Hey Everyone! It's Karli with Rainy Mom Opinions and if you're in the market for a new rotating or convertible car seat, you are in the right place!
In the last few years, rotating car seats have gained popularity quickly since you no longer have to contort your body to wrestle your alligator into the seat. It may still be a challenge, but it's an easier challenge, and that, my friend, is worth it.
My baby loves going in her car seat! She's not an alligator, so do I really need this?
Yes. Yes, you do.
As parents, we do risky movements with our bodies on a daily basis just to pick up our child, or their toy they dropped... on purpose for the third time, or carrying 12 bags of groceries and the toddler AND two gallons of milk just so that we can say, "Two trips is for the weak!" when we enter the door and crash on the kitchen counter.
This car seat invention allows our spines to stay aligned while lifting our kids into the car and buckling them in. This can prevent multiple back and muscle injuries from occurring. Let's be real, who has time for that? Not this momma!
A year ago, there were only a couple companies that had made the rotating car seat. Now, there are a handful of them so it's getting harder to decide which one is the best for you. Let's dive in and get the Rainy Mom Opinion on which rotating car seat wins the prize for 2023!
But, first, you may be wondering, "What is a rotating car seat anyways?"
How Do They Work?
This idea is really quite genius. The rotating car seat does just that, it rotates out to the door so that you can put your baby or toddler in the seat facing you, then rotate them to the correct position for their size.
There are five different brands of seats we will be looking at today:
The Nuna REVV
The Baby Jogger City Turn
The Evenflo Revolve360 Extend
The Graco Turn-to-Me
And The Cybex Sirona S 360
Each of these seats have comparable features such as easy recline levels, easy LATCH system for install up to a certain weight, and seatbelt strap tightening lock systems. But, there are some qualities that set one car seat in particular higher than the rest. Let's find out which one it is.
The Nuna REVV
The Nuna Revv is a very nice looking seat for sure. It comes with two cup holders that can be removed to make the seat more compact if you need the space. The seat also has magnetic buckle holders to hold those buckles out of the way while placing your child into the seat. Gone are the days of fishing out those buckles! The crotch buckle also has a mechanism to keep the buckle forward and out of the way. This is a really handy!
The best part is the thigh covers. I have yet to see a car seat that has covers for the harness belt that goes over the thighs like it would the shoulders. It makes so much sense! That harness really digs into chunky legs especially in the summer time when the littles are wearing shorts.
The highlights for this seat sound great. Let's look at the price and some other specifics and see if they sound great too.
The Specs
This rotating seat does spin 360 degrees meaning when your child is forward-facing, you can still spin them towards the door to get them out. The base to this seat also has a rebound bar to absorb shock if ever in an accident. The bar doubles as a handle which is so convenient when switching cars or anytime you need to get the car seat out of your car.
While rear-facing, this seat can accommodate for newborns, infants, and toddlers of 5 to 40 pounds. However, even forward-facing, this car seats maximum weight limit is still 40 pounds. This means that once your child reaches 40 pounds, it will be time to purchase a booster seat whether you (or your child) are ready or not.
The seat and base itself do win a heavy weight award for weighing the most out of our line up at 32 pounds! This is certainly not a car seat you want to be carrying through the airport or switching vehicles very often. And though that handle does help, 32 pounds is a lot! Let's take a look at that price tag now, and see where you can purchase the Nuna Revv.
The Buying
This car seat is about to win another award for.... drum roll please.... most expensive! This car seat costs a pretty penny at $650. Considering you probably already bought an infant car seat, and you are going to have to buy a booster, this could put your total car seat purchasing at well over $1000! And, most of you will have more than one or five children to buy car seats for. That is definitely not in this mom's budget.
Also, for a Montana mom, this car seat is only purchasable online. You can find the Revv at Nordstrom, Baby Cubby, Pottery Barn, Babylist, Dillard's, or Albee Baby. Since my little town doesn't have any of these stores, I would have to travel or buy online. Sometimes buying online is your only option but sometimes I want to go to the store to look at and feel the product before making up my mind.
Even with some downsides, the Nuna Revv is a great car seat and I am sure die hard Nuna fans are very excited about this option! This momma would like to look at the other options.
The Baby Jogger City Turn
Alright everybody, the Baby Jogger is up next! I really do love this brand for strollers, but let's take a closer look at this car seat and see what awards we can give it and if it's taking the big trophy home.
To be honest, these first four car seats look pretty similar. It's hard to even tell that they spin so make sure you are buying the car seat you want by double checking everything! The City Turn has three color options that are all very similar unfortunately. The only part that changes color is the base of the fabric. However, this seat does have a cooling fabric that they call COOLMax. This material is supposed to keep your baby nice and cool in the car. I am sure this is worth it's weight in gold for places such as Arizona.
