Product Review: Orbit Toddler CAR SEAT + cool hack

Since April of 2008, I have been in love with the Orbit Stroller System.  We first crossed paths online and then on vacation while I was in San Francisco.  Admittedly, it's heavy, but it's just jam packed with features I haven't found in other stroller systems.

I was hesitant to purchase the Orbit Toddler CAR SEAT (not to be mistaken with the Toddler STROLLER SEAT) because it IS heavy and it does have a pretty hefty price tag.  But travelling with an infant/toddler is never cheap nor is it easy.  We booked our trip to Hawaii and knew we'd need a car seat, stroller, and some convenient storage.  That's exactly what the Orbit System offers!  The Toddler CAR SEAT goes from the Orbit base to the stroller just as simply as the Infant Carrier did. Best part?  I don't even need the car seat base with me to use this while I'm in Hawaii!  WOOHOO!  Less packing = HOORAY!

We bought BT the Orbit Toddler CAR SEAT as one of his birthday gifts (any excuse to justify the cost, right?) and I have NOT been disappointed!  This car seat is very well designed/thought out, as can be expected by Orbit Baby.  Get ready... there's lots of pictures AND a hack towards the end!

This thing is NO JOKE!  It's really, really, REALLY heavy!  Five stars for the awesome packaging, BTW.

A look at the inside packaging.  To the left is the car seat and the two bottom squares house the  bag for the brackets and the paparazzi cover.

Love, sweet love!  The beige head supports are fully adjustable and offer additional cushion in the event of a side impact crash.  Notice the bigger/puffier shoulder cushions - I LOVE THAT!  The clips have a reminder on it that they should be at the baby's armpit level.  All of the cushions can be removed for easy cleaning (I clean the cushions every month because BT loves to make a mess by spilling milk, spitting out half chewed Cheerios, etc.).

Side View.  It's kind of hard to see on this picture but there is a small velcro tab on the side that is a black circle.  The strap for the harness can be velcroed there so that the straps stay "open" for whenever you're ready to put baby back into the car seat.  That little beige marker on the side is actually a pocket for the car seat strap!  This way, when you remove the car seat and use it on your stroller, you don't have cords dangling everywhere.  You just slide it in there and it will be neatly tucked away!

Better view of the side/back.  Did you notice the metal release lever?  NICE!  I like it better than the green handles on my G1 infant carrier and the grey one on my toddler stroller seat.

Back View.  The panel actually opens and serves as storage for the  paparazzi cover and  gives you access to the straps.  I probably should've shown you the inside, but it's quite interesting.  The back panel has two pockets (one for the cover and another one for the loose straps so that again, you won't have loose straps flying around all over the place!) and you can easily store the Ray Shade in there.

The braces bag. 

The braces for the car seat when you are not using the car seat base or when you have the car seat forward facing.  I haven't put these on yet because BT is still rear facing and will stay that way until he starts kicking the TV (which should be a long time from now because homeboy is short!).  I want to keep him rear facing as long as possible!  I'll put the braces on this weekend and test out the car seat solo (without the car seat base) and update later about ease of use, etc.

 The paparazzi cover spread out.  Oddly, it looks a lot like the Ray Shade, but smaller and shorter.  The fabric is high quality just like the other parts of the stroller.

 The paparazzi cover slips in via a clip and you just push to release and pop it back out.

 Front view with the paparazzi cover on.

 Side view with the paparazzi cover on.  I love the snug fit of the canopy.  THE CANOPY CANNOT BE PUSHED BACK.  It can only be removed.  That bothers me a little bit, but then again, the main function of this is a car seat and not a stroller seat.  The canopy is a nice added plus even for when BT is sleeping in the car because it can block some of the sun falling on his cute face!

 A view from the back.

 A close up view of the tight fit for the paparazzi cover.

What the paparazzi cover looks from the inside.  The fabric does well to block out a lot of radiant heat and sun for the small section of shade it can provide.

 One of the best aspects of the OBS is that there is no off-gassing of the fabric.  I hate how sometimes you open new things and it just has to be aired out for a few hours (or days).  It's got zero smell.

And now, for the HACK I promised!  The paparazzi cover is a bit short and isn't going to give a good amount of coverage while we're in Hawaii.  Enter... the RAY SHADE by Summer.  This is a universal canopy made to go over existing stroller canopies to extend the amount of coverage/protection.

Since this car seat has a canopy, I knew I had to make it work!  And it did!  See?  SEE?!

Side profile... Check out how much more coverage it gives you!  It will cover him up until his toesies and it gives him about an extra 2" of coverage on the side panels.  Here's the thing though... you can adjust the coverage!  The OBS Toddle Car Seat has two little holes on either side.  I'm not sure what they're used for other than the tension cords, but hell, I use it to attach my Ray Shade.  The Ray Shade utilizes Velcro straps and all you have to do is fold it in half and thread it through the hole and then attach it to the other side.  You can choose the higher hole for a shorter shade length or the lower hole for more coverage.

 Here's the shorter side.  Notice how high up it goes?  If you look carefully, you can see the other side (where I put it on the lower hole).

 Perhaps this allows you to see how much more the lower hole covers and how the higher hole covers less.  

 A view from the top.  The left side is the lower hole.  The right side is the higher side.  Note that if you put the Ray Shade on the same hole on either side, it would be completely balanced.  I was lazy and put one up high and one low, but this would help you see the difference (at one time) of how much each hole covers.

 To attach the Ray Shade in the back, simply take the back two straps and attach it to the back panel cover's strap!!  HOW EASY IS THAT?!

 A view of where the holes are.  This on is the higher hole.  Notice the lower hole at the bottom?  There's a tension cord threaded through these holes for the levers that release the car seat from the base.

 Here is the Ray Shade strapped into the lower hole.

And of course, BT had to take it for a test ride immediately.  I love how high it is, so he's able to see through the window a little better when we're on drives.  The adjustable head rest is similar to the head rest on my AirProtect.  BT usually kicks and screams when we try to put him into his car seat, but with this one, he puts up little to no fuss.  I think he really enjoys the up-high view.  A great feature of this car seat is the little velcro tabs you see on the straps.  See those dark round circles right above the red release tab?  When you unsnap the seat harness, you simply attach the tab to the side of the car seat and it stays open/in place for when you're ready to put your little one back in his car seat!  No more putting your little one in and then digging out the straps from behind him!!