Seeking Car seat advice
snicksnack
member
My daughter is 3 months shy of three and is still rear facing. When we got her car seats we did not go with the longer shell seats because she was only in the 25 percentile for height and they did not fit as well in our cars; since then DH got a roomier car and she got taller fast. Right now she is at the height limit for DH?s car seat, he has an Evenflo I have a britix; she has more than an inch above her head in that seat so she is okay in my car. Our plan has always been when to flip her when she outgrew the seats and then move her to a Britix Frontier once our Son needs to move into a convertible seat, which will be sometime after June putting DD around 3 and ?. The reason for my thinking is I was trying to eliminate overspending on seats we won?t use that long. Well in researching I am wondering if a hybrid seat like the Frontier is even needed. For moms with older kids at what age did they move from a convertible to a booster? If I go the convertible route I am thinking about getting something like the MyRide for DH?s car in order to keep her rear facing for as long as possible. If she can stay in a regular convertible until closer to five it may be worth me just going that route to keep her rear facing longer. The Frontier was attractive because it turned into a booster and I felt it could last her for many years. I want to make a choice that is safe and if possible makes sense economically. My fear is buying another expensive convertible to have her completely outgrow it by age 4 or so. I am concerned about her outgrowing based on height all of the information I seem to find addresses weight not height. TIA
Re: Seeking Car seat advice
My goal was to keep DD1 RFing until 3, but she is 90% for height and outgrew her Evenflo Triumph RFing a few weeks ago. We now have her FFing in a Graco Nautilus (same idea as the Frontier, 5pt harness to booster). I would have preferred to keep her RFing longer, but we drive a small car and with two RFing seats we could not get a bigger convertible seat to fit. Instead, we kept DD1 RFing as long as her current convertible seat allowed, then put her in a FFing only seat and passed her convertible seat to DD2. The Nautilus will last her longer FFing than the convertible, and when she outgrows the 5pt harness we'll use it in booster mode, though I don't anticipate that being until she's at least 5.
DD1 Feb 2010
DD2 Sept 2011
If you are set on the Frontier at 3 1/2, I don't think it is a waste at all. Dd2 and dd3 are using these, harnessed. Dd2 is 95%ile for height and is just on the last rung of the harness (she wouldn't be able to fit our Radian). By the looks of things she'll be in belt mode by new years. I'd be happy if dd3 fit that long, but she's not much shorter than her sister. Both can use booster mode for a long time, the seat has a ten year expiry, and lots of room to grow. I don't think the seat is too much given the longevity, it will get your dd to being tall enough to using a seatbelt properly (4'9").
I also wouldn't opt for a Radian in this case unless your going to be rf her in it. It's outgrown ff at the same time as booster mode. Plus the booster minimum weight is 50lbs. Dd2 is only 47.
DD2 is rfing at 28 months, and I'm planning to buy the Graco My Size 70 to keep her rfing until close to 4 years. If she follows her current growth curve, she'll hit 40 lbs just before 4. We also have a Radian, with a angle adjuster, which rear faces to 45 lbs, but I don't think the shell is tall enough to get her much past 3 rfing. She's 90th for height and weight.
Since you'll be using it for your DS too, I'd go with a convertible over a harness to booster seat. I just feel like you get a better seat belt fit with most dedicated boosters anyway.
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