Best Britax for a 3 yr old?

Kellyr2

New member
I'm going to go try them out this week, but which ones have you all found fit 3 yr olds that are around 33 lbs and WERE around 35 inches but must have had a recent growth spurt? We looked at them last year and all of them (other than the Husky) made my then 4 yr old look way to squished up in the shoulder area. He didn't look comfy at all. Obviously, the "sit in it and see" method is the best bet, I just thought I'd get suggestions. I'm thinking the Boulevard looks great - other than the fact that I'm cringing at the cost. Maybe the Apex will make it to a store near me in the next couple weeks.
Anyone else in NC and found them anywhere yet? No luck yet here in Fayetteville.
 
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joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Kids in the top slots of Britaxes usually need the modified shoulder foam, that you have to call Britax to ask about and they'll send you free if you have a new seat...it gives a couple extra inches of width in the shoulders :). And kids that size usually easily get three years out of the Marathon before they are really too big for it.
I do love the Boulevard, though... and the Husky is nice...and I'd seriously look at the Recaro Young Sport for a kid that size, since it becomes an awesome booster later, and has a lot more side impact protection than most seats.
I'm in VA and going to see if TRU has the Apex today... I'm not holding my breath, though!
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
My 42" 35# almost 4 y.o. daughter loves her Boulevard, but is also very attached to the Husky.... I'd say if $ is a concern, the Husky is a better buy than the BLVD - however, I also think the cooperation is a huge asset & I'd probably be inclined to offer kiddo the choice between the Husky & Recaro Young Sport (if you have to order both, hopefully they have a great return policy?!)
 

Kellyr2

New member
But with the Recaro, I'd have to quit using the harnesses at 40 lbs, which I really don't want to do.
Are Recaro's available in any real stores? I've only ever seen them online.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
That's true :( I forgot you're the one who's intro I just read ... have you tried installing a Husky in your vehicle already? Does the http://www.carseatdata.org/selectseat.asp show that anyone successfully installed it in your vehicle (or a similar vehicle)? Or, hm, is it a matter of needing to fit an extra person back there sometimes? Although it's big, my ex says the local CPS tech managed to install it next to the Wizard in a 1987 Nissan Stanza with only 2 seats in the back ... I'm not sure I really believe him, but I have had excellent outcomes installing it every vehicle I've tried (about a dozen different ones)....

I remember you said you have a younger kiddo as well - if you can hold out on replacing his/her (? sorry) seat then I'd say go for a Britax convertible for now because you can hand it down when big kid is ready for a booster :)
 

Kellyr2

New member
She's the younger, I have a 5 yr old too.
I have never seen a Husky in person, so I havne't actually tried it out. We just got the measurements for the base of the husky and multiplied that by two and found that we can't fit 2 Huskies in that row.
I'm thinking about calling around to all the TRU's within an hour of me and seeing if any of them have the Apex in stock yet - I'm thinking maybe they will in the Raleigh area. I wish we coudl just call Cosco and say "hey, tell me where you've shipped the apex too!" And yes - I saw where someone said that TRU is selling it as the Safety 1st Lancer. I saw it as a safety 1st on a website, and must say, i like the blue much better! But I'll take what I can get.
I'd love to get the 5 yr old back in a harness (around 45 lbs last time I checked), but would go with a Husky or Apex for her (3 yr old) and parkway or Recaro Style. Eh - he says he wnts the Parkway with the Bubble fabric.
Oh - on the compatability site - it shows my van with a roundabout, a marathon, and a platinum cargo.
I checked it on Plymouth Voyager, which is the same van (mines the Chrysler) and there are no Huskies on that list either.

I'm trying to remember which other van it is that is the same exact body.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Kellyr2 said:
I'm trying to remember which other van it is that is the same exact body.
Shoot, I can't remember either :confused:

I see I've thoroughly confused myself - knew you had a 5 & 3 year old, but didn't pay attention to your 1st post in this thread :rolleyes: ANYWAY.... I'm guessing you want to fit both in the middle row? If 2 Apex/Lancers will fit there then I think it's a great solution & I hope you find what works best for your family ;)
 

scatterbunny

New member
What year is your van?

