thoughts on RA, MA, and boosters

[ndc]

My ds is only 2 1/2 months but is 16 pounds and gaining fast. I am looking for convertible seats and am deciding between RA and MA. On looking at the NHTSA website, they recommend using booster seats when kids are 4-8 years old, or 40-80 lbs, or at least 4'9" tall. Although not law yet, I can't imagine that it will be too long before boosters will be mandatory, and besides, it is safest. That said, why buy MA? Sure it goes up to 65 lbs, but I will need to buy a booster seat anyway.
Therefore, I think I will buy RA, saving $50 or so, and use that towards a booster that I have to buy anyway. Any thoughts or comments or reasons why I should still consider MA?

[Momof3Labs]

You can use a five-point harness as long as your child fits in the seat; there is no law requiring you to use a booster in place of a five-point harness. NHTSA recommends using a booster seat OVER belting the child in with nothing but the seat belt, not in place of a five point harness.

In some areas, the booster to age 8 is already law - it has caused quite a stir among parents here in Illinois!

Here are some links for you to read:

http://www.cpsafety.org/articles/ConvertibleShop.aspx

http://www.cpsafety.org/articles/BoosterShop.aspx

The problem with the Roundabout and a big baby is that he will likely outgrow the Roundabout BEFORE he is ready for a booster, and you will have to spend the money on a combo seat to fill the gap:

http://www.cpsafety.org/articles/ComboShop.aspx

If you go with the Marathon, you can likely go straight to a backless booster when he outgrows the Marathon, and backless boosters are only about $20-25.

[cpstechmom]

Well, some people buy a Marathon expecting that their child will be big and will hit 40 pounds before being old enough or mature enough for a booster seat. And some people, like myself, buy it so that their kids can be in a harnessed seat longer.
If your ds is almost 16 lbs. already, I would suggest getting something with a higher harnessed weight limit.

I'm not sure if that helps or not & my ds is eating and I need to be in there... Maybe Julie or another tech can help a little more when they get online...


Janice M. Mom to Cias-born 4/13/02 and forever rear-facing in his Britax Marathon.

[Joolsplus2]

Well, I'm here, but they pretty much covered it, lol.
My 4.5 year old was able to rearface in the Marathon till she was 4.2, and I loved the safety (she's a stringbean...the RF weight limit is 33 pounds, the RF and FF height limit is around 49 inches...she was 41 inches when she was too heavy to rearface in the Marathon...the longer you can rearface, the safer your baby/kid is :)

More moms than not end up buying a harnessed booster/combo seat when their kiddo is like age 3 and 35 pounds (and either there's another baby, or the RA is too short for the child's height), as it's safer to keep them harnessed to at least age 4...those seats run 80-100 bucks. If you are planning on having more kids, then this might be the right route for you, but if you anticipate your child being 40 pounds before age 4 (this is more common when mom and dad are taller people...so that might come into consideration....), then the MA will save you the headache in the future of looking for another higher weight seat.

Anyway, it's up to you...get the seat that fits your needs best right now (they are both awesome choices!), and if you look around, I'm sure you can find the Marathon for around the same price as the RA, and that might make your decision a little easier :)

Also, about boosters, 8 is really the minimum age at which tall children can be out of boosters in some cars...a lot of kids do not fit adult safety belts until they are age 10 or so (there's a "five step test" for when adult seatbelts fit properly, but i'm on the wrong computer and don't have a link)...long story short is: the laws of the states are considerably less tough than the laws of physics, and an ill-fitting seatbelt can do considerable damage to a child. But, fortunately, like Lori (I think? sorry!) mentioned, a $15 backless booster will take you all the way to post-booster age, and you can go straight from a Marathon to one of those :)

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

[spu]

I bought 2 marathons for my twins and I love them. In fact, I probably would have skipped the Graco Snugrides if I knew how nice these seats were.

I bought them rather late - the babies were already 9 mos old but they were small and light - probably about the weight of your baby now. We looked at the RA, and it just seemed like it would be too small too quickly. The MA reclines and makes for a nice cozy sleeping seat too. They fasten really securely and don't take up much more space than the snugrides did.

The only concern I had about the RA is that my babies would outgrow it in height rather quickly. If you put them side by side, the MA is taller and that sold us on it.

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte + else

http://sunger2.home.comcast.net/bash/nonflash/year.html