booster seat or combo?

[jeepdad]

My son is 3 years, 3 months old, 41" tall, 38#. We are expecting our second child late December. We've got a Britax Marathon that's in my wifes car (2006 Mazdaspeed6 with all the airbags) and an Evenflo Triumph 5 in my 1996 Jeep Cherokee (not a grand cherokee), and a babytrend latch-lok infant seat. My wife noticed that he seemed to be too big for the Evenflo for height, so we went booster seat shopping. He prefered the Graco Turbobooster to the Britax Parkway, and agreed as the Britax head side supports looked unconfortable and too close to the face. He spends most of his time in the Marathon, but occasionally I pick him up or drop him off at daycare, hence the need for a second seat. We also usually take my wifes car for long trips, unless it's a camping trip then we take the Jeep. We would use the Evenflo but now I'm thinking that if we were to take a long camping trip in the Jeep, we'd just put the Marathon in it.

I'm just rethinging our decision to get the booster seat, and wondering if we should have gotten a combo booster/harness seat. At most I've got him in the Jeep twice a week, and the day care is 2.5 blocks away. The jeep doesn't have side airbags, but I do have after market bumpers and rock rails (I take it off-road rock crawling when I can). In the Evenflo, he was in the center spot, but the boster puts him at the side. As a side note, I hate the straps of the Evenflo compared to the Marathon.

Just wonder what current thoughts are to boster seats vs. combo seats.

Thanks,
Mike

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

I would not put a child who is 3 years old in a booster unless i had severe financial contstraints. I have heard that most car accidents happen within 2 miles of your house, which is why even if i am driving 5 blocks i would take the 10 minutes to install avi's seat in my car.

Does your car have high headrests? There are not many seats that harness over 40 lbs, and since your ds is 38 i would not reccomend getting a seat that only goes to 40.

I would reccomend doing a search for seats that harness over 40 lbs, there are alot of posts about it here and on the baby bargains car seat board.

JMHO

Ilana, aka Nana to my sweet nephew Avi

http://lilypie.com/pic/060826/Fsm6.jpg[/img]http://b2.lilypie.com/alzym7/.png[/img][/url]

[mommyto4]

If you have headrests or high seat backs in the back seat of the Jeep, you might take a look at the Apex 65. It harnesses to 65 pounds then becomes a decent booster. I can't remember the price on it but I know that it is reasonable. Or, if money is not an issue, look at the Britax Regent. If you got a Regent, I you could put it in DW's car and the Marathon in your car. HTH

[jeepdad]

>If you have headrests or high seat backs in the back seat of
>the Jeep, you might take a look at the Apex 65. It harnesses
>to 65 pounds then becomes a decent booster. I can't remember
>the price on it but I know that it is reasonable. Or, if money
>is not an issue, look at the Britax Regent. If you got a
>Regent, I you could put it in DW's car and the Marathon in
>your car. HTH

The Jeep's back seat doesn't have any headrests - it's basically a bench seat (and about as comfortable). Lap/shoulder belts for the sides, and just a lap belt for the center spot. What difference does the headrest make?

[Joolsplus2]

The Apex (and all Cosco/Safety 1st seats) requires headrests, it doesn't have enough structure to prevent whiplash on it's own. So I guess that's out for the Jeep. The Sunshine Kids Radian or any bigger Britax or the Safeguardseat have enough structure to not require a headrest.
I know a booster is tempting, but is so much less safe than a harness, try to put off that transition as long as possible (at least, I would...I remember those days when my oldest turned three and I was ready for baby gear to end...now he's 9 and still in a Regent and it's his favorite seat, lol)

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

[kellyotn]

The headrest on the Apex is not structural and must be fully supported by a vehicle seat/headrest. The rule per the manual is that the midpoint of the child's head must be at or below the VEHICLE'S seatback/headrest. This, sadly, does eliminate many bench seats. Too bad it doesn't work in many cars because the Apex really fills a big need for a higher weight, lower cost seat.

My daugther couldn't use one in my husband's F-350 giant cab (don't know what the real term is). I sat her on the seat itself and the midpoint of her head was only a few inches below the bench seat. I assumed the seat would put her up at least a few inches, so it was a no go. She MAY have had a bit of time, but she certainly couldn't, ya know, grow. ;) I ended up with another MA for my daughter at 3.5 years old.

Since you are having another baby, I'd consider another MA. Your son can use it now, then the baby can use it later. When do your current seats expire? If they'll expire when the new child will still fit in them, its a pretty good way to go as s/he will need another seat anyways. Then, you can assess how comfortable you are with your son going into a booster.

MA's seem to be on sale at a lot of places.

Or, put the MA in the Jeep and see if the Apex works in your wife's vehicle. I considered this for our situation, but selfishly, I wanted the MA in my car because its SO easy to use. I didn't want the easy to use seat in the rarely used truck! :)

[mommyto4]

The Apex has to have a headrest or high backed seat behind it because its back is not structurely secure. It need the cars seat or headrest to make it sturdy and secure.

[kellyotn]

Ok, we all posted replies at the EXACT same time stamp. That's creepy! :)

[Joolsplus2]

LOL! Must have all got a child-free moment simultaneously! Or the server held them all and spit them out at the same time.....
Glad we all gave the same basic response, it makes us look smarter.

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

[mommyto4]

Crazy!!! And, we all gave pretty much the same answer. Weird.