Question Forward Facing Car Seat vs Combination Booster

rnjtodd

New member
Hello,

I have a question regarding Forward Facing Car Seat vs the Combination Booster. I'm expecting my third child in February and I am not sure which way to go regarding juggling our car seats. My 2 older children are both in the Britax Roundabout 55. My 3 yr old is forward facing, a little over 30 lbs and approximately 37-38 inches tall. I was thinking about using the Britax Roundabout 55 (with a Britax infant positioner/insert) for the new baby and purchasing a new seat for my oldest child. Are the combination boosters as safe as a traditional forward facing car seat for my 3 yr old and if so do you have any recommendations on good Combination Boosters? The car seats will be installed into a 2000 Honda Odyssey. We will have the 2 older children in the back row and will be having the tether anchors installed in the next few weeks. The infant will be in the 2nd row captain's chair and we will remove the other captain's chair. Any insights would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
ADS

aeormsby

New member
Harnessed in a forward facing seat is all the same safety wise as long as the seat is installed & used correctly.

So if you're looking for another seat for a FF child I would definitely look at a FF combo since you already have 2 convertibles (RF/FF seats).

Some seats to look at are the Britax Frontier, Graco Nautilus & Evenflo Maestro, there's also a newer Evenflo seat coming out, the Secure something I think.

Of those the Frontier has the highest top slots (so will last the longest for a tall/long torso'd kid) and the Maestro has the lowest weight limit for the harness (50lb max). The Maestro also doesn't last as long as a booster.
 

mylittlet

Senior Community Member
You have a 3yr. How old is your other child? Are they rf or ff? A combination seat would be great for your 3yr. I would look at the maestro, new evenflo secure 300 and 400, graco nautilus and britax frontier.

The frontier will harness the longest and booster the longest and is safe to use for 9y from the date of manufacture. Our 4.5y got one less then a year ago and I plan on using it for our baby that is coming in August when he/she is 4y.

CPST in Iowa
mom to dd11y, ds10y, ds 5.5y (red monterey), dd 4.5y (cow frontier85), EDD 8/17/12 (who knows what??)
 

henrietta

Well-known member
My second child is 2 and about 31 lbs and 35 inches. We just turned him forward facing.

My suggestion would be to turn him back around rearfacing, if he hasn't outgrown the RA 55 by height (my child had by that height or a little taller, but he has a HUGE torso--most kids have not outgrown the RA 55 by height yet at 35")....and buy a combination seat for your 3 yr old (combo seat is one that ONLY goes forward facing AND can convert to a booster VS a convertible seat is one that can be used rearfacing OR forward facing harnessed--only a few of these can also convert to boosters and most of those we don't recommend utilizing the booster portion). They have to pass the same standards for testing.

With your setup, almost any of the combo seats mentioned will work great for you. Your 3 yr old is a pretty standard size, so barring a really long torso, you can pick whatever you like and he'll get to a very safe booster age in it.

Other car set up options would be to put the newbie and the 2 yr old in the second row captains chairs, both rearfacing, and put the 3 yr old in the center of the third row forward facing. If you are going to keep the 2 yr old forward facing, I'd consider putting him in the center of the third row and keep your 3 yr old in one of the captains chairs. I like to see the youngest forward facer have that safer middle position if possible. Traveling this way w/three kiddos is actually not that bad--while I only have 2 of my own, I've herded around minivan of 3 or more many times, usually w/2 rearfacers and one forward facer...and then later, w/2 forward facers and 1 rearfacer.

GL and congratulations!!!
 

Kac

Ambassador - CPS Technician
I would also turn your 2 year old RFing, use the other Roundabout 55 for the new baby, and get a Graco Nautilus or Britax Frontier 85 for your oldest.
 

Pixelated

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I recently helped a parent install a Frontier in the 3rd row of a 2000 Odyssey. It was very challenging with the long belt path, but eventually we got it. If you do go that route, it does not install well with the short belt path, and the challenge with the long one is that the belt is JUST long enough to do it, so it takes quite a lot of effort to make it work.
 

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