Another convertible seat or a combination seat?

[amers]

My 14 mo old is well under 20 lbs, but exceeds the weight limit of her infant seat. My 3 year old is in a Britax Marathon, which we love. My husband would like to move the younger one to our Marathon (rear-facing) and purchase a new seat for the older one. He thinks we should buy a combination seat, which would be less expensive than a convertible. Our 3 year old is 33 lbs. and about 36 inches. My little girl and I tried out a number of combination seats at BRU today, but I wasn't really impressed by any of them. One of the recommended seats had one set of harness slots, and my daughter's shoulders were well above them. Another had a harness that was difficult to tighten. As I read similar questions from others, it sounded like my 3 year old could potentially stay in her Marathon another 3 years. Should we just buy another Marathon for the younger child and wait a few years to get a true booster for our older one? Am I being too picky with the combination seats? (We live in a rural area and the closest shopping areas are over an hour away. It's difficult to shop around.)

Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

[Joolsplus2]

Once you go Britax, you can never go back... The other seats aren't "bad", but I totally understand if you love your Marathon and don't want to settle for something 'lesser'... Personally, I'd just buy another Marathon... your dd DOES have several years left in her MA, and you shouldn't have to compromise her comfort and fit, and your own ease of use...you'd only be spending about 100 more than for a seat you don't really love, and you'd be gaining more than that. Point out to your DH that the MA is far more technically advanced than the other seats (EPS foam, MUCH nicer LATCH straps...whatever it is that is different), AND that it has a huge resale value (we don't BUY used seats, but we know other people do, and it's not bad to recirculate a nice, uncrashed seat to people who want to buy it...Graco and Evenflo DO NOT hold up as well or hold their value at all)

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

[mommyto4]

Have you thought about a Britax Husky (I think it is now call Regent). I have two girls (ages 6 and 8) in Huskys and they love them. They go to 80 lbs. or 54 in. tall. My 8 year old will soon outgrow hers. Any thoughts on boosters for an 8 year old, 65 lbs., and 53 in.tall?

[hjdong]

FWIW, and perhaps it's just this model, I really didn't like the Britax Galaxy I had and much prefer the Evenflo I have now. And DS finds it much more confortable (and the straps don't tangle as easily). He even cried when he had to sit in the "old" seat the other day. Now, perhaps that's why they discontinued that model, but I saved myself some money but not getting brand loyalty to Britax.

[mominma]

I would buy the younger one a Britax Roundabout. By the time she outgrows the seat the older one will be ready for a BPB seat and the younger one could then start using the Marathon.

Melissa
DS 9/00
DD 3/03