Question Need compact car seat with higher height limit

U

Unregistered

Guest
I have a 2 month old in a rear facing diplomat I just bought which has a height limit of 30 inches rear facing. I also have a 2 yr old in a Marathon. Our Dodge Caravan does not have the space for the Marathon rear facing behind a seat, otherwise I would have bought my 2 yr old the frontier and put our infant in the marathon. With our 2 yr old, we put the marathon rf in the centre position, but with two, we don't have that option, they barely fit side by side, and my 2 yr old pokes my litte guys eyes! So we bought the diplomat for the compact size, and it fits great behind the seat, but, what do I do if my two month old hits 30 inches before 1 yr.......(my two yr old was 30 inches at 9 months!).
Is there another compact sized seat that has a higher height limit?
Thanks in advance!
 
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wendytthomas

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Hi, welcome.

The 30" is irrelevant. He'll outgrow the seat when he has less than 1" of hard shell above his head.

Second, kids need to rear face as long as possible. So if your 2 year old is under the weight limit for the Marathon, I'd turn him back around. You might not have been able to get it to fit because you were trying to install it at a 45 degree angle, which is not required or necessary for a baby with head control. So I'd put it more upright and put your two year old rear facing. When your baby outgrows the Diplomat rear facing by height around 18-24 months, then you move him to big brother's Marathon and buy big brother something, well, bigger. :) Or, if you just bought the Diplomat, return it and buy something bigger for the baby to last longer rear facing. Also, make sure, as the manual says, to have the straps at or below the shoulders, not above. Many two month olds don't quite yet fit in the Diplomat properly.

Wendy
 
Mommy2Marcus

Mommy2Marcus

New member
I agree with Wendy on this one. Make sure that if you're going to keep the Diplomat that the babe actually fits. The baby must either be even with the bottom slots or they must be under their shoulders. I would also look into turning your 2 year old back RF. It is SO much safer. I just turned my 3 year old FF about a month ago.

Another seat to look into for the little one would be a First Years True Fit. It is VERY compact with the headrest removed. Then when he is older & either hits 22lbs or has less than 1 inch of shell above his head, you put the headrest back on. You can then install it more upright to give you more room. For an older child most seats can be as upright as 30 degrees.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
thanks for the great info. Unfortunately, my two year old is 36lbs and so he's over the 35 lb rear facing weight limit in the marathon a few weeks ago. Are there seats that have higher rear facing limits?
I will definitely check the babe to make sure he fits in the diplomat properly. He is long, so hopefully he's ok, if not will return the diplomat but not sure what to replace it with?
Part of the issue, is that with them on the 3 seat bench we have no latch, and couldn't secure the infant seat base well with the seatbelt at all, otherwise I would have left him in the infant seat. The diplomat was easily installed securely with the seatbelt, and allows for a tether as well rf per britax. (we had to have tether anchors put in the rear floor of the van in order to use the 3 seat bench)
 
wendytthomas

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Ok, from here on out I'm going to move this to the Canadian forum so you'll get the right answers and prices. But yes, there are seats with greater than 35 pound rear facing weight limits. :)

LATCH is not required or safer for a carseat. What year is your Caravan? Likely you have locking latchplates, and so you may have needed to twist the belt to keep it locked if it was loosening up.

I'll move this for you so you get the right answers.

Wendy
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
thanks, forgot to mention the Canadian part....the caravan is a 2007 basic model.
we did try a locking plate for seat belt to install the infant seat, still couldn't get it installed securely. Even with my husband and I both using all our might!
 
QuassEE

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor
You don't need to use a locking clip on your vehicle. Your seatbelts lock at the latchplate. If you cinch up the seatbelt and find that there's some slack coming out, you're probably at too great an angle for the cinching mechanism to work. You can resolve that problem by flipping the seatbelt's male portion over (180 degrees) and buckling that way. Any positive angle on the seatbelt will become a negative angle, and the seatbelt's locking mechanism will work. Using a locking clip just makes things complicated when they're already complicated enough! :)

Now that this is in the Canadian forum, you should take a look at the sticky at the top of the forum with the list of seats available in Canada.

-Nicole.
 
HONEYhas3

HONEYhas3

CPST Instructor
In Canada LATCH is called UAS. A 2007 Caravan will have UAS in both of the middle seats and 1 in the centre of the rear bench.

Your seat belts are also light weight locking latch plates. They lock once you push down on the seat and pull out the slack.

Where in Canada are you located, one of us here may be able to help you out.
 
HONEYhas3

HONEYhas3

CPST Instructor
I also have a Caravan, and seats install so well.

