Car seat & Booster seat options

I just measured/weighed my kids and found out they are all too tall for the car seats I am currently using in the positions I want them in and now I'm not sure where to go next. I have been having discussions with DH about the car seats we have as we bought them based more on price then anything else.

Dannik (4 years old) is now too tall for the forward facing seat we have (41.5 inches) but only weighs 34lbs...what now? Can he move to a booster if he's tall enough but not 40lbs? I want him in a booster that has a 5 point harness when we do move him but can I do that now or do I need another forward facing car seat?

The girls (2 years old) are almost 34 inches and 29lbs so they are now too tall to be rear facing in the seats we have. Is there another rearfacing seat that we can buy that will still fit them? Will they also be able to use it as a 5 point booster when the time comes or will I have to get new boosters when we reach that stage?

I've started researching but I'm feeling overwhelmed by all the choices and since DH and I are not on the same page with respect to cost vs safety I kind of feel like I need a really good argument in place when I present our options .

Thanks!!!!

 

There are boosters with 5 pt harnesses that you can use now... We switched our 3.5 yo to Britax frontier (at 30lb), the Graco Nautilus is a cheaper option... both have a 9 year lifespan and can do 5pt harness forward facing seat, high back booster and backless booster, so you will definitely get those 9 years out of them.

For the twins, the only seat that I know that rear faces a long time and turns into a booster are the Diono radians. They're not well designed unfortunately... you can only use the forward facing mode until 57 inches, but you can't use the booster mode until they are 50lb... so you might have to buy new seats at some point anyway, but they rear face to 45lb and they can last them until they are 57 inches at least.

ETA: don't hesitate to post on car-seat.org, they know a lot about car seat options over there.

 

Totally ditto the Graco Nautilus. I have them for my twins, been using them since about a year old, an I love them. And I love that I'm done buying them carseats now You definitely get your money's worth from them!

 

Actually you'll probably have to buy another booster at some point Danielle... the seats expire after 9 years, and a lot of 10yo still need boosters I think.

 

Hopefully I won't, my oldest is nearly 10 and we got rid of his booster this year, about 6 months ago The twins are actually a little taller than he was at this age (he's my shorty) so I'm crossing my fingers they'll be ready to be out of boosters too! However even if I do, the little backless boosters are cheap compared to big car seats!! Thank goodness!

 

Very true!

 

I was looking at the Graco Nautilus for D but you can only use the harness up to 65 lbs and 52" and then you have to use the belt. With the Birtax Frontier 85 you can use the harness up to 85lbs and 57". Maybe it's worth the extra $ to get a little more out of it.

I haven't even started looking for the girls as I know DH thinks I'm being ridiculous keeping them RF. We can still use the seats we have for them if I move the FF I'm just not sure I want to do that . Since D absolutely needs a new car seat I figure I might as well start with him! In reality spending $1000 on new car sets just isn't really in the budget...

 

Can you show him the videos about crash tests RF vs FF?

What seats do you have for your twins? It seems that 34 inches is kinda odd to outgrow a seat RF. Most seats go to 33/35lb and you need one inch from the top of the shell to their head (but it's measured 'sideways', so often you think they're almost there when there's really still 2-3 inches). We switched to a convertible when my kids were 7 months and only had to get new ones at 3.5 (and probably could have pushed it to 4, but it was getting a pain to put them in there).

We went for frontiers instead of nautilus for the extra harness height as well. And because there were too many reviews complaining about the scrotch strap. You can find them at $212-$225 on amazon usually so it's much better than the normal price tag.

 

Just for reference, my almost 10 yr old is 72 lbs. So a 65 lb harness limit is probably knocking on 8 yrs old. This is obviously my personal preference but I just can't see harnessing a child nearly 8 yrs old in still. Again, my personal preference, but I'm sure by the time my twins are 5 I'll switch them to the high back booster. My now 5 yr old is already in a high back.

 

We have our almost 3 year olds rear-facing in Cosco Sceneras. RF in those goes up to 40 inches, and they are super cheap. Can't say for sure what the height limit is on forward-facing.

