Britax Roundabout and Freeway fit and "Mighty Tite" questions

This is probably a stupid question, but it is not obvious to me from the instruction booklet. And, I've read postings about other parents' 3 year olds outgrowing their Britax seats, so I am wondering...

I have a 18 month old in a forward facing Roundabout and a 3 year old in the Freeway. Both seats' straps are in the middle position and my daughter often wants to sit in her younger brother's seat and I let her since they are set exactly the same. The booklet's picture for proper strap placement show that for forward facing seats the straps should be slightly below the shoulders and not above them. My daughter is 37 inches tall (30.5 lbs.) and my son is 30.5 (26 lbs.) inches. Am I wrong to have them both in the same setting? Also, I want to put a third seat in my Honda Odyssey minivan (2001) so I can carpool my daughter's 3 year old friends. Can you recommend a decent extra seat? Should I get another Freeway, or is there another better choice?

Many thanks!
Peg

PS. I also use a locking clip with both seats (my seat belts slip through the red built-in locking clip things) and I also use the Mighty Tite rachet tool sold to help car seats be more secure. Are these items helping to keep my children more safe, or do they pose some sort of hazard? Britax says they do not recommend the use of the Mighty Tite, but I can't get the seats immobile without them, so I continue to use them. Are they really safe? Or do they fail in accidents? Please advise!

Hi Peg.

Your questions are not dumb at all. And they may be helpful not only to you but to others, so it is a good thing that you asked them.

First, while the picture may be a bit unclear, the text in the RA/Freeway manual says that the straps should be at or above the shoulders. It also says to use the slots nearest your child's shoulders. So I'd say that if your child's shoulder are just a tiny bit above the middle slots, then those are probably fine. But it may be that both your children should be using the top slots.

As for both your children using the same slots, it depends on how close their torso heights are. If their shoulders are both between the middle and the top slots, then sharing seats is no problem at all. If one of them can really have the straps at the middle slot, you may want to designate seats.

You ask for a carseat recommendation. I'd suggest the Evenflo Apollo (or the Evenflo Express if you want something cheaper). It has higher harness slots than the RA or Freeway, and so will hold taller kids that are still under 40 pounds in the harness. You may have some 3-4 year olds who are over 40 pounds. They may be riding in a regular booster. You may want to pick up a backless booster to use with them. They are cheap and small and easy to store, and you'll probably want a few down the road. I always stock extra seats in my mini-van for extra kids, and backless boosters work very well for this.

You also mention that your forward facing red lock offs don't hold the belt. This is unfortunately common. You can call Britax to get replacements, which may and may not help. You can use the locking clip. I do NOT recommend the Mighty Tight. I don't like relying on an extra piece of equipment that may fail in a crash or be misused. How about finding a local tech and see if they can help you figure out how to get the seats tighter? And remember, the seats can move up to an inch side to side. A little give is about as safe as no give at all, though I certainly always "feel" more comfortable with a rock solid installation! And of course, make sure your seats are both tethered. Try www.nhtsa.gov under child passenger safety for techs, or www.seatcheck.org.