Tall & Skinny!

My 2.5 year-old's shoulders are about to go past the highest strap slot the Safety 1st 5-point/booster in her grandma's car ... she doesn't look ready to ride in it as a booster, though. The shoulder belt will not be close against her chest, but my mom thinks she'll be OK because she has automatic locking belts. I believe she has a bit more room left in the harness straps of her Graco Platinum in my dad's F250. I can't find any crash info on the rear seat of the F250, but my guess is that unless it was in an accident with an equally sized or bigger vehicle, then she's pretty safe? She so rarely rides in the big truck & if she does it's most often just to "help" her grandpa plow their mile-long driveway. So, I'm thinking I'd rather switch seats so that he has the Safety 1st as a booster [he has automatic locking belts, too]. I'd like to let my sister-in-law use the Graco 5-point/booster in her Bonneville on the weekly occasion that she wants to take my daughter with hers to get all the kids icecream [she said she'll use it if *I* install it]. I know the Graco can be in the middle, but if my mom & I go halves on a Britax Husky can it be installed with a lap only belt??? My mom drives my daughter around often & I'd prefer her to be as safe as possible in the little Chevy Tracker. If not the Husky then I'm thinking we'll have to get another Wizard, although I was hoping to get the longer lifespan of the Husky.

Britax Laptop

Well, now that I gave my mom some links to the Husky, she says she can't afford $100+ [the 2 of us paying half each] & since we have two seats that become boosters already, she doesn't see the need to spend the money on any kind of additional booster ... but that she'll use the Graco in her car & she's wondering where we can get the Britax Laptop for my sister-in-law since she has a lap-only belt rear-center? That way my daughter's 6 y.o. big sister can use it in their dad's Nissan Pulsar backseat with lap only belts. Also maybe then the stress between inlaws won't be as bad since my sister-in-law said she'll only use a seat if I install it every time because she doesn't want to keep one hooked up.
Anyone know where we can get a Britax Laptop???
My daughter is 38" tall, but not yet 30 pounds ... my sister-in-law is aware that I won't let my daughter ride in something she doesn't fit yet, but by next summer she should fit.

The Laptop was discontinued a year or so (?) ago. It's virtually impossible to find anymore.

However, even a 38" child should still fit in MOST combo seats for a while to come. The Safety 1st seat she's almost too tall for has the lowest slots of any combo seat. (Do keep in mind that most kids slow waaaaay down in growth at this age, so it could take her months and months to finally get truly too tall for it.)

If it were my child, I'd start saving for a new seat and just keep an eye on her for a while. Both my son & my older daughter hovered around the height limit for the Britax Roundabout for over a year before finally outgrowing it. (Actually, DD still fits *barely*, and she's 43" and 39.5 lb.)

I'd then get her a new combo seat if she's still too immature for a booster. I'd look at the Graco Ultra/Platinum CarGos which have much higher top slots than the Safety 1st seats or an alternative seat like the Husky.

I just want to second that the Graco and Evenflo seats have considerably higher top slots than the Cosco/Safety First seats. Also, none of these seats can be used as a booster by a child under 30 pounds (including the discontinued laptop)

UlrikeDG said:

The Laptop was discontinued a year or so (?) ago. It's virtually impossible to find anymore.

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Oh, OK, darn!

However, even a 38" child should still fit in MOST combo seats for a while to come. (Do keep in mind that most kids slow waaaaay down in growth at this age, so it could take her months and months to finally get truly too tall for it.)

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Her height is mostly upper body & she has less than 1/2" till her shoulders are even with the slots ... she has been known to completely skip clothing sizes, jumping from 2T to 4T & some of the 4Ts are getting too short on her now. She's been close to the slot for about 1/2 a year now already & I haven't been able to figure out what to do. She does have a bit more than 1" space left till she reaches the top slot in the Graco Platinum in my dad's truck. I'll have to see whether or not it sits more upright for her in my mom's car, though, because she was getting painful pressure on her lower back in it when it was in my Blazer -- that's why I got the Wizard & was happy to know she could revert back to rear-facing in it. Anyway, I think my parents will be willing to go half on the cost of the Husky if I share with them what you've said so far & if it means they'll get longer use out of it compared to the Wizard & they'll still have a seat in each car ... my dad likes knowing that if my daughter would have to ride with him somewhere he can bring her without having to uninstall & reinstall a seat. Plus, it will be good for when my toddler niece visits them -- she is special needs.

If we can get the Wizard to install correctly behind the driver's seat of my ex's Pulsar & big half sis uses the Safety 1st as a booster in the front seat then that leaves big half bro to sit next to my daughter with a lap only belt & no head rest ... was hoping the Laptop would allow sis to sit in the rear so he could sit in front with a shoulder belt. It's not advized to buy off ebay, huh? *SIGH*

Thank you -- hope I haven't been annoying with all my questions lately -- "talking out" the options here is very helpful & I'm grateful for the advice! I believe I've figured out just how to phrase my request that my parents help buy the seat they'll be using & I'll know my daughter & her cousin are not only safe but comfortable

Oh yeah, & about my sister-in-law, she'll just have to wait till my daughter can safely ride in a booster {LOL}

Wait a minute!

This is from the review of the Britax Husky....

Caviller said:

Britax specifies that the top-tether is optional (but highly recommended) under 50 pounds, but MUST be used above 50 pounds.

Britax also permits a more typical seatbelt routing path for vehicles with short lap+shoulder seatbelts, but it can ONLY be used if the top tether is also used.

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OK -- my mom has agreed to use the Husky in her Chevy Tracker. They like her sitting rear-center with the lap-only belt, but if she is positioned in the middle (if it will fit), does the above mean that the top tehter will have to be used? I don't think her trunk area has tie down hooks & she does not have LATCH. I don't know if her lap belt is short & my daughter is yet to reach 30 pounds, but am I right in thinking that even if the Husky is outboard with lap+shoulder belt the top tether will need to be used???

My mom is *hoping* to buy a new Subaru Outback & I'm sure the Husky can be properly installed in it, but if it can't be done so in the Tracker then what? Hm, I guess it could be in my dad's truck for a while so my mom can use the Graco until she gets the Subaru....

What they mean by "more typical" seatbelt routing is that it would be like a normal seat. The normal way to install the Husky is with what's called an "inverse routing", and the shoulderbelt comes up and holds the seat back, very similar to how a tether works (can you find Darren's husky installation page? A picture is worth a thousand words....)...Ok, here it is (faster to use my google toolbar than try to find it from here, lol) http://www.car-safety.org/husky.html
So since you don't have a tether anchor, you can install it with the lap/shoulderbelt and not worry about anything till she hits 50 pounds...which will be when she's like 7...

And contact your local chevy dealer anyway, they should be able to supply you with one set of tether anchor hardware for free (according to their own Technical Service Bulletin 99-09-40-004)

Hey, thanks Julie!!

Oh, my fingers are really crossed now that the seatbelts are long enough...some US made cars have actually had seatbelts that are too short to install a Husky...crazy. Is there any way you can try it out before you buy it? Well, If not, I guess you could put the Husky in your car and the WZ in your moms or something...still, it'd be nice to give it a shot first...

Might be pushing to get my mom drive well over a couple hours to the nearest Britax retailer ... however, I may be able to bribe her with a trip to her favorite store while we're there: The Body Shop! For bath supplies