Need to get a new seat for dd... sorry so long

[abigailsmom]

I thought I had it all figured out, but now I am confused. I thought I would come here to the experts. (I posted before about this, but now I actually have her measurements and weight.)

DD's stats-
43 months old
38" tall
37 lbs
14" from top of desk to shoulders when she is seated
potty trained

current situation-

I have a Graco ComfortSport and the top slots are 14.5" (YIKES!) So I am in need of something soon! I currently drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but I will be downsizing to a Jetta or something of that size. I would prefer to keep her harnessed a bit past 40 lbs because I fear that she does not have the maturity to deal with the freedom of a BPB. I also would prefer to be responsible for her safety rather than her being responsible for keeping things as they should be for optimum safety. (As a side note- there are no siblings on the horizon so handing down this seat isn't an issue.) Money is not a huge issue for me, but I want to get my money's worth in safety.

Her father has the Evenflo Triumph and it has slots up to 15.5" so he will be ok for a litte while. He currently drives a Honda Accord, but claims to be upgrading to a truck (Yikes). He really does not want to spend very much $, but I want her to be in a high-backed booster at the very least. I have informed him that he needs to have her harnessed until 4 AND 40 lbs. I am hoping to talk him into a Generations at least. Is that a good option for a reasonable amount of money? I wish he would spring for the Recaro Young Sport, but I don't think he will.

Edited to add she is with him 2 weekends out of the month, 4 weeks out of the summer and various other 1 week periods. He will be driving her back home from approx. 4 hours away, he lives in a crazy city to drive in, and he has a horrible driving record.

In conclusion to my novel :P I will so thanks if you made it this far!!!

Thanks in advance,

[kellyotn]

When I mentioned Recaro to my hubby, he said, "Recaro racing seats!?". He thought THAT was pretty cool. So, maybe he will go for the Young Sport! (Wish it went higher than 40 lbs though). Plus, their colors are very nice. Some solids would blend completely with vehicle interiors, which is appealing to men. (eyeroll).

A Generations or a Bolero would be good. The Bolero was recently on sale for $79 at Kmart. That's a good price. Its a bit less plush than the Generations, but basically the same. I like its looks a bit better too. Plus, it would have the same adjuster he's used to with the Triumph.

I think he may last awhile in the Triumph though. 1.5" in torso height is quite a bit. 'Course, you never can tell!! (I'm assuming her head is still contained w/in whatever Triumph's limits are?) Maybe by the time she gets too tall, she'll be 40 lbs also and you can get the Recaro booster-only, which is cheaper than the Young Sport.

Does the Apex work for your car? It harnesses until 65, but has that vehicle headrest height restriction.

[Joolsplus2]

I'd look at the Apex (just buy a car with headrests in the back... VW's qualify) or Regent (yes, it's big, but it fits surprisingly well in most cars).
She's close to 40, so the 40 pound seats might not quite cut it. Of course, the Marathon or Decathlon or Boulevard would also last 3 years or so, so if you like one of those, go for it (Marathon is 219 at albeebaby, I think I saw...).

HTH,
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx