High strap slots...

lmbarney

New member
My ODD has out grown her car seat.

what seat has the highest slots?

she's a tall girl. She'll be 4 in October and I'd like to keep her harnessed for as long as possible.
She's about 37 lbs and 43 inches. and has a 16 or 17 seated height.

any suggestions for a seat that will last her a while?

and in the mean time... is it safer to have her in a seat where the straps are below her shoulders FF, or in a high back booster with the seat belt?
 
ADS

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
What seat is she in now?

A booster would be safeR, but far from safe for a three year old. More like, the lesser of two evils.

I'd go to BRU today, or Target, and pick up either a Britax Frontier 85 (20" top slots) or a Graco Nautilus (18.5" top slots). Either should get you to a mature booster age, which is all that you need, not harnessing as long as possible. I hear Target has Evenflo Maestros in stock now as well, which have 18" top slots, so that would be an option as well. It'd get you a year or two harnessed, probably.

Wendy
 

lmbarney

New member
What seat is she in now?

A booster would be safeR, but far from safe for a three year old. More like, the lesser of two evils.

I'd go to BRU today, or Target, and pick up either a Britax Frontier 85 (20" top slots) or a Graco Nautilus (18.5" top slots). Either should get you to a mature booster age, which is all that you need, not harnessing as long as possible. I hear Target has Evenflo Maestros in stock now as well, which have 18" top slots, so that would be an option as well. It'd get you a year or two harnessed, probably.

Wendy

Right now she is in the cheap Cosco from Walmart.
My problem is finances... I have no money until at least Wednesday when DH gets paid. I'm in the middle of trying to find a job. So we are living on one income. I've told DH that a new car seat for DD is the TOP of our priority list, we are just broke right now. I'm trying to find a good deal on a Frontier that I can get on Wednesday, have any suggestions?

I hate this!!
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
I agree with Wendy, for a 3.5yo with 16-17" torso (that's huge!) I'd go with the Frontier 85.

Second option would be buy an Evenflo Maestro now (significantly less expensive) and then research other options when she gets to be close to too tall for that one. There may be other choices out at that point.
 

firemomof3

New member
I also agree with the Maestro :thumbsup: Its a great seat and its about $75 at Sears and some Targets. It will hopefully allow you to keep your dd harnessed until she is ready for a booster.
Here is my then 6.5y/o in the Maestro, she was about 47lbs. 48" tall and 17" torso and she still had a little growing room. She found it very comfortable :)
maggieinmaes001.jpg

maggieinmaes004.jpg
 

monstah

New member
I concur. The Maestro should be perfect for your daughter and your budget. :thumbsup:

But be aware, the booster mode of the Maestro is outgrown at nearly the same time the harness is outgrown. So you will need to purchase a high back booster (such as the Graco Turbo booster) when she outgrows the Maestro harness.

If you are able to budget a Graco Nautilus, ($130 @ Walmart) it turns into a high back, then a low back booster so you wont need to buy another car seat.
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
FWIW, I'm not sure that I agree that a not-yet-4yo will make it to booster age in a seat that only goes to 18/18.5" if her torso is possibly already 17". She might, but she also might not, and I think the OP should be aware of that. We usually say an inch of growth a year... but of course every child is different.

OP, harness as long as possible is not really necessary -- your DD will be safe in a booster when she's mature enough to sit properly in one -- but you'll probably need another 18mos-2 years harnessed before your daughter hits that maturity :)
 

Maedze

New member
I don't think she has a 16-17" torso. If she's in the 'cheap Cosco' from Walmart (the Cosco High Back Booster, OP?), it only has 14.5" top slots. If she's only just outgrown it, you'd have years of room in the Maestro.
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
Er... that post was still awaiting approval when I read and replied in the thread before, I didn't have the info about the seat. (Either the Cosco HBB, or the Scenera, I would presume.) I was going with the 16-17" listed in the initial post.

So, I retract my above comments, if she's only at 14" then the Maestro would be perfect! :D Much less expensive than the F85, which would probably be overkill for your dd.

(What does your YDD ride in? How old is she, is she RF or FF?)
 

monstah

New member
I don't think she has a 16-17" torso. If she's in the 'cheap Cosco' from Walmart (the Cosco High Back Booster, OP?), it only has 14.5" top slots. If she's only just outgrown it, you'd have years of room in the Maestro.

