Question Best Crash Protection for Underweight 5 y.o. Twins in '92 Camry

U

Unregistered

Guest
I have 5 year-old twins who are tiny. They weight 33 pounds and are 42 inches tall. We recently moved to an area with much more hazardous driving conditions; rollovers seem chillingly common on the mountain roads. I would like to upgrade their car seats to provide them the best possible protection. I also would like them to be able to utilize the carseat, and especially the 5-point harness, as long as possible. Cost isn't really an issue; I simply want the safest carseat for them.

Thank you!
 
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StPaulMom

Active member
I've also got a small 5 year old :)
Your best bet will be something like a Graco Nautilus, Britax Frontier85 or Recaro ProSport.
I have the Nautilus Elite, which has built in lockoffs, which is a great feature in a car like yours where you will have to use the seat belt for installation. :twocents:
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
They are about the size of my small 4 year old :) Can you measure their torso? Have them sit on the floor, with their back flat against the wall. Measure from the floor to the top of their shoulders.
 

HayleyCPST

New member
Are they in boosters now? Which ones?

I'd also check out the Evenflo maestro. It's about 80 bucks and has 18" stop slots and a 50lb weight limit. It's not a very good booster, but you can use the ones you already have hopefully.
 

Maedze

New member
You also want to get top tether anchors retrofitted for your vehicle. All forward facing harnessed seats should use the tether anchor. Contact a Toyota dealer for the retrofit.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Thank you so, so much for your responses.

I will definitely be contacting a Toyota dealer about retrofitting the car for the top tether anchors. Thank you for the tip!

I measured their torso, and it seems to be close to 15 inches, as best I can tell. They are definitely long-legged. I'm not sure that they are especially long in the torso.

TheyI do have them in toddler car seats, not booster seats. Their current car seats are a very basic model, though, that a social worker from Early Intervention helped me get for them. The car seats are very inadequate for our new mountain home, though, so Santa Clause is helping them get more crashworthy carseats.

Thank you so much again, everyone, for your responses. Trying to sort through the reams of information and then ferret what is the best seat for my children has been a little confusing and difficult.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
All seats have to pass the same testing. There isn't testing for "mountain home" versus "beach home." All seats go through the same tests.

What seats are they? They may have outgrown them by torso height, depending on what seats they are.

15" torsos in kids their height is consistent with long legs and shorter than average torsos. You have the best of the carseat world!! Short torsos and light weight. Consider yourself lucky here. LOL

Wendy
 

tarynsmum

Senior Community Member
They sound pretty much (OK, exactly, lol) the same size as my DD, who turns 5 in a month. The torso height is even pretty close. If I needed to buy her a new seat tomorrow it would probably be a Nauti elite (especially for the lock offs, like PP said).

After that, maybe the Maestro.

Then probably the Frontier 85. The reason I wouldn't push the Frontier higher is with my DD's growth, she'll never need the weight limit (ever...) and honestly I trust knowing her maturity level now, that she'd be ready for full time boostering by 6/6.5 depending on her size then. I'd hate not using the seat to it's full potential :eek: and I can't see her ouotgrowing the top harness height at that age. I feel like your kids are probably similar (except the maturity level bit - I don't know your kids, lol)
 

Stresch

New member
There is a program through Safe Kids (I think) to get the anchors retrofitted for a $5 donation. I'm sure if you search on here for it, you'll find the info. My computer keeps freezing, so I can't do it. Definitely use that. I had my Camry retrofitted before the program started, and it wasn't cheap.
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
While rear facing if possible can trump forward facing safety-wise, the aforementioned top tethering is definitely strongly recommended for any forward facing harnessed carseat installation because it helps to reduce head excursion, the amount the child's head moves forward/beyond the carseat protective shell during a crash. On that note, to ease the cost of top tether anchor retrofitting in the OP's Camry, there is a voucher program available online for retrofittable Toyota/Lexus owners through SafetyBeltSafeUSA for a $5 donation per top tether anchor to cover administrative costs. Details and a voucher application form are at http://carseat.org/Events_Media/0_ToyotaIP.htm :thumbsup:
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
If you do decide to forward-face (rear-facing is always safest, but at 5 I'd see either as an acceptable choice), make sure you take advantage of the Safety Belt Safe/Toyota partnership retrofit program-- read about it here. :)
 

