Sizzlin’ Summer Sweeps #Giveaway Day 22: Safety 1st Complete Air SE Convertible Car Seat (ends 8/22)

This post is part of the Sizzlin’ Summer Sweeps – 31 Days of Giveaways for July 2010, brought to you by Crazy Coupon Mommy and Sisterly Savings! Make sure you check out all the other awesome giveaways you can enter!

With my little nugget turning 8 months old in just a few days, I’ve noticed he is quickly growing out of his infant carrier/car seat.  I’ve been delaying the purchase of a convertible seat for several reasons.  One being that it’s so much easier to buckle him in the carrier and then carry him down to the car already secure.  He hasn’t quite gotten the hang of clinging to me like a monkey yet, so it makes it difficult for me to carry anything else other than him when he is in my arms.  I also have one of those travel quick fold infant seat stroller frames that is soooooo nice and convenient to have around.  It makes a great shopping cart and is compact enough to bring into a restaurant.  I really don’t want to give that up!! Also, with the huge variety of child car seats available on the market, I was just overwhelmed and didn’t really even know where to start on choosing one.

All I know is that his safety is my number one priority and that I was willing to spend more for a car seat that I was confident in.  I finally admitted that the task needed to get done and after doing countless hours of research online, the car seat I was most interested in ended up being the Safety 1st Complete Air Convertible Car Set with Air Protect Technology.

What made me choose this particular seat over the rest?  Well this Air Protect Technology is touted as being “the most innovative safety feature ever offered in a car seat”.  It protects our children where they are most vulnerable – the head.  Did you know that 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!  Safety 1st engineers designed Air Protect using next generation testing methods that simulate the most violent types of side impact crashes.  Through the precise release of air, Air Protect compresses and shields children from side impact intrusion and immediately reduces crash forces at the most critical spot: around a child’s head.

The folks over at Safety 1st were kind enough to send me their SE model for review and my goodness – it arrived in a really big box!  I thought for SURE there must be quite a bit of assembly involved, because I remember Ben spending about an hour putting together the infant seat that night before my C-Section :)  So I waited for him to get home before asking if he could “put it together” for me.  I knew he was tired, but he said “ok” and opened the box.  He then pulled out the car seat, took off the plastic bag and said “Done”.  Before I could even protest, he was already lying on the couch watching TV.

I couldn’t believe it – that really was all there was to it!!  Of course, aside from the standard adjustments needed to the shoulder strap length, its was ready to go!  No threading straps, no attaching pads or covers, nothing!  Right off the bat, I was in love with the obvious quality of the seat and the beautiful embroidered swirly cover design.  The seat is ultra plush and is probably the most comfy looking car seat I’ve ever seen.  Ben’s comment was, “He’s ready to go to the moon in that thing!”

Installation was a little tricky.  For rear facing using a vehicle belt, you have to slide/guide the strap in one hole, thru the middle of the seat and out another hole.  It wasn’t immediately obvious of how to “thread” it thru.  The instructions simply say to “reach under the pad and pull”.  I have very small hands, child-like if you will, and this was a difficult feat for me to accomplish.  However, my father showed me if you pull back either side of the seat cover on the corner, it makes this task MUCH easier.  You also need to make sure the belt is TIGHT or else the seat will “wobble” too much.  Given this is a seat that will remain in one spot and you will not have to do this task repeatedly, I do not feel it is an “issue”.  Just make sure you do it right the first time, and then double check with each use that the seat is still secure by giving it a good “wiggle” :)  (See the official installation videos here)

Initially, I placed the seat directly behind me (the driver’s seat) – simply because I am small/short and it is easier for me to place Whistler in and out due to my short reach.  However, I discovered that this positioning is probably not desirable for a couple reasons.  #1 is safety.  Should a side impact collision occur, you want your child as far away from the door as possible, so always the safest position is in the middle, rather than on either side.  #2 is the size of this seat and its recline for rear-facing usage.

I’ll be honest – this is a BIG seat.  I don’t feel like this is much of an issue except for rear-facing usage in smaller or compact cars.  I have a Volkswagen Jetta.  Due to the angle of the rear seat of the car itself (you know, where your butt would be is lower than the spot that is under your knees), any child car seat you place facing the rear will have a tendency to lean forward.  Luckily, this seat has an awesome 4 recline positions.  Unfortunately, the height of the child seat makes it so that you need quite a bit of room in order to recline it enough so that your child is seated properly and comfortably in it.  I am only 5’1″ tall and for Whistler to be at a comfortable angle in the seat, I have to move the drivers seat up to almost the closest possible position – which is even uncomfortable for me!  *solution* I moved the seat into the middle position (which it should be in anyway).

I have placed this seat in my mother’s Mercedes 350 behind the driver’s seat and since she has much more leg room in the back, she did not experience this issue.  This is also not a problem in our 4Runner or my dad’s Mercedes SUV. I also tried out the forward facing position and the seat fits fine in my Jetta.  So once again, just a note to those of you with limited rear leg room vehicles if you’re going to be using this rear-facing.