If you are really wanting to harness both the 3yo and the 5yo and have seats that will fit next to each other on the middle row bench, I would get a Husky/Regent for the 5yo and a Recaro Young Sport for the 3yo. I would have the 5yo use the Husky/Regent until the 3yo hit 40 pounds (probably 2ish years?), then I'd switch seats. Convert the Young Sport to booster mode (it's the only combo seat that I think has side impact protection to rival the Britax Parkway) for the 5yo (who should be 7ish at the time) and pass the Husky/Regent down to the 3yo (who should be 5ish at the time). Your 5yo will benefit from a couple more years of harnessing, and end up with a great booster, and your 3yo can stay harnessed for years to come.

I hear you about the middle row bench. I drive a '94 Mazda MPV with a 38" wide middle row bench. I could fit a Husky and a Parkway, and a Husky and a Turbo Booster, and a Husky and an Airway, side by side on that bench, but it was much easier when it was two harnessed seats, because reaching between the two seats to buckle the booster was a huge pain. That will be an issue once your son is in a booster next to your daughter's harnessed seat (if you go with a higher weight limit one), which is another reason why I'd go the Husky/Regent route for the oldest. It will eliminate the need to buckle a booster next to your daughter's harnessed seat.

Depending on how wide your bench is, exactly--I'd try to get a Marathon/Boulevard next to a Husky on that middle bench. That will put off the booster-buckling issue for awhile longer.

Still, I think I would go with a Husky/Regent for the oldest and a Young Sport for the youngest.
 

nisi

Senior Community Member
I checked it on Plymouth Voyager, which is the same van (mines the Chrysler) and there are no Huskies on that list either. I'm trying to remember which other van it is that is the same exact body.
I'm pretty sure it's the Dodge Caravan

I have never seen a Husky in person, so I havne't actually tried it out. We just got the measurements for the base of the husky and multiplied that by two and found that we can't fit 2 Huskies in that row.
If 2 Huskies won't fit, I doubt 2 Apexes would fit. The Apex is only an inch or so narrower than the Husky.

I like Jenny's suggestion to get a YoungSport and a Husky/Regent and then swap seats when the 3yo reaches 40lbs. Or, a Marathon would likely last your 3yo a few more years and - this is just a guess - I suspect it would fit better next to a Husky/Regent.


Nisi
 

nisi

Senior Community Member
I have never seen a Husky in person, so I havne't actually tried it out. We just got the measurements for the base of the husky and multiplied that by two and found that we can't fit 2 Huskies in that row.

Ok, just a thought - How close are you to being able to fit 2 Huskies? The widest part of the Husky is at the "wings" on the side. When you install it with the recline bar, it the wings sit a lot lower than they do without the recline bar. Maybe, just maybe, if you install one with a recline bar and one without, you might be able to get one sort of behind/under the other and give yourself a couple extra inches to work with. Is there somewhere you can go to try it out in person?


Nisi
 

Kellyr2

New member
Okay - I tried a Husky out today. I'm guessing they had another in stock, but I just tried out the one on display. I'm *fairly* certain that two will fit side by side.
Here's my plan - Obviously, the 3 yr old needs a new seat ASAP. So she's first up. I'm going to go ahead and get the Husky after payday, and put the 3 yr old in it. Then, when I've got the money to get another seat, I'll go test out whether or not I can fit a 2nd Husky in. If so, great, I'll get a second Husky. If not, I'll try the Recaro, and do like Jenny suggested - put Mikayla (3) into the Recaro and Aaric into the Husky. I really think I can get two in there though. With it installed (though, not fully tightened - but OMG, I love the ease of the Britax latch system!!!) it didn't appear to go past the center line. Actually getting 2 installed will be a huge PIA - but then I'll just never remove them! LOL

Okay - another question - whats the diff between the Husky and Regent? Looking at the pic, the Regent looks nicer - I always thought the Husky was kinda ugly. Plus, I can get the pretty blue floral for Mikayla. It looks like the Regent might possibly be slightly more narrow?

Oh, and I"d had Aaric sit in the Parkway and he loved it. He'd balked a bit when I told him I wanted to get him back into a harnessed seat. But he tried out the Husky and loved it even more. I specifically asked if he liked the Parkway better and he said no, that he loves the Husky, that its way more comfortable.

