Opinions on buying secondary car seats? Safety + affordability

SkylarKD

New member
Hello!

I have 2 daughters:
- 4.5 years old, apx 37lbs, tall and thin
- 1 year old, apx. 20 lbs

Right now I have 2 Radians for my girls, which I love. One is FF and one is RF.
(DOM July 2007 and August 2010)

In September we will need to buy secondary car seats for my husband's car as well, so he can drop them off and I can pick them up. We don't have the money to buy 2 more Radians, so what would you suggest I buy?

I would like to keep my 1 year old RF as long as possible. My 4 year old isn't ready for a small booster, but maybe a high back booster, or a booster with a harness?

As I mentioned, these will be secondary car seats. They won't be used every day, and although I'm looking for a lower price than Radians, I don't want to sacrifice safety.

I live in New Brunswick, Canada, and my hubby has a 2001 Mazda Protege. When we upgrade cars next year, he'll inherit my 2007 Honda Accord, and I'll get something a bit larger. :)

There are a few car seat sales this week, which I might take advantage of if they have decent manufacturing dates, but I know nothing about the seats!

Zellers:
Safety 1st Alpha Omega - $99.97 (RF 5-35lbs, FF 22-25lbs, belt positioning 40-80lbs)
First Years True Fit - $119.97 (RF 5-22lbs, FF 22-65lbs)
Cosco Scenera - $59.97 (RF 5-30lbs, FF 22-40lbs)

Sears:
Graco My Ride - $159.99 (RF 5-40lbs, FF 22-65lbs)
Safety 1st Onside Air - $89.99 (RF 5-40lbs, FF 22-40lbs)

I'm open to other suggestions, too! Any advice you have to give would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Kirsten
 
ADS

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member
For the 4 year old, you can try looking for the evenflo maestro. I see it at sears canada for around 130. She does not need a convertible seat since she won't be rear facing.

The onside air for 90 in Canada seems like it might be a good deal, but it has a shorter shell than some of the other seats. It is about the same size as the scenera, but rear faces to 40 pounds. The graco myride is a great seat, but bigger than some.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
I'd move the forward facing Radian to rear facing in the 2nd car. But 2 Nautilus or Maestros for your older child.
 

tiggercat

New member
I agree with the seat suggestions, but I just wanted to note that 4.5 yr old must stay in a 5pt harness until at least 40lbs. No boosters in canada are rated for children below that weight.
 

SkylarKD

New member
Thanks for your opinions, I appreciate the discussion!

The Nautilus is more expensive than I was hoping for (almost as expensive as Radians here)... is the Maestro a good seat? I haven't heard of it before. I did a quick search and read that the headrest isn't adjustable, which makes me wonder about longevity.

We bought our second Radian for my baby a few months ago, with the plan to keep my 4 year old in hers for another year or two as her primary car seat, so I'm not keen to move it to my hubby's car as an occasional-use car seat. I'm thinking that by the time we're ready to put her in a booster, then we can give it to my younger daughter as her secondary seat.
I'm still considering though!

Hmmm. The Cosco website says that the Scenera is RF until 35lbs, but the Zellers flyer says 30lbs. Is it a decent seat?

Anyone else have opinions? I don't want to get a crappy seat, even though I'm looking for a lower price, and I tend to question the safety of low cost car seats!

And what about ease of installation and harness adjustment? The temperature varies a lot here, so I loosen or tighten the straps almost every time I buckle my kids in.
 

mom2pjs

Senior Community Member
My disclaimer... I don't know anything about Canada except it is North of here...
The Scenera is a $40 seat here, I bought it as a travel seat to drag around airports. It is very bare bones with hardly any padding. It feels 'cheap' compared to the Britax seats in my car. It is fairly lightweight. I found it easy to install in a variety of cars while travelling. Mine RFd to 35# and FF to 40# but we outgrew it by torso height before weight. I felt my install was solid and my usage was correct, it did not feel unsafe, just did not seem comfortable for a Fulltime seat.

I would second the buying 2 new seats for the older child and moving the Radian RF for the baby. The Maestro might last your older child until she is booster age/size. I have heard it doesn't make a good booster because of the headrest adjustment. Personally I don't like the Alpha Omega, but I have several friends who use it and it has lasted them to 5 years old or so. I love the Graco Nautilis, but I picked it up for under $150 here. Soon it will be my Full time seat as my girl is maxed by height in her Britax. Good luck.
 

krissybear25

New member
Nauti is on sale at sears for 189.99 thus week. And superstore for 164.44. I don't know If the superstore one is the same price at different stores or provinces. it was not in the flyer that's the price in store.

(I've posted this a few time today but it's a good price and a number of people say that its regular price is more then they wanna spend. So sorry for double posting)
 

krissybear25

New member
I hate the alpha omega. I got mine for $75 when walmart was clearenceing them out. The original scenera is no better than a bucket seat if Ur usin it for rearfacing I have it and I can not use it rearfacing for my kids that are 1 1/2. Because the rearfacing limit is 32 inches.

I agree that it would e a good idea to keep the radians for the baby and get two forward facing seats for the older child
 

mam521

New member
Thanks for your opinions, I appreciate the discussion!

The Nautilus is more expensive than I was hoping for (almost as expensive as Radians here)... is the Maestro a good seat? I haven't heard of it before. I did a quick search and read that the headrest isn't adjustable, which makes me wonder about longevity.

We bought our second Radian for my baby a few months ago, with the plan to keep my 4 year old in hers for another year or two as her primary car seat, so I'm not keen to move it to my hubby's car as an occasional-use car seat. I'm thinking that by the time we're ready to put her in a booster, then we can give it to my younger daughter as her secondary seat.
I'm still considering though!

Hmmm. The Cosco website says that the Scenera is RF until 35lbs, but the Zellers flyer says 30lbs. Is it a decent seat?

Anyone else have opinions? I don't want to get a crappy seat, even though I'm looking for a lower price, and I tend to question the safety of low cost car seats!

And what about ease of installation and harness adjustment? The temperature varies a lot here, so I loosen or tighten the straps almost every time I buckle my kids in.

Have you purchased your seats yet?

As mentioned, the Nautilus is on sale at Superstore for that $165 mark. The nice thing about it is its a harnessed seat to 65lbs, a high back booster and then the back can come off to be a low back booster. In low back mode, it has a 9 year expiration, so in essence, it could very well be the last seat you have to buy for your daughter. It has a smooth adjusting harness, so tightening it up shouldn't be an issue and she'll love the cup holder and built in cubbies in the arm rests to hide her "treasures" in. The other thing I like about it personally is because its a staged booster, you can pull just the bottom part of the cover off to wash if someone spills while riding in it. This really is a great deal and would save you money over all in the long run because of the age/stage it covers. Its a really great fit for a 4yo.

If you really aren't into the Nauti, costco.ca has the Complete Air on for $130. This seat has a no rethread harness and is one of the taller ones out there harness wise.

What is the RF limit on the '07 DOM Radian? If you really don't want to give it up to DH's vehicle, there are a couple of great deals this week that would keep the 1yo RF for as long as possible. The True Fit you'd mentioned at Zellers is a really good deal at this time. Its got a 35lb RF limit, but has a reasonably tall shell. The My Ride is a 40lb RF limit seat. It doesn't have as tall of a shell as the TF, but my little guy will be in his for a very long time to come anyway :) Another thread had mentioned it being cheaper than Sears at Superstore along with the Nautilus.

Just a reminder that although the temperature is quite variable across Canada, your kiddos should never be in anything heavier than a fleece jacket with their regular clothes...compression of a bulky jacket during a collision event could cause them to be ejected from that harness. Think of the space bag scenario where you vacuum all the air out of the bag to store a comforter - thats in essence how much air there is between the jacket and your child's harness, rendering it loose, no matter how hard you try to tighten that harness adjuster.

If you're ever curious how much of a difference there really is, put your LO in the seat in the jacket, buckle and tighten. Without loosening the harness, unbuckle, take the jacket off and rebuckle. If you can get more than one finger under the harness, that jacket is for sure making the harness too loose. Just some food for thought (and hopefully long thoughts...hoping for a LONG summer before we have to give a second thought to bulky layers!).

Good luck seat shopping!
 

amyd

New member
I'd probably move the Radian to be rear-facing in the second vehicle and purchase 1 Nautilus and 1 Maestro. You might check Zellers for a Nautilus. The Zellers here in Moncton had a few on clearance for $100 this week.
 

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