I have 2 big infants need help picking next car seat

[WEHolland]

OK here is my problem, I have been blessed with a very healthy set of twin boys. One of them is 29" tall 19# and the other is 27" and 20.5# at their 6 month check up. They are 7.5 months old now and when I took them out last I noticed that the taller one was dangling out of his infant seat with his feet and the other one had probably just met the weight restrictions (Graco Snug rides) So here is my dilema. What do I pick next? I want them to be safe, but because I am always buying 2 of everything I don't want to blow money just to have them grow out of the seat in another 6mos to a year. I want to get the best bang for my buck. I like the Recaro Young Sport they look awesome and are safe, but the Dudes are only 7 months and the seat is not rear facing I can't use that, even though they meet the weight and height restrictions. Can the Britax seats handle a little Dude who is tall? Evenflo Triumph looks not too bad but If I buy it, what do I do when they grow out of it? what is the normal progression of car seats? Why can't manufacturers make this easier, combination seats, infant seats booster seats... give me a break. HELP HELP!!! I don't know what to do :(

- Wendy :)

[jeanum]

Congrats on your healthy twins! Their Snugrides would be outgrown if they are over the weight limit but the position of the baby's feet has no bearing on whether the seat is outgrown by height. Snugride infant seats are outgrown when either the weight limit is reached or when there is less than an inch of the carseat's shell above the top of the baby's head, whichever comes first.

As a mom of two tallish girls who are long torsoed and outgrow their carseats by height, I would strongly recommend a larger Britax convertible carseat such as the Marathon, Decathlon or Boulevard, all of which can rear face up to 33 lbs. and then forward face up to 65 lbs. and will last you longer than other options on the market.

The above Britax models are essentially the same seat shell with a few variations, such as the Decathlon having 3 different crotch strap positions, and the Boulevard has headwings that offer extra side impact protection and knobs that adjust the harness height instead of rethreading the harness into different slots. Although they cost $250-$300 MSRP, sometimes you can find Britax seats discounted online, especially when a particular fabric cover is discontinued, and they would be usable for a longer period of time and more cost effective in the long run.

These Britax seats are tall enough that kids can rear face in them until they reach the 33 lb. RF limit and then forward face usually until the seat is outgrown by height, anywhere from age 4 to as old as age 6 depending on the child's proportions, at which time they're at a more appropriate age for a booster seat. If you live near a Babies R 'Us, they let you try out the display models in your car to see how the seat would fit, but you can usually get a better deal on Britax seats from online vendors if you shop around some. I have heard Babies R 'Us offers a discount to parents of multiples when buying two or more of the same item, but you probably knew that already. :)

Fisher Price also has a $180 Safe Voyage Deluxe convertible carseat out now and sold at Burlington Coat Factory/Baby Depot and online at some vendors. It's actually made by Britax and it's a knockoff of the Marathon. The harness slots are about the same height as the Marathon's, it has a slightly lower forward facing weight limit of 55 lbs., and it lacks some of the user friendly features of the Britax convertibles. It would be another possibility for babies who are on the tall side of the growth charts.

Other 40 lb. weight limit convertibles such as the Triumph and Graco ComfortSport and most of the Cosco/Safety 1st 3-in-1 seats have lower harness slots and/or lower seatbacks, and are outgrown often by height, even by average sized or more petite kids, well before a child is at an appropriate age for a booster seat. Parents would have to spend additional money to get a larger harnessed convertible seat anyway to keep the child in a harnessed seat.

My 4 year old DD, who is 42" tall and 41 lbs., rides in a Marathon and has a bit of growing room left before she outgrows the seat by height. She outgrew several other smaller convertible carseats, including an earlier version of the Graco Comfort Sport and a Britax Roundabout, before I finally bought her the Marathon. In retrospect I should have bought her a Marathon much sooner and it would have saved me quite a bit of money. She's actually using her third Marathon because it has been replaced twice after two accidents in which she was completely unharmed. My younger DD is 9.5 months and even more long torsoed, so I have a Boulevard for her. I would have bought a Marathon for the baby but I found a better deal on a Boulevard so I bought it instead.

HTH.

[JBaxter]

I have a 2yr 5mo old and I loved my Triumph 5 and we still use it in DH's car. It is SUPER easy to adjust for RFing infants ( there is a knob on the side of the seat to tighten the straps). We turned Nathan at about 13months due to his getting car sick on long rides ( yes he puked every time we were in the car more than 20 min) Nathan was 22lb 10oz at 6 months so I think we switched him at about 4.5months from his snugride. I did just recently buy a Apex 65 harnessed to 65lbs but also goes to 100lbs w/ the seat belt. We need a second seat so I use the newer one in my primary vehicle. Nathan is 34lbs ( ish) and about 38 in tall. He has always been in the 90-100% in height and 75 % in weight. When I bought my evenflo it was about 109 on sale and the apex was 119 on sale we are covered until 100lbs LOL.