New Carseat for New Car Or??

[ms tinkerbell]

Ok, My husband and Brother in law carpool to work together. Our daughter who is just 3 (Aug 21) is going to be going in the mornings with them to preschool, and I will be picking her up in the afternoons.
Here is the issue: BIL just bought a brand new Honda Accord Hybrid. It has the side curtain airbags, and all of the bells and whistles. We have a 2003 RAV4 with a very loved Roundabout with LATCH. We need another carseat. But what I am wondering is this... do I put the Roundabout in the new car (considering it has the curtain airbags) and get one of the new Husky or Boulevard (or even a Marathon) for our car? I am thinking this because the new seats seem to have more benefits than they did when we bought the Roundabout (Dec. 2002).
If you were to buy a new carseat for a 3 year old 28 pound 38" tall kid ... which would you get? Shes a skinny lil thing, but my goodness is she ever tall!

Thanks in advance!
Kristine (aka MsTinkerbell)

[Joolsplus2]

I'd probably go for a Marathon :). My dd was about that size three years ago when we got hers (so she could rearface again, actually) and she STILL fits comfortably and happily in it, and she's almost 6. (this picture is 5 months ago, and she still fits the same way... I think her legs have grown, but not her torso! http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/FFAlbum/Sarah.aspx )

Oh, the Boulevard and Decathlon are also really nice, I don't think you can go wrong with any of them... play with them at Babies R Us and see which you prefer, if possible.


Oh, and I LOVE that Accord! They wouldn't "deal" with DH well enough to make him happy, so we got an Escape Hybrid and I'm so excited about the airbags! lol.
:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Joni]

As far as a new seat for your daughter, I'd go with either the Boulevard or Marathon. As your daughter is so skinny, I think she'd swim in a Husky. My daughter is built almost exactly like her and had I bought a Marathon from the beginning I wouldn't have gone through as many seats as I have. I finally settled on a Turbo Booster since she had another growth spurt. I'd go with one of those since you'll probably get at least 2 years of good use. The Husky is a great seat BUT seems to fit kids with the opposite problem, kids who are heavy. I actually buckled myself into a Husky once and if I can do it, a skinny 3 year old is too small. The Marathon, Boulevard, Wizard, and Decathalon are all similar seats with different features. I think I remember hearing that the price of the Marathon is going up so you may have better luck with one of the others.
JONI CPST

[ms tinkerbell]

Good golly you were able to strap yourself in to the Husky? Thats incredible!
What we are thinking is that since she still has room in the Roundabout and the Accord has the side curtain airbags, we should get the Boulevard for our car which does not have the side airbags. And put the Boulevard in our 2003 RAV4. The Marathon seems to just be a bigger (longer) version of the Roundabout... is this correct?
Also... Does the Boulevard need to be rear facing even though she is still under 30 pounds? I know that technically she should, but I don't believe that any of the bigger Britax seats are going to fit rear facing in our car. The Roundabout was tight and my seat had to be a little closer than I prefer, and my husband is pretty tall so she couldn't go behind the passenger seat. The middle is out because we have the seatbelt that goes from the roof of the car.
Thanks for the suggestions... we're off to BRU and The Right Start today to see if we can try these suckers out in our car.

Ciao,
Kristine

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, MA's and BV's are basically giant RA's (might have a smaller base than your 2002 RA, and might fit even better/easier in your car). No, she doesn't have to rearface...she's definitely over the minimum FF weight and height and age limit... I just wanted to, because I could ;) (the MA fit fine in our Prius rearfacing when she was three, but dh and I aren't very tall..).

The BV in the Rav-4 would be a great idea, if you like the seat and don't mind the price, but all harnessed seats offer a lot of side impact protection, inherently, so if you prefer the Marathon (or even Decathlon), there's no reason not to go with it.

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

[ms tinkerbell]

Ok, we got the Boulevard today. We just installed it and put Evelyn in, she loves it, but my husband thinks she is still going to out grow it too soon? I haven't taken the tags off or anything. I will take a picture of her in it tomorrow and post. She still has a way to go before she reaches the top. But the most frustrating part about this new seat is gaging if the shoulder straps are high enough or too high.
Any suggestions?

We put her in the Marathon and she was still relatively close to the top. She has a long torso and short legs like her Daddy. Gosh I really don't want to get the Husky after seeing her in it today. It was just too big, but height-wise is that it?

Thanks!
Kristine

[Joolsplus2]

The straps on the BV should be just actually a teensy bit below the shoulders, very snugly hugging her in the seat, and the headrest just above her shoulders.

Kids start doing an enormous amount of growing in their limbs, and much less in their torsoes as they get older, and it's surprising how long they can last in a "big britax"... Check out these cute kiddos in the Wizard and Boulevard (and even Husky) http://uccomama-ivil.tripod.com/id8.html. And this page shows lots of big kids in Wizards and Huskies (no BV's...wish there were a few) and Marathons... http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/FFAlbum.aspx maybe you can get an idea of how long those legs get while they still fit in those seats :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx