NHTSA Recommended seats?

[vtbecca]

I have a friend who is interested in buying higher weight harnessed seats for her 3 year old twins. She has seen that the Britax Frontier and Graco Nautilus are recommended seats. Does that make them any safer than other high weight harnessed seats? Obviously buying 2 of any will be costly. She really likes the Frontier but what are the other options in this situation? They will be in a minivan so I don't think size is an issue. I'm not sure what the size of her boys is but they are Forward Facing.

Becca

 

[Pixels]

The recommendations are only for ease of use, and for booster seats, for positioning the belt properly on the 6yo crash test dummy. Ease of use is highly subjective, and really depends on the individual using the seat as well as the vehicle the seat is used in. As for the booster fit ratings, first of all 3 year olds shouldn't be in a booster, and when they are old enough and mature enough for a booster, I'm sure they won't morph into crash test dummies. The booster fit ratings are a good place to start in one's search for a booster, but the child+booster+vehicle combination needs to be evaluated for proper fit.

Without knowing their sizes, it's difficult to say exactly, but generally the Maestro, Nautilus, Frontier, and ProSport are the recommended combination seats.

 

[wendytthomas]

No, they've all passed the same testing.

Make sure she asks for the twin discount.

Wendy

 

[vtbecca]

Thanks Wendy, I'll pass that info on! And I'll mention a twin discount too. I didn't think the recs really had to do with safety but wanted to verify here. That opens up her options. I remember when we got our regent there were so few choices- marathon, regent and radian. Times have changed for the better!

Becca

 

[vtbecca]

Melissa, thank you for the details. I think that will help her quite a bit!

Becca

 

[DahliaRW]

My costco has the nautilus elite for $129.99 right now. She may want to look into that, it's a fantastic price!