Combo seat for really skinny son

[jalhorow]

My DD is quickly outgrowing her Snugride and I don't really want to buy 2 more Marathons (one for my car and one for my nanny's). What are the best combo seats (harness now, booster later) for a 3 1/2 year old? He was 26.5 lbs and 38 in at his 3 year checkup and has not gained more weight since then on my home scale. What do people think of the Graco CarGo? Or what others would work best? Thanks in advance!

[o_mom]

The Cargo is a great harnessed seat, but only a so-so booster. The top slots are similar height to the Marathon. The Evenflo combo seats are also often recommended here, so you may want to look at them (they go by many names that I can never keep straight). The Recaro Young Sport works well for both, but is more money.

How much time do your Marathons have left? I'm just wondering if you will need two more Marathons eventually anyway. Or, if you have alot of time on them, you could get two Sceneras for the baby and keep DS in the Marthon for a couple years until he is ready for a booster.

[jalhorow]

How do I find out how much time my Marathons have left? I bought one of them in April of 2004 and the other in Nov of 2005. Thanks!

[o_mom]

They expire 6 years from date of manufacture. Assuming they were no more than 4 months old when you got them, they would be good until at least Jan 2010 and Aug 2011. Double check, though, as some people get much older dates of manufacture compared to date of purchase. There should be a sticker somewhere with the DOM - usually up by the shoulder, maybe under the cover or on the outside.

So three to four years from now, that would make your DD about 4 years old and your DS about 7. Is that correct? At that point you could move DD to the combo seat and get a good dedicated booster for DS. Just thinking out loud here!