SignCuer

New member
Hi! I have a '91 Camry so I can help you out here. :D

I have both Graco Nautilus and Britax Frontier85.. and tried Recaro ProSport in mine. I believe they didn't really redesigned the Camry until later so we have the same seats..

Graco Nautilus install like a dream in any positions.. outboards and middle. :thumbsup: I got them rock solid in my car. You will need a locking clip if you use outboard sides. The lap belt is a locking plate. My suggestion if you get the Nautiluses, get the Elites not the regular ones since they have lockoffs so you will NOT need the locking clips :thumbsup:

Britax Frontier85 will be an.... interesting install.. It is hard to get it installed properly because the 91 Camry has long buckle stalks (even after twisting the buckle stalks) so it's hard to get it tightened properly but I finally got it done after 2 hours of mumbling, mumbling.. ;) It's a great seat with great booster afterwards.

However after it's installed, it's a great seat but not if you have to switch cars. It is best to be installed with the long belt path because the Camry has LONG belts and the long belt path used all up of it so I didn't use the locking clip. :thumbsup: (however it took me and my 6 yr old cousin :love: to install it in the long belt path)

Recaro ProSport is an other good seat to install it in my car. I found it great to install with the lap belt the best and the outboards are easy to install with less than 1 inch of movement. It does fit my 6 yr old (who is petite and stocky) really well in the harness and booster mode.

Maybe if later today I have time (I have finals this week) I can post up pictures.

If you decide to want to RF your twins (RF is best but your twins are at the age where it is an acceptable choice to FF your kids) My suggestions: either CompleteAir65 or Radian (any versions will work).. Both install like a dream in my Camry! :love: Complete Air65 has tall top slots (my 8 yr old fits in there still! :eek: :D) so most likely it will last your twins until booster age.. They could RF until 40 lbs to 45 lbs (Radian) then you could switch them FF then after that, dedicated boosters later down the road when they are ready to be in one.

My suggestions for all of that info ;) :

RF: Complete Air 65, Radians (in that order)
FF: Graco Nautilus Elite, Recaro ProSport, Britax Frontier85 (in that order)

If you want me to post pics up so you can see better, I can do that. :D

Happy car-seat shopping!
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
With kids that lightweight, if I was going to consider rearfacing, I might look to the Complete Air instead of the Radian. They won't ever need those extra five pounds.

I am a big advocate of "RF as long as possible" (I watch a little girl who is 34lbs and will be 5 in May; she still RFs 75-90% of the time with me,) forward facing them would definitely be a responsible decision. If you are looking for "absolute safest," then yes, RF is it.

For a FF seat, I think I would look at the Maestro. No need for the extra 15lbs of the Nautilus, and they're the same height. Definitely get those top tethers installed. :)

Also, if the girls still fit in their current seats, and they are unexpired, you have time to make a decision.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Thank you so, so much for the info on retrofitting my Camry through Safe Kids. I will DEFINITELY be doing that, especially since it's so subsidized that cost isn't a barrier.

I hadn't considered rear-facing. They rear-faced until age 2 because they weren't 20 pounds until then. :) With rear-facing being safer, I am going to look into the rear-facing car seats suggested. I know that all carseats must pass the same safety standards, so rightly or wrongly, I had not worried much about our lower-end carseats. But with our move to a mountainous regions, the likelihood of a very serious car wreck seems so much higher than where we lived previously. Cars frequently flip or rollover here. If rear-facing will give them more protection, I'm certainly willing to look for carseats that will accomodate that.

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to respond and offer advice. I really appreciate it.
 

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