Regent? Marathon? Other? Help!

[mom2twins]

Hello! I am so glad I found this group. It seems like it is full of people with lots of knowledge and opinions. Here is my dilemma...I have twin toddlers (2.8 years old). My son is about 38 inches tall and 34 lbs. and daughter is about 36 inches tall and 31 lbs. They are in Roundabouts now. They will be starting pre-school 4 mornings a week in the fall and we are going to need to buy an extra set of car seats for them for my husband's car (Toyota Martrix) since he will do drop off and I will do pick up. Right now, we do this once a week at a babysitter's house and just switch the car seats back and forth. It is fine, but slightly annoying and since we are going to have to buy the new set in the fall, we are figuring we might as well do it now to limit the hassle.

After spending many hours obsessing over the decision, we finally bought 2 Eddie Bauer Summit high back boosters with Latch. Well, after much frustration, we were not able to install these tight enough in my husband's car with Latch or with the seat belt. We returned them and are now back to feeling like we should just stick with our first inclination and get another set of Britax seats. Since the kids are soon to outgrow their Roundabouts, we are not thrilled at the idea of investing another $1000 in car seats (2for my minivan and 2 for his Matrix). That said, we do want to keep our kids in the safest car seat as long as we can and can spend the money if we need to. We are not having more children, so do not need an infant option. So....does anyone have an opinion for me?

Would the Regent be the best bet since I don't need an infant seat? I know the Regent goes up to 80 lbs., but I can't imagine a child that old still being willing to sit in it. Is that true? I haven't seen one in person, but it sounds like it is quite huge. What about the Marthon? Any advantage/disadvantage to going with that instead? Would I want to keep my kids (or would they be willing to stay) in a 5 point harness past 60 lbs.? I can get the Marthon locally, but would need to order the Regent. A slight hassle, but do-able. Any pros/cons of the two (or other options)? Any other recommendations? Things I should think about?

Sorry for the long-winded message. For some reason, I just have not been able to come to a conclusion on this decision!

Thanks for the help!

[momtoB]

How tall are they in relation to the top slots on their Roundabouts currently (Where do their shoulders fall)? That might help give us an idea of how much growing room they would have in a Britax MA or Regent, both of which have taller top harness slots than the RA of course.

Although I don't own a Regent I think they are great seats for toddlers and since harnessing is definitely safer than riding in a BPB, it's a very good choice. Also, some states are starting to make laws much stricter for kids riding in car seats. My state just passed a law which is in effect next year stating children need to be in a booster (or other appropriate car seat) until they're at least 57" tall or until their 8th birthday. This is also the current recommendation by the AAP and the US Department of Transportation. As more states come on board with laws like this it will become more and more common to see older children in booster seats so hopefully children won't have to overcome negative peer pressure to get out of the car seat before it's safest for them to ride in a regular vehicle seatbelt.

At any rate, I'm glad you returned the EB Summit car seats because Cosco/EB convertible seats notoriously have the lowest top slots for harnessing and I do believe the Summit is the same as the A/O, EB 3-in-1 seats in that the very top position is just to raise the headrest up for bpb mode and is not reinforced so it can't be used when using the harness. So the 2nd from top slot is the highest harness position. Those seats would be outgrown about the same time as the RA's would I believe as harnessed seats.

If your cars have high back headrests you might consider buying two Cosco Apex 65 seats for the lesser used car (since these seats aren't as padded). The headrest on these is only for the comfort of the child and not reinforced so the back of the seat must be fully supported by the vehicle seat/headrest or it is outgrown when the tops of the childs ears reach the top of the vehicle headrest. This seat has top harness slots the same height as the Britax Marathon & clones but is a combo seat - it harnesses to 65lb and then converts to a bpb up to 100 lbs (I believe). These run $130 so would be a more economical way to go and would be perfectly fine for occasional use.

Once you get back with your dc's torso height we might be able to help you more! :) Either by measuring where their shoulders are in relation to the RA's top slots (how far under - & if their shoulders are over the top slots they need new seats now), or you can sit them on the floor w/their backs to the wall and measure from the floor to the tops of their shoulders to get their seated torso height.

Cheryl
ds-4/03

[mom2twins]

Hi Cheryl,

Thanks so much for your helpful reply.

>How tall are they in relation to the top slots on their
>Roundabouts currently (Where do their shoulders fall)? That
>might help give us an idea of how much growing room they would
>have in a Britax MA or Regent, both of which have taller top
>harness slots than the RA of course.

DS seated-torso height is 23" (He is 38 1/2" tall and 34 lbs).
DD seated-torso height is 20 1/2" (She is 36 1/2" tall and 31 lbs).

>If your cars have high back headrests you might consider
>buying two Cosco Apex 65 seats for the lesser used car (since
>these seats aren't as padded). The headrest on these is only
>for the comfort of the child and not reinforced so the back of
>the seat must be fully supported by the vehicle seat/headrest
>or it is outgrown when the tops of the childs ears reach the
>top of the vehicle headrest. This seat has top harness slots
>the same height as the Britax Marathon & clones but is a combo
>seat - it harnesses to 65lb and then converts to a bpb up to
>100 lbs (I believe). These run $130 so would be a more
>economical way to go and would be perfectly fine for
>occasional use.

