Accident Last Night - Need to Replace Seats for 10, 6, & 2 yr olds

I had an accident in my '12 Ford Flex last night. It's definitely not what I would call "severe" because we are all fine minus my minor aches. However, it doesn't meet Britax's "minor" list because the car couldn't be driven away. (I didn't have any Britax seats installed, but I thought it was useful as a description. Kids were in the car with me.)

Geico just told me to keep receipts and take pictures of cut straps.

I just measured everyone for this post.

Replacing Keyfit 30: He is 23 lbs, 32" tall and all leg, & will be 2 next week. He is very close to outgrowing the Keyfit, so a convertible of some sort. He already has a Diono RXT, so I will likely put that in my Flex and get something super easy to install as my seat that gets put in my E55 AMG only when transporting him, as well as in friends' cars. Not sure what the suggestions are to meet those criteria? Do Britax still have lower straps? I loved my Britax seats with my oldest, but haven't had one since they revamped with lowered max seated shoulder heights.

Replacing SK Radian XLT: My daughter will be 6 next month, 40 lbs, 45" tall, all leg. Stick with Diono 5 pt again? If so, which one? She does ride in a HBB sometimes and acts safe. However, 3 across is a mess to buckle a booster. So, I'd rather stay harnessed, for that and b/c it's her preference as well.

Replacing Diono Monterey: My son is 10, 70 lbs, 55" and, yet again, all leg. He also uses a backless TB, a Bubblebum, and an Incognito. He 5 steps in several cars including the middle seat/middle row of my Flex, but he is so slim that when he sits, his hips are so low, I just don't feel comfortable letting him go boosterless. I don't feel like I can trust that the belt will be low enough at the right time.

We need to go three across in the middle row of the Flex. Or, one of the big kids can go in the third row the majority of the time and I can use Bubblebum when I need to get extra kids in the back.

I appreciate any input you guys have!!! I haven't been following new seats in a while and feel lost. Without your awesome help, I would be buying seats based on 2+ year old information.

Mach Knockers said:

Replacing Keyfit 30: He is 23 lbs, 32" tall and all leg, & will be 2 next week. He is very close to outgrowing the Keyfit, so a convertible of some sort. He already has a Diono RXT, so I will likely put that in my Flex and get something super easy to install as my seat that gets put in my E55 AMG only when transporting him, as well as in friends' cars. Not sure what the suggestions are to meet those criteria? Do Britax still have lower straps? I loved my Britax seats with my oldest, but haven't had one since they revamped with lowered max seated shoulder heights.

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I'd go for a Britax Click Tight Marathon- its new and has higher straps for RF then the previous generation. Plus the install is super easy to put in different cars.

Mach Knockers said:

Replacing SK Radian XLT: My daughter will be 6 next month, 40 lbs, 45" tall, all leg. Stick with Diono 5 pt again? If so, which one? She does ride in a HBB sometimes and acts safe. However, 4 across is a mess to buckle a booster. So, I'd rather stay harnessed, for that and

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Hmm I'd try a Harmony Defender- Its a combo seat thats fairly narrow that turns into a booster.

Mach Knockers said:

Replacing Diono Monterey: My son is 10, 70 lbs, 55" and, yet again, all leg. He also uses a backless TB, a Bubblebum, and an Incognito. He 5 steps in several cars including the middle seat/middle row of my Flex, but he is so slim that when he sits, his hips are so low, I just don't feel comfortable letting him go boosterless. I don't feel like I can trust that the belt will be low enough at the right time.

We need to go three across in the middle row of the Flex. Or, one of the big kids can go in the third row the majority of the time and I can use Bubblebum when I need to get extra kids in the back.

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Another Monterey if he likes that? Actually I think the Monterey has been replaced by the Cambria I think.

For admittedly no legitimate reason, I'm not a big fan of Harmony/Dorel seats. What makes the Defender a better choice than the Diono?

The Harmony turns into a booster and has higher top slots then Diono (18.25 vs 17). Ok technically the Diono turns into a booster too but it does not make a good booster because a) it has a 50 lbs weight minimum, and b) is non adjustable so kids outgrow the booster mood super fast- often before they hit the weight minimum. If your think 17 inch harness height will be enough to get your kid to booster comfortable age and you don't mind buying a dedicated booster at that time go for the Diono if you like it. Another narrow convertible is the Foonf and the Fllo which both have 17 inch harness height. They are more expensive but have some nice bells and whistles like Rigid Latch (Foonf only) and lock off's.

Just as an fyi....the Keyfit is outgrown at 30lbs or 30" so it sounds like that seat was outgrown awhile ago. I will second looking into a Britax Clicktight seat. Install is super easy with the seatbelt.

KF was outgrown when he hit 30 inches, as mentioned above. The ClickTight seats are nice for sure, but the Marathon does NOT have a taller harness than the last generation, you do need to go with a Boulevard/Advocate to get the taller harness.

kmw said:

KF was outgrown when he hit 30 inches, as mentioned above. The ClickTight seats are nice for sure, but the Marathon does NOT have a taller harness than the last generation, you do need to go with a Boulevard/Advocate to get the taller harness.

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Ah yes, thank you for clarifying, the overall harness height did not change but they changed the rear facing height so you can now rear face until 1 inch of headrest instead of 1 inch of shell so the rear facing height increased.

