Evenflo Symphony LX Carseat Review - Pretty awesome if you ask me!

When researching car seats, what are the most important features to you? Safety rating, style, size, accessories, longevity of use?

Wouldn't it make sense if stores offered a "try before you buy" program?  After all, as a new mom you rarely know what exactly it is you're looking at when shopping for and you have to buy it before baby is born. Between children #1 and #2 I can definitely say that what I look for as changed a lot!

For Penny we bought an infant car seat and stroller combination that worked out really well for us because Penny was such a wee, slow growing little girl. We transitioned her out of the infant seat when she was probably 14 months old and somewhere in the vicinity of 19 lbs. It was absolutely essential to us to keep her rear facing as long as possible so our toddler seat is able to go both ways. At 26 months and 23 lbs she is still rear facing. It is the safest direction for her as research shows that toddlers do not have the strength to control their head during an impact and can suffer devastating injuries even in low impact accidents when facing forward.

But it's amazing to me as to how siblings can be so different. Ruby at 9 weeks old is already almost 13 lbs and I know that she will not last in her infant seat as long as her sister did. Theres almost been  no similarity in sizing between these two girls (cloth diapers, clothes, babywearing and  now car seats). This had me researching other options and I learned about the Evenflo Symphony™ LX.

The Evenflo Symphony™ LX is a car seat that accommodates babies from 5-110 lbs. That literally sounds like a car seat that grows with the child! With 2 kids (and definitely more in our future) its a priority for me to keep it simple by limiting multiples or surplus items. So having a car seat that Ruby will use until she is big enough to safely ride without one is awesome!

What sets the Evenflo Symphony LX apart from other car seats?

• Outlast technology (developed by NASA) for heat distribution. You don't have to live in a hot climate to know about how uncomfortable a poorly ventilated seat can be. a few weeks ago I had Ruby in a loaner car seat and was shocked to find her sweaty and uncomfortable...but it was a mild Pacific Northwest day. The fabric used on the Symphony DLX battles this problem by distributing the heat evenly across the seat to help keep baby at a comfortable even temperature. The picture to the right is comparing a child after 30 minutes in a car seat with Outlast vs 30 minutes without Outlast.
• Robust supports for side impact protection and exceeding the federal crash  requirements for car seat safety standards.
• Ease of use features like buckle pockets to keep clips from getting too hot, no retreading needed as your child grows and cup holders.

My favorite part about this car seat is how easy it is to install and use. Evenflo prides itself on having a 60 second installation and I put it to the test. I was able to install it into my Suburban in about 73 seconds (first try). That's pretty impressive for anyone, but pretty much a feat of awesomeness for me! The latch system also comes out of the bottom of the seat like a seat belt (retracts like one too), rather than the stupid tighten / adjust system that other car seats use. So the fit is perfect every time. 

The Evenflo Symphony DLX is part of Evenflo’s new platinum protection collection and is available at Babies R Us. 

If you're looking for a single car seat that will grow with your child, this is the one. I've paid more for our other car seats and the quality really doens't compare. 

Disclosure: I participated in this sponsored campaign on behalf of One2One Network. All opinions stated are my own, but I wouldn't share about it if I didn't like it!