Recommendations please

I desparately need to buy my son Nicholas a new car seat. Thankfully a friend sent me these two videos and now i'm frantic to buy a new seat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2LFo8vVi04&NR

Nicholas has that exact same high back turbo booster as the little boy in the first video. OMG, i bawled my eyes out and i think it was a real eye opener. The kid reminded me so much of Nick. From the shot of him in the tiger face paint (we have pics of Nick with that), the exact same frog halloween costume that Nick wore on his 1st halloween, and the big buzz lightyear doll that Nick plays with everyday.

I've been telling my husband for a long time that i didn't like the booster because if he falls asleep the seatbelt barely covers him. He is only covered by his lap belt. We are getting paid this Friday and i am going out and buying a new 5 pt. harness seat. I don't care that we can't afford it. I can't afford to lose my son.

With that said i need to get him a new car seat.

Of course i have heard good things about the Britax regent, but it's probably hard to move from one car to another and i can't afford to buy two (i also have a one year old that will soon grow out of her Evenflo triumph). However they triumphs are so expensive, i was also looking at the safeguard-Go seat. It's only $70 cheaper, but still cheaper and looks like it would be able to switch from car to car better.

Anyway my son is 3 years old, 36lbs, & 36 inches tall.

Thanks,

Virginia

Okay, first take a deep breath--I can tell you're worried and upset. The good thing is you're here and want to do the safest thing for your son!

A few questions, first:

What vehicle (year, make and model) do you drive?

Does your son ride in other vehicles often?

How long do you want to keep him harnessed (the Regent will keep most kids harnessed to age 8-10; other seats only to about age 5-7)?

Can you place your son in your dd's Triumph and let us know how he fits (where are his shoulders in relation to the top slots)?

Is your 1yo rear-facing or forward-facing in the Triumph? How tall and heavy is she?

Thanks for responding!

Here are the answers to your questions:

What vehicle (year, make and model) do you drive? 2004 Toyota Sienna mini van.

Does your son ride in other vehicles often? My husband drives a 99 honda civic and maybe one or twice a month my son will ride in his car.

How long do you want to keep him harnessed (the Regent will keep most kids harnessed to age 8-10; other seats only to about age 5-7)? I hadn't thought about it. I know the laws in NJ are 80lbs and/or 8 years old. I know being harnessed would keep him the safest. But i'm not sure if i would harness him until he's that old.

Can you place your son in your dd's Triumph and let us know how he fits (where are his shoulders in relation to the top slots)? Hmm....that i would have to do tomorrow.

Is your 1yo rear-facing or forward-facing in the Triumph? How tall and heavy is she? She is rear facing, eventhough technically she could be forward facing. She was 22lbs at her one year checkup and she is now 14 months.

Thanks again,

V

Congrats on taking the steps to re-harness! We will help you find the right match. The Regent is a little ahrd to find right now, and it IS hard to move. The Radian or the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe may work, but we need to know how long his torso is, so in the Triumph, how far under the top slots is he?

Take a deep breath - help is on its way!

You've come to the right place Those videos are sad and very disturbing, aren't they? The good news is that there are several seats out there that will work for your son. Jenny and Jody both asked alot of questions that will help us and you to figure out which seat would fit your son and your vehicle the best...

Is your youngest about the same size as your oldest growth wise? I ask because you said they were one and about to ourgrow the triumph. Unless both of your kids height is all in their torso both of them should still fit in the triumph. My 4.5 46lb 45 in child still fits in the triumph fine with about 1/2in to spare so I'm just wondering why you moved your oldest to the turbo booster all ready. If they do have long torsos you might be better of with a radian, which is quite a bit cheaper then the regent at $179 and has tall top slots and harnesses to 65 lbs. Or if you have headrests you could get the apex which harnesses to 65lbs and then converts to a bpb. Also, if your youngest is going to ourgrow the triumph by height you might want to look at the safety 1st uptown which runs about $89 at walmart and while it only harnesses to 40lbs it has very high slots for a standard convertible with a high seatback to go along with it and you should be able to rf your youngest for at least another 6months to a year in that seat depending on their weight.

I will try putting my son in the triumph today when we go out and measure him. I put my daughter in the triumph because she outgrew her snugride and figured (wrongly) that she would move to my sons triumph and that my 3 year old would be fine in a booster seat. He still fit in the triumph fine.

Thanks for all your respones. I will measure him today. I can't wait to get him his new car seat!!!

For your daughter, it's WONDERFUL that you still have her rear-facing! Rear-facing is much, much safer than forward-facing and the American Academy of Pediatrics (among other reputable safety agencies) has recommended since 2001 to keep kids rear-facing to the maximum limits of the convertible seat, but the message doesn't seem to be getting out very well.

In the Triumph, your dd can continue rear-facing as long as she is below 30 pounds and as long as she has at least an inch of hard seat shell above her head. Unfortunately the Triumph has the lowest seat shell on the market, making it the soonest-outgrown rear-facing. But forward-facing it is truly a great seat, if you like the harness adjuster ( I don't, but it's personal preference).

Knowing your ds's torso height will help a lot in recommendations, but going with what I have now, I'd get either a Britax Regent, Sunshine Kids Radian, Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe or Cosco Apex for the Sienna and either a Cosco Apex or a Sunshine Kids Radian or an Evenflo Bolero or Generations for the Civic.

Would that be the sunshine kids radian or the radian 80? Not sure if there is a difference.

Thanks.

vcgirl925 said:

Would that be the sunshine kids radian or the radian 80? Not sure if there is a difference.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

There's 2 Radians, the 65 and the 80. The 80 just has padding for an infant and costs a lot more, so go with the regular Radian that only goes to 65.