Thanks for the reminder about the Keyfit! I had it in my head that it was space from head to edge of shell! Since his torso height is soooo short in comparison to his leg length, he still has a ton of shell beyond his head.

Thankfully, the accident wasn't bad enough to really test the situation and he was normally in his Radian.

I'm checking out seats online today. Thanks for the guidance thus far! I really appreciate everyone's time.

I'm aware of Radians making poor boosters, but am not honestly concerned. By the time they make it to booster age, I'd prefer a dedicated booster. I had a Frontier 85 and a Nautilus, but sold them both to friends when they were outgrown as harnessed seats.

Mach Knockers said:

Thanks for the reminder about the Keyfit! I had it in my head that it was space from head to edge of shell! Since his torso height is soooo short in comparison to his leg length, he still has a ton of shell beyond his head.

Thankfully, the accident wasn't bad enough to really test the situation and he was normally in his Radian.

I'm checking out seats online today. Thanks for the guidance thus far! I really appreciate everyone's time.

I'm aware of Radians making poor boosters, but am not honestly concerned. By the time they make it to booster age, I'd prefer a dedicated booster. I had a Frontier 85 and a Nautilus, but sold them both to friends when they were outgrown as harnessed seats.

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Hmmm.... Honestly? I would not get a harnessed seat for a 6 year old unless I was planning to use it as a booster. If I were you, I'd either get a harnessed seat that you *do* plan to use as a booster, or I'd just go straight for the booster. And, if that means skipping the 3 across, then I'd skip the 3 across. But that's just me, you of course should make whatever decision you think is best for your situation! Have fun shopping for seats! (So glad that none of you was injured in the accident!)

I appreciate the input, jjordan. Why wouldn't you harness a 6 year old?

She has a slight preference to the harness, but likes both. Also, maybe I should factor in that we do take road trips and otherwise spend 1 hour+ in the car due to homeschooling in the city from our rural home. She sleeps in the car about 2x/week. When she has been boostered in the Monterey or TB, she sleeps in position, but not as comfortably as in the Radian.

On a similar note, my 10 year old has a heavy preference for a HBB versus backless.

After the accident, my 10 yr old, who was seated next to the baby said, "I sure wish I could rear face. I went like 'this' (and he lunged forward) and the baby just went like 'this.'" (and he sat up slightly straighter than before.) Made me totally smile.

As I understood it, there is no distinct safety benefit to a 5 point at this stage, and there was some potential evidence that 3 point was safer, but no final verdict. Is that still correct? My oldest was still harnessed at beginning months of age 9, b/c I couldn't 3 across in my last car with a booster.

I want to be able to 3 across because we often carry extra passengers or cargo. That said, the ten year old could use his Bubblebum in the middle when necessary. I'm currently leaning toward undecided booster for the oldest, a Frontier Clightight 90 for the almost 6 year old and a Boulevard Clicktight for the 2 year old.

Just keep in mind the Frontier 90 does not make a good booster until the child has outgrown the harness- which with your child who has a short torso might take a while, so you may be in the same spot of needing to find a dedicated booster down the road if you want to booster before the seat is outgrown. But if you do want to harness forever- The Frontier 90 is definitely the seat to do it in

I just measured her seated shoulder height at 15 or 15.5". Was having trouble with toddler clawing at me the whole time. :doh:

Edit to add: I doubt I would use the Frontier as a booster. It would get passed down to the the third kiddo at some point and she'd be in a booster-only. I don't seem to hold onto car seats forever, mostly due to changing needs of kids and changing vehicles.

The rule of thumb is kids grow roughly 1 inch of torso height per year, so with 19 inch top slots that leaves your 6 year old being roughly 9.5 - 10 when outgrowing the harness. But if you decide to booster before then you could always try and sell the seat to pay for a booster. Also its not very narrow so it probably wouldn't make the best booster for 3 across anyways.

Edit: Oh yea, passing it down to the next kiddo makes a lot more sense! Forgot about that, lol. So in another 2 years when your ready for your "baby" to FF you can get your DD a booster. I laugh at the term "baby" for the 2 year old because that's the age of my oldest

It's funny how perspective on that sort of thing changes depending on the ages of your kids!

DD (6) is now telling me she would prefer a booster. Hmmm...I feel so ambivalent about that.

Mach Knockers said:

It's funny how perspective on that sort of thing changes depending on the ages of your kids!

DD (6) is now telling me she would prefer a booster. Hmmm...I feel so ambivalent about that.

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I moved my 2nd child to a booster at 6 (but the oldest child was 7 before she was boostered). I think the 2nd child tends to want to move out of a harness sooner because he/she sees the older sibling in a booster and thinks of it as being the "big kid" thing to do, whereas the oldest is more oblivious since he/she doesn't have older siblings to observe.

If you get a Boulevard for your 2 year old now, it should last him until he is ready for a booster, so I wouldn't really plan to hand down the new 6 year old's seat to him later.

As for why I wouldn't buy a harness for a 6 year old, simply because she has shown herself to be booster-ready, and as you mentioned, there is no proven safety benefit to a harness at that age (with maturity). At this point the only benefit to a harness would be fitting 3 across, but the seat you seem to be primarily considering (Frontier 90) is wide enough that it might not be an easier 3 across than a narrow-ish booster.

You're in a good spot where all of the options you're considering are good, it's just a matter of choosing which one suits you and your kids best. So make your choice carefully and thoughtfully, but don't stress out about it!