Customer Reviews

EddieBauer Alpha Omega Dlx 3in1 Car Seat

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

My husband and I purchased this car seat for our two year old son because our prior Eddie Bauer toddler car seat was frustrating my son. It was a very good car seat, but it had one of those bars that goes over the head and sits at the childs chest level. The bar aggrivated my little one, because he could not do any kind of activities in the car, like reading a book or even placing toys on the bar because it was on a slant. This new car seat is a very nice car seat, but there are a couple of cons. The first is that the car seat can not be reclined if it is forward facing without pulling away from the seat. Since that then loosens the seat belt, we don't use the recline. The second is that the cup holder not only sits nicely on one side of the car seat, but sticks out quite far and the door smashes the holder. I switched the car seat to the other side of the car, however we are expecting our second baby in September, and going to put the infant car seat in the middle, and obviously that will once again eliminate the cup holder. The third is that this is a BIG car seat. I have a Chevy Trailblazer and the car seat is not to big for my car, however I understand exactly what people are talking about when they say this seat would be too big for a smaller car. All in all I like the car seat and most of its many features, but I definatly think that someone interested in purchasing one should see this car seat in person before buying it.

I bought this carseat for my then 6 month old son. He never complains about being in it and the wings on the headrest are wonderful for his head to lean up against while napping. The pockets are great for holding toys and such that he now at 18 months old he can finally reach on his own. I only have a few complaints the cup holder can not be utilized if your child is behind the driver seat because it won't fit when you close the door, and who wants to put him behind the passenger seat and walk all the way around to get him. I have a 7 yr. old that sits behind the passenger seat so I can't put him in the middle w/o my 7 yr old having problmes buckleing himself. Also the 3 level recline system barely ever works. Sometimes it will then there are other times it won't go back to the regular position. If you are looking for a carseat this is a great goodlooking carseat, but if you are buying it to have a cup holder or because it reclines, think again. Although you could probably just go with the Evenflo Titan 5 which is a consumer reports best buy at only $70 and for this carseat I paid $129. I hope this helps. I know I did a lot of research on reviews but not one review said anything much about what I listed. Good luck!

I am very happy that I purchased this car seat and recommend it to anyone.
It was very easy to install and disassemble. Taking off the fabric was easy, you just need to take off the plastic covers from the holes for the strap belts first, the plastic snaps right back into place when you're done. The headrest adjusts easily which is very convenient, the reclining option is also very nice and easy to operate. The straps are long enough for a 4-year-old wearing a winter coat, which is not the same on many other booster seats. Both my children, 1-year-old and 4-year-old, fit comfortably in it. The fabric is durable, washable and pretty. This pattern sells for $60 less than the same car seat anywhere else. I think this is the best deal you can find.

I like the Eddie Bauer 3 in 1 Elite Car seat. I had shopped around and compared prices on just about all major "infant, toddler,booster" car seat. This one I found to be the best one for its features and price range. There is only one thing I don't like about it; I can't figure out how to remove the infant head support. It appears to be sewn in. This could just be me but, I had my husband look at it to. It is rather large so if you have a smaller vehicle it may have a tight fit. I drive a midsize SUV and it fits just fine.

I have mixed opinions about this carseat. The big benefit is that it can accomodate so many different ages and sizes. It also has a lot of padding on the seat, and comes with very detailed and understandable instructions. It can be installed easily in almost any vehicle model. The disadvantages are that it is BIG and heavy. Not very convenient if you're going to be switching the location of the carseat often, or if you have a sedan or other small vehicle. Also, in the rear-facing position, the seat doesn't recline very far back. Consequently, whenever our son falls asleep in it, his neck is strained because his head is slumped so far forward.

We purchased the Cosco Alpha Omega Elite (Model 22155HMR) from BabiesRUs. I am also submitting this review for the Eddie Bauer 3-in-One Elite Car Seat which is also manufactured by Cosco and was extremely similar when we looked at them side-by-side at the store.

Our son is long (tall) for his age and at 6 months, he was past the recommended height for the infant seat (only recommended for up to 26".) So in our case we needed a seat that we could use in the rear facing position for 6 months.

The seat was a very nice with high quality materials. What we liked about it is that it would be the last car seat that we would ever have to purchase. It can be used 3-ways, as a rear facing infant seat, forward facing seat, and then a belt positioning booster. The Alpha Omega Elite had good ratings in Consumer Reports magazine, including "ease of installation." (I would assume that the Eddie Bauer seat would have similar performance.)

Some people discussed the confusing "puzzle piece" buckle plates. The seat we purchased did not have these plates. However, other Alpha Omega's and Eddie Bauers in the store did.

We installed the seat using seat belts (our cars do not have the LATCH system) and we did use towels under the front of the seat in order to get the angle so that the level lines (described below) would be level.

However, the problem we encountered was that in our cars (a 2000 Saturn SL2 and a 2000 Honda Accord), we could not install the seat in the rear facing position in the back middle seat position without having to move our front seats forward for more clearance. There are level lines on the shoulder belt guide that according to the instruction booklet (page 27) must be level to the ground when using the seat in the rear facing position. We put a carpenter's level on these lines to make sure we got the seat at an angle where these lines were level to the ground. Because this seat later is used as a belt positioning booster it is taller and wider than some of the others and did not fit between our two front seats.

One solution would have been to shift the seat to side behind the passengers front seat. This way the driver (my husband is 5'11") could move his seat to a place where he has space to drive safely and not interfere with the car seat. However, this would cause the front passenger seat to have to move up uncomfortably close. So we decided against this.

We ended up with a Graco Comfortsport and are happy with it, although we will need to purchase another seat for booster use when he is over 40 lbs. We tried one of the Evenflo seats (the Titan 5) and it also fit in our cars. We had other problems with the Titan 5 and decided against it. I have heard that the many of the Evenflo Models are also good choices for people with cars.

We haven't used this car seat for very long, but we're happy with it so far. It seems to have all the features as the other Eddie Bauer seats that are $40 more, so I was happy with that. When installing the seat in our car, we found out that it was very easy to adjust the height of the harness by simply squeezing the levers and raising the headrest--way easier than having to rethread the straps through different holes like I had to with our infant carrier. Our son is already too big for the infant insert, but I haven't taken it out yet because you do have to pull the straps out before you can remove it and then rethread them, and I haven't had time to do it yet. I did find that the armrests are difficult to move up and down, but it's not a big problem. I love the fact that we can use it rear facing as well as forward facing and as a booster later. The back seat of our Malibu is at a pretty steep angle, but it was really simple to recline the seat more by putting a piece of a pool noodle underneath it. All in all, this car seat has a lot of features for a pretty good price, and I plan on using it for a long time!

Excellent product. Instructions were clear and easy to follow. My child loves his new seat. The seat is well padded and comfortable. I love that it will work with children 5-100 pounds. I love the ease with which the headrest is adjusted.

This seat is so tall ...that if you dont have a big back seat in reverse mode it's obnoxious. It went to the top of the headrest of the front seat in our SUV. Our son was in this seat at 6months and the seat was not reclined enough for him and he just beginning to sit up and have to support his head ...and it would always roll completely forward. We returned this seat and went with the Evenflo DLX and absolutely love it.

I already have the Cosco Alpha Omega 3-in-1 carseat that I bought 3 years ago. So when it came time to buy another seat, I wanted to get the same one. The only difference between the two is that this one does not have the puzzle lock. Otherwise, the seat is great and keeps my kids safe. They also love the cupholder!