time's almost up! (aka: please help!!!)

[lovemybabes]

Okay so here it is, I need your help. I need to buy a new seat immediately and I'm going crazy!!!

Child 1: in a Britax RA. Age/Weight: 29mos/22lbs
Child 2: busting out of bucket seat!!!!!! Age/Weight: 4mos/20lbs (yep, that's right, my kiddies are 2 years, 2 lbs apart :)

Car (now here's the thing) a 1999 2 DOOR CAVALIER
SO... I cannot use the Evenflo as it has side tighteners, and would not be accessible, and obviously, the backseat is a small space.

Ideally the two car seats will fit beside each other, rf in middle, and ff on side. I have been searching here and it seems the tru fit or britax MA, or Radian might work. What do you think? Any other suggestions? I need a higher rf weight limit for baby as he is already so big at so young. Please share your thoughts with me!!!! Thank you thank you thank you.

another q...

if the MA, EFTA,TF don't work rf in my car and I have to stay with ff for my two year old...

should i be considering the frontier instead?

[Nick'smom]

as i just learned the tru fit is the only seat rf to 35lbs approved in canada. i have a big baby too, thats the one i picked, don't know how easy it would be to adjust in the backseat of a 2 dr though???

[wendytthomas]

I'd probably get a True Fit and put your two year old rear facing in it. It has a taller shell than the Roundabout and a 35 pound rear facing limit and it can sit pretty upright (no more than 35 degrees upright with 0 being bolt upright and 90 being laying on their back).

Then I'd put the baby in the Roundabout.

The Radian rear facing won't work, and at 22 pounds I'd work my hardest to put the two year old rear facing.

Wendy

[snowbird25ca]

Yeah, I agree that with your 2yr old being petite I'd really like to see her rf'ing for awhile longer yet. I'd probably get the TF for one and use the RA for the other until it was outgrown rf'ing.

How does your 2yo fit the RA in terms of where her head is in relation to the top of the shell? I would use the RA rf'ing for one of them until it was outgrown, and get a TF for the 2nd seat so that you have the 35lb rf'ing limit. Once your youngest needed the TF for rf'ing, then your dd will be a little older and you can put her ff'ing in the RA provided that she hasn't outgrown it... I'm guessing based on her weight that she's fairly petite overall though - not sure if that's the case?

Also, if you are looking to buy 2 seats (although I think you can get away with just buying one right now,) I'd put the EFTA in and try it out before ruling it out. There are knobs on each side of the seat and you only turn one knob to tighten the harness. As long as the other knob wasn't jammed into something preventing it from moving, then you'd be able to tighten the seat from the center seating position.

I'm not sure you'll be able to fit the seats side by side unless you're planning on 2 new seats. I really think the seat you buy now needs to be a TF to get that 35lb rf'ing limit, and I don't know how easy it would be to fit a seat in the center beside it. I can be fairly certain that putting a TF in the middle would leave very little room outboard, so I think it would have to be outboard. With a 2dr vehicle I'd think it would be easier to have them both outboard anyways although my experience with 2 drs is relatively limited.

(My parents have a 2dr. 1997 Cavalier but I've only had my MA in there ff'ing once. If your backseat is similar to theirs, then I'm thinking that each seat outboard is really going to be the easiest option.)

[lovemybabes]

thank you so much wendy,
i thought the roundabout was 20lb rear facing limit - i guess that means i wont be able to use it for my baby for more than a few weeks or so... how does the true fit tighten?

I'd probably get a True Fit and put your two year old rear facing in it. It has a taller shell than the Roundabout and a 35 pound rear facing limit and it can sit pretty upright (no more than 35 degrees upright with 0 being bolt upright and 90 being laying on their back).

Then I'd put the baby in the Roundabout.

The Radian rear facing won't work, and at 22 pounds I'd work my hardest to put the two year old rear facing.

Wendy

[lovemybabes]

His head is still quite a bit lower than the shell, and yeah, he's a wee lad. Is the EFTA able to loosen with one hand?


