Booster help needed

Blackvelvet

DS is 3.5 years, 30 pounds and 39 inches tall he is all torso can still wear 18 month pants.  He outgrew his convertable carseat RF by height last fall/summer and has just out grown several of them in the FF position by height recently.  We need a new seat for my moms car she has a very old van that does not have a top teather or latch so it will be a seatbelt install.  She is looking to spend less then $120.  He also needs a seat in my sisters honda accord she had a costco convertable in it and he was pushing the hight limit on it at Christmas.

Now for the hard one we drive a 1984 F150 he rides in the middle so the seat must be reasonable in size but it only has a lap belt so we have had trouble finding a good seat for this truck. We had an Even flow that is about to expire in there not sure what model it was.

I have a britax BLVD in my truck and we love it but it's to big for the other truck and can't install in the middle front

Blackvelvet

He rides in the truck daily we have a ranch and it has to be used everyday in the winter and most days in the summer.  We can't upgrade to a newer truck as this one has special equipment installed on it. 

I have had a horrible time finding seats for the truck we had his infant seat on the passenger side with just a seatbelt install, and had to turn him FF way sooner then I wanted at 18 months as it was to hard to drive the vehical and have him RF in it.  The truck goes mostly less then 15 mph but we do have to drive 7 miles to town on a divided highway at least every other week.  It was easier to install seats on the tractor then in the truck

brettsmama

I would also try the Diono Radians, we have the RXT. Diono makes boosters and car seats. They are narrow and can accomodate taller kids. We actually still have our 3 year old rear facing in one. They are not cheap, but they are worth every penny. You'll never have to buy another seat, this one will last still your kid is in high school LOL. Try to look at the cost over the life of the seat.

Angela814

brettsmama:

I would also try the Diono Radians, we have the RXT. Diono makes boosters and car seats. They are narrow and can accomodate taller kids. We actually still have our 3 year old rear facing in one. They are not cheap, but they are worth every penny. You'll never have to buy another seat, this one will last still your kid is in high school LOL. Try to look at the cost over the life of the seat.

That's not necessarily true. We have a Radian, and it is a good seat. But you can't use the booster mode until your child is 50 lbs. Plus the seat will be outgrown by height before you can go without a booster. Here the min for a seatbelt only is 4'9". DD1 outgrew the Radian by height at 4'2".

It's hard to recommend a seat with your situation bc I don't know all the rules with different seats and which can be installed with a lap belt only or the requirements for the headrest in the vehicle. I'd try asking on the carseat.org forums. That should be a dash between car and seat; it doesn't show up right from my phone. You don't need to be a member to post a question, it will just take a couple hours before it's cleared and posted. They're the experts on all kinds of situations.

Angela814

For your mom and sister, I'd look into the Evenflo Maestro and Evenflo Secure Kids seats. They're both harnessed seats that eventually convert to a booster. The Maestro runs around 80. I think the SecureKids is closer to 100.

Blackvelvet

Angela814:

brettsmama:

I would also try the Diono Radians, we have the RXT. Diono makes boosters and car seats. They are narrow and can accomodate taller kids. We actually still have our 3 year old rear facing in one. They are not cheap, but they are worth every penny. You'll never have to buy another seat, this one will last still your kid is in high school LOL. Try to look at the cost over the life of the seat.

That's not necessarily true. We have a Radian, and it is a good seat. But you can't use the booster mode until your child is 50 lbs. Plus the seat will be outgrown by height before you can go without a booster. Here the min for a seatbelt only is 4'9". DD1 outgrew the Radian by height at 4'2". It's hard to recommend a seat with your situation bc I don't know all the rules with different seats and which can be installed with a lap belt only or the requirements for the headrest in the vehicle. I'd try asking on the carseat.org forums. That should be a dash between car and seat; it doesn't show up right from my phone. You don't need to be a member to post a question, it will just take a couple hours before it's cleared and posted. They're the experts on all kinds of situations.

Thankyou for the carseat.org link. I have been finding seats that seem perfect then they either odn't fit or have somekind of rule that makes them not work for the truck or my son.