Question High back harness-to-booster recommendations?

U

Unregistered

Guest
Hi!

I have twin 4.5-year-old girls. They are each about 30 lbs and 39 inches tall. They had been riding FF in Britax Marathon (Emma) car seats. Last night we got in an accident. Everyone was OK! Not even a bump or a scratch. But the car is wrecked. We were rear-ended and there's some minor damage to the back doors, so the car seats have got to go!

For the moment, we've commandeered my parents' cosco car seats, but I plan on buying some new ones soon. Although the girls were far from maxing out the weight on the Marathon car seats, I'm considering getting a high-back harness-to-booster combination seat so that I won't have to buy another booster seat later. I am not having anymore children, so ideally, this will be the end of car seat purchases for us.

I used this forum to pick out my Britax Marathons and they served me well, so I was hoping someone would have some advice for my new seats. Would any harness-to-booster combination seats be a large step down in safety from the Marathons?

I've been looking at the Recaro Performance Sport, The Britax Frontier 90, and The Graco Nautilus.

I want something that will be comfortable, extremely extremely safe, and with straps that are difficult to twist. The girls would also prefer something that comes in pink and has a cupholder (although those aren't dealbreakers ;))

Any suggestions? I'm pretty open to any price. I got the Marathons on clearance sale, but I'd pay full price for greater safety/quality. Of course, if all things are equal, I wouldn't mind saving a little money on the car seats since we're also having to get a new CAR from all of this ;)

(I'm looking at the mitsubishi outlander to replace our teeny tiny (and now totaled) honda fit... if anyone also has any feelings about cars! :))

Thanks in advance to anyone with any words of wisdom to share!
 
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CMeMeC

New member
All of them meet the same safety standards, so it really just depends on what fits in your car and what your children fit in and like. I have a couple of nautiluses (sp?) and they have served us well. I also like them ok in booster mode.
 

thepote

New member
I'm glad no one was hurt in your accident!

If I had to pick one of those listed to use as a booster later I would pick the Frontier. From what I've seen, the belt fit when it's used as a booster is great.

That being said, now that I have two in boosters, I much prefer dedicated boosters when they are out of harnesses (I like buying seats, though!). If my dd seems like she will fit until booster age I would get a ProSport/Perfomance Sport because I like the features and look. If she needed the height I would get a Frontier, though. The Nautilus is a nice seat with nice features. It's what we had for ds3. A bit of head slump when sleeping makes me hesitate to get it again, though.

Either way, you win :) All great seats :)
 

JerseyGirl2009

New member
Thanks! (This is the OP, my account got approved :))

My kids are very skinny and medium-to-tall height. I want to keep them in the 5-point harness for as long as possible before graduating them to booster seats.. so we may never even convert the seats to boosters. I just like the high harness weight limit on these combination seats.

In that sense, I wonder if I should get the Frontier? Just so that they can stay in the 5-point harness until they're really tall?

Since this change was brought on by our sudden crash, I hadn't even previously considered the possibility of changing from our Britax Marathon seats anytime soon.. and I'm also a tiny bit tempted to just get another set of those because I'm comfortable with them! But.. I do like that these combination seats have cup holders and pockets and such.

I'm going to take the kids to babies r us to try out the Britax Frontier. But I don't think that there's anyplace where we can test a Recaro--those seem to only be available online.

At the moment, it seems like both seats are really safe.. although, I can't quite figure out if they would be less safe than the Britax Marathons that we previously had.
This may be a stupid question.. but... are seats that are rated for smaller kids intrinsically safer? Like.. would I be better off with the Nautilus because it's safe enough for newborns?

Other than that nagging concern (which might be irrational..I haven't slept much this weekend..), I'm debating strange things between the two. Apparently people have issues with the crotch strap on the nautilus being too far back. The Frontier has cup holders, and the Recaro does not. But the arm rests on the Frontier look a little silly and useless. From the photos it looks like the Recaro might have side head flaps that make it difficult to see out the side windows? I should probably look for some photos of kids actually riding in these seats so that I have a better sense or proportion!

Anyone who reads this.. I'm sorry for all of the rambling. I'm really trying to wrap my head around this.. and.. failing :p But It seems like I can't really go wrong and I should be Ok with whatever I decide to get. So that's comforting :)
 

MommyShannon

New member
The nautilus is a combo (only ff seat) just like the Frontier and Recaro. We don't know ratings, but I wouldn't consider one safer than the other. I really like our FR85s though the install is tricky. The new 90s look really nice and are simple to install. I think all 3 seats you've considered would be good though. The Frontier is the tallest, but there is also the Pioneer70 with 18.5" harness. It's basically the same seat but shorter and without the cool install.
 

thepote

New member
On record all forward facing harness seats (whether convertible or harness to booster) are equal in safety since all we know is that they pass the same crash test requirements. Britax and Clek Foonf have said they have crush cell technology for forward facing, so that may be better, or may just be marketing.

You could always order from somewhere with free return shipping so you could check a Recaro out in person. I find that just putting a seat in a car and strapping a kid in is a pretty good indicator right off if it will work.
 

JerseyGirl2009

New member
Oops! I didn't mean the Nautilus there.
At some point, I started considering the Diono Radian as well--when I started to wonder if a car seat designed for a 5-lb kid would be "safer" than one designed for a kid no less than 20 lbs.
I'm aware that this is a strange and probably incorrect thought. Thanks for trying to knock me off of it :)

I think we're going to go to the store and check out some Britaxes... and then if we don't immediately fall in love with one of them, we'll order a Recaro with potential free returns (good idea).

Are there any other models that I should be adding to my list? Please let me know if I'm neglecting a really awesome car seat :)
Thanks!

I'm definitely considering the Frontier 90 and the 85.. I don't really know what the difference is.
 

JerseyGirl2009

New member
And.. yeah.. I think that the marketing is getting to my head.

Every car seat ad seems to include the subtle implication that their car seat is somehow superior to others in a life-saving way. It's making me feel edgy.

Britax has crush cell technology, but the Recaro seems to be the only one with side crash testing from an independent agency and I can't overlook the fact that they make racecar seats.. which I feel that I need, nevermind that most of my driving is 20 mph on traffic-free suburban roads ;)
 

MommyShannon

New member
The 90 is just the latest model, but they added some cool features. The Click Tight install makes installing with a seatbelt just take a few seconds. The 85 normally installs best using a long belt path. It's trick to learn and videos are essential to figuring it out. I *can* do it in a few minutes now, but its a royal pain. I cannot trust anyone else to install it. I do like that the 85 seems more reclined and the headrest seems to be a little lower which seems to fit better. If you install a seat and never move it, I'd probably pick the 85. If you tend to move seats to other vehicles or for other reasons, the 90 is awesome.
 

JerseyGirl2009

New member
Cool! Thanks for the information!
We very very rarely move our car seats.. only when they get extremely dirty and need to be removed to be cleaned. And my husband always installs them (his firefighter friend teaches him how), so I've actually never installed a car seat at all :eek:
 

thepote

New member
You'll drive yourself crazy trying to evaluate things you don't have enough info to evaluate ;) Stick to features and fabrics! Seriously, what's going to make the difference between a good and great seat for you is how it fits your child and your car. Just feeling them and getting your kids buckled into them will give you a huge amount of info. You've already narrowed it down to three great seats. The thing that's going to make you say "yup - that's the one" isn't going to be their reputation or marketing. If the Nautilus is too tight at the crotch strap or your kid hates the ProSport's head wings, or the Frontier is way too wide, you'll know right away it's not the right choice.
 

Cnidaria

New member
To answer an earlier question of yours, I don't think it makes sense for you to get new Marathons (or other convertible seats) because you aren't going to use the rear-facing functionality.

You mentioned that you want to keep your girls harnessed as long as possible, but we don't have evidence that "extended harnessing" is safer. As long as kids meet the height and weight requirements for a booster, and *can sit in it correctly at all times* and not lean out or slump, there's no evidence that they're less safe in a booster than harnessed. A lot of folks who hang out here feel that most kids are behaviorally ready for boostering at about 5.5-6. Some wiggly kids might take longer and some mature kids might be ready earlier.
 

JerseyGirl2009

New member
Cnidaria, thanks for the response. I guess I'm concerned that my children will never be mature enough for normal seat belts! They're definitely wiggly kids. Plus they're both long in the torso. They were already at the top harness position in the Marathons.
But.. you're probably right. An inch here or there likely isn't going to make a huge difference, assuming that they do attain some normal ability to stay still between now and 6 years old. I suppose I feel like since there are two of them, and they're totally goofy, I should be ready to "harness" them for as long as possible (until they're 18? ;))

Thepote, thanks again for the comfort :) We're definitely going to go check out some seats and strap the children in and see how they feel. After a good night's sleep, I feel a little less paranoid about the whole thing. Unlike when we bought the Snugrides and the Marathons, now the girls are old enough to give us some input on comfort, so I guess they'll get a say in it!
 

mommyfrog

Active member
You already got great info on the car seats. I just wanted to say you should definitely learn to install the car seats you get. Is the fire fighter friend a certified car seat tech? Fire fighters are taught to fight fires and car seat techs are taught how to teach parents all about how to use and install the correct car seats safely. A lot of fire fighters will help people with car seats, but not really know what they are doing since they aren't actually trained to it. We have a fire fighter friend too. He wanted to just throw my son's car seat in the back of his truck and stick my four year old in a lap only belt since "we're just going a few blocks". I don't think he actually knows how to install a seat properly. Great guy, saves lives in fires and emergencies, but not a car seat tech for sure!! Anyway, I would suggest finding a certified child passenger safety technician (car seat tech) and let them teach you how to install your seats.
 

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