To Booster, or not to booster a 4.5 yo?

[Melanie]

The situation is we've decided to start using Dh's car more often as gas prices rise. Right now he has a Britax Booster in it for Ds. My car has the MA for Ds and RA for Dd (8 mo). Sometimes Dh takes Ds to school and I pick up. So Ds is in my car about 90-95% of the time. Long car trips were always my car, but soon they will be Dh's.

Dh wants to do what's cheapest, I want to do what is best or safest, and if that's what's cheapest then wonderful!

So the big question is: is a Britax w/ side head support booster as safe as an MA for a 4.5 yo (if you take out the factor of him getting out of his seat or sitting improperly as Ds is very well-behaved in that regard)? We pull the seat belt out all the way so it clicks back and then is a firm restraint.

So my options are:
1- keep the ones we have, put Ds' MA in the other car, RF, for Dd (and she's still in her RA in my car) and work out switching around Ds' booster between our cars.
2 - buy a 2nd Britax booster (as they're 1/2 to 2/3 less than another Britax car seat) and keep a booster in each car; still moving Ds' MA to other car to RF for Dd
3 - buy a 2nd MA (or comparable) for Dd for Dh's car. Then Ds is in booster in Dh's car and his MA in mine.

You are a saint for reading this far. THank You.

[Splash]

I am 400% confused by the whole thing.

You DO have 3 seats, and WANT to have four?

What do you NEED? Another seat for your daughter, right? But your son will be in a booster in your husband's car regardless?

I would not put a 4.5 year old in a booster, and no, it's NOT as safe as a harnessed seat, side impact wings or not.

What size vehicles are we looking at? Is a Regent out of the question? How about an Apex or Safeguard Go? Or Scenera for your daughter?

I'm too confused by the whole situation to offer any real suggestions.

[Piglet]

I have to respectfully disagree on the booster issue. I think that if you are driving only 5% of the time with a 4.5 year old in a booster, it is totally acceptable (by the manufacturers of the boosters, by the government, etc.). I realize that we want the safest possible solution, but sometimes the second best option is fine as well. I have 4 seats, 2 cars and 2 kids - 1 of those seats is a Turbobooster. DS1 will be 5 in July and he sits in his booster properly. He only rides in that car for 2 minutes a day at best (from my parents' house to our house).

I sometimes find the need to do the absolute best for our children to be overwhelming. Would the next suggestion for every person on here be to change their car to the absolute safest possible car? At what point are our kids safe enough? New technology is always on the horizon and I, for one, can not afford to keep up with it. We do the best we can do under the circumstances we have and that is all that can be expected. Our kids are much safer than they ever were.

[kijip]

Two alternatives, as I see it:

****buy a second Marathon. Then :

Put DS in Marathon in both cars. Then when DD outgrows the RA, give her both of the Marathons and put DS back in the booster, buying a second booster at that time.

****buy a second booster. Then:

Put DD in MA in one car and RA in other car and DS in boosters in both cars.

The harnessed seat is safest for DS, however, you can choose to put him in the booster. You get to decide what is best for your kid.

If he is close to 5 and big, I would be inclined personally to go the second route but that is just me. If he is petite and not close to outgrowing the Marathon, I would be inclined to go the first route.

[Melanie]

LOL. Sorry. I tried to be clear, even reworded it several times.

Bottom line:
1 4.5 yo
1 8 mo

1 SUV used 90% of the time, now
1 Sedan will be used maybe 25-30% of the time soon

Own:
1 RA
1 MA
1 Britax Booster who's model I can never recall.


Need:
A way to transport them both in each car, sometimes in the same day.

Thanks.

[Melanie]

Katie, do you happen to know what weight/height (approx.) the MA will be outgrown at? I thought it was 65 lbs. Ds was 40 lbs/40 inches at his 4 year visit. He's 4.5 now.

[kijip]

65 pounds and until his shoulders are still at or below the top harness slots. 40 pounds means he has a lot of time he could still be in the Marathon so the first option I mentioned (second Marathon) would not be wasted $$. Albee has some Marathons for less than $269, as low as $218. If he is tall or long torso-ed though his days could be numbered in a Marathon. Bringing us back to the booster option, which I think is fine.

http://www.specialtybaby.com/britax.html

FWIW, I can see the need/desire to put a 4-6 year old in a booster rather than a harnessed seat and do not think that it is in anyway a reckless/unsafe decision as a parent. After trying to get parents to put their kids in any seat at all, I have a less strict view of these issues than I used to for sure ;). Heck, I just ordered a Parkway for J's closet as a "just in case he needs to take Toby in a car that does not have a seat and it only needs to be legal" back-up seat. J lives in an apartment downtown and thus does not drive, unless he is using our car. But I kept thinking "What if they need to evacuate on a night that Toby is there and they need to get into a Flexcar or a rental car or a friend's car or a taxi?". Getting a Marathon for the closet seemed like overkill and Toby is too big for a Scenera or other inexpensive harnessed seat ;). Toby is 41 pound and about 40 inches tall and he will be three in June. He has not ridden in it yet but when he does, I will feel a-ok about it.

[Melanie]

I'll have to check his shoulders. I know we only moved them up to the highest slot a few months ago. I'm guessing that will be where he outgrows it. Good point to check this out!

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

I would reccomend:

Getting a Cosco Serena for the baby to use in either car. I would put it in the car that it fits best in and the RA in the other car. I have never used a Serena but it is reccomended widely on these boards.

If you are able $$ to get a MA i would get that. If one car has high headrests you could get an apex for that car. If not i think i would get a booster. You can get a Parkway/Graco Turbo for under $100 and you would need one in the coming years anyways. If his shoulders are very close to the top straps of the MA i would not reccomend the Apex because the slots are aprox the same height.

JMHO

Ilana, aka Nana to my sweet nephew Avi

http://lilypie.com/pic/060403/hfNw.jpg[/img]http://b2.lilypie.com/h2bbm7/.png[/img][/url]

[Splash]

OKay. My brain is out of woo woo land and back to normal and I can comprehend what you want now. I think.

I would keep him in a marathon in the main car and his booster in the other car. So I guess that means buy another marathon.

Maybe I just haven't had enough sleep. I'm normally way more coherent. But I think we were looking at solutions for your daughter, right? Versus giving her his seat?

Yeah, harness both kids in the main car, booster the older kid in the spare,

Oh, and I have seen people debate the harness height on the Apex several times. I own an Apex and two boulevards. Trust me, the Apex is WAY higher. I don't see how some people are missing the 4 inches that I am... unless both my boulevards are defective which I totally doubt, especially since the kid that rides in my apex is already too tall for a marathon and still has about 3 inches left in the apex.

[Melanie]

Thanks. Too bad it's not one of the girlie patterns for Dd. =)

I'm definitely a Britax or boost (lol...yes, cheesey play on words) gal.

We're about to head out so I'm going to check his straps and report back. I wonder how much of annual growth is in the torso...

[Melanie]

>Maybe I just haven't had enough sleep. I'm normally way more
>coherent. But I think we were looking at solutions for your
>daughter, right? Versus giving her his seat?

Essentially solutions for either. Since the MA is interchangeable between them.

[o_mom]

What's the expiration on the MA & RA you have?

If the MA will expire before DD would be done with it (say 3-4 years) then I think another MA would be a good choice as you will definately get the full use of it (RA and MA in main car, MA and Booster in other car) Also, if the RA will expire before DS is ready to move out of the MA (another year?) then factor that in.

You could also consider a Regent for the main car - at 4.5 he is big enough not to be swallowed by it - and then use the MA & RA for DD.

Anyway, I didn't vote because I didn't know which one to choose. :-)

[Joolsplus2]

Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe? It's a stripped down Marathon. Sunshine Kids Radian? My 6.5 yo dd outgrew the Marathon a few months ago and still fits in the Radian with a little room to grow... quality is nearly equal to Britax. www.safeguardseat.com or Safeguard Go... both are awesome. The Apex sits more upright than the Marathon, so it can seem taller, even if the official measurements are the same (I've heard the Decathlon is taller than the Marathon, Boulevard is slightly shorter, but haven't taken a measuring tape to them). Britax Regent?

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

[Melanie]

>What's the expiration on the MA & RA you have?


Do you think the expiration date is all that important of a factor when it's a seat purchased new by us? The RA was bought around mid-2002. I suppose going with the '6 year rule,' it's not a factor anyhow since Dd would likely outgrow it by mid-2008 when she's almost three. The MA is even newer.

Just curious though, about this 'magic 6 year.' ;)

[kellyotn]

The line had to be drawn somewhere. They picked 6 years from the date of manufacture. As a seat ages, things do start to wear down, get lost, technology changes.... Britax tests customer seats that were in real accidents. I firmly believe if they were learning they were "ok" for longer, they'd change the rule and make a big deal of it.

Just this weekend, we were at my MIL's. We picked up a plastic toy bucket that is in a toy box on her porch. The handle snapped. Then, we tried to cross it over a bit and tape it (heading to the sand box) and it snapped in two more places. Back at home, the kids were in our sand box and two of their dollar store toys just shattered they were so brittle. One we could barely pick up, the slightest touch and pieces just pulled off. I mean, yeah, they are cheap cheap toys that have been in the sun for almost a year, but it took NOTHING for them to break into jagged little pieces. Plastic does degrade!!

In a seat, its not going to turn to a big pile of dust at 6 years and one day, but it HAS been slowly but surely aging and weakening. 6 years is just the cutoff they chose. And really, that's a pretty long life for kid-gear!

And, think about the most vunerable area we are relying on NOT to break. Its the small slit of plastic that's holding the harness straps. If those small slots break or pull thru and a portion of the harness isn't retained... the results are scary. So, yeah, a part of me agrees it SEEMS silly, but I'll still follow it because its not worth finding out it wasn't so silly after all.

[o_mom]

Yes, the plastic can break down (although they add a safety factor in there) - think Little Tikes playhouse left in the sun brittle. Parts are lost, safety standards change, etc.

Like you said with the RA, DD will probably outgrow it around the time it expires, so you will get the full use out of it. Then she can move to the MA you have now which will probably have two more years before it expires.

[o_mom]

Just wanted to add one more thing. They have to draw the line at a point where they are sure that 100% of the seats will be safe. So, even though the 'average' seat may not fail until much later, they have to make sure the first one to fail is not still in use.

[kellyotn]

Good point. If push came to shove and I really need to squeek another month or two out of a seat for some reason, I'd probably do it and not freak out. I know my seats have been in a garaged car, they have been taken care of and not in an accident, etc.

I know that its not a matter of "one day the seat is safe, the next its not". Can you imagine the confusion if they allowed longer life in optimal circumstances? People in mild climates get an extra 3 months, people who kept in it a closet for a year get an extra 6 months, people whose seats never see the sun get another 4 months.... What a mess. ha ha.

[o_mom]

And everybody would think that THEIR seat was only in 'mild' conditions..... :-)

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

I would get the Scenera for your baby... when your oldest outgrows the Marathon, that can be his main seat, and the Roundabout his spare, but the Scenera would be cheaper than a second MA, it's taller than the Roundabout, and it rfs longer than Britax seats by 2lbs.

it would appease your husband's budget concerns and it's a very safe seat.

For your oldest, as long as he's mature enough to ride in the booster, is at least 40lbs, then I'm OK with the booster (though obviously I'd prefer harnessed, a Regent wont' fit in every vehicle.

I'd make sure the booster goes in the car he's in the least.

Kat

[Joolsplus2]

OH, like Cosco in Canada? 5-7 years... 5 years if you use it a lot, 7 if you don't use it so much. Seriously, a friend of mine was told that when she called.

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

[kellyotn]

Oh, that's GREAT! (sarcastic snort).

Really, like this isn't hard enough, do we need rouge customer service people?

[bubbaray]

Man, its broad daylight here and I'm WAAAAAY confused!

So, really, what you are looking for is a seat for your DD for your DH's car, right? B/c your DS has a booster in that vehicle and your DD has not seat in that vehicle, right?

Or, are we also talking about getting your DS a new seat for your DH's car too?

Need sleep. Need caffeine. Ugh.

Anyway, here's my shot at what I'd consider:

1) I'd consider ditching the booster in your DH's car for now. Get a Britax Regent for your DS for your DH's vehicle. Not sure what other seats get you over the 65lb MA weight limit (same weight limit for the Apex, not sure about the Radian).

2) I'd get a second Regent for your DS for YOUR vehicle.

3) Then, I'd use the MA for your DD in YOUR vehicle (primary vehicle still, right?). Move the RA to your DH's vehicle for your DD. She's got some grow-time left in that seat, and if you bought it in 2002, she's got 2 more years left in it time-wise.

Wow, I totally hope this makes sense....

Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[bubbaray]

Bumping this up -- just wondering what you decided to do -- I'm curious! ;)

I have a friend in a similar situation.

Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[Melanie]

As it turns out, the marathon will not fit rear-facing in Dh's car. So, therefore I am breaking the cardinal rule of car seats and buying a used Roundabout...from a trusted friend. Dh kept saying, "well, we'll turn her FF soon anyway." LOL. Husbands...

So, the booster remains in Dh's car for Ds, the current roundabout moves there for Dd as the new one is leopard and apparently guys don't do leopard prints; then in my car will be the MA for Ds and the new RA.

[bubbaray]

Glad you found a solution. Hope you don't mind if I recommend this thread to my friend.... :)

Thanks!
Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

well, that's not breaking the rule... you bought one that you know the history of and from a person you know well enough to trust the seat is safe.

I'm glad everything got figured out.

Kat

[Melanie]

Would you believe the RA barely fits in Dh's car, too?! I guess with Ds we just always put his seat in the middle, but with two they need to each be in the outboard positions. The front passenger seat in front of her has to be moved up quite a bit. I can sit there comfortably and safely, but Dh never could. And unfortunately, neither can his carpool partner so that means he has to remove and replace her seat each time I use it. What a headache!

[Joolsplus2]

What car? Gosh men DO like to push their seats back, don't they? lol

At least it's easy to reinstall an RA :) (I've got the same thing...no matter what I want to put in DH's car, he HAS to take it out a couple times a week so he can take everyone to lunch. It's only a pain when he suggests we take his car on the weekend on a moment's notice and I'm scrambling for seats that fit 3-across :P )

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

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

why not just put it in the middle? the seats can be next to each other.

[Melanie]

IT's an accord. We tried them next to eachother with the RA in the middle and since Ds is in a booster in that less-traveled car, he (or we) can't buckle him in with her seat in the middle, covering the buckle.

it's like one of those annoying executive desk puzzles with the two bent nails.

[bubbaray]

Hmmm, that's funny the MA or RA won't fit RFg in the Accord. I used to have an Acura sedan and the MA fit RFg in it behind the passenger's seat and center (both DH and I are tall, so we never tried it behind the driver's seat). Oh well, sounds like you are happy with your solution!


Melissa

Maya Papaya!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040411/3/4/1/-8/.png[/img][/url]