Question convertible carseat for tall parents?

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JCtheOT

New member

• Aug 10, 2011

• #1

Please forgive me if this has been discussed before (which I'd imagine it has, but I couldn't find it anywhere). I'm 6'2" & therefore need my driver seat back as far as it goes, & nearly as far back as the passenger seat goes. We have an Evenflo Triumph RF for DS2 (16mo), but I hate that it is sooo difficult to tighten/loosen in our Altima because of the overly-padded sides of the back seats.

I was advised on here to get either a Comfort Air 65 or a Radian when I'd asked for help choosing a narrow convertible seat with the hopes of doing 3 across at some point. So I bought a CA65, but it needed to be reclined so much that my knees were at the dash & I couldn't drive. I even tried putting it a little more upright than it was "supposed" to be (which I'd read here was OK to do a little bit), but then DS's head slumped forward when he slept, which didn't look safe.

The Radian also looked really tall, so now I don't think it will fit any better. So now I'm trying to find a RF carseat for my little guy that's not super-tall, preferable on the narrow side, but obviously safe. DS2 is about 22lb & 31". Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

cookie123

New member

• Aug 10, 2011

• #2

What vehicle do you drive? Do you have other kids in car seats?

One thing I want to suggest is to try sitting more upright if your seat is very reclined. Your seat belt should be touching your shoulder. This often makes it so you can click your seat forward a bit.

If you have just one rear facing seat, placing it in the middle, so it goes between the bucket seats in front often gains some space. As far as a seat that is long lasting but won't take up as much room, the seat you have comes to mind. Also the First Years True Fit and the Britaxes don't take up as much room, but they're not very narrow. Sometimes the Britaxes will puzzle well with other seats.

 

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Jan06twinmom

New member

• Aug 10, 2011

• #3

My 6'1" DH had to slide his seat up a notch in order to accommodate a rf seat behind his seat. It didn't give him quite as much room as he preferred, but he was able to fit in the seat safely for 2 1/2 years when our huge DS reached the limit of our seats. We have twins so no option to put the rf seat behind the passenger's side.

When we put DS ff, we put him behind the driver's seat so my DH could scoot the seat back further. He traded more space for having a 2yo kick his seat constantly We kept his much smaller twin sister rf behind the passenger's seat. I actually found that when we had her seat more upright, I could put the passenger's seat pretty far back.

Knowing what car you have will help us figure out what might work better for you. We had a Ford Taurus with the old style Evenflo Triumph and Britax convertible rear-facing. Even the Radian 65 worked well rf behind the passenger seat in our car.

Melanie

 

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KaiLing

New member

• Aug 10, 2011

• #4

JCtheOT said:

The Radian also looked really tall, so now I don't think it will fit any better.

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The Radian, unlike the CA, can be installed at a more upright angle, so can in many cars take up less room front to back. It also can be braced on a seat that allows it (more likely to be allowed on cars older than 2005). It can be a difficult seat in many cars, though. I have a love / hate relationship with mine.

 

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JCtheOT

New member

• Aug 10, 2011

• #5

We have an '02 Altima & another DS in a Graco Nautilus. We want to keep DS1 on the passenger side since he can get in by himself & we'd prefer he not be in the street to get in when we park at the curb. I'm happy to hear that the Radian doesn't need to be as reclined, but when I tried the CA more upright, baby's head slumped forward in his sleep so I worry about that happening with the Radian as well. I don't see how any carseat could fit in the middle since the Nautilus is so darn wide, but maybe I can try it since the Radian seems pretty narrow. I'd also heard the Scenera is a good option for narrow seats (other than the lack of padding), & it seemed to be shorter, so maybe I should try that, too. Hmmm...

 

WonderingMama

New member

• Aug 10, 2011

• #6

If you don't care for the lack of padding on the scenera, the titan has the same shell. It costs a bit more and I believe kids outgrow it in height quicker than the recommended weight.

