Any experience or knowledge about Compass car seats?

[abwny]

HELP! I have a 3 year old who is just hitting 40" but is not at 40 lbs. The new Compass car seat seems like it might be great for him, but I am having trouble finding anybody who actually has one or has experience with one.

Anybody have any thoughts about this carseat?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Joolsplus2]

Three is REALLY young for a booster...when you say, "not at 40 pounds" how close to 40 pounds is he? And is he really outgrown his convertible seat (40 inches is a guideline, you want to go with weight, or with the shoulders actually being *just* above the top slots).

The compass is a nice seat, yes, but it's very wide, and I would not want to put a wee little 3 yo in it...it's better suited to kids who are a bit older and taller.

If your three year old is *almost* 40 pounds, then a higher weight harnessed seat would be the safest choice, such as the Marathon or Husky, and if he's short of about 35 pounds, a harnessed booster like the Graco Platinum Cargo or Evenflo Chase would be a good choice to keep him harnessed till the full 40 pounds (which could actually be 1-2 years away).

If he's just about 40 pounds, and $90 is your total budget (like, a Britax would cause you to skip meals), then the Graco Turbo Booster would fit better than the Compass, IMO. Also the Britax Parkway is a good choice with extra sleep support for napping and side impact protection.

I hope that helps, I know it's tempting to go for the booster, but I've tried it with my own three year olds and realized that the much safer harnessed seat option was also better for keeping them from wiggling and falling asleep and falling right out of the seatbelt, so if you can possibly avoid having to use a booster till age 5 or so, it's just better all around.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[abwny]

Thanks for the response. My son is in a Britax RA right now. He is right at 40" and his weight is about 34 lbs. His shoulders seem to be right at the top slot position.

When we tried out the seat at the store, he seemed to fit in it okay. My main concerns were 1) I don't know anything about Compass and 2) I wasn't sure about the seat belt vs. harness issue.

I thought that the Compass seat started at 30 lbs. instead of 40 like the Britax ones do (the original reason I was looking at it). My concern with the seat belt was that he will probably figure out how to open it himself.

The other issue I am considering is that we have another baby on the way and whatever seat he has will be next to the baby's carrier seat. (I mention this because the Marathon seat looked huge besides having a 40 lb lower limit.)

So is the Graco Platinum a better choice for him? I thought that that seat started at 40 lbs also??