Need advice about second seat, WWYD?

[nicksmom]

Hi! After almost 3 weeks of reading about convertibles and crying over the Kyle Miller story, I am still undecided.

We have a 4.5 year old DS who weighs 33lbs and is 42" tall. He has a MA as a primary seat in my '03 VW Passat. Incidentally, I pored over the car's manual and couldn't ascertain at what point (in terms of weight) we need to use the belts instead of the LATCH. Does anyone know? What about the tether? Is there a limit or did I imagine this?

We would like to get him a second seat for Dad's car, a 1990 Mercedes 560SEL. We could also make the MA the secondary seat and use the new seat at his primary.

I've tried the Walmart 5pt harness Scenera but DH was not confident he got a good installation, it wiggled and appeared "flimsy" to him. Plus with an upper weight limit of 40lbs, it doesn't seem like a good investment. DH will check with Mercedes to see if the car could have anchors for the tethers retrofitted. We had a Honda CRV at one point and was able to get the anchors installed.

We also have a 2 yr old DS who weighs 30lbs and is 35.5" tall. He is currently in a RA and a Fisher Price Safe Embrace. We keep him in mind as we are looking because he will soon outgrow the 40lb limit on his 2 current seats.

After reading many of the posts here, I am debating between the FPSVD, Regent or the Radian 65 for our older son. I understand the Regent has the greatest weight limit, but will he outgrow it by height before weight? The Regent also appears to be out of stock right now. For people who use the Regent, what do they use for travel? Currently we fly cross country twice a year with the MA.

How does the FPSVD install? The car does not have LATCH, we will be using the seatbelts and hopefully a tether if it is possible to have it installed. What about the Radian? Where could we go to try out these 3 seats?

We are in pursuit of the seat that is safest, most comfortable, easiest to install, will last the longest time, and hopefully at a reasonable price, in that order of importance.

Based upon my specs, WWYD?

Thank you so much in advance for any input.

Kellie

[Joolsplus2]

Does the 1990 Merc even have locking belts? You'd need either a locking clip (pain in the butt metal H-shaped clip that you have to attach to a seatbelt) or a seat with a built in lockoff (like the Marathon, easy peasy, clamp it and go) to be able to safely use a harnessed seat with those kinds of non-locking belts (unless it has the rare but wonderful 'switchable latchplate' which has a button on the buckle you slide from a picture of an adult to a picture of a carseat, very intuitive).

Oh, yeah, if the manual doesn't have a weight limit for the latch anchors, then follow the Britax manual's instructions (48 pounds lower, no weight limit on the top anchor...and it sounds like your kid is like mine, he'll be 40 pounds and too tall for the Marathon, I reckon).

Maybe Regents for your primary car and put the MA and RA in the Merc? (or FPSE, with the lockoff and the lovely 8 year expiration limit, whichever fits best).

The www.safeguardseat.com (the child seat, not the Go) also has lockoffs built in, so does the Graco Safeseat 2 (but it's huge and only goes to 40 pounds)

My son WILL probably outgrow the Regent by height before weight... he's 9.5 and 60 pounds now, and still has some growing room... so you see how it's STILL the biggest choice for extended harnessing? The Radian (65 and 80) only lasted my kids to age 7 and 45 pounds.

Whew, that turned into a brainstorm... tell me if I missed any questions, k?

:)


Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[nicksmom]

Thank you so much for your input. We were on vacation and then were distracted by sickness! Now I am back on track and will make a decision in the next day or two. I just posted my next set of questions. Does your DS complain of having to sit in a carseat at 9.5? I will most likely get the Regent since it seems to be the best out there at this point. Is it easy to install in a non-latch car? Does the Regent have the lock-off clip like the MA?

Thanks again,
Kellie