Help me decide what seats to buy!

Okay, so after my question about doubling down on a car seat purchase, I realized that I need to get some more help. This probably won't be the last question I ask on this topic because it will be awhile before the decision is actually made, but I want to try out seats now because the weather is getting colder and I'm still on maternity leave and have time.

Here's the situation:

DD1 is 2.5 and will be turning 3 in March. She is petite -- currently 26 lbs, 10 oz and 33.75" tall. She rides in three cars very regularly, so we have a seat for each of them. I want to keep her RF until 4, but she will probably be about 3 and a quarter when DD2 outgrows the Aton 2 (or when I get sick of using it and want to move her to a convertible). DD2 is also petite and following the same growth curve as DD1.

What's the best way to keep my older daughter comfortable and rear-facing for another year without breaking the bank?

Cars: 2010 Impreza (this car was our "tight fit" and was what led us to the Aton in order to keep the front passengers comfortable); 2010 Forester (not a ton of space back here either, but definitely more than the Impreza!) and 2015 Outback (this car belongs to my in-laws and, although it is the most forgiving in terms of space, it requires the most user-friendly seats).

Thoughts on Current Seats:
Nextfit: I like it, but I wouldn't buy another one. It is cushy and fits well in the Impreza, but I find it nearly impossible to adjust the headrest/harness height.
BLVD CT: I also wouldn't buy another one. I am realizing that my kids are so petite that LATCH limits aren't likely to come into play before booster age anyway, so the clicktight feature seems less valuable to me. I don't like reclining the base and the fact that you can't see which of the 7 reclines it's on and have to guess at it. Plus, I hate adjusting the harness strap tightness on this seat and the straps are thick and inflexible and seem uncomfortable for my daughter.
RA G4: This is the only seat I'd buy again. I love this seat. The only thing I don't love about it is the fact that it has those same Britax straps.

We also have a Titan 65. It might work for us FF someday, but it is too big for the Impreza or the Forester when RF and too difficult for my in-laws to use in the Outback. So right now it's just sitting in our garage. It also was the seat that made me learn that hook-on lower connectors don't play well with the deeply-recessed lower anchors of our Subarus. (They were hard to get on, and even harder to take off!)

My current thinking for my in-laws' Outback is that I will keep DD1 in the BLVD CT and move the Roundabout to my in-laws' car for DD2 when she is ready for a convertible. That way, they aren't having to learn any new seats just yet. (Once DD1 is forward-facing, I'm hoping to get them an IMMI Go for her in their car.)

So, that leaves the Nextfit in the Impreza and two open spots in the Forester and one in the Impreza. What three seats would you buy? Would like to keep the total cost under $600.

PS: My 2.5 year old has about 4" of headroom in the Roundabout. I don't know what that translates to as far as how long it will last for her, but I'm assuming that's the only one of my current seats that my petite kids would be in danger of outgrowing before 4 years old.

What about a scenera next? At least in the car that has tight front to back space until your older daughter turns 4? Then pass down the err convertible and get your older dd a forward facing seat? Personally I'm also a fan of the milestone.

Will a Roundabout fit in all 3 vehicles? You like it so much, and two of them would be well under budget, leaving you $300ish for that 3rd seat. Then just get one tall TBD seat, to guarantee that each kid can RF to 4.

1mommy said:

What about a scenera next? At least in the car that has tight front to back space until your older daughter turns 4? Then pass down the err convertible and get your older dd a forward facing seat? Personally I'm also a fan of the milestone.

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I thought of this too! I think my experience with the Titan 65 has kind of soured me on the super lightweight seats, though. The hook-on connectors don't work with our recessed lower anchors and the RF seatbelt install resulted in a ton of tipping because the shell is so light.

I checked out the milestone (the one with safety surround) at Buy Buy Baby today. I really liked it. I didn't try it in my car, but I liked the look of it in person better than the photos. It's so much sleeker and narrower than I had expected!

lgenne said:

Will a Roundabout fit in all 3 vehicles? You like it so much, and two of them would be well under budget, leaving you $300ish for that 3rd seat. Then just get one tall TBD seat, to guarantee that each kid can RF to 4.

