Best time to buy a new carseat?

[egoldber]

My DD is 5 (45 pounds, 43 inches) and is in a MA. I recently noticed that the top of her head is almost even with the top shell, even though she has plenty of room in the top harness slot.

I have time in the MA, but if there are great deals right now or soon, I would go ahead and get her a new seat now rather than wait. Honestly, it would be easier to buy one now and install it now than deal with it after the baby comes in a few weeks.

I am looking at Regents, unless someone has another suggestion for keeping her harnessed the longest. I saw in another post that Great Beginnings has them for 20% off right now. Are there better deals? Is $204 a good price for the Regent?

[Momof3Labs]

$204 is a great price for the Regent!

Technically, she hasn't outgrown the Marathon until the tips of her ears are even with the top of the shell (or her shoulders pass the top slots), so it sounds like she has a lot longer - perhaps even a couple of years - if you don't mind her head being over the top of the shell.

[egoldber]

Yeah, Julie clarified for me the top of the shell thing. But I'm wondering if I should still go ahead and get the Regent. She has about a half inch of room until her shoulders are even with the top slot, but if I only get 6 more months in the MA, I'll kick myself for not buying the Regent at that price.

Now that I think about it, this baby will probably need the MA in about 6 months or so, since I will need the MA for my car and we'll use our old RA in DH's car and for travel.

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

I would take advantage of the sale and get the seat.

Jeffrey has been in his Husky (baby love big closeout from back in spring) for 5mo now... when we got it, he'd had a good 1.5" in the Marathon for shoulders to go even... now he barely has .5"... all his new height is torso.

and now his shoulders are too broad to fit comfortably... if I didn't have the Husky already, I'd be calling Britax about the different foam for more shoulder room or moving him out of the seat.

so, especially with another baby who will need the seat in a bit, I'd go for the Regent while you can get a good price.

[o_mom]

I'm going to be the devil's advocate here. If you get one now, it will expire when the baby is 5.5-6 years old. You would pretty much not be able to use it for her at all. Depending on when your MA expires, you may be buying another one anyway for the baby, so you might as well get another MA when the baby outgrows the infant seat, then wait as long as possible to buy a Regent. That way you may be able to use it for both kids and not have to buy another Regent when the baby outgrows the MA. So, saving $50 now might end up costing you another $250 6 years from now.

Did that make any sense?

[egoldber]

Well, whether I buy it now, 6 months from now or a year from now, the Regent will still expire before this baby will get the "full" use out of it, no?

But bear with me while I figure this out.

My MA won't expire until the baby will be over 4. At that point the Regent will be 4 and Sarah will 9 (jeepers creepers!!), so she'd be fine in a booster then anyway. The Regent will expire when the baby turns 6, so then I would have to make a choice on whether or not to get another Regent-alike or whatever else is available in 6 years LOL!

My only concern is DH's car, since our RA expires well before the baby will be out of a seat, but maybe I can get a cheap RF seat and then use a booster for occasional use in his car like we do now for DD.

[o_mom]

I'm just thinking if you get one now, it will most likely be a month or two old. So, figure the baby will be 5.5-6 yrs when it expires. I was thinking that if you were able to get to next summer then you might get the baby to 6.5-7 years where you are more likely to be in booster-land (thought not for sure).

If you have over 4 years on the MA, then you might get through without another one. I was thinking it might be older than that which is why I put that out there.

$204 is a great price on the Regent, though, so if you think that will be enough use time, then go for it!

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

but the Regent is cheaper than another MA... which is why I would go for it.

and you could get the cosco Scenera.... not only cheaper, but rfs longer and is taller.... and get a less expensive ff only seat after (the new graco safeseat 2 will go to 50lbs)

and then, when she outgrows the MA... she could use the ss2 as her main seat (if you don't decide to before that... it's wider in the shoulders, a little taller for head room, same top slot height, and deeper sides and reclines while installed) and you could, assuming she's also big enough, not just 4yrs old, let her ride in a booster in the other car or buy her another higher weight limit seat as her main seat at that point.

[egoldber]

Thanks all, I went ahead and ordered the Regent last night. :)

[Joolsplus2]

Nifty cool :).
Post back when you need help installing it (still easier than a lot of seats, but it's no MA....)
I thought I'd only ever get one Husky, but ended up not wanting to boot my ds out of it when my dd outgrew the MA, so we ended up with 2 (they look fabulous in the third row of my minivan, I must say, lol)

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