for Julie....question about bpb seats and big kid

[twodogsandababy]

Julie,
You are so great about answering all these questions that I hope you don't mind me troubling you with one.

I have a daughter who is very big for her age. She's not quite three, but is already just over 40 lbs and is probably around 40 or 41 inches tall. Because of her age, we have replaced the Roundabouts in our two cars with Marathons, so that's her main carseat for the foreseeable future. But I have a good coupon for a local baby store, and was considering buying a BPB as well. Here are my reasons. First, she'll obviously need it eventually. Second, it would enable us to transport our 5 year-old niece in our car, though this isn't a pressing need. Third, if we are making short trips in someone else's car, it would be easier to put our DD in a BPB, rather than uninstalling and reinstalling the Marathon.

So here's my question. Is she just way too young to ever travel in a BPB, even for short distances? Is the main issue about whether she would wiggle her way out of it, or is there something else?

And if it's okay for her to travel in a BPB occasionally at her tender age, do you have any favorites for bigger kids? The Parkway? The Cargo? (I know some of the Britax seats can be very narrow.)

Another consideration--we are expecting #2 in July. (We don't need the Marathons for #2, since we own two Roundabouts as well.) I have a Subaru Forester in which backseat space is very tight. If I ever needed to put three carseats across, the Marathon could not be one of them. So it might be nice to have another option, especially since my toddler has outgrown the Roundabout. (I don't mind carseats proliferating in my basement, which is fortunately, since we currently own five and are about to borrow a sixth.)

Thanks so much!

Karen

[Joolsplus2]

Seats, glorious seats...Marathons and RA's....

Ah, hmmm...ok...booster... Well, don't be surprised if you CAN fit a MA in the middle, RA on the outside, and another booster on the other outside, because I know a mom with a Husky, Marathon, and Touriva in her Subaru :D.

For a littler kid, the Parkway really offers the most support and the least reminders to sit still. It also has no armrests and MAY work ok next to a convertible seat in a tight three-across situation. Do you have a shoulderbelt in your middle seat? The Nania High Ride fits in a Subaru with an infant seat and a convertible.

Maybe you can tell I'm leaning towards you getting two boosters: one super narrow one to use with your niece in your three-across, and a Parkway for your DD for *short* trips. I prefer to see backless boosters in the center (with a shoulderbelt) if at all possible, as they offer no side impact protection, but the Parkway has all that nice side impact protection and fits smaller kids so well, it's a great choice for your dd for years to come, IMO.

Am I wandering off track here? Let me re-read your Q and see if I missed anything...Nope, think I got it.

The narrowest boosters are: (do a froogle search) Nania High Ride. and www.prorider.com has a booster for a low price and it's very small (The Subaru guy with the booster was happy with the high ride, so I couldn't convince him to buy a prorider "just to test" in his car, shucks! lol)

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

[twodogsandababy]

Julie, thanks so much for your reply! Unfortunately, my Forester is a '99, and has only a lap belt in the center position. That limits my choices. (It doesn't have LATCH, but I've had top tether anchors installed for all three positions.) I haven't yet tried the Marathon next to another seat, but I'm basing my impression on watching my brother install carseats in their car, also a '99 Forester. They just barely fit a RA next to an infant seat in the middle. (My infant seat is a Snugride.) When their son grew out of the infant seat, they put him in a RA rearfacing in the center, with their older child in a RA frontfacing outboard. That too was a tight squeeze. So I was inferring from their experience that my Marathon won't fit next to a Snugride or Roundabout in my car, but I haven't yet tried. I'd be thrilled if it did, since I would greatly prefer to put the baby in the center, not the outboard, but alas, there may not be a choice. (Were the other Subarus a Legacy or an Outback? They're a little bigger than the Forester, which was built on the Impreza platform.)

My niece is super-thin, and rides comfortably in a Starriser, but having seen her in it, I can tell that my much chubbier DD will not fit in it happily. The Parkway looks wider, though. When she does outgrow the Marathon, I definitely want her in something with side-impact protection, as we do a lot of driving at high speeds in heavy traffic and she will be outboard in it. SO that will be a good choice for the future. I'm a Britax fan (obviously!) so I'd be glad to purchase another one. Then I'll see if the Parkway, Marathon, and infant seat/RA all fit in my Forester, which would be fabulous! Unlikely, but fabulous! And if not, I'll see about finding a narrower, lower-cost one for occasional rides with my niece. (I can always borrow their Starriser, but it would be nice to have one of my own.)

Thanks again!

Karen

[Joolsplus2]

You know...the starriser has a dial on the bottom to adjust it to make it one of the widest boosters available? It just comes in that super-narrow size and you have to dial it up.
Ideally, you want "the most protected child in the least protected spot" so you should put the infant, in the most protective rearfacing infant seat, outboard, and the Marathon in the middle, if you can fit it (yeah, it might be a tight squeeze...getting an infant seat in and out doesn't mesh too well with a Marathon, even in a much bigger car). I'm not precisely sure of which Subarus my friends have..but sometimes we techs can make several seats fit where you didn't think you could get them to fit ;)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[twodogsandababy]

Julie, I just realized I never thanked you for this last response. So thank you! (I'm now thinking I might hold out until she's tall enough for a Bodyguard--I like the stabilizer things. But it's good to know that the Parkway is an option for us.)

(Edited to add: I just saw what you wrote about the Bodyguard vs. Parkway. My local baby store guy did not explain it that way. So forget what I just said about the Bodyguard. I'll get a Parkway.)

Thanks so much!