Question about buying new carseats for 2.5 yr old twins

We currently have the Safety First Enspira, which I never would have purchased had I known then what I know now about RF/FF etc.

One twin is 34lbs and the other is 36lbs and both are at least 36inches, haven't measured them in a while. They are on the last slot and have been for a while, we are getting down to the nitty gritty.

The Evenflo Generations carseat is on sale at BRU for $100 and we are thinking about buying them because they harness to 65lbs and the boys are nowhere near ready for just a seatbelt. I just want to make sure this carseat is a good one with ease of use, installation (will be using the old system as our car is a '97) and all of that. The Enspira's totally suck.

I've also been told the slots on these seats only go to 16.5" so I and also wondering if we should even bother, or if we're doomed to have them in a belt positioning booster sooner than they're ready.

Thanks for any help. We are on a bit of a tight budget, but we can work these seats in at the price they are... So we want to jump on it while we can!

How close are they to the top slots? Would you consider turning them back rear facing?

They are in the top slots right now... They are about 1/2" above their shoulders at the moment.

I am willing to switch back to RF (hubby is not so keen) but only if the seat can be installed properly in our car. We have a Honda Civic, and it was hard enough for the CST to get the seats in safe, RF, without touching the passenger/driver seats in the front.. So with a bigger carseat I'm really not sure it would work!

I would be concerned about how the Generations would be as a booster. I honestly don't know so I'm just throwing that out there. Some combo seats are good boosters, others not so much. I personally would look at the Graco Nautilus as well. It's a bit more, but is on for $179 at Zellers this week. That's about $80 off the regular price.

lovemyboys27 said:

They are in the top slots right now... They are about 1/2" above their shoulders at the moment.

I am willing to switch back to RF (hubby is not so keen) but only if the seat can be installed properly in our car. We have a Honda Civic, and it was hard enough for the CST to get the seats in safe, RF, without touching the passenger/driver seats in the front.. So with a bigger carseat I'm really not sure it would work!

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You can get almost anything RFing in a Civic. What year is it? Does it have advanced airbags? Is that why they can't touch the seats in front?

Hmm I was just told the the carseats shouldn't touch the front seats, for safety reasons, but maybe that person was wrong? Our carseats we have now though, they've reach the RF limit. These Generations ones aren't able to go RF I don't think.

lovemyboys27 said:

Hmm I was just told the the carseats shouldn't touch the front seats, for safety reasons, but maybe that person was wrong? Our carseats we have now though, they've reach the RF limit. These Generations ones aren't able to go RF I don't think.

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What year is your Civic?

If you don't want to RF again, the Graco Nautilus may be an option. It's not crazy expensive and the top slots are high. I love it for my 3yo, 31lb, 39" tall, skinny boy.

It's a '97

There is no issue having seats touching the front passenger seats with a car of that model year, unless the restraint's manual expressly forbids it. The only one I can think of off the top of my head that does is the Evenflo Infant seats. The issue with seats touching is that in newer cars (like 07 or 08 on, I believe) is that many have airbag sensors in the front seats and the extra weight from the child restraint pressing on the seat can cause the sensors to function improperly for the size of the person actually sitting in the front seat. I drive an 04 Civic & I have both my RFing seats (a True Fit & a Radian) touching the seats in front.

If you did want to RF your boys again, you could look at the new Radians that RF to 45lbs (not sure I would get a seat that only RF to 40, but depending on how fast your boys are gaining, it could get you some time yet). And while RFing is safER, at their age & sizes it is safe for them to FF as well.

If you are interested in RFing them:

How tall are you and DH? (ie do you need a lot of room in the front?) Aside from the info that the seats can touch, though not be wedges into, the front seats, remember that at their age they can sit much more upright, as much as 30 degrees from the vertical for most seats (35 degrees for the True Fit).

I just installed the MyRide in my '06 Civic (which is a bit bigger) but my point is that even at a mid-range recline, it gave a decent amount of leg room. I didn't compare how it was installed with the AOE it replaced in terms of recline, but it gave me an extra 1-1.5" room without even trying for an upright install. I am not sure you wuld get enough use out of it though, with both the 40lb limit and not the tallest shell, I don't think. The Radians are great, but it might be a tight fit in the front depending on your height, and they are not exactly cheap. The Complete Air can install nice and upright, I hear, and also has a 40lb limit and a tall shell, but again, not the cheapest ($240).

If you aren't going to turn them:

The Generations is an ok seat (and no they don't RF), the top slots aren't the highest but much better than the old-model Enspira. It makes an ok booster, but not awesome. It has a 6 year expiry. It is definitely a better seat, esp as a booster, than the Chase/Traditions/Vision.

A seat to consider is the new Evenflo Maestro (also at BRU - $129, so not prohibitive, I think). The top slots are much taller at 18" and would give you more time harnessed, even with the 47lb harness weight limit, as most seats are outgrown by height before weight (as you are finding out). The sad thing is that the booster mode is outgrown at about the same time since the headrest does not adjust - silly design - so don't expect to use it as a booster for long, if at all. It is also a 6 year expiry, I'm pretty sure.

The Graco Nautilus would be my #1 choice for a FF seat since it harnesses to just over 18" and 65 lbs, then turns into a high back booster followed by a low back booster. The harness/highback have a 6 year expiry and the low back is good for 9 years. The Nauti happens to be on sale at Zellers since Friday at the best price I have seen for it, $70 off, which brings it down to $179.97. It's a bit more but it really is a good seat and will last a long time in both the harness (longer than any other seat available, probably) and then as a booster. (Incidentally, my friend's 2 boys both hated the Generations and LOVE thier Nautis.)

Wow! Thank you for all the information... I think we might wait until we have a bit more money to play with and either go with the Radian or Nautilus... Really sucks that we kind of wasted our money with the Enspira, we paid $130, they've been using them since they were 8 months old so we've gotten about 1.5 years out of them.

We did have the Enspira RF, and they were installed by a qualified lady, she filled out the forms to keep in our car and everything. They were installed as upright as she could put them and they were still almost touching our seats. We are 5'8 and 5'10, there was pretty much zero leg space, which was fine for the passenger but the driver was uncomfortable. They had to be turned FF at 18months because they had reached the RF weight limit, they've always been big boys!

Oh, big boys for sure. We haven't had the higher RF limit seats very long so you may not have had a choice at the time anyway, though a higher FF limit would have been nice.

Just a note to anyone reading along, in most cases it is ok for the carseat to brush lightly up against the front seat backs, though you should not have contact in seats where the vehicle manufacturer forbids it due to advanced airbag sensors, or if the carseat manual forbids it (in a few cases) so always check your car and carseat manuals.