 

In my experience, the 65lb limit on a lot of convertible seats for rear facing is a lie. Seriously, I've contemplated sending hate mails to Graco about it :laughing: We have the My Ride 65, which goes to 40lb rear facing and 65lb forward facing. Well, when DD was 40 inches and 32lb, her head was 1.5-2 inches from the top rear facing. We switched her forward (because we got a new car... she was over 3.5 at the time), and her shoulders were maybe half an inch from the top harness slot! We got new seats, but I'm guessing she would have outgrown it by now, at And really, how many 41 inch kids are 65 lbs? So yeah... I wouldn't get any convertible seats that goes to 65lb and expect them to last a while, sadly. Although I believe the Britax seats are better (except the roundabout).

 

I just bought Easton a Britax Marathon - it says it is good to 65 pounds rear and forward facing it is actually the first car seat that I have seen that looks like it may just accommodate a taller child rear facing. I plan on keeping him rear facing as long as possible!!!! He is still in his infant car seat right now I am trying to decide when to change him over - I think he may be happier in the Marathon since it sits up a bit higher but I don't want to give up being able to put his car seat in the stroller if he is asleep!

For the twins.....
we have a set of Sunshine Radians which WE LOVE ( I think Sunshine just changed names to Diono). We use them forward facing They go to 45 pounds rear facing but I cannot imaging that a very tall child would be too comfy rear facing in them? I will try it with my girls tomorrow and see! We also have a set of Britax Blvds which I like but my girls HATE they are in my basement because my girls HATE them so much.

 

Thanks you!!! I honestly have no frame of reference for when he'll be what weight. We will be able to get away with the Nautilus then for sure as I agree that strapping in an 8 year old is a little extreme!

I looked at the weights for our seats and the 2 RF ones we have are older (bought when D was young) so they have a RF weight limit of 30lbs and 32". The newer models of the same seats go to 35lbs but still 32". So they are less than 1lb away from the weight limit. We're going to go this weekend and get a seat for D and look at the ones for the girls. The other issue is that we have had an extra seat in DHs car so we can split up if need be which means we need to buy 2 seats for D as it is and 2 more seats doubles the price!

 

Also, you need to look into what your state laws are regarding carseats vs. boosters. several states including FL are really lax, allowing a 4yr old in a booster. But some states require 5 and 6 yr olds to be in a full harnessed carseat. so don't just go by the 4yr/40 pound rule. My police officer who did the carseat fitting for me a year ago really recommended rear-facing until 4 yrs old, let alone continuing to be in a carseat and not a booster.

look for sales online for carseats... I think I bought most of my $300 retail carseats for closer to $225... most places will have a 20% discount. And if you haven't bought from Diapers.com sometimes you can get a pricematch from somewhere else, and then use a new purchaser discount as well. that would put 3x $300 carseats from $900 +tax in a store down to closer to $600 since most places don't charge taxes either.

I love the Sunshine/Diono Radians - they are skinny, and sit low so that if you are RFing, you can actually see over the top of them, they were harder to put in tightly since it's just a single strap from one LATCH to the other, whereas the Britax and Recaros have two separate straps that tighten independently on bars on the side of the seats... which makes it easier to get a tight fit.

My parents go the twins carseats that transition to boosters eventually they are the Evenflo Maestro seats. I didn't do a lot of research on them since the kids are only in them 1x per week... but they had taller shoulder straps so they would last longer, I think on sale they were $75 ea. they are wide so no way to fit 3 across in a smaller car. And I think Overstock.com had them for the sale price as well as amazon. Mind you this model is only a FF seat and then a booster I believe.

I'd much rather see a child in a properly fitting harness than a booster at age 4 and 5.

Good luck.

 

We're in Canada so the rule is 40"/40lbs but even though that's the "rule" Transport Canada recommends a 5-point harness as long as possible even past the 40lb limit.

I ended up doing some online shopping last night and about a Nautilus for D on sale for $189 when it's $260 in the stores and they are shipping it right to me! I'm glad to at least have him figured out . Now we have the issue that he can no longer go in my ILs car unless they get one too...we're still discussing that one!

 

Ok, you do have to realize though that most kids are bigger than yours. But yes, I'm not too sure how much the harness height will impact most kids... I just didn't want to run the risk. It helps that we only have seats in one car though, so we're not spending money on extras.