Question Rear facing seat for my (small) 3 year old?

My son is almost four but only 27 lbs/37" and still rear facing. Because of his weight, I would really like to keep him rear facing for a while longer. He is just a slender, small-framed guy. Am I wasting my time trying to keep him rear facing longer or can I really find something that will last long enough rf to be worth the purchase price?

We have a Ford Taurus - may get a Ford Windstar van down the road.

He is in a Graco Comfort Sport which fits him perfectly but he will be out of this seat (rear-facing) soon. We previously had an Evenflo Triumph which was super comfy but very hard to keep the straps even when rear facing. One side was always tighter and the straps hit him on the outside of his shoulders instead of the middle. I would like something that is fairly easy to keep straps even on since my husband has trouble adjusting.

Suggestions for a new seat?

I'm looking at Graco MyRide, Evenflo Triumph Advance, Britax Marathon or Britax Boulevard.
Any other suggestions or advice? I sort of ruled out a few others based on fit with my car of ease of installment/adjustment - scenera, true fit, radian, uptown.

Thanks!

If you want to keep him RF another suggestion is the True Fit. We bought the regular one for my 3.5 year old 29 lbs, and 37 inch. He had just about outgrown the BV RF by height. The TF has a m uch taller shell and is way cheaper than the Britax.

Heck, any seat will last longer than the comfortsport. I am surprised he still fits in that

Any of the seats you mentioned will last probably at least 2 years. You probably don't even need a 40 pound limit, but it might come in handy. So, out of the ones you listed, the evenflo triumph advance, but the new one that rear faces to 40 pounds and forward faces to 65 (it is called the evenflo triumph 65 or something like that), I think would be a good choice.

The reason why you had an issue with the straps on the older triumph is that the harness is continuous I think. That means is it just 1 strap, that runs around the whole seat (or something like that). Usually just pulling up on the tighter side evens it out (I think). Not familiar with continuous harnesses at all.

I have a ford taurus and my 3 year old is rear facing in the Radian I got a perfect install. she is 38 1/2 inches and she still has about 3 inches above her head.

My 3 year old is 28 lbs and 38 inches. She is rear-facing in a Radian XTSL, with a few inches to grow. She has about 2 1/2 inches in the EFTA, 3 inches in the MyRide, and 4 1/2 in the Radian. Any of those seats would work fine, or even the True Fit. (That's one I might try yet one day) Oh yeah, the Complete Air would be a great choice too

Thanks for your help!

Hmmm...
So, the boulevard will not be tall enough to rear face him (37") very long?
Maybe he has a short torso - I guess I'll have to measure him. I thought the boulevard had a higher rear-facing harness height than the comfort sport and he is still comfortably fitting in that rf. I like the true fit, I am just worried about the straps twisting. My husband always has trouble with straps.

Jennifer - would the seats I mentioned fit him two more years rf or ff? (Your best guess).

The only reason I'm considering those specific car seats is to keep him rf. If he is going to be ff, I thought about going for a regent or nautilus.

Thank you! That answers my question! I appreciate you letting me know how much growing space is left. I may have to give the radian another look if you got a good fit in your Taurus.

I measured him sitting down in his seat and his shoulder height is just under 11".

The crazy thing is that I went ahead and measured my 16 month old at the same time. He is not slender at all like my 3 yr old. His shoulder height is higher - 11 1/2". Wow! I knew they were only about 4-5" apart in height and 3 lbs apart in weight but did not realize their torsos were the same!

I am so glad you have this sight! The seat I was planning on buying before coming here would not have fit either boy rf more than a few months based on height/weight.

Not a tech, but, FWIW, we just got a MR for our petite 2.5 yo DD so 6 mo DS could have the TF. DH has a hard time w the TF straps. He doesn't have the patience to make sure they're even before he buckles the baby in. He seems to like the MR much better. I will say that I have to make sure the tails of the straps lay flat so they don't get bunched in the sheild on the back. (She's on the 3rd slot from the top, so she's not yet using the longest harness setting.) Also, I don't really plan to use it ffing due to its reclined nature. I got a great real on a discontinued pattern, though. So, I know we will get our $ worth just using it for rfing. When DD is ready to ff, she'll do so in the TF. Hopefully, the MR will rf DS to 3-4 and we can just get him a combo seat next. HTH

the myride and the britax seats are basically the same exact size. You don't need the 40lbs of the MyRide but it is cheaper. The Britax are a lot easier to install though and are on clearance right now so you can get really really good deals on them. I don't know anything about evenflo seats. Have you thought about the Complete air lx?? Its a lot taller although you can prob find marathon's cheaper right now

Unregistered said:

Thank you! That answers my question! I appreciate you letting me know how much growing space is left. I may have to give the radian another look if you got a good fit in your Taurus.

I measured him sitting down in his seat and his shoulder height is just under 11".

The crazy thing is that I went ahead and measured my 16 month old at the same time. He is not slender at all like my 3 yr old. His shoulder height is higher - 11 1/2". Wow! I knew they were only about 4-5" apart in height and 3 lbs apart in weight but did not realize their torsos were the same!

I am so glad you have this sight! The seat I was planning on buying before coming here would not have fit either boy rf more than a few months based on height/weight.

Click to expand...

My two kiddos are like that too! My almost 16 month old only has about 1 1/2 inches more room to grow in each of the seats I mentioned. And weight wise, yup, 3 lbs difference! I'm not sure about overall height.

Unregistered said:

Thanks for your help!

Hmmm...
So, the boulevard will not be tall enough to rear face him (37") very long?
Maybe he has a short torso - I guess I'll have to measure him. I thought the boulevard had a higher rear-facing harness height than the comfort sport and he is still comfortably fitting in that rf. I like the true fit, I am just worried about the straps twisting. My husband always has trouble with straps.

Jennifer - would the seats I mentioned fit him two more years rf or ff? (Your best guess).

The only reason I'm considering those specific car seats is to keep him rf. If he is going to be ff, I thought about going for a regent or nautilus.

Click to expand...

THe boulevard and marathon would probably last rear facing around as long as any of the others you mentioned. Give or take a few months either way.

I did mean 2 years rear facing in height, if he still fits rf with room to grow height wise in the comfort sport (rear facing height is measured perpendicular to the seat). The comfort sport is one of the smallest, if not THE smallest rear facing seat on the market. It is usually outgrown by height at the same time rear facing and forward facing. You have one of those kids that could go from rear facing to a belt positioning booster at 6.

I was thinking a 40 pound seat, though, just in case. THan you could get to 6 rear facing, then go right to a booster if you so chose and he was ready.

The newer complete air would be great, too, as it has a tall shell. If you find you can do the radian, that would be awesome, and you could do the 65sl instead of the 80 or xt because I doubt you would ever need the higher weight limits.





this is the height difference in between a big britax (it is a decathlon in marathon clothes, that is reclined more than 30*) and a radian.