Hi!
I'm looking to buy another pair of carseats for my kids (8 and 33 months). Our situation is that we currently have two Diono radian RXTs. We need another pair of seats so that we don't have to constantly switch them between our and the nanny's car. (I’m going to post a lot of details here to give you the best sense of our needs, so this is kind of a long post, although I will try to keep it organized and readable
)
My goals:
By far, my primary goal is to keep the kids rear-facing for as long as possible - I saw people joking on this forum about keeping their kids rear facing until college and that is my goal too. ha! Well, at least to age 5 or longer if possible.
I want a seat that provides the best protection in addition to erf - I don’t really know how to weigh the other considerations or really what they even should be.
I don’t want to spend more money than is necessary, but price would not rule out an option if it were a good one.
Our cars:
The car we use for the kids primarily is a 2002 Audi wagon (S6). The nanny has a PT cruiser. Our other car that we may sometimes put the seats in is a 2005 Jaguar XJ8.
Our kids:
They are a bit larger than average. Both are more heavy than tall, although our son has been thinning out as of late and I expect our baby will follow a similar trajectory (he was about her size at her age). Their current measurements are:
33 mo. old son: 35 lbs, 38” tall, 21 3/4” seated height, 14” seated shoulder height
8 mo. old daughter: 22 lbs, 27” tall
To give you a sense of what might work for us. Here are my thoughts on our current seats, as well as ones I’ve been researching…
Our current seats: Diono Radians: I like the them well enough but am not in love with them.
What I like: solid construction, high rear facing weight limit, reasonably priced, low sides are easy to get in and out and the baby HATES to be confined and is happier in this open seat (vs the infant "bucket”), narrow design means I can also squeeze into the backseat with the two of them when necessary
What I don't like: take up too much space front-to-back even with angle adjuster, no anti-rebound protection (we can't use the tether bc we have no open seat rail or other non-controversial place to attach), I wonder if the low sides make the seat less safe?
Given my mixed feelings about the radian, I don’t want to get more of the same, and I’m not that hot on the Rainier/Pacifica options because I don’t think they’re an improvement on what I don’t like about the radians.
The seats I’ve been considering are the Clek Fllo and the new Safety 1st convertible with the 50 lb rf limit (Updated Safety 1st Advance 65 EX Air +). I like that both have a 50 lb weight limit. Further considerations that make me uncertain which is better for us:
Clek Fllo
What I like: anti-rebound bar, “non-toxic” fabric options, narrow profile so I could potentially fit in the back with the two kids
What I don't like: the price (but this is not, ultimately, a deal-breaker)
Safety 1st
What I like: the price, high height limit (not sure if it is higher than fllo?)
What I don't like: no anti-rebound protection, the seat looks to be quite wide so maybe not enough room for me in addition to the two seats
Questions, comparing the two:
Why is the Safety 1st seat so much cheaper???? Makes me think that it must be lacking in some way…thoughts?
How important is anti-rebound protection?
Which of these would take up less space front-to-back and how do they compare with the radians in that regard?
Other things I should be considering?
Further thoughts:
I’m open to other seats, although I don’t know of any other US seats with a 50 lb rf limit and I think that’s what we would need given my kids’ sizes and my goal of keeping them rf as long as possible.
The two new seats don’t have to be the same kind of seat and in fact if it made sense to get two different ones in terms of maximizing how long we could go before having to make yet another child-restraint purchase that would be great (e.g. shuffle the seats between the kids as they get bigger). I also have not started to consider what our needs will be once we have to flip them ff and whether any of these seats will have a use into that stage and the booster stage.
I also have in mind that that more erf seats should be coming on the US market (and I would think definitely before my 8 mo-old is beyond rf) so if there’s advice that takes that into consideration as well, I’m open to it.
Well, thanks for reading through all these details! And, thanks in advance for any advice or opinions you all can offer!!
I'm looking to buy another pair of carseats for my kids (8 and 33 months). Our situation is that we currently have two Diono radian RXTs. We need another pair of seats so that we don't have to constantly switch them between our and the nanny's car. (I’m going to post a lot of details here to give you the best sense of our needs, so this is kind of a long post, although I will try to keep it organized and readable
)My goals:
By far, my primary goal is to keep the kids rear-facing for as long as possible - I saw people joking on this forum about keeping their kids rear facing until college and that is my goal too. ha!
Well, at least to age 5 or longer if possible.I want a seat that provides the best protection in addition to erf - I don’t really know how to weigh the other considerations or really what they even should be.
I don’t want to spend more money than is necessary, but price would not rule out an option if it were a good one.
Our cars:
The car we use for the kids primarily is a 2002 Audi wagon (S6). The nanny has a PT cruiser. Our other car that we may sometimes put the seats in is a 2005 Jaguar XJ8.
Our kids:
They are a bit larger than average. Both are more heavy than tall, although our son has been thinning out as of late and I expect our baby will follow a similar trajectory (he was about her size at her age). Their current measurements are:
33 mo. old son: 35 lbs, 38” tall, 21 3/4” seated height, 14” seated shoulder height
8 mo. old daughter: 22 lbs, 27” tall
To give you a sense of what might work for us. Here are my thoughts on our current seats, as well as ones I’ve been researching…
Our current seats: Diono Radians: I like the them well enough but am not in love with them.
What I like: solid construction, high rear facing weight limit, reasonably priced, low sides are easy to get in and out and the baby HATES to be confined and is happier in this open seat (vs the infant "bucket”), narrow design means I can also squeeze into the backseat with the two of them when necessary
What I don't like: take up too much space front-to-back even with angle adjuster, no anti-rebound protection (we can't use the tether bc we have no open seat rail or other non-controversial place to attach), I wonder if the low sides make the seat less safe?
Given my mixed feelings about the radian, I don’t want to get more of the same, and I’m not that hot on the Rainier/Pacifica options because I don’t think they’re an improvement on what I don’t like about the radians.
The seats I’ve been considering are the Clek Fllo and the new Safety 1st convertible with the 50 lb rf limit (Updated Safety 1st Advance 65 EX Air +). I like that both have a 50 lb weight limit. Further considerations that make me uncertain which is better for us:
Clek Fllo
What I like: anti-rebound bar, “non-toxic” fabric options, narrow profile so I could potentially fit in the back with the two kids
What I don't like: the price (but this is not, ultimately, a deal-breaker)
Safety 1st
What I like: the price, high height limit (not sure if it is higher than fllo?)
What I don't like: no anti-rebound protection, the seat looks to be quite wide so maybe not enough room for me in addition to the two seats
Questions, comparing the two:
Why is the Safety 1st seat so much cheaper???? Makes me think that it must be lacking in some way…thoughts?
How important is anti-rebound protection?
Which of these would take up less space front-to-back and how do they compare with the radians in that regard?
Other things I should be considering?
Further thoughts:
I’m open to other seats, although I don’t know of any other US seats with a 50 lb rf limit and I think that’s what we would need given my kids’ sizes and my goal of keeping them rf as long as possible.
The two new seats don’t have to be the same kind of seat and in fact if it made sense to get two different ones in terms of maximizing how long we could go before having to make yet another child-restraint purchase that would be great (e.g. shuffle the seats between the kids as they get bigger). I also have not started to consider what our needs will be once we have to flip them ff and whether any of these seats will have a use into that stage and the booster stage.
I also have in mind that that more erf seats should be coming on the US market (and I would think definitely before my 8 mo-old is beyond rf) so if there’s advice that takes that into consideration as well, I’m open to it.
Well, thanks for reading through all these details! And, thanks in advance for any advice or opinions you all can offer!!
