Beware: Rant ahead

Ok what is it with the carseats??!! Now I get the safety factor and that children are safer in rear-facing  car seats for the first twos years of their life but must car seats weigh 700 lbs and be as big as an elephant? JDQ has almost outgrown his car seat. Depending on his position, some days his legs are hanging over the end of the infant car seat which is an indicator to move onto the next car seat - the Conversion seat. These seats are for both rear facing and then can be turned around for forward facing . Yesterday JDQ and I went to Buy Buy Baby to buy one of these seats. The people who work their were nice and seemed knowledgable about the car seats. The one that I really wanted

was on sale but they hinted that it had safety issues. Of course, every parent wants their child to be safe so they brought me over to Britax and told me all about their safety rating and that their name is well known (uhmm, OK). Of course, they cost more also. We listened to all that two workers had to say and decided to buy the Britax Advocate.

 I also had to buy the floor model and was able to get 20% off the price. We got it home and JDQ was really excited to try it out. It was cushy and big. I set the straps for him but noticed that his feet were already at the edge of the seat. He didn't care for the reclining position which is what Britax recommends.  Putting the seat into the car was a pain, the seat alone weighs 20 lbs (to be clear, JDQ was not in the seat). Then came the time to put JDQ into it. He started screaming as the Click and Safe Snug harness tightened. When it came to moving the car seat to my Mum's car this was not easy. I have a Honda Element so the back has plenty of space but my Mum has a PT Cruiser so the back is smaller; the car seat barely fit and we had to change the angle to make it fit. So much for Britax's recommendation. What were we to do?
Then there is the fact that JDQ needs to be in this for a while. His feet were already touching the back seat, where is he going to put them as he grows?  In infant car seats, you change when the feet touch the back seat of a car (usually because your child has reached the height limit)

but for a conversion seat suddenly all this is fine??!

Again I get the safety factor but I really think think was decided but adults whose children are already grown. They don't have to deal with the screams.
Well, in the end after lots of research, I'm still torn between returning the seat or keeping it since it is the best for safety (full rebound bar).  But you know people need to take into consideration the parents who have to deal with all these changes as well as the children who have to endure it. I mean we're all here. For the first few years of my life I rode in my parents lap.

And what about the many children I babysat who sat in forward facing carseats? They are still here.  So who's safety is in question?

Ok, I think I'm about done.  Thanks…

Kerry