I'm a big kid now! Oops, same as the diaper jingle!

First of all, I knew that my son would need a new carseat around the beginning of this year, so I started looking at carseats last summer. My son was getting so tall and the way that his convertible carseat fit into the car, his feet were plastered against the back of the passenger seat.

Two weeks before Christmas, I decided that the time had come to purchase the new carseat. I went to Toys R Us, because they had the one that I liked. Imagine my surprise when I went back to the carseat section and found that the only one that they had of this particular model was the "display model" only. I guess I wasn't the only one that really liked this carseat.

After tracking down an employee and having them check to make sure that they really didn't have one in back, I decided to take the floor model. Obviously since it was the "display model" it was missing a few things. The informational card on the display had the toll-free number for Century. It was missing one of the arm-rest covers, the cup holder, and the manual. Good grief, Century quality and customer service and the cup holder were the biggest selling points for me!

I knew that I could call Century and tell them that the carseat I purchased was missing parts and they would provide them to me at little or no cost. I proceeded to call Century. I told the Customer Service Representative (CSR) that I was missing pieces to a carseat that I had purchased. The CSR was very helpful. I had to provide her with the manufacturing date on the back of the carseat along with the model number. All of this information told her everything she would need on the carseat, especially the color. Always be aware of the manufacturing date of your carseat, because that information is used when their is a recall.

Now, let me describe this seat. It looks like a portable bucket seat. Mine is black in color with a slight design. It has arm-rests, which allows the cup holder to be moved from one side to the other. It has a 5-point harness system and to adjust the tension, you simply pull on the strap at the bottom front of the seat. It has a tether strap attached to the back and comes with all of the hardware for this.

Other than the cup holder, I think the best feature to this seat is the way that the cover comes up to allow you to see the seatbelt as you are threading it into place. Sometimes it is hard to install a carseat, because of the small area in which to thread the seatbelt. Since Century had the foresight to make the cover this way, I have found it to be rather easy to install this carseat in my car. I no longer struggle to thread the seatbelt through only to lose my grip and have it retract and have to start over.

I fully expect that this will be the last carseat that I purchase for my son, especially since it is for children between 30 and 80 pounds. Once my son reaches 40 pounds, he will no longer need the 5-point harness, but yet this seat will provide him with the added height and seatbelt guides for him to use the actual car seatbelt.

As with any carseat, parents should read (and re-read) the manual. I've attached my manual to the back of the carseat in a ziplock bag with duct tape, that way I can refer back to the manual when my son is ready to use it as a booster seat. I'm sure I'll need a refresher by then on what needs to be done for it to be used as a booster seat.

(By the way, since I took a floor model of this carseat, I got mine for half-price, which is a real bargain. Once Century sent me my missing parts, I had a brand new carseat for a lot less than I had planned to pay.)

Oh yeah, as for my 2 year old. He does act like a big kid now. As a matter of fact, he sits in his new carseat and dares his big brother (9 years old) to bother him or to touch his new seat. ha ha ha, Kids, you've gotta love em!