OK you canadian mommies....help me!

[Misty-Bug]

*this was posted on the other board too. The US one as well*
I was looking at the SK Radian car seat. I am still waiting for new stickers to come out and it to become a manditory law for the 65lbs. I found the radian at Canadian Tired. I have YET to ever see a Britax where I live. I cannot go all over God's creation to find a seat. I live in Vancouver British Columbia (well abbotsford)
I want to find a Britax and know the cost.
HOWEVER, If it cannot be found I wanted to purchase the SK Radian. Until today I was told about the chest clip being small and pulling the belts in close to the neck.
I am VERY VERY VERY Frustrated and feel like I can never seem to make the right decision on a car seat. I have in in a AOE right now. Yeah, I have heard the downfalls to them. So yet another failure.
He is 23lbs (I think) and RFing. He will NOT be turned around until the seat limit of 30lbs, unless I can find another seat with a higher limit. I want him in a car seat as long as possible.
Can anyone direct me to a Britax or SOMETHING?? I am getting frustrated. The SK Radian that I found at CT, I am not sure if it is the Radian, The Radian65 or the Radian80. I will have to look at the model while at the store. Sigh....
Pulling hair out.
thanks in advance.

[papooses]

I wouldn't worry much right now -- if the AOE is used correctly, it's fine for RF ... I'd just save towards a seat in the future & hope some other options become available

[mommycat]

I know your troubles, I was in the same boat - except I didn't realize my son had outgrown the AOE until about the moment I needed to replace it! At least you have some time. The AOE makes an excellent RF seat and at 23 lb you still have a long time in the seat (assuming he isn't supertall and still has space to go to the top of the shell and not in the top harness position). How old is your son? I JUST turned my son at 2 1/4 years old, he was 35 inches but still had a bit of room over his head, and just about 30 pounds. They gain a lot slower in the 2nd year!

Canadian Tire carries the "regular" Radian, i.e. the 65. The ones I looked at/called about in NS were all DOM around August 06, so 9 months old!!! And no 65 lb stickers at the time, a few weeks ago. I got 2 from babyproofingplus.com last week, they were about $30 more than CT but they were DOM January 07 AND all re-stickered for 65 lb. They have an offer of free shipping for orders over $100 right now.

I actually got 2 Radians and a Marathon - the Marathon was cheaper there than ordering from my "local" (1 hour away) baby store. I paid $18 shipping to get all 3 FedExed to me within a week. I very much recommend the store, but obviously you need to know what you want as returns would be a hassle.

[mommycat]

Originally Posted by papooses

I wouldn't worry much right now -- if the AOE is used correctly, it's fine for RF ... I'd just save towards a seat in the future & hope some other options become available

Yes, this! And I forgot to mention that the Marathon was not stickered for 65lb, but customer service at babyproofingplus.com promise me that once I send in my registration Britax will mail me new stickers. Dunno if this is true though.

[Jewels]

Babies World and TJ's Kids both carry the Britax Marathon ($299 @ both places) and I think they both have the Radian as well and they are both located close to each other in Coquitlam. You could also look at Toys R Us, the one by Babies World used to carry the Marathon.

I would go to Babies World if you want to compare them and see how they are different. I got my Marathon at Babies World and received great service. They showed me how to use it and helped me install it. But before you decide to go, call first to see if they even have them instock. I have heard that often as soon as a shipment comes in they are gone right away. If you call to see if they have them in stock you could likely also have them hold one for you so that you know for sure it will be there when you get there.

[Loves2sing]

Just a note, most kids out grow the MA before the Radian. If you travel a lot of long distances though, I would get the Marathon. it is a lot more plush than the Radian. We always take the MA for our Calgary to Saskatoon trips just cause it's more comfortable for dd.

[canadianmom2three]

Nothing wrong with the AO as a rf seat at all, it is a great rear facing seat. An in my opinion a great forward facing seat too. Had AO for my DS until he outgrew it and I LOVED that seat, great recline, comfy and easy to take care of, and more than $100 less than any Britax on the market. That being said, when DS did outgrow the AO I bought him the Radian, and am loving it too. DS is almost 5 now, and 50lbs and we took the Radian to Florida, where DS sat in it for the 24 hour drive down and back with zero complaints. As far as I can tell, he has a good year left in the Radian, which for me, makes the investment worth it, and the great thing was, we rounded up a whole bunch of canadian tire $$ and that made it really affordable. Best of luck in your search, being the opposite side of the country, and never having shopped online, can't help you there, but just wanted to say don't feel like you've got to rush out, the AO is a fine seat, just like any seat that is being used correctly, and 100% of the time, is.

[santecno]

I've heard that BRU's will order anything to their store for you that is in their Catalogue, which includes the MA, RA and PW. Don't know if you have one of those near by.

[snowbird25ca]

Don't beat yourself up. As long as your seat fits your child, fits your car, is being used correctly and is certified for use in Canada, then you're doing just fine. Some seats are definitely easier to use than others and offer more growing room. But that doesn't mean that the seat you have is unsafe. It just mean it won't last as long before it's outgrown.

There are definitely retailers around you that sell the MA and I think that most TRU have them in stock now unless they're temporarily out of stock. Most boutiques and even Canadian tire will let you take a seat out to your car to do a trial installation.

