Most comfortable (and safe!) carseat for 40 lb. 3 year old?

[daisymommy]

Joshua loves his Graco Comfortsport convertible carseat, with the Gracopedic comfort foam. And who can blame him? It's so soft and comfy I would take a nap in there :)
But the weight limit only goes up to 40 lbs. and he is almost there (at 38 lbs. actually). So I'm already shopping around because I'm sure he'll hit 40lbs. in another 2 months.

The problem is everything I have seen and felt is hard-hard-hard! No way an overly sensitive child like Josh will sit in a hard high-back booster seat! I am regretting not just spending the money on a Britax (which model that would have been, I don't know. But I do know there is one that lasts longer and they are comfy seats).

I doubt DH will go for spending the big $$ on a Britax at this point since we have gone thru 3 carseats already for various reasons, costing us over $400 total. Yikes. So, what to do? If I was to go with a Britax, what should I be looking for?

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

For a 40 lb 3 year old i would reccomend the Husky/Regent. It is a ff only seat for children 22-80 lbs. I want this seat but sadly i am a drop over the weight limit ;-)! I am sure it would meet your ds's approval. If you have any high end baby boutiques in the area you could take ds to try the seat out. At 3 years old, unless it is a special circumstance i would not reccomend a bpb.

I know that it sounds so expensive to get another seat now. But lets say the seat lasts ds the full 6 years till the expiration, he would be 9 years old and either ready to go into the seatbelt with nothing else or to use a low back bpb which can be bought for under $20.

Lets say the seat is $250 including shipping etc. If ds used it for the full 6 years or 72 months it would be about $4 a month. If you tell it to dh that way he might buy it. That would equal like one trip to starbucks/coffee bean in the month, or maybe dh goes out to lunch at least 1x a week it would be like the drink and side dish. Also what other product for ds have you heard of that would last through 6 years of constant use?

If you travel just know that the Husky is very large and it can not be used on airplanes. If you travel ALOT i might reccomend the MA depending on whether your ds carry's his height in his torso or in his legs, i would not want to tell you to buy a seat if he is very close to the top slot.

Let me know if dh goes for the math!

[Tondi G]

my DS hit 4lbs when he was about 2.5 and we ended up biting the bullet and buying 2 Marathons! They are ecpensive but super comfy and he is now 56lbs and over 4 years of age and still happily and comfortably riding in them!!!!

Here is a link to a site with one cover at a discount... they are 250 everywhere else!

214 for the funky denim (cotton dark blue denim) or 229 for the handful (a tan velvet type fabric with little hand prints!)

Good Luck HTH's you!

~Tondi
Mommy to Mason 7/8/01 and Aidan 5/4/05

[american_mama]

Tondi: WHere is the link? Thanks!

[daisymommy]

Yes Tondi, where is the link? :) Thanks!
Alsom, are there any other reccomendations out there for cheaper (non-Britax) carseats for my DS?

[kellyotn]

I'm not Tondi, but I think www.albeebaby.com has some of the closeout covers.....

[american_mama]

ETA: Found it! Traveling Tikes has the Funky Denim, Shadow (black), and Handful (tan) for $215 with free shipping.
http://www.travelingtikes.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/?E+scstore

Ok, I found two clearance Marathons for $219 and $224 at
http://carseats.babycatalog.com/infant-to-toddler-convertible-car-seats/marathon-convertible-car-seat-with-latch/E9L0603.html

The $219 is Foofy, very girly flowers with ruffles. The $224 is Liberty, red white and blue.

Somewhere I also saw the Colonial Blue or another blue one an clearance for $219, but I can't remember the site. Sorry!

[Momof3Labs]

The problem is, unless you buy a Britax seat, you have no choice but to go to a booster at 40lbs. Cosco was working on a seat that harnesses to 65lbs but it has had problems passing crash testing!