Need seat advice. Do you think my advice was acceptable?

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I need your advice on seats for this situation:

Child One
  • 18 months old
  • 35.75" tall
  • 15.5-16" torso height
  • 24 pounds
  • Currently riding in a RF Marathon
  • Current seat is going to expire soon

Child Two
  • 2 weeks old
  • 23" tall/long
  • Torso height?
  • 9 lb 9 oz.
  • Currently riding in a Snugride

Vehicles
  • 2003 Honda Accord (children rarely ride in this vehicle)
  • 2006 Honda Odyssey


The parents need advice on what seats to buy for their children. They know they have some time before there is a critical need, but they want to be prepared.
  • The oldest child is VERY tall (mom said over 97th %) and will probably outgrow most seats fairly early. It appears that the younger child might also be quite tall.
  • While the Marathon is fine to use right now, it will expire in early 2008, so the parents want to look at what seat to buy to replace it.
  • The baby is probably going to be outgrowing the Snugride in the next couple of months.
  • Finances are not extremely tight, but there is not endless money.

I recommended:
  • Keep the toddler in the Marathon until he either outgrows it by height or it expires.
  • Consider replacing the Marathon with a Recaro Signo (which will hopefully be out by then!)
  • Consider either a Marathon or a Recaro Signo for the baby when the Snugride is outgrown.
  • Hope for the best. :)

I hate to recommend putting the toddler in a Regent since he will probably be quite young when he needs his next seat. If that is the only option, though, I guess that is fine. I just worry that he is going to be less than two when he needs a new seat. If there is a way to keep him RF, it would be best, but I understand that may not be possible.

The family only has one Marathon, one Snugride, and two bases. The kids rarely ride in the Accord, but when the do, they switch the Marathon from the Odyssey to the Accord. Do you think this is okay practice?

What recommendations would you make?
 
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rlsadc

Senior Community Member
i dunno if i would recomend the recaro, especially for a seat that is going to be moved. we dont know how its going to install, and so i would recomend the MA for that. when does the MA expire? is it going to get the kiddo to an age thats ok to FF? (is there ever such an age? :p ) even if it did, i dont think i would recommend a regent if its going between cars regularly. in that case i would still stick with a MA. i think while its ideal to have an extra seat in the car, it isnt necessary as long as mom or dad knows how to properly install it everytime. :) maybe an apex 65 if they have headrest? (obviously when th ekiddo is ffing)
 

CandCfam

New member
Given the extremely long torso at such a young age of child #1, I would have for sure recommended the Recaro Signo or Como. I wouldn't recommend another MA since child #1 is pretty close to the top slots as it is.

How does the Radian install in those vehicles? That would have been my backup recommendation.
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
and so i would recomend the MA for that. w

I was hesitant to recommend another Marathon because of his size. He is only about 1-1.5" below the top slots and he is only 18 months old. He is VERY tall (at 18 months his head is *almost* to the top of the Marathon). I know it could take a long time to grow that 1-1.5" of torso length, but I just didn't know if it would be a good investment for them. :confused: This is tough. This is one big kid!
 

LuvMyGirls

New member
If the Radians will install in the vehicles, that's what I'd do. Both kids could erf in them and hopefully get several years of ff facing in them with the tall harness slots.
 

djma

New member
WOW! That is one big 18mo! My almost 18mo is now even with the BOTTOM slots on his MA!

I second the Como/Signo. I would be hesitant as well on the Regent since he probably would be so young - and he's pretty light weight too to be so tall.
 

Loves2sing

New member
If the 18 month kiddo is that close to outgrowing the Marathon, *maybe* the Regent would be the only seat large enough for him when the Ma expires in early 2008. I would have made the same recommendations that you did, but told her to let me look again closer to when the kids actually need to the new seats, as thier stats wil be different at that point. If the 18 month old is that big now, he/she may not stop growing so fast before early 2008.
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I can't post a photo of the child in the seat, but I can post a photo of the seat showing *approximately* where his shoulders are and the top of his head is.

This is *approximately* where his shoulders are (red arrow) and *approximately* where the top of his head is (green arrow)
marathon_main.jpg
 

Dillipop

Well-known member
What about a marathon for #1 and a scenera for #2. When #1 outgrows the marathon, it can be passed down to #2 and they can get a regent at that time? Or a radian for #1 and scenera for #2, since the radian has a longer shell and higher top slots and when #1 outgrows, it can be passed down to #2 and regent purchased. Or wait to see how the como/signo installs, get a scenera now for #2, wait for the signo/como for #1, when outgrown, get regent?

Or, instead of the senera for #2, a truimph advance or uptown or FPSVD?
 

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
He sounds tall and skinny. I would wait until he's closer to outgrowing the Marathon... then probably get a Radian.

The Radian is easy to put in with LATCH. They can switch that one back and forth until he is ready to FF and then maybe get a Regent for the primary vehicle and have the Radian in the secondary vehicle.

If the Radian does not install well with seatbelt FFing (for when he's over 40lbs), then they can pass the Radian down to the baby and look at how the Signo installs at that time for the secondary vehicle.

Baby can stay in the Snugride until he's outgrown it and by that time hopefully the Signo will be out and you can compare how well both the Radian and Signo install in the vehicles and go with the best fit.
 

MomToEliEm

Moderator
What is the manufacturer date on that Marathon. They didn't start making them until the fall of 2002 (I remember because I was in the market for a new seat at that time and they were just hitting the stores in September or October of 2002). If it was made in the Summer or Fall of 2002, then it won't expire until the Summer or Fall of 2008. Just wanted to make sure that they are sure of the expiration date on the seat and not off by a year.
 

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