Ive tried:
Radian (RF/FF)
Marathon (RF/FF)
BLVD(RF/FF)
Scenera (RF/FF)
TrueFit(RF/FF)
Snugride(RF)
SafeSeat(RF)
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
we are in niagara region. Our caravan is an 07 (the cheapest model I think!) and we've had to put the 3 bench in the 2nd seating position to keep the boys APART! lol Which is why I have to use seatbelts instead of latch.
Because of that, we've had to have tether anchors put in the floor of the van in the rear for my 2 yr olds marathon.
Again, it comes back to the marathon hitting the seat in front rf, which puts me at the windshield (I'm tall, not very comfy, and not very safe I think). Which is why I'm loving the diplomat for size. But for now, we needed the smaller seat to keep him reclined and have it fit nicely. I can keep him in the infant seat, using the seat belt trick, but he will still need a seat for rf that's small for our van. If he outgrows the diplomat rf, I will put him in the marathon less reclined, rf, and put my hopefully then 3/4 yr old in a Frontier. When the youngest goes forward facing all our problems will be solved, I hope! Maybe by then I'll have a nice new van! :)
Does this make sense? Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the help!
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I should have added Ontario to the niagara region.
Also, I did try our little guy in the diplomat and although he's just over the minimum length requirement, he definitely isn't big enough to have the harness fit at/below the shoulders. So he's staying in the snugride for now.
Will keep the diplomat for the compact size until he's able to be more upright in the marathon rf.
 
HONEYhas3

HONEYhas3

CPST Instructor
I will be at Great Wolf Lodge on Feb 27th, I would be more than happy to meet with you there. :D

If you put the 2yo back rear facing, and the baby rear facing you wont have a problem with eyes being poked (and I totally understand that, my little 2 are 16 mo apart.)

I would bring the Diplomat back and get a Graco MyRide (walmart). It RF to 40 lbs and FF to 65 lbs.

Put your 2yo in the MyRide but you can have it much more upright for an older child.

To give you an idea, here is my 3yo in a Marathon passenger side of my Caravan (basic model) with an upright install, the passenger seat is all the way back.

Keep the baby in the infant seat for a little while longer. What you do is buckle the base in, push down on the base while pulling on the shoulder part of the belt. You only want to check for movement at the BELT PATH (so where the seat belt goes through). The caravan has locking latch plates. SO as you push down on the base and pull the shoulder portion, it will get tighter. If it doesnt stay tight once the belt is tightened, you can flip the latch plate 1 flip and it will help keep it tight.

If you want to keep you 2yo FF then use the marathon, and return the diplomat and get a MyRide for the baby. I would prefer to the see 2yo RF for longer though.

If you cant wait till the 27th then you can make a day trip to Toronto ;)
 
Last edited:
mommycat

mommycat

Well-known member
Unregistered said:
Unfortunately, my two year old is 36lbs and so he's over the 35 lb rear facing weight limit in the marathon a few weeks ago.
Click to expand...
I just want to add in that if you are in Canada, Canadian Marathons have a RF weight limit of only 30 lbs. (If your seat says otherwise, you may be using a US seat, which is illegal in Canada.)
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
yes, you're right, it is 30 lbs, my typo, sorry. I bought it here in ontario.
So, I think I will buy a myride for my 2 yr old and rf him again until 40lbs. I hope it fits, because he sits behind the drivers seat and that seat is very deep (2 1/2 inches deeper and only one inch shorter than the marathon. But being more upright, hopefully it works. Keeping them both rf, would allow us to use the two seater bench, can use the UAS and puts my infant in the more middle position so I can hopefully fit the marathon rf there when he outgrows the infant seat.
Then, when he outgrows the marathon RF at 30lbs, I will still have to buy him another seat, another myride? or give him my toddlers myride and buy my toddler another seat?
I'm confusing myself at this point! :)
thanks again for all the help, I really appreciate it.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I'm sooo frustrated. Just when I thought I had it figured out, I can't find a My Ride. I've been to the two largest walmarts in the cities on either side of me and they don't carry them. Toys r us asked me if it was a new seat??? They don't have it either.
So, here's where I'm at.
My infant is in a snugride, and when he's too big, I can put him in our marathon rf until he outgrows it, which will be around 18 mths if he's the size of our 2 yr old at that age. Then my toddler will be big/old enough that I would be comfortable ff him and I could pass on his seat to my infant.
My 25 month old is in the marathon ff now because he's 36lbs with clothes.
So I need a high limit rf seat that FITS in my van. I can install the marathon rf but only in the centre position which I need for my infant. I have tried to put it behind a seat, but i just can't make it work, so I"m not sitting at the dash (5'10")So my toddler is behind the drivers seat. As far as I can tell, the only seats with higher rf limits that would fit my large kids long enough are the SKradian which is sooo tall, and the graco my ride which I can't seem to find, and the safety first air protect complete air.
If anyone has installed the radian or safety first I mentioned at an angle appropriate for a toddler can you give me some tips?
I'd rather not buy another seat that doesn't fit, as the diplomat I returned, I could only get a credit, and they only sell britax, so I put it towards a frontier for later being as it has a 9 yr expiry date.
thanks if you've gotten through this!
 

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