What to do with a tall 2.5 year old?

[Unregistered]

Hello,

I live in Nanaimo, Canada and have a 2.5 year old DD and a 9 month old DD. Currently 2.5 yo is in a Safety 1st Enspira. She is 40 inches tall, 34 lbs and her torso measures 12.5 inches. According to the book she's tall enough for the booster part, BUT she's too light. I didn't realize there was a maturity part of changing them over too? Any recommendations on that? Is there a Forward Facing Only harness car seat for a taller toddler like her that isn't going to put me into hock? We are on a budget for sure!

9 month old DD is in a RF Eddie Bauer Alpha Omega Elite so she's fine for quite a while. She is 25 lbs and 29 inches long.

We drive a 2003 Dodge Caravan with captain's chairs in the second row and bench in the third row. The car seats are in the captain's chairs in the second row.

Thanks,

Sarah :-)

[snowbird25ca]

Hi Sarah,

In Canada, the legal minimum for using a booster is 40lbs AND 4yrs old. The Intera should have a minimum age in there for booster use as well as the minimum 40lb weight limit.

Is your 2.5yr old in the top slots on the Intera? Torso height is what matters when it comes to height, not overall height.. A ff'ing car seat is outgrown when any of the following happen:

- the weight limit is reached
- the tops of the ears go above the top of the seat shell
- the shoulders go over the top harness slots.

As long as her shoulders are under the top harness slots, then she still fits the seat as long as she is under 40lbs. Being as she's 34lbs at 2.5, you'll likely be needing to buy a combo seat with a higher weight limit just to get her to 4yrs old, and my suggestion would be to seriously consider a Radian or a Marathon for the extra height and weight. Most kids aren't mature enough for a booster until 5 or 6 yrs old.

I've done seat checks for a few Caravan's now, and I know one of the techs here drives a Caravan. I haven't had problems with the seats I've checked/installed in Caravans so far. It seems to be a pretty car seat friendly vehicle, so I would focus first on choosing a seat that will last your dd and fit her well, then check how it fits in your van. Probability is it will fit in your van just fine. :thumbsup:

The Safety 1st Intera's have had a recall issued on them - have you checked to see if yours is affected yet? http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/childsafety/notices/tp14566P/2007p05/menu.htm

If your seat is affected, I would put your 9mo old in the Intera rf'ing and move your oldest into the Eddie Bauer provided that it's not affected until you get your new harness adjuster - provided your oldest still fits the Eddie Bauer seat.

Which brings me to the next point - the Eddie Bauer/Alpha Omega seats have the very top headrest position that cannot be used with the harness. The top usable harness setting is the 2nd from top position. Once the headrest is in that position, if the shoulders go over the harness slots, then the seat is outgrown by height ff'ing.

I've got to put my dd down for a nap, but hopefully this gives you some starting info.

(For combo seats, the evenflo ones are usually recommended. They have a 47lb weight limit and fairly high slots, then convert to a decent booster. The generations/bolero is usually preferred over the chase/traditions, but all of them have the 47lb weight limit.)

[CDNTech]

I drive the exact same van as you (except we have the 50/50 split bench in the third row).

Your daughter has an average torso height for her age. The Radian will last her the longest by far out of the options I'll write down, but any of these seats should easily get her to a minimum of 4 years. As a tech, I don't want to see a child in a booster until at least age 4 and I personally prefer age 5 or better if possible.

Sunshine Kids Radian - $199 (I think Canadian Tire has a sale going on for the 48lbs models they are trying to clear out ~ $159) This should last your child until at least 5 or 6 years old and installs very easily with LATCH in the captain's chairs. You can use the lower anchors up to 48lbs in the Caravan. Will still need a booster seat after this one.

Evenflo Bolero/Generations - Bolero at Walmart for $130... nice tall top slots and will convert to a decent booster later on. Keep in mind, you will still need another booster down the road... probably just a backless for around $30.

Evenflo Visions/Chase/Traditions - at Walmart for $120... nice tall top slots and will convert to an okay booster later on. Again, will need a backless booster after this one as well.

All of these install really well in your van. Being that you said you are on a budget, I would probably go with the Bolero... the others will give you something to compare and you can make the final decision.

[confoundit]

Hi again,

Yes BOTH of our car seats were recalled. I've contacted the peoples and they are hopefully sending me the parts I need.

My daughter is in the top slots on the Enspira. Her ears ARE above the shell but not the head rest part as that slides up farther. Should she be out of it already then?? Is the Enspira the same where the head rest isn't supposed to be used in the top harness spot? Her shoulders aren't over the slots yet...they are just even I would say.

2.5 year old has outgrown the Alpha Omega seat and both are affected by the recall (lucky aren't we?!).

I was just trying to figure out where to go from here as she's outgrowing her Enspira rather quickly...I will check out Wally World for the combo seats as they seam more within our budget. I checked Canadian Tires website and they didn't have the radion on sale anymore (maybe just for our postal code?).

Anywho...that's us in a nutshell.

P.S Just before DD #2 was born we had a 2004 Nissan Sentra and tried to fit our Alpha Omega FFing and our Graco Snugride in both in outboard positions. Well unless we were driving with our faces plastered to the windshield and our knees bowed out sideways we couldn't do it...talk about being as close to the airbag as possible! So we went van shopping on my due date! Just info for those out there with similar situation or car