A couple of convertible questions...

K's Mama · Mar 26, 2011

My sister's little guy will soon need to be moved out of his bucket (he's 6 months old, 14 lbs - in a snugride with a 22lb/29" limit that is expiring soon)and she is starting to look at convertible seats. Things have changed a lot in the last couple of years since I've bought seats.

I had told her to go with a TureFit Premiere but at ToysRUs today they said they have been discontinued by the store. Is there anywhere in Saskatchewan to buy them or have they been completely discontinued? As much as I like my regular TrueFit, the harness adjuster is a real PITA to reach when RF'ing.

The other seat that she looked at and liked was the Evenflo Momentum. I know absolutely nothing about the seat, but it looked like it would be a breeze to install with those UAS connectors. Since he's a pretty small little guy at 6 months, I'm guessing that he could still RF for a long time even though the limit is only 30lbs (we seem to have small kids and my DD followed a similar growth pattern as a baby and is only 35 lbs now at 5 years old. She was over 3 before hitting 30lbs). What are the thoughts on the seat?

Any other rec's for a fairly easy to install/use convertible?

jourdysmom · Mar 26, 2011

Graco seats expire in December of the 6th year, so you are OK there. How close to the top of the shell is his head? He still might have room for a little while longer :thumbsup:

I can't offer advice about Canadian seats though

mam521 · Mar 26, 2011

Do you know if your sister is going to ERF like you?

I'm not sure if the TFP's have been discontinued entirely or not.

Graco My Ride is another good seat but its hard to find these days. 40lb RF limit, 65lb FF limit. Its a rethread style harness but it sure is plushy and gives my little guy a ton of leg room RF'ing.

The Complete Air is likely another option. It RF till 40lbs, FF to 50lbs and has higher top harness slots if the babe is a tall, skinny featherweight

SK Radian is the highest RF limits available on the Premier and XT models at 45lbs and 65lbs FF. It is a rethread type harness but takes up a lot of room in some vehicles.

The Britax convertibles are always out there. If the growth curve for height isn't too tall, then this might be an option.

It is crazy how stuff changes so quickly

I'd take her vehicle and go check some seats out and try them out. Is there a target price point too?

selinajean · Mar 26, 2011

I just wanted to throw out there that the True Fit has the continuous loop harness too. If you use that to your advantage, the awkward harness release is a non-issue.

mam521 · Mar 26, 2011

selinajean said:
I just wanted to throw out there that the True Fit has the continuous loop harness too. If you use that to your advantage, the awkward harness release is a non-issue.

Yeah, I figured since the OP had a TF, she'd know all about it :thumbsup:

K's Mama · Mar 27, 2011

jourdysmom said:
Graco seats expire in December of the 6th year, so you are OK there. How close to the top of the shell is his head? He still might have room for a little while longer :thumbsup:

I can't offer advice about Canadian seats though

He's getting up there with height - maybe an inch or so of shell. She's not in a real rush to move him but wants to decide on a seat so she can just pick it up when a sale comes.

mam521 said:
Do you know if your sister is going to ERF like you?

I'm not sure if the TFP's have been discontinued entirely or not.

Graco My Ride is another good seat but its hard to find these days. 40lb RF limit, 65lb FF limit. Its a rethread style harness but it sure is plushy and gives my little guy a ton of leg room RF'ing.

The Complete Air is likely another option. It RF till 40lbs, FF to 50lbs and has higher top harness slots if the babe is a tall, skinny featherweight

SK Radian is the highest RF limits available on the Premier and XT models at 45lbs and 65lbs FF. It is a rethread type harness but takes up a lot of room in some vehicles.

The Britax convertibles are always out there. If the growth curve for height isn't too tall, then this might be an option.

It is crazy how stuff changes so quickly I'd take her vehicle and go check some seats out and try them out. Is there a target price point too?

She said she'd RF until at least 2, maybe closer to 3. She didn't so much have a price in mind, but would prefer to buy at ToysRUs b/c she has a gift card.

She didn't like the looks of the Big *wings* on the Complete Air. I didn't see the MyRide either. IT seemed to be a bunch of Eddie Bauer and Alpha Omega's, Britax seats and then the True Fit, Complete Air and Momentum. THe Momentum was the seat that really caught her eye as it looked so easy to install with UAS. Other than the 30lb RF'ing limit what is the consensus on the seat? And out of curiosity, why the 30lb limit when the US version is 40lb? Might they come out with a higher weight version here?

mam521 · Mar 27, 2011

I'm not sure about the RFing weight on the Momentum. I don't personally have any experience with them. The closest I have is the Triumph that my SIL had. She liked it because of the infinite slide harness, especially if she had to toss my other nephew in the seat for a quick trip. She didn't like how my nephew's head flopped so far left and right though because the seat is wide. But again, thats just an opinion and one on a slightly different seat at that. Your nephew may not have that issue in the seat.

Something to consider might also be the differences between the Momentum and Symphony models. Again, I have no experience with either.

I'm pretty sure you can use TRU gift cards for online purchases. If you can find a seat you like in another store and its available at TRU, I'd order it. The TF and MR65 are showing up online, so maybe a trip to Zellers just to physically see the seats and try your nephew in them might not be a bad thing. Hopefully you can find something that makes momma and baby happy!

snowbird25ca · Mar 27, 2011

The momentum is a very nice seat. It has the infinite adjust harness which tends to fit kids well both as babies and older kids, and the UAS connectors are really nice. I have read some criticism on here of the connectors being hard to use, but the vehicles I've used it in it really is as simple as click-click-push like they advertise.

It has a front adjuster on it so if she didn't like the knobs of the EFTA then it's the way to go. I'd probably prefer the sure latch connectors over the hooks of the EFTA too - but the EFTA does offer about 1" more growing room than the momentum. The momentum is still going to last a good length of time though - a touch longer than the new Britax seats, with better shoulder room and more leg support (and leg room when rf'ing.)

The only thing I fault the seat on is the 30lb rf'ing limit, but with kiddo's growth curve 30lbs is plenty for him. I'd try it in her vehicle and try her son in it and if she still likes it after that then go for it. :thumbsup:

K's Mama · Mar 27, 2011

snowbird25ca said:
The momentum is a very nice seat. It has the infinite adjust harness which tends to fit kids well both as babies and older kids, and the UAS connectors are really nice. I have read some criticism on here of the connectors being hard to use, but the vehicles I've used it in it really is as simple as click-click-push like they advertise.

It has a front adjuster on it so if she didn't like the knobs of the EFTA then it's the way to go. I'd probably prefer the sure latch connectors over the hooks of the EFTA too - but the EFTA does offer about 1" more growing room than the momentum. The momentum is still going to last a good length of time though - a touch longer than the new Britax seats, with better shoulder room and more leg support (and leg room when rf'ing.)

The only thing I fault the seat on is the 30lb rf'ing limit, but with kiddo's growth curve 30lbs is plenty for him. I'd try it in her vehicle and try her son in it and if she still likes it after that then go for it. :thumbsup:

Very helpful! Thank you.

mam521 · Mar 27, 2011

snowbird25ca said:
It has a front adjuster on it so if she didn't like the knobs of the EFTA then it's the way to go.

Ugh...I hated the dumb harness adjuster knob on my SIL's EFTA. I don't like it as the height adjustment on my BV either! Thank goodness for seat selection

snowbird25ca · Mar 27, 2011

mam521 said:
Ugh...I hated the dumb harness adjuster knob on my SIL's EFTA. I don't like it as the height adjustment on my BV either! Thank goodness for seat selection

See, the knobs are such an individual thing. I love them. I love how easy it is to tighten the harness and how fast it is.

But that's the way it is with the knobs - they're a love it or hate it thing and in some vehicles they just don't work when the seat is rf'ing. So yep, thank goodness for seat selection.

sparkyd · Mar 28, 2011

I've only ever installed one momentum and I had a hard time with those UAS connectors. I think it might partly be because I'm short; I think long arms help when installing that seat RF (so you can grab the vehicle seat and push with your body). Or maybe I just need to play with one and figure out what works for me.

I just wanted to mention that the True Fit Premier is available on the babyproofingplus.com website if she is really interested in that one.

A couple of convertible questions...

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