Okay, one more, I promise this is it, LOL - Are the Britax Regents and Recaro's available in any actual stores? Like, ones I can walk into?
 

scatterbunny

New member
I'm so glad your kids liked the Husky! It really IS like a throne. :D

The Regent is the exact same seat shell as the Husky; the only differences are that the top tether is set a little higher up on the back of the shell on the Regent, and the Regent offers nicer cover choices. They decided to change the name from "Husky" because I don't think the image it conjured was very appealing to the general public, LOL. It's the same size, with the same harness slot heights. We love the Blue Bouquet, too--that's probably what we'll get, unless we can find a screaming deal on a closeout Husky.

Right now, the Regent isn't available--it is supposed to become available this month, sometime. Online stores are taking preorders, I don't know about brick-and-mortar stores.

I know Target has the Recaro Sport and Style online, I'm not sure about in the brick-and-mortar stores, though. Call and ask?

If you can get two Huskys (Huskies?) side-by-side, that's what I'd do, it's a tad cheaper than getting a Young Sport, and both would be harnessed as long as humanly possible, LOL.
 

nisi

Senior Community Member
Sounds like a good plan to me.

They made some modifications to the tether and added some pockets to the cover for the Regent, but otherwise it is the same as a Husky. They should be exactly the same size. I think it just looks narrower because of the color block covers.

I do not know of any brick & mortar Recaro dealers, but you can give Recaro North America a call and ask. 800-876-2276 or 248-364-3818 The Regent isn't released yet but it will be very soon. Any brick & mortar store that carried the Husky will probably carry the Regent.

Nisi
 

Kellyr2

New member
I know I looked at my TRU today again - the only Britax's in stock were the Parkways. No Britax harnessed seats at all! Target had some - I think the Roundabout, Marathon, and Parkways.
I did find a great deal on a Husky - There are some on Ebay for 169, 30 for shipping, putting it at $200. Thats the BIN price. Its a surplus place doing these auctions, so I'm hoping there will be another one up next week when I've got the money. I also found one on some other site, I can't remember where now - for $206, free shipping. They only had one left in stock.
Thanks for the info on the Regent vs Husky - I did finally find info, I think on elitecarseats.com with the measurements and saw that both are 21 in wide - though I think thats at the shoulder.

I think I'll try to get one of these good online deals next week, on the Husky. Then by the time I'm ready to buy another, I may be able to find a Regent - or a much cheaper Husky.
Just checked - my bench seat is around 38 inches across. WHich doesn't seem to add up... but when I had the seat in there today, It went past the seat belt thing for the seat it was IN, but the other one was still accessible. So, I"m pretty sure two will fit.
 

scatterbunny

New member
My second row bench is exactly 38 inches, as well, and while it would be a tight squeeze, I think I could make it work. It's tough having a 17 inch booster seat next to the Husky only because you have to squeeze your hand in between the two seats to buckle it; having two harnessed seats wedged tightly together isn't so bad, since there's no seatbelt buckling to worry about. :)
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Only reason I mentioned a Recaro, is because it's probably going to be 2 years before your dd hits 40 pounds... most kids are ready for a booster at 5.5-6 ish (my dd was 40 pounds when she got too tall for the Marathon! I would kill for the MA to become a booster at this point, because I only got to use it 3 years).... so, just something to think about :)
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/FFAlbum/Sarah.aspx (I bought it when she was under 33 pounds so she could rearface for a year and a half, though, so I'm still happy I spent the money on it...it's a very nice seat!)

:)
 

Kellyr2

New member
I don't know - she's been holding steady at 33 pounds for a bit over a year now - getting taller but not gaining weight, trimming down. I'd expect her to hit 40 by 4.5. She's built much like my son who hit 4 a couple months before his 4th bday.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Hey, awesome you found a Husky (I've been wanting to get the pretty Regent cover to replace my Husky's plain blue, LOL - but am planning on doing so only as incentive to keep my kiddo harnessed after the graduates Kindergarten in over a year, LOL) ... if 2 Huskies/Regents fit then I say go for it - cheaper & longer harness & quite comfy, how can you go wrong? ;) But, the Young Sports do look super nice & maybe for your older kiddo it might end up saving you money in the long run ... big kid uses Husky & little kid uses Young Sport until reaching 40 pounds, then little uses Husky & big kid uses Young Sport as a booster, then by the time little kid outgorws the Husky big kid might not need the booster anymore :rolleyes:
 

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