car seats for a nanny's car

[bidpitch]

I have a 3 1/2 year old who is 42 inches and 40 pounds and a 16 month old who is 34 inches and 29 pounds. We currently have them riding in a Britax Marathon and RA respectively (we have a pair of seats in each car). We will need to provide our nanny with car seats to transport the children as needed---however we don't want to uninstall/install them to/from our cars on a daily or weekly basis. What seats would you recommed for boys of these ages and sizes. We love the Britax seats but don't really want to spend another $400 on car seats. Our nanny has a 1997 Ford Probe. Thank you for your help.

[Joolsplus2]

I would get a booster for the 3 yo (he's 40 pounds, your options are awfully limited in harnessed seats, and honestly, for a nanny, i would NOT recommend the Airway...it's tricky to install correctly). I would get the Britax Bodyguard...it's the next seat you'll probably get after the Marathon, anyway, so might as well get it now...She'll have to learn to clamp the lap belt lockoffs on him, but it's easier than installing a seat, and it's a very secure and confining booster. We have one, and my ds absolutely loves it.
OR the Graco Turbo Booster is inexpensive and VERY easy to use....It won't last him long, since he's big, and the seat is narrow and shallow, but for a simple, low priced option for now, it's a great choice.
For your younger DS...a harnessed booster seat with high top slots and a front harness adjuster would be fine...see the bottom half of this page for recommendations http://www.car-safety.org/carseats.html and if you can, try him to be sure you can get the harness secure...I've seen a baby that age and size in the evenflo express/chase, and the way the harness adjuster is, it couldn't get tight unless the harness were in the middle slots, which were kind of too high...so, a trip to babies r us when they are well rested and happy would probably be a good idea :)

Hope that Helps a little,
Julie

[bidpitch]

Thank you for your help. What are the differences between the new Britax Bodyguard and the Star Riser? Do you feel one is better suited for us than the other?

[Joolsplus2]

The Bodyguard is designed for side impact protection, and is in fact replacing the StarRiser Comfy (though that seat can still be found, IS very high quality, and is usually a bargain at $79 compared to what it used to cost). Here's a link to the "BG" page at Britax http://www.britaxusa.com/products.cf...D0D7E6C23B708C

I like it better than the SRC for a younger child, since there's just more seat surrounding them and keeping them a little more constrained than the SRC, which allows kids a lot more movement. Also, the BG is a lot easier to adjust the height on, and the sidewings are terrific for sleep support (the SRC was good for sleep support, too....just not quite as good).

Here's a more thorough review with pictures, if you're interested... http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1082