I would really like to consider the Cosco Apex for the second car. In truth, they are going to ride about 7 minutes down the road (35 mph zone) to preschool 3 mornings a week. Other than that, we always are in the van. The Matrix has adjustable head rests that click into place, but seem to adust pretty far up, so should accomodate the seat. Is it okay that they are adjustable? Also, do you (or anyone else)know if the Apex can be used for airplane travel? Finally, anyone have any feedback about installation in a Toyota Matrix? I am just hoping we have more success then we did with the EB Summitt (which turns out to be blessing in disguise since it led me to return it)!


Thanks again for all your help!

Amy

[Scatterbunny]

Hi Amy. :)

I, too, am glad you returned the Summits. Cosco/Eddie Bauer/Safety 1st combination seats (and 3-in-1s) are notorious for low top harness slots (except for the Apex, which has top slots comparable to the Britax Marathon) and most kids get too tall for them (shoulders above top slots) long before 40 pounds.

It sounds like you measured your kids' torso heights up to the tops of their heads. What we need is their torso height from bum to shoulder, where harness straps would be if they were even with their shoulders. An easier way would be to sit them in their Roundabouts and measure up to the top harness slots from their shoulders. Be sure you are measuring up to the actual slot in the seat shell, sometimes the cover can slip down and make it hard to tell where the actual slot is.

I think the Apex would work fine in the Matrix, though I've never actually installed a seat in a Matrix...but the adjustable headrests sound fine. You can always return the seats (Wal-Mart and Toys R Us, the retailers that seem to be carrying the Apex, have good return policies) if they are really incompatible with the headrests.

The Apex is FAA approved, but it is very wide, only about an inch narrower than the Regent, and about an inch wider than the Marathon (so the Regent is about two inches wider than the Marathon). I don't think the Apex would fit in most airline seats.

We loved our Husky, only sold it because of a new vehicle incompatibility, and will probably get a Regent for my dd in the future. She is 4 years, 9 months old and the size of the average 6yo--46 inches tall and 46 pounds. She and I both prefer her harnessed seats over a booster, and I plan on keeping her harnessed as long as I can.

As long as you emphasize the reasons why you choose to keep them harnessed they will view it in a positive light. My dd knows she is in a harness because she is safer in a harness, she knows racecar drivers use harnesses, she knows I wish I had a harness instead of a regular seatbelt.

This photo album might help: http://cpsafety.com/articles/FFalbum.aspx

There's lots of 6, 7, and 8yos in that album, some in the Husky (Regent's predecessor). Somewhere I have pics of a 10yo in the Husky, too. I'll try to find those.

[mom2twins]

Hello,

>It sounds like you measured your kids' torso heights up to the
>tops of their heads. What we need is their torso height from
>bum to shoulder, where harness straps would be if they were
>even with their shoulders. An easier way would be to sit them
>in their Roundabouts and measure up to the top harness slots
>from their shoulders. Be sure you are measuring up to the
>actual slot in the seat shell, sometimes the cover can slip
>down and make it hard to tell where the actual slot is.

Oh Gee, you're right! I don't know what I was thinking! I wrote down on sticky note what I needed to measure, but DH and I got carried away measuring their height when standing and then right up to their heads when sitting too! I will measure them in their Roundabouts tomorrow and write tomorrow to get some more feedback.

I think I am leaning toward the Apex for my husband's car and the Regent for the van, but would like everyone's feedback once I finally measure correctly! :)

Thanks a lot for your feedback regarding helping kids understand the reasons behind harnesses. I am hoping this won't be an issue if we do as you say and articulate it early and in a positive light.

Thanks again! Until tomorrow....

Amy

[mom2twins]

Okay, I got the correct measurements.....

Top of DS's shoulder is about 1" from the top slot.
Top of DD's shoulder is about 1 1/2" from the top slot.

It doesn't look like they have much time left in the Roundabout - especially DD, so I am wondering if the Regent is my next best bet for the van.

Do you think the Apex shoulder strap slots (same as Marathon right?) will last them long enough to go to a booster after that.

Thanks again! Looking forward to hearing back.

Amy

[Scatterbunny]

Don't panic--an inch of torso growth can really take a long time to grow. It should be at LEAST six months, probably more like a year, before they grow that much in the torso. In over 2 years my dd's torso has only grown about 1.5".

The Apex should definitely work for them, keeping them harnessed to age 5 at least. My dd is huge for her age and still fits in an Apex at 2-3 months shy of 5yo.

[mom2twins]

Great! Thanks so much for the feedback! That makes me feel so much better and less anxious about all the $$ we are going to have to expend on this venture. At least we can spread it out a little. I think we are going to go ahead with the Apex for DH car (fingers crossed it installs nicely) and then when they outgrow the Roundabouts I think we will go for the Regent.

Is there any info. out there on how the Apex performs on crash tests?

Thanks for all your help.

Take care,

Amy

[Joolsplus2]

You probably have at least 6-9 months in your Roundabouts (legs really sprout at this age, you'll notice pants getting too short and shirts still fitting!), and you can go till the shoulders are just a smidgen above the top slots, as long as the ears are below the top of the seatback.
With the extra 1.5-2 inches in the Apex or Graco or Evenflo or Recaro Young Sport or Radian you can harness a good bit longer (depending on the weight limits, of course), and the Safeguard and Regent are mega-tall for years of harnessing (my 8 and 6 yo's are still harnessed and love it...they have boosters for taking in cars with other people, though, because moving the Regent is such a workout, lol).

I think you have some time to shop and hold on for sales/more seat reviews for a bit.

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