Yes, TY. When I posted my reply, I was pretty sure the OP just had an inaccurate torso measurement, I should have mentioned that.
 

lmbarney

New member
I don't think she has a 16-17" torso. If she's in the 'cheap Cosco' from Walmart (the Cosco High Back Booster, OP?), it only has 14.5" top slots. If she's only just outgrown it, you'd have years of room in the Maestro.

Ok, heres the deal. She is in this seat right now.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cosco-Scenera-5-Point-Convertible-Car-Seat-Black-Santee/13004563
I'm sad to sad that i just never really paid attention before. she is ATLEAST an inch or two above the top slots it has.

I can take some pictures of her in it in just a minute and post them. She's always been in the 95% or above for her height her whole life.

My YDD is almost 14 months and in a MyRide 65 RF.

Maybe I can go to target and try ODD in the Maestro and see how much room she has to grow. she might be closer to 16" torso, but when i measured it definitely wasn't below the 16" line.
I have a high back booster already. my mother bought one for her about a year ago and I just never used it because I knew she wasn't old enough yet. It turns into a backless booster too.

Does that make sense? I'm going to go get the car seat out of the car and put her in it for pictures.
 

lmbarney

New member
and my long term goal is to get ODD in a Frontier (or one like it with high slots), get a raidian for YDD (since I'll have 3 in carseats for a while and i've heard they are more narrow) and the new baby in YDD's my ride once she's to big for our infant carrier.

Would you suggest something different, or is this a good plan?
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
My neighbor did the same thing. And I see it often with the Dorel seats with low top slots. Only difference between you and my neighbor is that you are doing something quickly about it, and my neighbor (as much as I love her) left her 43 pound child with a 17" torso in a seat with a 40 pound harness limit and 14.5" top slots.

If she's an inch or two above the top slots, then yes, she's 15.5-16.5" on her torso. If you say she's not below 16", then she's probably closer to two inches above the top slot.

The Maestro will get her about 1.5" torso growth, or about 18 months, roughly. If that'll work for you, great. If not, the Nautilus has 18.5" top slots, so about two years of growth, and the Britax Frontier 85 has 20" top slots, which will get you about 3.5 years in a harness. If you want to keep her harnessed as long as possible, the Frontier is the way to go. However, the Maestro or Nautilus should get her to a mature booster age properly.

Wendy
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
They did. And boy is she cute!

If you need to take her to try her out in the seats in Target, I'd put her in the booster if you can. Then put the new seat you buy in the car in the parking lot in Target.

Glad you're getting something new! She'll probably find it far more comfortable.

She's at least two inches over, if not closer to three. Depends on where the actual slot is in the seat, rather than in the cover that we can see.

Wendy
 

Qarin

New member
How does she fit in the MyRide? Is she below the top slots? (Or, even better, is her head an inch below the shell?).

If she fits in the MyRide (FF or RF), can you just swap the seats your kids are in for the time being?
 

lmbarney

New member
Yeah, that is what I'm thinking. we haven't been anywhere in a could days so i haven't had to worry about the seat. I used the booster once and explained to her right as i buckled her that she has to sit really still and not touch the seat belt AT ALL.
the reason i noticed is because she was complaining that it was too tight, even though i knew the straps weren't too tight, so i looked.

I am going to have to go to target and see if they have the Maestro. I'll get that for her and when she's clost to outgrow that I can see what age she's at and possibly get the frontier if she isn't booster mature yet.

I think this is our best option at the moment, and I don't mind having to buy another seat later on if it will keep her safer.
 

lmbarney

New member
I tried her in the my ride RF when I first noticed the slots. her head is definitly above the sell and i think the slots were below her shoulders with the RF recline. would it make a difference in how the slots would fit her if I turned it FF without the recline?
 

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member
How does she fit in the MyRide? Is she below the top slots? (Or, even better, is her head an inch below the shell?).

If she fits in the MyRide (FF or RF), can you just swap the seats your kids are in for the time being?

Ohh, yes, I was going to try to figure out to try the myride ff for her, but then realized you can just put her in rf to see where she falls! If she still fits, then the maestro or nautilus would be great for her (and heck, you could just let her ride rf to the store to get her a new seat as the changing the straps rear facing can be done without removing the seat:)
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
I tried her in the my ride RF when I first noticed the slots. her head is definitly above the sell and i think the slots were below her shoulders with the RF recline. would it make a difference in how the slots would fit her if I turned it FF without the recline?

It might. She's right about at the top slot height for the My Ride, so it may work well for the ride to the store.

Wendy
 

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