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bidpitch
07-29-2002, 01:39 PM
My son turned 2 in March and is large for his age---36 pounds and 39 inches tall. He still fits in his Britax RA, but are wondering what to buy next because I have a 4 month old who is almost grown out of his infant seat and will need to go into the RA. He weighs 19 pounds and is 26 inches. Any suggestions??
Thanks,

tobymc
08-07-2002, 02:16 PM
I recommend keeping your son in a harnessed seat until he is at least 3 1/2 to 4 years old. This may be tricky because most seat only allow use of the harness to 40 pounds. But he may well slow down in growth.

So you've got a few options. First, there are a number of combo seats that will do. They harness to 40 pounds, then turn into a booster to 80 or more pounds. Any combo seat with higher harness slots (not Cosco) and a front harness adjuster should work. Try the Evenflo Apollo, Express, or the Graco Ultra or Grand CArGo. The down side is that he may reach 40 pounds before he's ready for the booster mode of these seats.

There are a few options of seats that harness past 40 pounds. Britax has a seat called the Super Elite that is huge and heavy and wide, but harnesses to 50 pounds, then from 50 to 80 if you have a tether anchor. The Super Elite is being phased out in favor of the Husky right now, which has latch attachments and costs a bit more. The Toy House in Michigan is a good place to try for the SE.

In the next month or so, Britax hopes to release the Marathon, which is simliar to the RA but taller and goes to 65 pounds. But it isn't out yet.

So I guess that since you need a new seat NOW, your options are a combo and hoping that your son doesn't exceed 40 pounds soon, or a Super Elite.

One other option is to get a combo seat that is sold in Canada with a 47 pound limit. They have different limits because tethers are required. So if you do have a tether, you may choose to use a seat to its Canadian limit here in the US. The Evenflo Express, Century Breverra Ascend and Next Step all have that 47 pound limit, I think. But to do this, you MUST have the tether.

Hope this helps.

sarsah
08-29-2002, 04:53 PM
I am in a similar situation with my son -- he turned 2 at the end of May and is very tall -- 38" and 34 pounds. He is out of his Britax RA, due to his shoulders being just over the height top harness slots. I ended up ordering him a Britax Super Elite. Yes, it's huge and expensive, but I was making myself crazy trying to find another seat (harnessed booster) that lived up to my "Britax standards" that would keep him harnessed until he's 4. He's very active and doesn't like to sit still at all, so I really want him to be harnessed for safety. I would have liked to wait for the Husky due to the LATCH since I drive a 02 Honda Odyssey and it has LATCH, but I couldn't wait since my son was too tall for his RA. I was really interested in another new Britax seat which is similar to the RA but has higher harness slots and is supposed to go up to 65 lbs, but again, I could not wait any longer for a new seat.

When I find a harnessed booster that I like, I'll buy it as our second seat and that's the one I'll use when we ride with friends or travel by airplane. The Super Elite is HUGE and very heavy so I don't think I'll want to be lugging it around very much.

Sarah.....