My Marathon is expiring--what to get next . . .

[lmintzer]

. . . for my 38 lb./42+ inch 6 year-old? I am pretty sure his seat expires in Feb. His older brother used a Marathon until his 7th birthday. Then, we switched to a HBB (the Compass B510). I know the B510s sometimes get complaints for the way the belt sits. I always have him make sure it's low across his lap.

The Compass is great for when we travel by plane! Easy to check.

What do you recommend for my younger son?

Do you think I should move my older son out of the Compass? He's 8.5 but tiny for age--53 lbs. and 48+ inches.

[Joolsplus2]

Try your 6 yo in the Compass and see if the lapbelt fit is good, IMO. If it is, maybe get a taller booster for your 8 yo, like the Parkway or Monterey or Vivo (they have shoulderbelt guides a good 2-3 inches taller than the Compass, and the PW and Monterey split apart to use backless). Or if your car has curtain airbags and good head support, a good backless like the Combi Dakota is a really nice choice. If your 8 yo doesn't want to give up his Compass, those boosters are all great choices for a 6 yo, too, the Monterey may be kind of too wide for proper shoulder fit, though, it's a better seat for bigger kids.

[lmintzer]

Thank you! I guess I just needed some reassurance that it's reasonble to put my small 6 year-old in a HBB. He's such a peanut! But I do know he is mature enough to sit correctly.

I'll think about what combo. to get.

My 8 year-old won't sit in a Parkway. The head wings freak him out.

[lmintzer]

A few more ?s:

Does the new Parkway have different headwings than the original? They look a little wider-set now?

I do like that the Parkway weighs less than the Monterey for switching cars, etc. But I'm concerned that 6 year-old DS weighs 37-38 lbs. with clothes on? He's not really that close to the 40 lb. minimum. And he gained a whopping 2 lbs. in all of last year! He's just a skinny minny.

[Joolsplus2]

Here's pictures comparing them directly... http://carseatblog.com/?p=2996
The seat tests just fine with the 35 pound 3 year old dummy, they just label it 40 pounds to try to keep the 30 pound 2 year olds out of it that most people want to put in boosters, so it's not really a safety issue to put a slightly light 6 year old in it. Well, at least that's how I'd see if for my own skinny kids... ;)