Normally, I would recline the seat. But Orbit does not allow me to do that. Why not and what is supposed to be done instead to make the baby comfortable? I tested the toddler car seat with my 12-month old who weighs 22 pounds and measures 31 inches – the toddler car seat is too upright and the poor baby was sleepy and his head was falling on his chest all the time. We have your infant car seat, which has a good angle, but he’s outgrowing it and we need a new seat for him. The current seat angle of your toddler seat seems sort of OK for bigger toddlers, maybe around 2 or 3 years, but what am I supposed to do during the “in-between” stage from 12 months up to 2 or 3 years, when he’s too big for your infant seat, yet too small for your toddler seat due to the non-existing recline…”
Brace yourself for the response and suggestions I received from Orbit…
“We are not aware of any convertible…
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|Best seat on the market.,
I am thrilled with my Orbit Baby toddler car seat and want to put to rest some of the issues others have brought up. Our family has all the other Obit Baby products and with this final addition to the collection, I see all the usual thoughtfulness of design and attention to detail.
Our son is 14 months old, around 30″ tall and 24 lbs and absolutely loves his new seat. We have installed it rear facing in the center seat (on the base) of our CRV. Though the seat is very tall, it allows for plenty of growth in the future and I can still see out the rear window just fine. Also, when installed on the base, our son gets a few extra inches of height and he loves to look out the window.
I also want to point out that the rear installation on the base makes use of the anti-rebound feature of the base which is RARELY found in any car seat on the market in the US, though very common in Europe. The base is braced against the rear seat-back and prevents the seat from tipping forward and smashing your kid into the seat back in the event of a crash. This also protects you child’s legs and makes it even safer to keep them rear facing as long as possible. The only other way to get this kind of protection is to use a tether strap and an anchor in the floor of the car, which most cars do not have. Britax is the only other manufacturer to address this in rear facing situations. Kids can sit fine with their legs crossed; lots of safety experts have commented that rear facing as long as possible is the way to go.
There is no point in using the base (or any base) forward facing as it is very important to use the top tether to secure the seat tightly against the car’s seat-back. I don’t understand why people don’t realize this when they purchase ANY seat, yet complain about the lack of forward facing/base coupling with the Orbit.
We do not use this car seat on the stroller chassis on a regular basis but have this wonderful feature specifically in mind for when we are traveling, which we do frequently. Getting through the airport was such a breeze. Just wheel right up to the plane’s doors and then carry the seat on the plane and strap it in. I can’t imagine trying to travel around a city and forgo using a car seat in taxi just because of the hassle and I’d hate using one of those car seat travel adapters where you push/pull your kid around about 5 inches off the ground, nasty! Almost all cars/taxis these days have the LATCH system so it takes about 30 seconds to get it in and out. This is what Orbit Baby had in mind, you obviously don’t use it as your everyday stroller but as an bonus feature to the Obit list of features.
Getting the straps properly adjusted was a cinch, they are on the lowest setting and I have moved the crotch strap forward one. The gray head protection pillow also moved down to the lowest setting and fits our guy perfectly. Again, Orbit Baby has made this process very simple. All of the straps are neatly stored in the back side of the car seat, there is even a place for the sunshade and the manual as well as the extra installation straps for use without the base. I have no issue what so ever with the straps twisting. When I take my son out of the seat, we loosen the straps and then use the handy Velcro tabs to keep the straps out of the way. When I put him back in, the straps are out of the way and just waiting to be secured, piece of cake!
Can’t wait for Obit to adjust their line for multi-kid families!
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|Sturdy and safe, but not used with stroller,
We were so relieved that we were able to buy this product at last despite the lengthy delays prior to its release. It should be noted that once the seat becomes forward-facing, the famous “docking” car seat base, needed for the Orbit infant car seat, is not used at all. This went against my expectation of the Orbit system “growing with your baby”. We had put off buying a forward-facing car seat, despite my child’s discomfort with her legs significantly hanging over, as I had thought we would still use the base, so I feel a tad misled. This would have been less of an issue if the seat had been available towards the end of 2007 as was originally promoted.
Anyhow now that we have it in our car, our toddler enjoys being in her seat and the elevated position helps with her ability to see more out the window (which is helpful in keeping her entertained with the passing view and therefore less temper tantrum prone!)
It is well constructed as well as fairly easy to put together and install. Our only gripe is, similar to the Orbit infant car seat (but worse), the seat belts get tangled very easily. Given the earlier reviewers raves about Orbit’s customer service, I’ll be contacting them this week to see if they can help us resolve this recurring issue. We have not used it as a stroller seat (as advertised) because the forward-facing seat does not use the patented dock, and thus the convenience of being able to rotate the seat off the dock and into the stroller (like the infant car seat) is not available. For us, it is easier and faster to take her out into a more compact stroller, such as the Maclaren Techno Sport, rather than re-do all the seat-belt anchors when we return to our car.
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