Don’t forget that after you get a new carseat to go to your local police station for a car seat safety check. They will do this for free and ensure you are properly placing your car seat and that your children will be safe. Also make sure you check the seat belt often if you leave the seat in the car.  This site also provides child safety info: http://www.ikidssafety.com (Thanks ShopGreenReviews!)

Product Details

The Safety 1^st® Complete Air™ SE Convertible Car Seat with Air Protect™ Side Impact Technology is perfect for infants rear-facing from 5-40 pounds and 19″-40″ and toddlers forward-facing from 22-50 pounds and 34″-45″. This Special Edition Car Seat features a 4-position recline that provides extra comfort and premium fabrics with custom embroidery.

• * 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 pounds
• * One Click LATCH installation system allows for faster and easier installation when moving between vehicles
• * 5-position adjustable headrest easily accommodates your growing child
• * 4-position recline can be adjusted with one hand
• * Premium fabrics with custom embroidery
• * Removable cup holder
• * Download the Complete Air™ SE Convertible Car Seat Owner’s Manual
• * MSRP: $239.99 at Albee Baby, Amazon, BuyBuyBaby, Diapers.com, Babies”R”Us and other fine retailers

My Overall Impression

The Safety 1st Air Protect is hands down a safer seat than the infant carrier we had been using.  Just seeing the Air Protect pockets on either side of his head make me feel 1000% more confident that Whistler is as safe as I can possibly make him – so much so that I am willing to give up the convenience of the infant seat carrier immediately.  And the fact that this is a convertible seat that I will be able to use until he is 50lbs or 45″ tall make it a long term investment that is money well spent!!

Wanna win it?
The folks over at Safety 1st have generously offered a giveaway for one lucky Crazy Coupon Mommy/Sisterly Savings reader to win!

One Safety 1st® Complete Air™ Convertible Car Seat with Air Protect™ Side Impact Technology ($239.99 retail value!)

How do I enter?

PLEASE follow directions!! Entering the giveaway is not hard – but if you do not complete the MANDATORY entry FIRST, your comments/entries will be deleted. If you have any questions about how to enter, please contact me…or just look at the comments above you and you will get the idea!

Just complete each of the following tasks and leave a comment for your entry(s)! Please leave one comment per task completed. (ie, if you do three of the following, you should leave three SEPARATE comments) Must be over 18 to enter. US residents only.

MANDATORY ENTRY – You MUST do this FIRST. If you do not do this, none of the other entries below will count and they WILL BE DELETED.

1. Visit the Safety 1st Air Protect website and view the short video on the home page. (It’s VERY informative and interesting – you definitely want to see it!)  Then come back here and let me know what you found most informative about what you saw!

LOTS OF WAYS TO GET BONUS ENTRIES!! Once you have completed the above mandatory entry, you can do as many of the below as you like for extra entries Good luck!

(If you already are a subscriber, follow on Twitter or like on Facebook, that counts as one entry, so be sure to leave a comment saying you already do so!)

1. Subscribe to Crazy Coupon Mommy via RSS Reader or email
2. Subscribe to SisterlySavings via RSS Reader or email
3. Follow Safety 1st on Twitter
4. Follow CCM on Twitter
5. Follow SS on Twitter
6. Tweet about this giveaway (just click on the retweet button at the very top right corner of this page – all the way up at the top! You can do this daily for extra entries! Just leave a comment each day you complete this task)
7. “Like” Safety 1st on Facebook AND be sure to let them know CrazyCouponMommy sent you and thank them for sponsoring this giveaway by leaving a post on their wall!
8. “Like” SS on Facebook
9. “Like” CCM on Facebook
10. Share this giveaway on Facebook by clicking on the Share button below in the comment form!
11. Share this giveaway on Google by clicking on the Buzz button below in the comment form!
12. Vote for me on TopMommyBlogs (Be sure to click on words that say “Click here to vote”. You can do this daily for extra entries! Just leave a comment each date you vote.)
13. Vote for Whistler here (You can do this daily for extra entries! Just leave a comment each date you vote.)
14. Become a public follower of Crazy Coupon Mommy (Scroll all the way down to bottom of this page and look for this button
15. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your blog post (this earns you 3 entries! Be sure to leave a separate comment for each!)
16. Got a blog or webpage? Place my link button on your site and leave the URL of where I can see it.

***IMPORTANT*** You need to leave a separate comment for each of the above that you complete. Each comment acts as one entry, so if you only leave one comment saying “I did 1-3 above” then you’ll only get ONE entry instead of the 3 you deserve!

Contest will end 8/22/ 2010 at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be chosen randomly via computer using “And the Winner is…” WordPress Plugin or Random.org. Winner will be notified by a blog post (so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so that you don’t miss the winner announcement!). Winner must respond within 48 hours or another random winner will be chosen.

Many thanks to Safety 1st who provided me with a sample for the purpose of this review, as well as one prize package to giveaway to a randomly selected winner. I was not required to write a positive review and no other type of compensation was received. My reviews are always 100% honest and 100% my own.

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