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I think that the Roundabout would fit in the Impreza, but my husband might complain -- I'm pretty sure that we did it once or twice but it took up more room than the Nextfit and so we didn't bother with it because it wasn't as comfy for the front passenger as the Nextfit.

I have also considered getting one Roundabout for the Forester, one Coccoro for the Impreza, and then something tall as the other Forester seat. Is that crazy? To get a Coccoro for a 1 year old, even a petite one? I just think it's so darn cute and different and I love that it can be RF tethered, whereas the new Britax seats can't be RF tethered anymore.

What does Subaru have to say about RF tethering?

I love/hate my CCO. I pretty much have to tether it to keep it from tipping up. I'd much rather have the tether be optional.

It works GREAT in the 3rd row of my Mazda 5. RF tether + Euro routing + loading through the hatch means it's the most solid install I've gotten with any seat ever, and the Euro routed belt isn't even in my way. I haven't really liked it anywhere else. And I'm deliberately "misusing" it without the infant insert, even though DS3 isn't quite 25 pounds yet. Fit with the infant insert is terrible, great without.

Also, it's usually purple. So it's hard not to love it a little.

lgenne said:

What does Subaru have to say about RF tethering? I love/hate my CCO. I pretty much have to tether it to keep it from tipping up. I'd much rather have the tether be optional. It works GREAT in the 3rd row of my Mazda 5. RF tether + Euro routing + loading through the hatch means it's the most solid install I've gotten with any seat ever, and the Euro routed belt isn't even in my way. I haven't really liked it anywhere else. And I'm deliberately "misusing" it without the infant insert, even though DS3 isn't quite 25 pounds yet. Fit with the infant insert is terrible, great without. Also, it's usually purple. So it's hard not to love it a little.

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I think I remember checking back when we got the Roundabout and being told it was ok to RF tether as long as it was on the inner seat track.

Yeah, the purple thing is what I can't get out of my head.

Okay, so here are the ones that I am currently considering:

Coccoro: I'm not thinking too hard on this one. I know its useful life would be short. But it's just so different from all the other seats I've used, especially that external RF lock-off -- and I can't find it in any stores, which means I can't play with it unless I buy it!

4ever: With the exception of the big non-removeable cupholders, the reclined FF position for kids under 40 lbs and the lack of a buckle pad, I think I like everything about this seat. Even though I am learning that there's a lot I have to learn about boosters, I like the fact that this one at least has some POTENTIAL for future booster use -- even if one of my girls doesn't fit it well, it might be a good fit for the other, and with a 10-yr lifespan, both of them would get a chance to try it out.

Milestone: Same as 4-ever about booster potential. I like that it doesn't have the big cupholders of the 4ever and that it has a buckle pad. It also doesn't have the reclined FF position requirement that the 4ever has. My big hesitation with this one is that I REALLY want an open back because I like being able to pull the slack from behind when tightening....I know both the Milestone and the 4ever seem to have smoother harness adjustment anyway....and I've learned to leave the harness tight, so I know I can deal....but still, I really wanted an open back.

Contender: I really like the simplicity of this seat -- flip foot for recline, inexpensive price point, sleek and simple design. It reminds me of the Roundabout in some ways, but it has a no-rethread harness, and it also is much taller than the Roundabout. At less than 15 lbs, it's lighter than the Roundabout too, so it would make a decent travel seat. The downsides are that it is less padded than the other seats we have -- but would the kids even notice this? I know folks say that kids don't need as much padding as adults think they do, but if their other seats are more padded, would they notice then? It also takes up much more room when RF -- even when I installed it as upright as I could, I still couldn't extend the headrest all the way when RF....but, again, would I even need to? It's so tall, I just don't know for sure how far my kids would need the headrest to go before they'd be FF anyway. Finally, my last concern is that it has hook LATCH connectors, which is a big part of the reason it is so lightweight. BUT, I installed it fairly easily with the seatbelt in both the Impreza and the Forester.

Marathon or Boulevard (non-CT): These seats appeal to me because they would have the same easy install that I'm used to with the Roundabout -- plus higher height and weight limits.

So those are my current contenders: Roundabout, Marathon, