I need advice on new carseats for 3 yr old and 1.5 yr old

[mommyto4]

Maybe you could just get two Cosco Sceneras for now. They are pretty tall and harness to 40 pounds. There is nothing fancy about them but they are only about $40.00 at Wal Mart and they are very safe seats. For $80.00, it could buy you a little more time to wait for the 50 pound version SafeSeat 2. Just a thought since both kids will fit in them for awhile.

[Joolsplus2]

Big thumps up on the Generations...but do try the harness adjuster out first, it's really weird, with a dial, not a pull strap adjuster.
Even the Graco that only goes to 40 pounds is a nice tall seat with tall top harness slots, if you can find one (they might have been pulled off shelves before the 50pounder comes out)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[SFmomto2]

Thanks Melinda and Julie,

Firstly, Julie you asked if DD is ff and the answer is yes.

Also, I think I will now drag DD and DS to Babies R Us. Since they have the Marathon, Generations and Graco Platinum there and in stock. I have been reading that the Graco Safeseat installs wonderfully. After seeing how that radian installed (rock solid), I realized that my current seats do not install very well. I have a folded up yoga mat to help stop them slipping around and it works pretty well....IS THAT ALLOWABLE ??

Melinda, I will also take a look at the Scenera while I am at Babies R Us - I hope they carry it.

Do you think that my assumption that DS will not be happy in the Radian because it sits so low is valid? I drive a wagon, so we are not sitting as high as an SUV or Minivan to start with.

thanks,
Cara

[Joolsplus2]

You shouldn't put anything under a seat that either makes a bad install better, or a good install worse... ie, if you can't get a great install without the yoga mat, then the mat isn't really making it safer, just giving you the illusion it's safer/tighter. New seats really do install a lot better than old seats, it's quite astounding (man, the effort it took to get my old Evenflo and Century seats in...compared to my Britaxes... night and day...).

I've never really heard of kids complaining from being in lower seats... maybe you can fit him in the middle till he's taller and he can see out the front window ;).

Are you aware of the safety benefits of rearfacing till at least age 2 or longer if the seat allows? Check the link in my siggy if you want more information on that. And, does your car have top tether anchors? That's the second safest way to ride after rearfacing (and most older cars can be retrofitted with them).

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

[SFmomto2]

Hi Julie,
Thanks for the heads up on the yoga mats - I'm glad I asked! It's just that the leather seats in my car are very slippery, which makes installation tricky.
I went to BRU again and Lullaby Lane again....

For DS (3yrs, 30#, 37")
Radian is out - crotch strap is going to be too tight - even in the outermost position.
Generations is out - Difficult knob adjust for harnesses (thanks for the tip to check that) + I think the arm rests are flimsy.
I like the Apex 65 - but the headrest seems really flimsy and kind of cheap -- YOUR THOUGHTS ???
Marathon is out - crotch strap will be too tight
SafeGuard seat - I LOVE THIS SEAT !!! BUT IT IS WAY TOO EXPENSIVE!!

We were going to settle on the Eddie Bauer high back booster (I dragged my husband car seat shopping today to get his opinion). But from searching the forums tonight, is it true that the harness position is lower than the Graco Platinum ???

For DD (1.5 yrs, 30",23#)

Probably the Marathon..

But considering on waiting for the Graco SafeSeat2 (she's fine in her ComfortSport for awhile) - is there really going to be a 50# harness model coming out??

Thanks so much for your advice,
I hope you had a great holiday weekend!

Cara

[Joolsplus2]

The Apex is fine, as long as you have headrests in your car... yeah, it is flimsy, it won't prevent whiplash injury without the vehicle support/headrest behind it...but it's roomy and installs well.
Eddie Bauer is really crapola, just skip it, no growing room :P
About tight crotch straps... usually the answer is to loosen the harness when you take the kid out, and tighten it when you put them back.. it's rare for kids to complain about them if you do it that way. (Not trying to convince you, just clarifying for others who might be freaking out to hear about short crotch straps and depths :) ). Try a Regent? Decathlon? Did you like the Platinum Cargo? The Zephyr model seems quite a bit roomier than the other models, from what I've seen, I'm not sure how or why, but it looks great.

Still hoping January for the Safeseat2 to 50 pounds... but your kids are not heavy, the 40 pound model might well be just perfect (for instance, my light kiddo was 33 pounds when she was 4.5 and had to go forward in her Marathon, and 40 pounds 18 months later when she got too tall for it... the extra 25 pound weight limit didn't do anything for her...she was your 3 yo's size when I put her rearfacing in a Marathon, lol).

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

[SFmomto2]

Hi Julie,

Happy New Year!
I finally made a decision on the carseats :
1) Decathlon for DD (20months, 25lbs)
2) Evenflo Generations for DS (3yrs, 31 lbs)

I think the Decathlon is great! I'm not totally sold on the Generations but I could not find another seat (booster combo) that I liked better. I'm going to try it out and if I (or DS) don't like it I can return it to BRU.

Thank you for all your help!

I do have an install question for you. I can get a very solid install for both the seats using the seat belt (have not tried the latch yet). The seats do not move along the belt path after 1-2 good tugs, BUT if I continue to pull the seat back and forth (maybe 7-8 times) the seat eventually becomes kind of loose. I have leather seats so I think this may be why this happens???

thanks,
Cara

[Joolsplus2]

Cool! What car do you have, again (I don't have time to re-read, lol), i might know a trick to keep them tight.

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

[Joolsplus2]

2003 Passat... why not just use the LATCH?

put all your weight in the seat and pull up really hard on the shoulderbelt to make the lapbelt super tight, then pull the shoulderbelt all the way out from the side of the car, sloowwwly, to make it retract tightly and lock. Also, use the lockoff on the britax on the seatbelt.
It might be the leather, yeah, but don't be afraid to break your seats by putting your knee in them and cranking down the seatbelt...also don't forget to top tether!

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

[SFmomto2]

Thanks Julie,

I'll try the latch. I was just too excited about getting the new seats and trying them out!
We went for a ride today. DD seems very happy in the Decathlon - she was really enjoying the "view".
DS was not as happy. The Generations sits lower than his old Evenflo Medallion. He said he likes his old seat better. I'll try it out for a couple of weeks and see how it goes.

I'll try the re-install with latch tonight. I am using the top tethers. Thanks for the reminder though.

I'll report back later,
thanks so much for all your help!
Cara