advice on buying....

We have 2 Radians in the main car and one Regent and one Roundabout in the second car. The Roundabout needs to be replaced. My orginal idea was to buy a second Regent Madison when the time came, but now the Madison is nowhere to be found.

So I see 2 Regent Onyx on craigslist for $50 each. I'm a little worried about buying such an important safety item used. What do you think I should do? Buy a new Sahara Regent (I think I could find one for around $150) and the 2 Onyx seats just for the covers? Am I crazy to worry about the used seats and just use them? I'm thinking they are worth $50 just for the cover, right?

My girls really like the flower pattern. ugh. I can't decide.


and can someone fill me in on what pre-advisory means? I think I bought mine in the summer of 2007.

What is the age, weight & height of the child? What type of vehicle do you drive? And I would never recommend any parent purchasing a car seat on craigslist because you don't know the history of it.

I don't know what her current weights, but the new seat would be for my 2 year old, who is turning 3 at the end of the month. She is not big or small- average weight/height. Her sister is just turned 5 and I think is about 40 pounds and 42 inches tall (I know this because she can ride a few roller coasters, lol) The car is a '98 Honda Civic (a little embarrassed the car is so old, but this thing just won't give us a single excuse to get rid of it!) We have added the top tether to it, no LATCH, we would have to belt route.

A 2yo would be swallowed whole by the Regent! It's a HUGE seat and besides you said the child was normal in growth correct? If this is the case the child should still be rear facing not forward facing in a seat anyways.

Also, there is NO way I would purchase a used seat off craigslist! Actually there is no way I would purchase a used seat from most people even some close friends. You don't know what has happened to the seat and it's like trusting that complete stranger who needs cash with your child's life!

well, she is out-growing the Roundabout (if she hasn't already). you don't think they could go straight from the Roundabout to the Regent? they very rarely ride in the "other car" they are in the '08 Sonata with Radians nearly all the time. I think she looks ok in her sister's regent, but the straps would not be in the same place. maybe the little one should just only ride in her Radian and when I need to split them up (for ballet class) only take the older on in the "other car". Or I guess I could split up the seats and have one Radian and one Regent in each car.

I think what the previous posters are saying is that your 2yo would be much safer continuing to RF at her age, rather than putting her in a FF only car seat. Is she FF or RF in the Roundabout and Radian you have her in now?

Your idea to put one Radian (RF for the 2yo) and one Regent (for the 4yo) in each car seems doable. It would probably also work to get a Nautilus for the older child (instead of a Regent). They can be found for about $150 and come in girly colors. The harness straps aren't as high as in a Regent, but since you say your DD is average height/weight, it should last long enough to get her to an appropriate age to move to a booster.

Is she outgrowing the Roundabout rear or forward facing?

Rear facing - if head has less than an inch of hard shell above head, or the rear facing weight limit is met - 33 lbs.

Forward facing - if harness is not at or above the shoulder, or if weight limit is met - 40 lbs, or tips of ears go above the shell.

Are you familiar with the safety benefits of rear facing to the limit of the seat, rather than 1 year and 20 lbs?

Here's some info to get you started! If you know all about it, just disregard.


http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

MSN Article “Child Car Seat Advice Questioned”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868/

You Tube Video “Benefits of Keeping Baby Rear-facing”
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI

“Why Rear-Facing is Safest” A fairly comprehensive article from Car-Safety.org
http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

Rear Facing Seats – Yet another fairly comprehensive article for thecarseatlady.com
http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/rear-facing_seats.html

Pictures of How a Child’s Spine Developshttp://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=13&topic_id=44503&mode=full&page

AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) Policy
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;109/3/550
Highlight of the policy - for optimal protection, the child should remain rear facing until reaching the maximum weight for the car safety seat, as long as the top of the head is below the top of the seat back

Why RF is Safest Even in Rear End Collisions
One Family’s Story of Being Rear-Ended While at a Stop by a Car Traveling at 60-65mph

http://myangelsaliandpeanut.tripod.com/id5.html

A childs' vertabrae do not fully fuse until 3-6 years old. Before then, he/she is at great risk for spinal injury. When rear-facing in a crash, the forces are spread out among the strong carseat shell and baby's strong back. The harness holds baby down in the seat and he/she is cradled and protected. When forward-facing, the harness holds babys' body back, and his/her head flies forward violenty, putting tremendous stress on the neck.

Here's the catch...the spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches, BUT the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 of an inch before it snaps and baby is gone. This is referred to as internal decapitation. Babys' head will be slumped over like he/she is sleeping.

It's very important to keep babies rear-facing to 1 year AND 20 lbs. (both, not either/or) at the very least. It's actually much safer to rear-face to the limits of a convertible carseat, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. A forward-facing child is 4-5 times MORE likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than a rear-facing child of the same age...not a risk I'll be taking with my babies.

Check out this video for some great information and crash test footage...you'll see the HUGE difference: http://youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI

And this one has lots of pictures of older rear-facing kiddos: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8"]YouTube- The Importance of Rear-Facing: Version 2[/ame]

And here’s another great link:
http://www.childrestraintsafety.com/rear-facing.html

Portions written by Sam-Pacey-&-Joshua, compiled by Trisha (mamato3monkeys) and submitted by Dia (May04 Feb06)



European study showing that rear-facing is better through age 4:http://www.anec.eu/attachmen

thanks. All good points and good info on rear facing. I do know it is safer. She is FF now, but only for the last 5 months, she was older than 2.5; I thought that was pretty good. We did a lot of carseat juggling, then she just ended up that way ...and we bought a DVD player. I know, not a very good reason. She would probably do fine turning her back, she never complained about it and she was flipped FF last year to see Christmas lights, then back to RF with no trouble.