 

J

JCtheOT

New member

• Aug 10, 2011

• #7

WonderingMama said:

If you don't care for the lack of padding on the scenera, the titan has the same shell. It costs a bit more and I believe kids outgrow it in height quicker than the recommended weight.

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Really--the same shell? Are Cosco & Evenflo related? I'll have to check that one out, too. DS2 is really tiny, so we're expecting pretty much any seat to fit him for a long time, regardless their limits. Thanks!

 

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JCtheOT

New member

• Aug 11, 2011

• #8

Anyone else have any suggestions? I'm just so fed up with the difficulting adjusting the Triumph in our car, but would prefer it to having my knees against the dashboard/steering wheel. Thanks!

 

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Jan06twinmom

New member

• Aug 11, 2011

• #9

How old/big is your DS? Would you consider replacing the Graco Nautilus if it made it easier for you? The Nautilus is a great seat and one I often recommend, but it might not be the best one for your car right now.

I'm wondering if you replaced the Nautilus with a narrow seat (Evenflo Maestro? Radian), if you could then make it possible to put a narrow/smaller seat in the middle position. If you go with the Radian, you could use if for the older child now and pass it down to the baby to use in a couple of years either rf or ff. The Maestro is a forward-facing only seat, but it could also be passed down to the baby in a few years.

For a narrow seat, maybe look at the Combi Coccoro. I think other people mentioned some other options like the Titan and the Scenera.

Melanie

 

tentoes

New member

• Aug 11, 2011

• #10

What about a Combo Coccoro? Its pretty narrow and takes up a lot less space (front-to-back) than most convertible seats.

 

honeydew

Active member

• Aug 11, 2011

• #11

I was going to suggest a Coccoro, as well. It won't last as long (RF or FF) as the other seats you've been discussing, but it might work out really well for the next year or 2.

 

WonderingMama

New member

• Aug 11, 2011

• #12

JCtheOT said:

Really--the same shell? Are Cosco & Evenflo related? I'll have to check that one out, too. DS2 is really tiny, so we're expecting pretty much any seat to fit him for a long time, regardless their limits. Thanks!

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I found that information here:http://carseatblog.com/10598/a-comparison-of-convertible-carseats-priced-under-100/

You can scroll down to the section about the titan and they do a comparision picture. I had thought about the titan as well but I've got a tall boy at about 80-90% percentile so it would not work for my bubbs.

Also, I'm in the process of trying out my daughter's scenera rear facing for him. The first install I did (way too early this morning) didn't give me the angle I liked so I'll be working on it again at lunch. We'll see how that works in my small car.

 

Last edited: Aug 11, 2011

J

JCtheOT

New member

• Aug 11, 2011

• #13

Jan06twinmom said:

How old/big is your DS? Would you consider replacing the Graco Nautilus if it made it easier for you? The Nautilus is a great seat and one I often recommend, but it might not be the best one for your car right now.

I'm wondering if you replaced the Nautilus with a narrow seat (Evenflo Maestro? Radian), if you could then make it possible to put a narrow/smaller seat in the middle position. If you go with the Radian, you could use if for the older child now and pass it down to the baby to use in a couple of years either rf or ff. The Maestro is a forward-facing only seat, but it could also be passed down to the baby in a few years.

Click to expand...

DS1 is abou 46" & 46lb, & he LOVES his carseat, so I think we'll just figure out whatever will work best for DS2, even if it's a pain for us to deal with. Most of DS1's friends are just in boosters, so we want staying in a carseat to be as "fun" as we can makeit for as long as possible. I know the Nauti does take up a lot of room, but since he really likes it, I don't want to mess up a good thing. I'll check into the other suggestions everyone had & hopefully we'll come up ith something that works. At least DS2 is tiny, so he should fit RF for quite awhile, & then FF in whatever we find until DS1 outgrows the need for the Nauti & then we'll probably just switch him to that one down the line. Thanks!