Question New Seats for 3 yr old

Milkie&Cookie

New member
Its been a long time since I've been around and I have some questions! Here's the breakdown. My daughter is 3 yrs 4 months and she's tiny. She's approx 24 lbs, 34 1/2 inches tall and has a torso of 11 1/2 inches (from bottom to shoulders). She's in the following seats in the following cars:
  • Britax Boulevard (RF) in a 08 Dodge Grand Caravan
  • Britax Marathon (RF) in an 08 Saturn Aura
  • Britax Wizard (RF) in an 97 (?) Honda CRV

Starting next month MIL in the CRV is going to picking her up from preschool. The CRV has no latches, tethers, or side airbags. It also has ditzy, arthiritic MIL driving it. She also picks my son up from school and once forgot to buckle his bottom buckle! Fortunately he's now 7 and can buckle himself and probably his sister if I asked him to. In her defense she's never been in an accident or gotten a ticket and I've had a few of each. ;) I thought I'd put the Wizard in the CRV because a) its not being currently used and b) it has the headwings and the CRV has no side airbags whereas the other cars do. However, it expires in either July (says the cover and the straps) or Sept (says the seat).

So my questions are:
  • Should I put the Wizard in the CRV or one of other seats?
  • Should I keep DD RF in the CRV even thought it might be harder for MIL and thus run the risk of improper use?
  • When does the Wizard expire? The straps and the seats have a manufacture date of July 2004 and the Seat has a manufacture date of Sept 2004.
  • What should I get to replace the Wizard and should I put that seat in the CRV or one of the other seats?
  • The Marathon in the Aura will expire in November so I guess I should be thinking about that too.
My daughter is a tiny little bean. She's only just now probably ready to move the straps from the second hole on the Marathon to the 3rd. If she's anything like my son she'll always be tiny. However, he did grow out of the Marathon at about 5 because of height. He's in the Regent now and he probably won't grow out of that till he's ready for driver's ed LOL. Oh and like her brother - she has a big head so I don't think the Recaro is an option.... I'd obviously want to keep the carseat for as long as possible. :twocents:

Thanks for your help! I'm starting to obsess....
 
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Maedze

New member
I would not put a child in a vehicle without a top tether anchor forward facing, nor would I recommend that someone else do it, so I think keeping her in a rear facing convertible is your safest bet.

The seat expires based on what is printed as the DOM on the actual seat, so it would be September of this year.

There are almost no scenarios where a Recaro convertible would be the 'best' choice so don't worry about that ;)

What does your older child ride in when he's in the CRV?

Because she's tiny, I would get a Graco My Ride and use it rear facing. The seat fits nicely in smaller back seats and the harness is very easy to use.
 

Milkie&Cookie

New member
My son rides in oh I forget the name because it had a bunch of them. It goes to 65lbs harnessed and then converts to a booster. Was it an Avenue? I just can't remember.... It needs a headrest and I had the dealer install an upper tether attached to the ceiling of the CRV. MIL was not happy about it, but oh well.
 

Maedze

New member
My son rides in oh I forget the name because it had a bunch of them. It goes to 65lbs harnessed and then converts to a booster. Was it an Avenue? I just can't remember.... It needs a headrest and I had the dealer install an upper tether attached to the ceiling of the CRV. MIL was not happy about it, but oh well.

The Apex :) How are his shoulders fitting in it? Where are they in relation to the top slot?
 

Milkie&Cookie

New member
That's right the Apex 65! He's still got plenty of room, but I should check his straps. He's had a growth spurt. I think he has 1 or 2 more slots to go. He's a peanut. He's 7 1/2 years old and is 45 3/4 inches tall, his bottom to shoulder height is 15 1/2 and he's 44lbs.

He has a Regent in both mine and DH's car. He has a Compass booster for playdates and such.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
That's right the Apex 65! He's still got plenty of room, but I should check his straps. He's had a growth spurt. I think he has 1 or 2 more slots to go. He's a peanut. He's 7 1/2 years old and is 45 3/4 inches tall, his bottom to shoulder height is 15 1/2 and he's 44lbs.

He has a Regent in both mine and DH's car. He has a Compass booster for playdates and such.

With this description (15.5" torso, second slots on an Apex), he should not have outgrown a Marathon, especially not two and a half years ago. Are you sure it's a Marathon and not a Roundabout?
 

Milkie&Cookie

New member
Yeah I'm 100% sure it is a Marathon. It was also getting sort of babyish for him because it sits up so high. Most of his buddies are in boosters. Plus I needed it for the baby, so it was all good. (Am not mentioning the fact that I just wanted to buy new seats. ahem) Here's a pict of him in the marathon at about 5.

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Either way - its the little girl I need a seat for. I think the boy is set. :D

I checked out the My Ride - my only concern is that I'd only be able to use it for a year or so. That she wouldn't like it once she turned FF and that it wouldn't last as long as some of the others on the market? Maybe I'm totally off. I'd like the Radian, but is the regular one ok or is the XSLT much better? I'd worry that it would be terribly hard to install w/out latches. Maybe I'd have to switch it out with the Boulevard in my minivan? Hmmmmm
 
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