Light weight 2nd seat?--Primary seat is Regent

[smkinc]

DS, 3.5 years, 35 lbs, 41 inches REALLY needs a 2nd carseat, as he's outgrown his Britax Galaxy and is very close to outgrowing his Evenflo Triumph. I bought a Regent for the primary vehicle, and was going to buy a 2nd Regent for our 2nd seat, but in moving the Regent between cars, it seems much heavier and bulkier than either of our convertibles. The 2nd seat is installed and re-installed often between DH and Grandmas' cars. He spends 90% of his time riding in the primary seat.

Is the Apex lighter in comparison?--I'm not sure the headrest issue will work in the cars it would be used.

We plan on adopting an infant in the next year, so I'm almost thinking of buying a MA now for DS's 2nd seat and then moving the baby to the MA as a primary seat after s/he outgrows the infant seat and buying DS a booster when that time comes. Realistically, this could be 2-3 years from now, though, and I'm not sure the MA would work for DS for that long. Also, in DH's car he rides on an outboard position, so I thought something with SIP would be good.

Any help you can give me would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Mary

[j4m4d8]

Hi!

My daughter is 41 inches and 37 pounds. In the Husky (older version of the Regent) she is on the second from the bottom slots and has about 1/2 inch to go to the bottom of that slot in the plastic shell. In the Marathon she has 1 inch to go to the bottom of the top slot in the plastic shell. In the older version of the Ultra CarGo (manufactured 3/05) she has 2 inches to go to the bottom of the top slot in the plastic shell.

It is so hard to say how your son will grow. If he fits like my daughter in the Marathon, he will likely get a year out of it before outgrowing it by height. He'll also get about a year out of the 40-pound combination seats before outgrowing them by weight. So if he sits shorter than my daughter in the Regent then the Marathon might be the way to go, realizing you will likely need to buy a booster before the baby needs the Marathon anyway. If he sits taller in the Regent than my daughter does, then I would likely go with a combination seat like the Evenflo Generations or Bolero that has high top slots for harnessing and makes a nice booster later. I would probably go that route anyway for a seat that is only used 10 percent of the time, but money is an issue for us.

If you're pretty sure you're going to have headrest issues, I wouldn't get an Apex.

I like my Ultra CarGo but it is not as versatile as a booster later. However if your son is a wiggler and you will have him in vehicles that do not have seat belts that switch to an automatic locking retractor you may want to consider it. It has shoulder belt guides that hold the seat belt in place. They are a little bit difficult to thread, but once done I can pull on the seat belt with both hands and it won't budge. Of course you wouldn't be using that feature for a year or so, yet, but it helped my son stay in position when he was having difficulty sitting in a booster. (He was 5 1/2.) By the way, if he is longer-torsoed than my daughter is, you should look for the least padded version you can find.

Hope this helps.

[mommyto4]

I don't know much about it, but from what I have heard, the SafeGuard Go might be a good option for you. It is for kids 30-60lbs. and up to 52 inches with the harness then can be used as a booster. It is supposed to be very light weight and easy to move from one car to another. It does require a top tether and can be put in the car using LATCH or the car seat belts. If the cars have top tethers, I think that it would be worth checking out.
---Melinda---

[Joolsplus2]

I agree...as long as there is a proper headrest in both cars.

The Sunshine Kids Radian is also a nice convertible choice...it's taller than the Marathon to harness taller kids longer (my 6.5 yo has room to grow in her Radian, the Marathon has been gone for 6 months already, too short for her).

But if you are considering another child and the Britaxes work well for you, the Marathon is a terrific choice, I think.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

I would probably go with the Recaro YoungSpor... she said her child is only 35lbs.... he won't hit 40lbs before age 4... and the Youngsport makes an AWESOME booster... and no headrest/tether issues.