Yeah, I agree that with your 2yr old being petite I'd really like to see her rf'ing for awhile longer yet. I'd probably get the TF for one and use the RA for the other until it was outgrown rf'ing.

How does your 2yo fit the RA in terms of where her head is in relation to the top of the shell? I would use the RA rf'ing for one of them until it was outgrown, and get a TF for the 2nd seat so that you have the 35lb rf'ing limit. Once your youngest needed the TF for rf'ing, then your dd will be a little older and you can put her ff'ing in the RA provided that she hasn't outgrown it... I'm guessing based on her weight that she's fairly petite overall though - not sure if that's the case?

Also, if you are looking to buy 2 seats (although I think you can get away with just buying one right now,) I'd put the EFTA in and try it out before ruling it out. There are knobs on each side of the seat and you only turn one knob to tighten the harness. As long as the other knob wasn't jammed into something preventing it from moving, then you'd be able to tighten the seat from the center seating position.

I'm not sure you'll be able to fit the seats side by side unless you're planning on 2 new seats. I really think the seat you buy now needs to be a TF to get that 35lb rf'ing limit, and I don't know how easy it would be to fit a seat in the center beside it. I can be fairly certain that putting a TF in the middle would leave very little room outboard, so I think it would have to be outboard. With a 2dr vehicle I'd think it would be easier to have them both outboard anyways although my experience with 2 drs is relatively limited.

(My parents have a 2dr. 1997 Cavalier but I've only had my MA in there ff'ing once. If your backseat is similar to theirs, then I'm thinking that each seat outboard is really going to be the easiest option.)

[wendytthomas]

thank you so much wendy,
i thought the roundabout was 20lb rear facing limit - i guess that means i wont be able to use it for my baby for more than a few weeks or so... how does the true fit tighten?

The Roundabout in Canada goes to 30 pounds rear facing.

The True Fit tightens with a strap, same as the Roundabout. And with practice I believe you can loosen the EFTA with one hand. Well, one hand on the knob and one on the straps.

Wendy

[snowbird25ca]

Is the EFTA able to loosen with one hand?

Yep, like Wendy said - one hand to depress the tab, the other hand to pull on the harness. So no different than one of the other seats really since they also require holding the harness adjustment tab while pulling on the harness. :thumbsup:

[lovemybabes]

okay, thank you. I am finding that I do not cover all the bases when thinking this through, I just keep learning from you guys! Thank you.

So... What is it about the EFTA that makes it worth while though it's ff limit is lower than MA and TF?

The Roundabout in Canada goes to 30 pounds rear facing.

The True Fit tightens with a strap, same as the Roundabout. And with practice I believe you can loosen the EFTA with one hand. Well, one hand on the knob and one on the straps.

Wendy

[lovemybabes]

sorry - didn't mean to post

[momto2boysinOnt]

So... What is it about the EFTA that makes it worth while though it's ff limit is lower than MA and TF?

Most kids outgrow the seat by height before weight. As an example, my son outgrew the MA by height when he weighed barely 40 lbs. The top harness slots on the EFTA are about the same height as the TF, meaning that most kids will outgrow the two seats around the same time.

As for your question about the Regent and Frontier, I'll leave that to those more familiar with the Frontier. I can tell you that the Regent is not available in Canada, so you can take that one off your list.

[lovemybabes]

HA! - n/a in canada, that helps! and thanks for the explanation... this really makes sense.:thumbsup: Any thoughts out there on the frontier vs ma/efta/tf?


Most kids outgrow the seat by height before weight. As an example, my son outgrew the MA by height when he weighed barely 40 lbs. The top harness slots on the EFTA are about the same height as the TF, meaning that most kids will outgrow the two seats around the same time.

As for your question about the Regent and Frontier, I'll leave that to those more familiar with the Frontier. I can tell you that the Regent is not available in Canada, so you can take that one off your list.