Outgrown Blvd for Height... what next?

[tropicalmom]

Just realized DDs head is at the top of the shell of her Blvd!! She is still RF at 3.5 yo since she's not yet 33 lbs. Honestly was paying more attention to the weight limit for the RF issue and was surprised today when I saw it. Just had a recent jump in height. Want to keep her in a 5 point harness and would love to keep her RF longer if possible but want something that will last for years and also have good head support since she always sleeps in the car. Love that about the Boulevard.

What are my options, experts?

ETA: Will be installed in a 1995 Toyota Camry which doesn't have the LATCH between seat back and bottom only the ones at the top on the deck.

[jjordan]

For more time RF, your options are basically the Radians or the Complete Air. Radian XT has extra head support so that would probably be your choice there, it RF to 45# but will likely be outgrown by height before then. The CA RF to 40# and has a very tall shell (so unlikely to be outgrown by height before then). So it is kind of a toss up on which will last longer RF.

I'm not sure on whether the Complete Air or the Radian has a higher harness height for forward facing, but technically the Radians can be used even after the shoulders go above the harness as long as the child is no more than 53" and the tops of the ears are not above the shell.

Price-wise, I think they are comparable. Quality-wise, I've heard more positive about Radians than about the CA. But I don't actually have a CA (I do have a Radian), so I can't compare directly.

[Joolsplus2]

Good summary :).

Tropicalmom, if you can find a place to try these out in real life before buying, that would be idea. BRU has the Complete Air, and baby boutique places may have the Radian, so call around. The only problem with the RN is that it can install quite reclined and take up too much of the front passenger's leg room. But otherwise, it's a solidly built seat, much like your BV but with a metal skeleton and a lot more legroom :). Complete Air is an Alpha Omega Elite without the base and with fancy headwings. It's a little flimsy-feeling, a little bit lower quality, but you may be able to find it quite inexpensively and I have no doubts that it's very safe. My quite-tall almost 4 yo (42 inches, long torso, wearing mostly 5/6 shirts) still fits in either of them with several inches over her head to grow.

[tropicalmom]

Unfortunately I live in Mexico so I'm going to have to buy online and have it shipped here so no way to try anything out. Has anyone tried this with a Go Go Kidz for airport use?

[Joolsplus2]

Well, lordy, that IS tropical!
www.car-seat.org has the 'Radian Successful Install Thread', I'll go see if I can find it, but you might want to search there, too, then you'll know if that seat would work.
It folds for travel and they sell straps to wear it like a backpack, but I wonder if the go go kidz site lists it as compatible...?

[Joolsplus2]

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=18235

[tropicalmom]

I'm afraid I'm missing something about height limits. DH wants to make sure that if we're going to spend another $250 on a car seat it's going to last a very long time. It seems the key is harness slot height and not so much the weight limit, especially with DD who is 32 pounds at almost 4yo (3 years 8 months). Looking at the elitecarseats site, it states that bottom to highest harness slot is 18" for the Radian XT and 17" for the Boulevard. Is this right? Would this mean that she only gets another inch out of it from her current seat? I'm sure I'm missing something here but there's so much talk about weight and to find harness height seems more important. What am I missing?

BTW, Radian XTSL rear face to 45 pounds!! Love it if I'm going to get more height but the Radian XT has cute pink cover option. Last time we got the cheapest cover which was very boyish but since she's soon to start wondering why noone else at school is in a device of any kind much less rear facing or 5 point harness I thought a cute cover would make it her "special" seat. Yes, in Mexico very few kids are restrained at all and those that are are forward facing. It just makes me cringe since we drive on the most dangerous highway in Mexico every single day.

[tropicalmom]

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=18235

Thanks so much for the link. Invaluable. Still searching through the pages for an older Camry like ours but this site is super.

Julie

[jjordan]

All new Radians are SL models, so an XT will be manufactured prior to Sept 2009. If you want an XT for the cover, just be aware that it will expire a little sooner than an XTSL would.

If you want to keep dd RF, then you need a convertible seat, and of those, the Radian is your best bet for overall longest-lasting. However a complete air might last her longer rearfacing than a Radian. She will probably last an extra 2 years or so (just a guess) FF in the Radian compared to the BV.

