Prince Lionheart Two-Stage SeatSaver Review!

We recently had to return our Ford Escape to the dealership since our three year lease had come to an end.  Thankfully.  (hint: don’t buy a Ford Escape.  Trust me.)  Anyways, I was thinking back to when we decided on that car and the circumstances surrounding our decision.   At the time, I was about six months pregnant with Anna and we needed a SUV that was safe, snow-proof, safe, decent looking, safe, well-priced, did I mention safe?  In the months leading up to Anna’s birth, I got the car ready – I installed the car seat, went to the police station so they could make sure I did it right, cleaned everything and hung up a sun shade.  I considered the car to be baby-ready.

The aftermath.

When Anna first arrived, I felt confident that I had prepared the car for her arrival well.  I had to keep in mind that we didn’t technically own this car, which meant that I needed to keep it reasonably clean – otherwise we may have to pay at the end of our lease for any damage.   For the first year of her life, I never even thought about it.

But, then came the second year of her life.  And the third.  And the older she gets, the bigger the mess she’s capable of making.  Seriously, this child can be a virtual tornado of activity and woe be to the odd Cheerio she deems inedible or the pretzel she crushes to bits before sprinkling the debris like snowflakes all over the seat.   Or sometimes she just wants to see what it looks like if she lets her milk drip a smiley face onto the upholstery.   I’m pretty sure the next lucky owner of that Ford Escape is going to be finding Goldfish shrapnel in little cracks and crevices for years to come.

So, when Prince Lionheart sent me their Two-Stage SeatSaver for review, I was excited to have found a solution.  It would be great if Anna could just figure out how the snacks actually make it into her mouth every time, but I’m not going to hold my breath.   I understand that she’s going to make a mess and that’s okay – really, it is – but I need to be able to clean it without dragging out an upholstery cleaner.

I love products that you can stretch out and use over a few years of your child’s life.  The Two-Stage SeatSaver starts out with just the bottom part being used for the rear-facing infant car seat.  When your child is ready to upgrade, so is your SeatSaver – just attach the top part and you have a seat protector that can be used for forward facing toddler seats and booster seats!  The SeatSaver has high-density foam which serves to protect the seat from getting those depression marks from the weight of the car seat.   When the SeatSaver is in it’s toddler/booster seat position, the bottom part acts as a kick plate to protect the upholstery from those dreaded shoe scuff marks.

Now that I’ve seen what the seat of your car can look like after not having a seat protector, I’ll be buying a Two-Stage SeatSaver for every child and every car seat we ever have.  When it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind – but eventually you’ll see the damage under your kid’s car seat and you certainly don’t want it to affect the value of your car.  This is one of those simple purchases that might seem like a little thing, but believe me, it’s a small price to pay compared to the time and effort it takes to scrape caked-on snacks and juice out of your car!

The Prince Lionheart Two-Stage SeatSaver is compatible with all LATCH car seat systems and is available in black, grey and beige.  You can buy the SeatSaver at www.princelionheart.com, Toys R Us, Babies R Us and other retailers near you!