Car seat help.....again

[amc80]

We currently have Barrett RFing in this- http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11563636
It's an "easy fit" model meaning it isn't massive, which is essential in our car, since it has to fit in the middle with one of the front seats always being all the way back (since DH is 6'7"). We got this on clearance at BRU. It's a very basic seat but does the job. Well, when we were installing it we noticed some issues, like the button you push to release the strap doesn't really work well, and the fold down thingy in front to adjust the angle of the seat is stuck in the folded position. There's actually an extra rivet in there so there's no way to fold it down. No wonder it was on clearance. We did buy the protection policy, thank goodness.

I just got off the phone with BRU and basically we can buy any seat we want, send in the receipt for both, and they will reimburse us for the original seat. And we get to keep the old seat as well. I'm thinking we should continue to use the old one and buy a new one for when we flip him FF (yes, we are turning him at a year. don't judge. or do, I'm fine with the decision). That way we won't be constrained by having to find a RFing seat that will fit.

SO- anyone want to help? It has to be one that BRU sells. I don't want to spend more than $150 (so up to $190 if I can use a 20% coupon). It has to have good height and weight limits. I'm looking at this one- http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13320148
It goes up to 52" and 70lbs which is awesome.

Thoughts? B is currently 9 months, 32", and 25lbs, for reference.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

Hi Amc-

You've got an extremely tall son!!! I'm not a car seat tech, so take my opinion for what it's worth! I've heard excellent things about the seat you're looking at! The only negative I've heard is that there can be a major issue with the harness/buckle becoming stuck, but apparently Graco is very good about replacing that, so keep your receipt for sure.

The only thing to consider is whether your son is long-torsoed. The height limits on car seats generally don't matter as much as your child's torso height. As you probably know, a FF seat (with the exception of Diono Radians) is outgrown when the harness strap goes below your child's shoulders OR the ears reach the top of the shell- I think this seat's a little different- check the manual. Obviously a long-torsoed kid could reach these limits well before the 52" stated height.

How long do you want to keep him harnessed? "They" say that a typical child generally doesn't have the maturity to booster until 6 or 7. I have a feeling your son could outgrow the Graco before that, due to his height. The top harness slots on the My Size are 17.5" which supposedly should get your son to 5 or so harnessed. For comparison- my son was 32" at 12 months and now at just-turned 3, is 40". I wouldn't be surprised if your son outgrows the seat by height first, and you'd need another seat then, if he is not ready to booster at around 5.

 

[amc80]

Hi Amc-

You've got an extremely tall son!!! I'm not a car seat tech, so take my opinion for what it's worth! I've heard excellent things about the seat you're looking at! The only negative I've heard is that there can be a major issue with the harness/buckle becoming stuck, but apparently Graco is very good about replacing that, so keep your receipt for sure.

The only thing to consider is whether your son is long-torsoed. The height limits on car seats generally don't matter as much as your child's torso height. As you probably know, a FF seat (with the exception of Diono Radians) is outgrown when the harness strap goes below your child's shoulders OR the ears reach the top of the shell- I think this seat's a little different- check the manual. Obviously a long-torsoed kid could reach these limits well before the 52" stated height.

How long do you want to keep him harnessed? "They" say that a typical child generally doesn't have the maturity to booster until 6 or 7. I have a feeling your son could outgrow the Graco before that, due to his height. For comparison- my son was 32" at 12 months and now at just-turned 3, is 40". I wouldn't be surprised if your son outgrows the seat by height first, and you'd need another seat then...

Thank you for your input! He does have a tall torso- he's in 18-24m/2T shirts but can still wear 12m/18m pants. So maybe I should really be looking for the seat that has the biggest height limit? I haven't even thought about harnessing. I mean what do you do if your kid is bigger than all the seats but still needs to be harnessed? Remember the good old days when we all just sat in the seats, buckled in or not? Ha.

 

[amc80]

BTW- I just posed the same question on car-seat.org and was told I need to keep in RFing to as close to 4 years old as possible. Which reminded me why I don't post questions over there. It's like going onto RT and saying how diamonds are a waste of money and people should just buy CZs.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

If you want my opinion, I think what you really need is a Britax Frontier 90 or Pinnacle. It's the tallest harnessed seat out on the market and has a long shelf life. However, the snag is that you can't use those seats until your child is 2 (I think in an effort to keep kids RFing until at least 2). Most states have proper use laws, which means if you were to put a 1 year old in a Frontier, you'd be breaking the law. I would say for you to get an interim seat to use until your son hits 2, and was going to recommend a Cosco Scenara b/c it's inexpensive ($39!), but that manufacturer says a child must be 34" before they can FF. I would bet your son could make it when he turns 1! But, you'd have to be willing to buy 2 seats- the Scenara and the Frontier- and the Frontier isn't cheap.

 

[amc80]

If you want my opinion, I think what you really need is a Britax Frontier 90 or Pinnacle. It's the tallest harnessed seat out on the market and has a long shelf life. However, the snag is that you can't use those seats until your child is 2 (I think in an effort to keep kids RFing until at least 2). Most states have proper use laws, which means if you were to put a 1 year old in a Frontier, you'd be breaking the law. I would say for you to get an interim seat to use until your son hits 2, and was going to recommend a Cosco Scenara b/c it's inexpensive ($39!), but that manufacturer says a child must be 34" before they can FF. I would bet your son could make it when he turns 1! But, you'd have to be willing to buy 2 seats- the Scenara and the Frontier- and the Frontier isn't cheap.

I doubt DH would be willing to buy two seats (even if one is really inexpensive) or pay for the Britax (holy cow those are pricey!). Interesting about the age 2 rule. Or course we might end up needing two seats anyway if we get, say, the Graco 70 and he outgrows it. I will look into the proper use law and see if we have that in our state. DH is a cop so I could probably ask him.

 

[amc80]

Oh, but just thinking here- I think we will want a convertible that can RF so we can use it RFing for future kids (by then we will have a bigger car so the size of the seat won't matter). So which RFing/convertible seat has the highest height and weight limits?

 

[Logan Sapphire]

Oh, but just thinking here- I think we will want a convertible that can RF so we can use it RFing for future kids (by then we will have a bigger car so the size of the seat won't matter). So which RFing/convertible seat has the highest height and weight limits?

I want to say that the tallest shelled and heaviest weight limit convertibles are the My Size (and its Graco clones), the Chicco NextFit, the Diono Radian, and the Clek Foonf. Each has something to offer. The Radian is an amazing seat because you can buy a foam piece for $10, called an angle adjuster. It gives about 4-6" of extra room for the passenger/driver in front and can be used once the child has good head control. It also can brace, assuming the car itself allows it, which also means extra room. We have 2 of those. I've heard great things (and of course, some negatives) for all the seats I've listed. The My Size is the least expensive and the Foonf is the most expensive. The Foonf has a 50lb RF limit and a not-as-proportionately-tall height limit, so the heavy weight limit feature might be wasted a bit.

In any case, a lot could change in the car seat world by the time you have your next kid and there might be newer and more exciting seats than the ones I've listed!

 

[mayerling]

Amc, it sounds like you're getting some good advice. Sorry to threadjack but I thought since you're getting info on a FF car seat this would be my opportunity to ask for advice since in the UK babies FF from 13kg (no options for RF, law only requires RF until 9 months).

So, knowledgeable ladies, any advice on a good FF seat - I want to get one for up to age 4 (after this point we'll get another one).

 

[mayerling]

bump

 

[Kunzite]

Amc, it sounds like you're getting some good advice. Sorry to threadjack but I thought since you're getting info on a FF car seat this would be my opportunity to ask for advice since in the UK babies FF from 13kg (no options for RF, law only requires RF until 9 months).

So, knowledgeable ladies, any advice on a good FF seat - I want to get one for up to age 4 (after this point we'll get another one).

mayerling, I don't think there are many UK posters around right now. If you want to FF that's up to you, but to say there aren't any RF options isn't true. I don't have much UK knowledge but here are some past posts from Pandora:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/rear-facing-car-seats-in-uk.154138/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/rear-facing-car-seats-in-uk.154138/[/URL]

And Buttons (first 3):

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ps-mommy-thread-newborn-to-12-months.115074/page-503']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ps-mommy-thread-newborn-to-12-months.115074/page-503[/URL]

I'm not posting these because they're RF but because they're the only UK seat recs I remember on PS. I'm sure the companies referenced make many different seats.

 

[mayerling]

Amc, it sounds like you're getting some good advice. Sorry to threadjack but I thought since you're getting info on a FF car seat this would be my opportunity to ask for advice since in the UK babies FF from 13kg (no options for RF, law only requires RF until 9 months).

So, knowledgeable ladies, any advice on a good FF seat - I want to get one for up to age 4 (after this point we'll get another one).

mayerling, I don't think there are many UK posters around right now. If you want to FF that's up to you, but to say there aren't any RF options isn't true. I don't have much UK knowledge but here are some past posts from Pandora:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/rear-facing-car-seats-in-uk.154138/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/rear-facing-car-seats-in-uk.154138/[/URL]

And Buttons (first 3):

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ps-mommy-thread-newborn-to-12-months.115074/page-503']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ps-mommy-thread-newborn-to-12-months.115074/page-503[/URL]

I'm not posting these because they're RF but because they're the only UK seat recs I remember on PS. I'm sure the companies referenced make many different seats.

Kunzite, you're right, I should have been more specific. There are no RF options if you walk into a regular store - ALL models are FF (perhaps there are online - I'll have to check). Things are also complicated by the fact that I have a 15-year-old car so isofix is not an option and certain models are also not an option because of my cars old and short seat belts.

Also, Buttons is in Ireland.

 

[PetitiePoire]

Have you had a chance to go to BRU and take them out to your car? That's what we did when we bought L's convertible. After trying them out, we liked the Safety 1st Complete Air (I honestly think because of the look) and the Britax Marathon 70 (?). We ended up with the Britax.

I know they all are supposed to be held up to the same safety standards, but Britax has an extra steel bar underneath/sides of the carseat. I believe there is a Graco one at BRU that also has a metal bar underneath. Either way, I've only seen those two there with the extra metal. The other seats all were plastic. I know Britax is expensive, but having that extra steel really eases my mind. I guess in my head, I think it will protect her even more should we get hit by the side. Also, we would like to use this seat for another baby, so that made the extra cost feel like less.

Good luck in your search. I highly recommed you go try them out and see which ones he fits in best and which fit best in your car. That was really helpful for us since L is pretty big too.