This car seat features one built in cup holder, making it a little wider but not much. Now, this seat is unique from the others in that it actually rotates out from the front of the base instead of the center. This means it swings out of the door a little ways to physically bring baby closer to you. It is a great concept and I'm sure many parents are stoked to have this feature especially if you have a large vehicle or a really bad back that makes it difficult to bend or reach. Other parents think it is a hassle since you can't close your door until you rotate the seat back to the original position. I'll be honest here.... I never rotate my daughter's seat back. Why would I? When I go to put her back in, I'll just have to turn it back out towards me. Some call this lazy, I call this smarter not harder.
Let's take a look at the specs and price point in order to make our decision.
The Specs
This car seat wins an award for being the lightest seat of the group! Though 28 pounds is still pretty heavy, it is the lightest so if you are looking for a light car seat that rotates, this is your best option!
In rear-facing mode, this seat can hold infants and toddlers up to 50 pounds! This actually deserves another award in my opinion. A rear-facing 50 pounds can allow you to keep your child rear-facing for as long as you and your child want. This makes a big difference especially for the bigger toddlers that reach 40 pounds before their 2nd birthday. Which if this is or becomes your life, bless your sweet exhausted arms.
Forward-facing this seat can hold up to 65 pounds which is more than the Nuna for sure. However, like the Nuna, this seat is NOT a booster. You must purchase another seat for that.
The City Turn also has another annoying factor. The seat only rotates in rear-facing mode. The forward-facing seat does not rotate what-so-ever and acts much like a normal car seat. To me, this doesn't make much sense other than the fact that your toddler/preschool child will probably want to crawl in on their own at that point. I still think there are a lot of benefits to the seat turning while forward facing. Let's see if the price is worth it and will change my mind.
The Buying
This car seat is much easier to buy than the Nuna for me. You can find this rotator at Target! Probably select ones and probably not mine but you can also buy at Target online so that's great. You can also purchase the Baby Jogger on Amazon which is also online obviously but I would rather purchase from Amazon where I can see reviews. Other stores include Buy Buy Baby, Albee Baby, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Baby Cubby.
This seat comes in at a lower price tag than the Nuna, but still a pretty penny at $550. And, of course, like the Nuna, don't forget about the booster you will have to purchase and the small army of other children you may have.
I can feel us getting warmer on the best car seat of 2023! But, I don't feel red hot yet. On to the Evenflo!
Evenflo Revolve360 Extend
The Revolve 360 was actually the second revolving car seat to hit the market shortly after the Cybex Sirona. And even with being an early invention, this car seat has a lot to be excited about.
First, we welcome the first..... BOOSTER! The Evenflo converts into a high back booster seat and can safely hold your child for up to 10 years! That's amazing! The seat comes with 2 built in cup holders which can definitely cause some frustration with taking up space. Another pain in the booty is that you have to remove the seat from the base to buckle in the base. It's not a huge deal, but can definitely be inconvenient at times.
This car seat does come in 4 different color options that can fit anyone's style. Let's check out the specs and see just how long you can use this car seat.
The Specs
In rear-facing mode, this seat can hold newborns and toddlers of 4 to 50 pounds! They just released this feature an extended, ergonomic leg rest that can be used for rear-facing and forward facing. With the five point harness, the seat can accommodate children up to 65 pounds while forward facing. And, as a booster, this seat can hold 40 to 120 pounds! Now, 120 pounds is an over-achievement in my opinion, but some of you need that! This is the only seat with that high of a weight maximum, so I would think they get an award for that.
The Revolve comes in second for lightest seat at "only" 29 pounds. Being a proud owner of this car seat myself, I can tell you that 29 pounds is not very light at all! The Nuna was definitely on to something when they included the carrying handle because not only are these seats heavy, they are awkward to carry as well.
We've seen some good things here so far. Let's see how the price compares.
The Buying
This car seat is super easy for anyone to go look at and buy that day. You can purchase this car seat at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Buy Buy Baby, and Albee Baby.
This car seat also receives a very important award. Lowest Price. You can own this car seat for only $400! That's still a lot of money! But, it is the lowest of the line up and the best price you can get for a rotating car seat.
Not to mention, this is the only car seat you will need to buy for you child. I am not sure how well this design works for children that are 7 or 8 years old and above, but I am going to find out!
This car seat is definitely in the running for the championship of best car seat of 2023. We still have 2 more seats to look into.
The Graco Turn to Me
Another great car seat and another great booster! The Graco Turn to Me is another high-back booster seat that grows with your child and is the last car seat you will need to purchase.
My favorite part of this car seat is the buckle storage spots. This car seat actually has a harness storage spot for when your child is ready for the booster. I love this feature because I love to resell or donate my child's things when I can if we don't use it anymore. This car seat of course can grow with your child all the way up to 10 years old so it may be expired by the time you want to donate it. But, regardless, the buckles will be stored away when you are ready for the booster so they are not in the way or shoved in a closet somewhere.
Also, like the Nuna, the Turn to Me has an spot for the buckles to go over to the side. This spot is a little elastic piece instead of magnets but works the same and so convenient!
The unfortunate part about the Graco seat is that, like the Baby Jogger, it does not spin if in forward facing mode. It is only a 180 degree turn seat. My baby is 22 months so I can't say for sure if this is a big deal or not but I can't imagine not wanting to turn the seat when my child is even heavier than before!