Given that your dd is close to 4 years old, if you're comfortable turning her FF, then there are options that will last much longer than the Boulevard. (Then again, if you turn her FF, then you probably have time left to FF her in the BV.)

[Joolsplus2]

I'd say the top slot of the BV is about 16 inches, and the Radian is about 17. That's about 18 months longer to fit. My own petite dd1 fit in the BV till maybe 5.75 years old, and the Radian till 7.5, if I'd gone over the top slots a little more (which is allowed in the Radian, not in other seats).
Really at 3.5 going forward facing is not bad, especially in a seat with such excellent side impact protection, I would probably side with your DH and just keep the seat you have. But if you really do want to RF longer, then yes, the Radian will also last considerably longer RF and FF.

[AnnieW625]

I agree with Jools, I think that 3.5 to get to rear facing is excellent and I think that since you have time left on the BLVD I'd just move your daughter FFing. If your 1995 Camry is anything like the same year Camrys that were sold in the US at that time I think you might have an issue with the Radians fitting in your car because they take up soo much room in the backseat for rear facing.

[lhafer]

If you are comfortable with FF her now, then I like the Graco Nautilus. I have one for my petite almost 4 year old (3 yr 9 month) who is roughly 30-31 pounds. This seat is in my husband's car (I have a Britax Decathalon that she mostly rides in in my car). But she likes the Nautilus a lot too. She can sleep in it, and she doesn't have a problem with her head falling forward (though some people have complained about this). And she fits well in it. She loves the cup holders!! And there are some slots on the side where she puts toys/books to play with.

Plus I can get a rock solid install (easy to install too). The seat itself is a little heavy, but as long as you don't take it out and haul it around a lot, it shouldn't be an issue.

It does a 5 pt harness up to 65 pounds. Then it does high back booster and regular booster up to 100 pounds. The 5 pt harness and high back booster has a life of 6 years, and the regular booster has a life of 9 years (total - so 3 more years after the highback booster is outgrown). I don't have the manual with me to give you height limits of the seat.

I have the Mariposa pattern and love it. I originally bought the Bravo pattern (boring!!) because all they had were 3 patterns to choose from, and none of them were girly. So as soon as they came out with girly patterns, I bought them from Gracobaby.com for about $50 or so. So now I have a girly pattern and one more for a boy!!
Babies R Us has the Nautilus for about $180.
Amazon.com has them for about $150 - depending on the pattern.
Walmart has the Bravo pattern for $144.
Target has the pink/gray Rachel pattern for $154 (currently out of stock tho)
Babycatalog.com has the Matrix pattern for $154

You can always find the cheapest seat and purchase the pattern you want from Graco separately. And that would still put you below the $250 you said.

[tropicalmom]

Thanks so much ladies. Such good info. I went to the Britax site about the Blvd
http://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/boulevard

and it give the same max seated shoulder height rear and forward facing at 16 inches in a box at the top of that page? I thought you had to FF when top of head was just below bottom of shell and could FF longer (top of ears at top of shell or something like that?) Why would the Britax site give that? Just measured and her torso is approx 14 inches.

I suppose I could forward face her now and then buy something a little later. At that point I can buy something that will last her forever and transition from 5 point to booster, right?

Just seems like such a milestone I need to wrap my head around....

[jjordan]

I was sad when I had to turn my dd FF as well (at about 3 yrs 4 months). If you are turning her around, then the BV will last you probably another couple of years, so you don't have to buy anything now.

I don't know why the Britax site would have a max torso height listed for RF, since the RF height limit is head 1" below the top of the seat (as you said). The max FF height does go by seated shoulder height because the harness can't go below the shoulders when FF.

[HIU8]

DS RF in his MA until 3 yrs 4 months. He is 5 yrs 1 month and will be outgrowing the MA FF most likely by the beginning of spring 2010 (his shoulders are roughly 1/2 from being even with the top slots-and from his growth pattern that should be Marchish). So he got 2 years FF in the seat after he got to the weight limit RF (33 lbs.) (DS did not outgrow the MA by height RF).