Vent Maestro/Nautilus or go straight to booster?!

We're finally getting a second car, a Mazda5, later this week. We've decided it's best to get a new seat for DS, who is 3.5 years old, about 39" and close to 38 lbs.

We currently have a Radian 65, plus a True Fit in my mom's car (which DS rides 5x a week), both FF. I'm expecting in a few weeks, and the baby will stay in DS's old SnugRide until she's old enough to switch to RF.

For logistics reasons, we prefer to keep the existing car seats in their respective cars and get a new seat for the new car. I want to get at least either a Maestro or Nautilus (preferred), and keep DS in FF harness until the weight/height limit. I have been researching all day weighing on the pros and cons of both, especially concerned about the height limit of the Maestro, while debating whether it's cheaper and more worthwhile to get the Nautilus vs. a Mastro now and a Turbobooster after.

However, DH wants to go straight into a booster seat, because he is of the opinion it's wasteful (in terms of money) to get a combo seat with only a few months of expected utility. He thinks we'll be well underway to switch DS to booster by the time DD outgrows the SnugRide in a year, so there's no point of getting a FF harness with so much overlapping utility.

I countered his argument by stating the fact DS's weight has stayed around 35lbs for at least 6 months, and only hitting 38lbs today after a two-week growth spurt and weighing after dinner and before potty. The way kids' weight grows, it could be another 6 months before DS ever hits 40lbs. Yet, my point seems to have fallen to deaf ears.

(DH and my mom both switched DS to FF before he hit 2 years old & the RF limit of the respective car seats, just because they thought "it was more fun for him to see what's going on." Nobody ever bothered to tighten the straps, just because they thought "it's uncomfortable to have straps that tight." My mom never even knew or cared to install the car seat properly, yet always taking it off whenever she needs to ferry more passengers, so any time I fixed the installation it'd only last two or three weeks. MIL just used a borrowed and expired car seat "so we won't get ticketed". Yeah, everyone is essentially saying to <bleep> with safety.)

I should have just gone to the store and bought a Nautilus or Maestro home without asking his opinion. :yeahthatmad:

Hello and welcome!

I also have a variety of seats for different vehicles for convenience and logistics reasons. So sorry that you are facing such a negative attitude towards safety from your family. It is unfortunate that the importance of this does not seem to register with many people. Your son is lucky to have you to go to bat for him. :thumbsup:

I would strongly recommend that whatever seat you get, you use it in harnessed mode until it is outgrown, which is likely going to be more than a few months. Please discuss the reasons for this with your husband. I would NOT use a booster now. Besides being illegal, children under 40lbs also face a higher risk of ejection or submarining out of a booster, which can be very dangerous, and at only 3.5yo, your son's bones and their attachments to eachother are still quite soft and flexible, increasing this risk over that of a child who is smaller but older. Furthermore, a child has to be mature enough to sit properly in a booster, 100% of the time, and while 4yo is the recommended minimum (as far as manufacturers' instructions, we recommend closer to 5+), kids usually don't have the impulse control necessary to sit properly until about school age. This means that you should be aiming to harness your DS for about another year, or more, depending on his maturity and when he is able to sit without moving the shoulder belt around, slouching, falling asleep and slumping over, or unbuckling (even when he is upset). For example, I had to wait until my older son was 5.5yo before he was ready to follow booster rules, and at 7yo I still have to monitor his activity in the back seat and correct him almost daily. It is better to wait longer if you have a seat that still fits harnessed, and then start to booster train slowly, with short trips, once they are really ready. I would suggest picking up a booster and doing so once baby is almost ready to take over once of the convertibles so you could replace it in grandma's car without worrying over his behaviour when you are not there to watch and correct him.

The height limit on the Maestro harness is actually quite similar to the Nautilus. The Maestro is about 18" (same as your Radian) while the Nauti has an extra quarter inch or so - though of course seats will fit differently from one installation to another. The booster mode is taller for the Nauti, but as you said, you could always switch to an inexpensive booster once the Maestro is outgrown and the cost would likely be similar overall. Also don't forget that you can pass either of these seats down to the younger sibling for a time once they are ready to go FF.