The radian that Canadian tire sells is the same seat sold as the radian 65 in the US. Any of them coming from sunshine kids now are labelled to 65lbs. The change in legislation took effect May 1st and the first of seats with the labelled higher weight limit are being sold. I'm not sure about can tire though - their stock was also old in our local store.

Originally Posted by mommycat

Yes, this! And I forgot to mention that the Marathon was not stickered for 65lb, but customer service at babyproofingplus.com promise me that once I send in my registration Britax will mail me new stickers. Dunno if this is true though.

Officially, transport canada is not allowing car seat manufacturers to mail new stickers to registered owners. If your seat comes out of the box with sticker that says 48lbs, that's the limit you're stuck with. According to the instructor of the car seat tech course that I just completed anyways. (Her info was based on the info she had been given by transport canada.)

[mommycat]

Canadian Tire - mine wouldn't let me try out the seat before buying it. However, they did let me return it a week later. I would think letting me try it would have been easier... but it was nice to do it on my own time.

Britax/stickers - I know that's what I have heard around here as far as the stickers go, so I am not terribly hopeful I will get any new stickers. My son is skinny so it shouldn't be a big deal for us. (But the rep misinformed me, grrr.)

The Radians I got from babyproofingplus.com were manufactured before May, they were obviously re-stickered. Even the box had a sticker over the front where it lists the limits. I am not sure if CT would bother to go out of their way the same way as a baby supply store, though.

[Misty-Bug]

canadian tire, well the one by me anyway, has the older radians. No new stickers yet. they let me take mine out of the store to try it in the car. Both seats actually. And I just left my drivers liscence with the auto department desk. If they don't let you I would go over their heads and talk to the manager. If the manager doesn't let you I would go over their head and talk to the district manager.

[snowbird25ca]

Originally Posted by mommycat

Canadian Tire - mine wouldn't let me try out the seat before buying it. However, they did let me return it a week later. I would think letting me try it would have been easier... but it was nice to do it on my own time.

Britax/stickers - I know that's what I have heard around here as far as the stickers go, so I am not terribly hopeful I will get any new stickers. My son is skinny so it shouldn't be a big deal for us. (But the rep misinformed me, grrr.)

The Radians I got from babyproofingplus.com were manufactured before May, they were obviously re-stickered. Even the box had a sticker over the front where it lists the limits. I am not sure if CT would bother to go out of their way the same way as a baby supply store, though.

Yeah, I believe that seats that haven't been sold are being restickered by retail stores. I'm not sure if there's any exceptions to that though? But I know that stickers won't be mailed to registered owners. For some reason they're seperating seats being purchased and seats already in use. Even though there's no difference in the seat itself. I do have my doubt about CT going to the both of re-stickering though too.

[CDNTech]

Originally Posted by Misty-Bug

*this was posted on the other board too. The US one as well*
I was looking at the SK Radian car seat. I am still waiting for new stickers to come out and it to become a manditory law for the 65lbs. I found the radian at Canadian Tired. I have YET to ever see a Britax where I live. I cannot go all over God's creation to find a seat. I live in Vancouver British Columbia (well abbotsford)
I want to find a Britax and know the cost.
HOWEVER, If it cannot be found I wanted to purchase the SK Radian. Until today I was told about the chest clip being small and pulling the belts in close to the neck.
I am VERY VERY VERY Frustrated and feel like I can never seem to make the right decision on a car seat. I have in in a AOE right now. Yeah, I have heard the downfalls to them. So yet another failure.
He is 23lbs (I think) and RFing. He will NOT be turned around until the seat limit of 30lbs, unless I can find another seat with a higher limit. I want him in a car seat as long as possible.
Can anyone direct me to a Britax or SOMETHING?? I am getting frustrated. The SK Radian that I found at CT, I am not sure if it is the Radian, The Radian65 or the Radian80. I will have to look at the model while at the store. Sigh....
Pulling hair out.
thanks in advance.

There is absolutely no need to take him out of the AO right now. He still has 7 lbs to go RF in that seat and then will have a bit of time FF in it before it is outgrown. The AO is a very safe seat when used correctly and actually makes a nice RF seat.

The only problem with the AO is that it has short top harness slots and therefore will be outgrown before your child is ready to go into a booster.

I would not be worried about switching him to a higher weight harness seat until he needs it. Your son has lots of time left in the AO and new seats will be coming out that may be even better than the ones we currently have on the market.

My best advice to you is to stick with the seat you have now, make sure you are using it correctly and when he starts to outgrow the seat RF, THEN start researching what new seat you want to put him into.

30lbs is the maximum that any new seat can RF in Canada and the AO has a shell tall enough that your son should be able to RF for the full 30lbs in his current seat.

Hope that helps you and causes less hair pulling.

[Jewels]

Well I was just playing around with the AO (it is a black one) and it seems like quite a nice seat! I wouldn't mind one for a spare for my daycare kids, it would be easy to adjust the harness! So if you do get a different seat and want to get rid of your AOE I might be interested

[mommycat]

I do really love my AOEs and was sad that my son outgrew them. I found it an easy seat to use, especially since there is no need to rethread harness and it just seemed so comfortable.

Edited: chopping out section about how DS outgrew AOE when I switched him FF at 30 lb. Measure thrice, buy once: I checked him twice, but still got it wrong somehow and thought he had outgrown the harness while he had one more usable slot to go (I don't know how I could possibly have gotten that wrong, but I did). I bought all new seats and really didn't need to at the time. Probably jumped the gun by about a full year. Oops.