should i buy my 3 year old a new carseat or my 5 month old?

[wasatchgirl]

i have a snugride for my 5 month old daughter and a roundabout for my three year old. the baby has outgrown her infant seat and now i'm wondering who should get the roundabout now. should i keep my daughter in it (she's only 27 lbs.) and get baby a new convertible? or should i put the baby in the roundabout and buy my three year old a new seat?

the question comes down to whether or not there is some fabulous seat out there for either age group that i just can't do without. give me your suggestions!

thanks!

[Joolsplus2]

Most folks like to move the bigger kiddo up to either a combination seat (Either the Graco Ultra or Platinum Cargo or the Evenflo Chase, as they have front harness adjusters and taller top harness slots than the RA you have, giving you ease of use and more growing room), or to a Britax Marathon/Wizard or Husky. I think the Wizard is terrific and wish I didn't have to do without it, personally, LOL, but my kids do fine in a Marathon and Husky. (they have higher harness weights, but don't become boosters, still, they last a long long time anyway www.britaxusa.com has specs).
So, it kinda depends on your budget, and if you can get to the store to check all these seats out and see which you and your dd prefer, that's all the better.
Anyway, read up on these seats in other posts, there are a few love em/hate em opinions out there, as well as the cheapest places to buy, and links to kids actually in the seats (I post them almost every day, lol, they shouldn't be too too hard to find, but it's getting late and I need to head up to bed :) )


Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[amp]

I think I would do what Julie mentioned and move the older kid up to a combination seat or booster seat (when can they start using boosters?) if possible. I don't know what the rules are about those. Anyway, my reasoning would be, your older child could use it for quite awwhile, or maybe till s/he doesn't need a seat anymore. The little one will then be able to use that seat later on when she outgrows the RA. Just a thought.

[Joolsplus2]

Hi Andrea.... I like to see kids harnessed to at least age 4 and at least 40 pounds, but longer is better, like up till kindergarten age (in a higher weight seat if needed, but thinner kids can be harnessed in the Combo seats till they are 5 and 40 pounds easily). Boosters ARE safe, just a little *less* safe than being harnessed, especially for kids under 4 who are wiggly and floppy when they sleep.
Once they are in a booster, they need to stay in one till age 8 or longer (it can be a $15 backless, or a $300 Recaro, or one of a dozen choices in between as long as they are lifted up so the adult seatbelt fits on their hips and shoulder, not their soft abdomen and neck) My kids will definitely be in boosters til they are at least 11, depending on the car. Here's how you know if a child fits safely in an adult seatbelt:http://www.carseat.org/Boosters/630.htm

Anyway, hope that helps :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[wasatchgirl]

julie...tell me about that link in your signature. i've heard that europeans do rear-facing until age 3 but i never thought it was realistic with long legs. but obviously it is! tell me please!

[Joolsplus2]

Sure, that's one of my favorite subjects :D
Anyway, if you click on the right on "front facing too soon?" there is loads of information or extended rearfacing (including all those blue hyperlinks). You're right, in Sweden they RF up to age 3 or 4 (though they have a Britax that even goes to 55 pounds RF!), and then go straight to a booster seat, and kids there have an extremely low neck injury and car crash death rate.
Also, below Sarah's picture, click on "back to gallery" and there are dozens of older kids happily RF. My dd preferred it, as she could put her legs up, down, crossed...as opposed to when she's FF and they can just hang down (she napped a lot more in the car back then, too...she's an energetic, talkative girl, so I valued the peace ;) )
Here's a page with even more technical information http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

Oh, and the reason we say 20 pounds and a year old, anyway? Because seats were only certified RF to 20 pounds! It's all based on what the seat makers were making, not on any real issues of infant development and neck bone strength. Now that converibles all go to 30+ pounds, I wish they would start recommending "2 or 30 pounds" as the FF standard. Since so many people turn babies at "close enough" to one year, then maybe we could get parents to keep kids RF at least a little past a year...sort of just setting the benchmark higher, even if almost no one ever reaches it, it would be an improvement for babies' safety, IMO.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx