Question 2004 Forester and convertible seat for very large toddler?

Background info : I have a 27 month old WIDE and tall toddler who has been FF in a Marathon CS behind the driver's seat since he was a year old (based on the recommendations I was aware of at the time). Also have a 6 month old infant in a Keyfit RF behind the passenger's seat. Passenger is always scrunched up with knees near the dashboard because the Keyfit takes up so much room, and toddler is always getting legs/shoes stuck between his FF seat and the driver's seat, and complains loudly because he is uncomfy when this happens. Car is a 2004 Subaru Forester - the car that hates carseats lol

I have managed to convince my huz to put our 27 month old toddler RF again. Our plan is to RF the older style Marathon behind the drivers seat. My infant daughter (6 months old) is about a hair away from outgrowing her Keyfit by height, so she will go behind the driver seat in that Marathon RF. So now we need a new convertible seat for my toddler to RF behind the passenger's seat. Middle seat in the Forester is not an option.

The problem we face now is finding one that will fit in the small backseat. We thought about a Radian, but the Radian apparently has notorious installation problems when you try to install it RF in a 2004 Forester. Also, we managed to find one locally and sat my son in it, and the seat interior width around the hips was very snug for him - I don't think he will last another year sitting in this seat if he keeps growing up and out at the same time like he has been. The shoulder width was great tho.

So this leaves us with a new dilemma - do we try a newer Britax Marathon 70 RF, a Recaro Proride (which I have heard is narrow?), or does anyone have any recommendations for an extended RF seat that can accomodate a larger/wider child for a few years? If you have any experience with a Forester and convertible seats I would really appreciate the help! It's not easy to try to wrangle a fidgety toddler and an infant while trying these seats out in the store and trying them in my car My research hasn't given me any current suggestions with newer car seat models in this car, or suggestions for my specific issue with having a toddler built like a tank lol

Thanks in advance!

How much does your son weigh and how tall is he, what is his torso height as well, these are all vety important to helping pick a seat. Where are his shoulders on the Marathon? I have a large toddler myself snd rfing isnt an option without importing a seat. The older Marathon only goes to 33lbs rfing, so your daughter might not last long in it if she follows her brother.

I am not a car seat expert, but I had a very large toddler. I found the Evenflo Triumph and Momentum worked well for a wide child. I don't know if or how they would fit in your car.

I have the dreaded small backseat Forester too and I understand how hard it can be to ERF with a tall/big kid family. Not knowing more details, it's hard for me to know if our solution would work for you, but I'll share in case it's helpful.

We desperately needed more front seat passenger seat legroom. I moved our "tank" to the new Roundabout 55 at 2 yo (about the same age as yours), not expecting her to last more than a year in it, but it fit so much better, leaving our front passenger seat inches more than it had with our classic marathon. Normally, that would not be the best RFing option for a big kid, but we needed that space and it worked great with our car and we went into it knowing the limitations. I'm pleased that we've gotten over a year rear facing in it, but she's going to outgrow it by height any day now and we are fortunate that she does not have a long torso.

Again, I don't know your details. It may be that this seat would only last him a few months (it is shorter than the old MA and will be outgrown by height sooner). Or it may be that you don't need your passenger seat quite as far back as we do and then you would have other options. Just sharing in case it is helpful because I know how much we struggled with this and appreciated all the help we got (so paying it forward ). Best Wishes!

P.S. Regarding the FF marathon issue, have you tried making your front seat more upright?

OP here (I registered) Thanks so much for your responses. My son about 37-1/4 inches tall, about 37 lbs, and is in the tallest harness straps for the FF Marathon CS. He wiggles a lot, but as far as I can tell his torso height with him sitting crosslegged on the floor is around 15 inches, maybe a little less?

I had not considered a Roundabout or the Evenflos.. are they the same height/size as the Marathon CS? Any thoughts about a Graco My Ride 65? I hear the clasp in front can easily be unbuckled by the child?

As far as the FF Marathon CS goes.. right now the seat is in back of the driver, and thats usually my husband (uses the car for work). He is a tank too and is as upright and forward as he can safely/physically sit lol. My seat on the passenger side is more upright and forward with the massive Keyfit behind it (I am only 5 ft 8). The Keyfit is not touching my seat.

Thanks again for any insight you guys have for us

Disclaimer: I am not a tech, just someone who has also dealt with the difficulties of the Forester.

Anyway, since I brought up the Roundabout, I'll explain that there are 3 roundabouts - the classic 40, classic 50, and new generation 55. The 40 is quite a bit smaller, but I think it is no longer sold anyway. The classic 50 is the same shell/shell height as the classic marathon CS (the one you have?) and the new generation 55 (the one we have that just came out last year) is actually an inch shorter, but has the higher 40 pound rear facing limit, so it comes down to the build of the kid which would be outgrown rear facing first. I hope this was helpful.

I haven't tried the other seats you mentioned, so I cannot comment, but I'm sure others will chime in soon. however, if you can fit a rear facing classic marathon AND a keyfit and both your DH and yourself can still fit and drive okay in front of those two seats, I would think you'd probably have some decent options.

If you want to rf him again, the only seat worth buying is a Radian, it rf to 45lbs, but I don't know how wide it is. The new Britax only go to 40lb rfing, the same with the Evenflo seats. Do you have anywhere that sells the Radian that you could try it out and see how much room it leaves the front seats? I know Buy Buy Baby has it in store, but BRU does not. I don't know your financial situation and if you have money to buy a different seat that will only last you for 3lbs rfing.

If you decide not to go back to rfing him I would look at the Britax Frontier 85, it has a 9 year lifespan and you will get your moneys worth out of it.

If you want to rf him the only seat that makes since is a radian that rf to 45#. But it doesn't work well in your car.

He can only gain 3# before maxing out a 40# rf seat.

I would get him a better ff seat. Meaning one that doesn't get his feet stuck. Something that sits back further, not on a base.

Check out the graco nautilus and britax frontier. He might fit better in the frontier because it is nice and wide compared to the nautilus.

Pass the current britax down to the new baby.

Kaitsmom said:

Do you have anywhere that sells the Radian that you could try it out and see how much room it leaves the front seats?

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She said above they tried their son in it and the seat didn't seem wide enough for him. But it doesn't sound like they tried it in the car.

Thanks again so much for the helpful suggestions!

We tried our son in the Nautilus (doesn't seem to fit him well with any room to grow). We also tried him in the Frontier 85 and Frontier 85 SICT - which I absolutely love, but from my research it seems it will not install well in our 2004 Forester We have not actually tried that one in our backseat yet though, just going off what I have read.. if I can snag a babysitter I will try to get to the store and physically try that. (We didn't try the Radian in our backseat since the seat was so narrow on our son when he sat in it that we didn't think it would be a good seat for him).

Otherwise, so far its looking like we are going to go for a Recaro Prosport for the time being. We can pass the seat down to our younger daughter if my son outgrows the top harness height or outgrows it sizewise, and hope that someone develops a new seat in the near future that will fit our car/big kids better.

patsull5 said:

We didn't try the Radian in our backseat since the seat was so narrow on our son when he sat in it that we didn't think it would be a good seat for him.

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I'm surprised that you had this issue. My DS jumped growth curves as a preschooler and ended up in the 97th+ percentile. He's built like a future linebacker with wide shoulders and thick legs. The Radian was his favorite seat and fit him much better than the Britax convertible. I was concerned about how it would grow with him, but I ended up being really impressed with how well it worked. My DS outgrew the Radian when he was around 48in tall and 65lbs. He is one of the few kids who was outgrowing the seat by weight and height at the same time.

I know you have issues with installation in your car. However, if installation wasn't an issue, I would put the Radian at the top of the list for a rear-facing seat and the Frontier at the top of the list for a forward-facing seat. My DS still fits in the Britax Regent (same harness slots at the Frontier) at 6y9m and 52in and 69lbs.

Can you work with a CPST to try to see if either the Radian or the Frontier will work in your car? There is a list of CPST from this board if you want to find someone who probably has more experience with these car seats.

Melanie

Before entirely discounting the radian, my 4 year old still fits around the waist in things that fit her at 2. She has gained weight and is very tall (42.25" at her 4 year visit, 97th %ile) and still fits beautifully in the radian. Her hips/waist area haven't grown that much as from 2-4 they seem to stretch and fill out elsewhere. The radian RF will be a tight squeeze in the forester for now, but next month Diono (the new company name) is releasing a wedge to assist in a more upright install. I'm able to have my 2 year old RF in a radian in my beetle and can't wait for the wedge to make it easier to fit in front of her, but we're managing okay. The radian may still be your best option.

patsull5 said:

We tried our son in the Nautilus (doesn't seem to fit him well with any room to grow).

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I assume you mean by width because he'd have inches of growth by height.

patsull5 said:

We also tried him in the Frontier 85 and Frontier 85 SICT - which I absolutely love, but from my research it seems it will not install well in our 2004 Forester

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I've only tried the older model Frontier 80 in my forester and could not get even close to a decent install. Did you read that the new one also does not work? I never found out whether the newer model with all its improvements works in the forester .. and would love to know if you do end up trying it.

patsull5 said:

Otherwise, so far its looking like we are going to go for a Recaro Prosport for the time being. We can pass the seat down to our younger daughter if my son outgrows the top harness height or outgrows it sizewise, and hope that someone develops a new seat in the near future that will fit our car/big kids better.

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Does that seat install well in the forester? I'm very interested in what you end up finding works for you because when my 3 yo outgrows her RA55 (something that will happen soon), I'll be in the market for a new combo seat. And, although we like the nautilus, it occurs to me now that she is a bit wider and I have not tried her to see how well she will fit in it, so we may want to consider other options. So, if you get the chance to get to report back, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Just an update here for anyone interested We wound up going with the Recaro Prosport and it installed beautifully behind the driver's seat! (Even had it checked out by the car seat techs and they called it "a perfect install"). (we did not try the Frontier in the 04 Forester, just to clarify, so unfortunately can't comment on the fit there). My son is so comfortable in it and isn't getting his feet stuck between the seat and the back of the driver's seat anymore since the seat sits lower. (The RF Marathon wound up behind the passenger's seat because the incline needed for my infant made it difficult for my husband to drive). Thanks so much again for everyone who gave info/feedback!

Thank you so much for reporting back! I recently discovered that my DD had a growth spurt and needs a new seat, so this is very helpful.

Has he fallen asleep in the seat yet? I have a frequent car sleeper and need a cozy sleeping seat for her and I'm looking at the Prosport or the Frontier 85.

Athena said:

Has he fallen asleep in the seat yet? I have a frequent car sleeper and need a cozy sleeping seat for her and I'm looking at the Prosport or the Frontier 85.

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He falls asleep literally every time we get in the car after 2 pm He has no trouble sleeping in this seat, which we were a little worried about since its more upright. He quickly learned to adjust his head and nestle it on the sides when he got tired. He also can still see out the side windows, but not as much as he probably would like to since the wings next to the head are kind of big. He calls the seat his "car sofa" lol.

Hope this helps! I would be curious to see which seat you go with in the Forester as well, if the new Frontier even fits in there, and what your experience is like

"car sofa" LOVE it!

Those prosports do look/sound cozy, but I'm leaning towards the Frontier 85 (my girls gotta have her cup holder like big sister), so I'm going to try that one. I'll report back about if I get it to work. And if not, it's really good to know I have another good option.

Btw, did you install using latch or seatbelt. Wondering because with my DD's current weight, it would not be long until we'd have to switch to the seatbelt install. Thanks!

Reporting back. I tried it and found that the Frontier 85 does install in the Forester! :2thumbsup:

My DD is light enough that I can still latch for a short while and I got it really tight using latch (and easier than the seat belt install). Then I tried the seat belt to make sure that worked too. I could not get the short belt path tight enough (but maybe I did not try hard enough), but did get the long belt path tight enough (not as tight as my latch install, but maybe if I worked more on it). It was not easy, but it may get easier with practice and I'd imagine it'd be a lot easier with someone holding the seat belt slack while you fed it through. (Although I did not like the idea of the Prosport exposing the seat belt at the highest setting, when doing this long belt install, that open, more straightforward Prosport belt install does sound very nice. )

One thing I found a bit tricky with either install was that the Frontier's shape does not fit the Subaru's seat shape well making the Frontier want to slide forward off the seat. I found I had to stand in front of it and push firmly back into the Frontier to hold it onto the Subaru's seat until it was tight (and to get it tight). However, I would imagine that once the Subaru's seat compresses, it'll be a lot easier to re install onto that same spot. As it is, even pushing it back it sits right at the edge of the seat (so DD has lost her "step" to get in ), but it is on the seat and when tight, looks like it fits into the seat very well.

I hope this helps!!!