Another option if you plan to have separate cars seats for all 3 cars is to buy another tall convertible that you could pass down to the baby in in a year or so for RF, switching DS into a booster at that time.

You could also research the Evenflo SecureKid 400 (or also 300? without the premium latch, etc.), I don't know anything about it really, but I saw a post that made it seem like it was similar to the Maestro but with an adjustable headrest, which makes the booster function last longer. Pricewise it seems to be right between the Maestro and the Nauti. Here is the 400 on Toys 'R Us website:
http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=12353611

My son has sat at the brink of 39/40lbs for well over a year, and if your ds just had a growth spurt, I wouldn't expect your son to get over 40lbs for at least a year. If they're concerned about the legalities more than the safety, then they've got at least a year before he's going to be legal to be in a booster.

The Maestro and the Nautilus should both last him a good long time with how tall he is for his age. He's not exceptionally tall and even my tall torso'd ds still has growing room in the Nautilus at 5.5yrs old. It has a 65lb weight limit on it, so your ds easily has a good 2yrs left in it.

There is one thing that might sway me towards the Nautilus over the Maestro - the Nautilus is good for 10yrs vs. the 6 yrs of the Maestro. With it being good for 10 yrs, that means you'll be able to pass it down to your younger child when the other seats start expiring, or even potentially hand it down as a high-back booster and just buy your older ds a backless booster at that point.

I definitely would never go straight to a booster with your ds' age and weight. He doesn't meet the minimum age requirements for most boosters, doesn't meet the minimum height requirements for some boosters, and doesn't meet the minimum weight requirement for any boosters. That's 3 strikes right there without even factoring in the maturity standpoint...

Sorry that you're facing the difficulty with family. I'm sure it's frustrating when you know you're trying to protect your son and meanwhile it seems like they just don't care.

mommycat said:

You could also research the Evenflo SecureKid 400 (or also 300? without the premium latch, etc.), I don't know anything about it really, but I saw a post that made it seem like it was similar to the Maestro but with an adjustable headrest, which makes the booster function last longer. Pricewise it seems to be right between the Maestro and the Nauti. Here is the 400 on Toys 'R Us website:
http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=12353611

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The only downside from what I've heard about the SecureKid 400 so far is that the harness straps aren't long enough to fit a heavier kid at that top harness height. I don't know if Evenflo has a longer harness available or not - it's possible they might come up with something along those lines?

Harness longer. I am not sure what seats are available in Canada and I know that some seats even though sold in US and Canada are slightly different but Harnessing is the more appropriate choice for a child that age.

snowbird25ca said:

There is one thing that might sway me towards the Nautilus over the Maestro - the Nautilus is good for 10yrs vs. the 6 yrs of the Maestro. With it being good for 10 yrs, that means you'll be able to pass it down to your younger child when the other seats start expiring, or even potentially hand it down as a high-back booster and just buy your older ds a backless booster at that point.

Click to expand...

Thanks Trudy! I am not up to date on all the changes happening recently so I was not aware of this additional (awesome!) selling point for the Nauti. I take it they no longer have the dual expiry dates for the back/base? The info on the SecureKid is good to file away as well.

Cat, the last time I was in Walmart I noticed the GN had a stamp on the box which said something like do not use this restraint after 10 years. It didn't specify which/what that qualified for, but certainly implied the entire thing. There was a big thread about it recently, it's very exciting, I wish it was a retroactive thing...

OP, my 6yo is still in a Graco Nautilus w/ room to grow and weight to gain, same as Trudy's guy but older. Also, just b/c your son is 40# doesn't mean you *should* or need to put him in a booster, it just means it is legal. Buying this seat, which will be passed down to a younger sibling when he outgrows it and the other seats expire, will be a much easier sell for your dh.

tam