Let's check out the specs!
The Specs
These specs are much like the Evenflo seat. In rear-facing, the Turn to Me can hold babies and toddlers from 4 to 40 pounds. Forward-facing can hold 22 to 65 pounds and of course, the high back booster can hold 40 to 100 pounds! Not the 120 that the Revolve can do, but still perfect for the lifetime of your child being in a car seat.
The seat itself is right in the middle of the spectrum at 30 pounds. Still a very heavy car seat but seems to be right about where all of these seats are going to be.
The Buying
This car seat is pretty easy to shop for if you wanted to get it that day. It is available at Walmart, Amazon, Buy Buy Baby, and Bed Bath and Beyond. This car seat doesn't get an award for being the very lowest price, but comes in second with a price tag of $450. And, again, for being the only carseat/booster that you will need to buy, this is a great deal!
We have one more seat to look at before we announce the winner!
The Cybex Sirona S 360
This seat is the hardest seat to buy since you have to purchase it from outer space! Just kidding... but it really does look like a spaceship car seat! The Sirona S is the first rotating car seat to hit the market and start the trend.
The main issue with this car seat is how big it is. Many customers complain that it doesn't fit in their vehicle very well. This seat has an added level of safety with a load leg that extends down to the floor of the vehicle to absorb extra shock if ever in an accident. This is something I have seen in many infant car seats but not in a convertible car seat. That's an extra bonus if you have a big enough vehicle for it!
The other great thing about the Cybex is the Sensor Safe buckle. The chest buckle actually bluetooths to your phone and tells you if the child has unbuckled or if the car is too warm for your child. Now, this isn't life changing in my opinion. Getting alerted that your child has unbuckled is a good thing but getting the notification on your phone seems a little unsafe to me while driving. Also, I think if you are in the vehicle with your child, won't you know how warm it is? For those of you that need this technology, the Sirona S is definitely for you. But let's look a little further into this seat.
The Specs
This car seat is not a booster seat, but as a five-point harness can hold up to 65 pounds in forward-facing. As rear-facing, the seat can accommodate up to 50 pounds which is another high weight limit. The seat itself is another 30 pounder.
This seat is 360 as demonstrated by the name. This means, like the Nuna and Evenflo, the car seat can spin all the way around. Something that I like to do with my little one is if we are waiting in the car for whatever reason I will spin her around so she's less fussy. She can see a different perspective and can talk to me directly. Best part is I don't have to unbuckle her so there's no fight to get her re-buckled when it is time to go. I simply spin her back to rear-facing, and we're ready to take off. This feature I really do love!
The Price
This used to be the most expensive rotating car seat on the market until the Nuna came out. Now it is tied with the Baby Jogger at $550. The materials come in 4 different colors but they are all very modern and elegant colors to match their spaceship design. You can purchase this car seat at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Albee Baby. I have never seen it at my Target, but I am sure it is in the bigger cities.
That's the end of the car seats folks! If you have made it this far, I hope you have found some helpful tips in making your decision! If you skipped to the end or just looked at the chart, that's okay too! We all have limited time for one reason or another. I just appreciate you being here to discuss something so important.
Wrap it Up: Results Edition
Alright, the moment we've all been waiting for. The Rainy Mom Opinion on which rotating convertible car seat is the best of 2023! The winner is drum roll please....
The Evenflo Revolve 360!
There are many reasons this car seat has been rated best of 2023.
The price! For being the car seat that you can use the longest, this car seat has the best price. Up to 10 years of use and only $400. That's $40 a year if you want to break it down like that. The best part is you don't have to buy a separate booster when your child is ready to switch out of a five-point harness.
The 360 degree turn! You can turn this car seat 360 degrees which means you can still turn it towards the door for children that are forward facing. This is helpful for many other times of our day such as when my toddler wants to crawl in the car herself so I turn the seat inwards so she can crawl in the seat herself too. Or when we are waiting in the car, I turn her around to talk to her without getting her unbuckled. Really great to have 360 degree turning seat!
The longevity! This could really be the last car seat you buy for your child which saves money and stress having to figure out which one to buy next.
Easy to buy! I started this blog because during Covid times, I couldn't go in and look at the products I wanted to buy as a first time mom. I wanted good reviews to read and relate to so I could make decisions on what to buy. Now, of course, we are allowed in stores again and we can take a look at the products if our stores have them available. This particular car seat you can look at and buy in Walmart and Target! Although they may be phasing them out at Target for another contract. Still, Walmart makes this seat easy to buy and that gets bonus points!
So, that's all folks! Ultimately, the Evenflo Revolve 360 has won this battle. But, we have looked at some pretty great car seats and any one of them would be a dream to own! Thanks for showing up to get the Rainy Mom Opinion! Make sure you subscribe to see what's coming up next!
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Just my 2ç after having suffered a heavy car accident and knowing a relative that had another. Don't recommend any car seat that does not have a support leg or side impact protection. I'm not going to try to convince you, just look it up, or use logic, or try moving the seat by yourself. I do love your content but I defer on this security matter.