Car Seat for Non-Technical Grandma

[lizzytra]

I am buying a Radian 65 for my 3 yr old DS. My MIL also wants to purchase a seat for him for her car & told me to order a Radian for her car too (she is, of course, buying). However, there are several things I have to consider & am, once again, asking for your input as I don't know if a Radian is a good choice for her:

1. She is HORRIBLE at installing car seats. I have gone over how to install them several times and she never gets it right (she also refuses to learn how to fold a stroller, etc) Thus, I will install the car seat and she won't take it out/move it, etc

2. The car seat will also be used by my 18 mo old niece. I know the best thing is for her to RF, but considering her parents FF her and my MIL has committed to buying one seat and not moving it as she can still fold down the other 2/3 of her back seat for when she needs to pack her car out & she does this fairly often so I appreciate her willingness to not move the car seat once I have installed it. Thus, easy should strap adjustments for height differences would be AWESOME as she would never figure out to uninstall, re-thread, and then reinstall.

3. Her car is a 2003 or 2004 Toyota Highlander.

4. My son weights approx 35 lbs and my niece weighs approx 25 lbs.

Do you have any suggestions? I was thinking about a seat that has a harness height adjuster that could be moved up and down w/o uninstalling the car seat. Does that exist?

PS My MIL is an incredible person who I dearly love. I don't think she is an idiot - AT ALL - but technicalities are absolutely not her thing.

[bubbaray]

Triumph Advance?

I have a RN65 (two actually, one in my van, one in DHs SUV) and love it, BUT, its not super easy to install. And, the harness adjustment requires that the seat be uninstalled to change the shoulder slot position. I was playing with it the other day at the store (OK, need to get a life) and it looked like it had reasonably high top slots. You should try your DS in it, though, just to make sure.

The Graco Nautilus would work for your DS too. I'm not sure how it would work for an 18m old, though.

[lizzytra]

Thank you I'll check those two out. I might just take my MIL to BRU w/me one day. I agree that I don't think the Radian is a good idea for her b/c she would never re-thread the harness height for my niece. I, of course, would do it everytime I allowed my DS to ride w/her if I needed to, but I worry about my niece.

[TaChapm]

The Nautilus is a great seat that would last her a long time but you would have to uninstall the seat to adjust the harness. I found it to be really easy to install and the harness adjuster (to tighten it) is super easy!

Here is a link to my review here. There is a link to pictures of all 3 of my kids in the nautilus so you can get a good idea as to how it fits kids of diffirent sizes and weights.

HTH!

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=288572&highlight=nautilus+pictures

[stillplayswithbarbies]

The Safeguard Child seat would be the easiest for her to use. You can adjust the harness up and down without uninstalling. (but do you think she will really do that or will she won't do that anyway and just leave it in the same position for both kids)

Once this is installed, it's rock solid. The harness is fairly easy to use, and there is a knob to turn to tighten it once it is buckled.

the downside: it's expensive.

[new_mommy25]

How about the Britax Boulevard? You can adjust the harness up or down with a knob without having to uninstall the car seat. It is very easy to install, my MIL can do it with no problem.

[August Mom]

I agree. I think the Britax Boulevard is what she needs. It will last awhile (FFing to 65#) and with the turn of a knob, she can adjust the harness height. It would also be one of the easiest to install if she ever needed to.

Good luck.

[lizzytra]

Thank you SO much. I wish that the timing was different as I know Britax recently had many sales, but hopefully after discussing the safety concern w/her this weekend she'll understand the importance of harness height & either be willing to uninstall and rethread straps or pay more $ for something like the Boulevard.

Many thanks again!

[bubbaray]

The Triumph Advance has higher top slots than the Boulevard, IIRC. Its a pretty nice seat. Different than the older Triumph....

[lizzytra]

The Triumph Advance has higher top slots than the Boulevard, IIRC. Its a pretty nice seat. Different than the older Triumph....

That is good to hear as I am replacing his Triumph w/a new car seat as for some reason I discovered that the EPS foam at some point broke (although you would have to pull on it to get it out) ... I'm guessing from the frequent car switching. I purchased it in 2004 or 2005 and it has been a difficult seat as far as tightening/loosing straps.

Forget about it - my MIL can't even get DS my buckled in it sometimes!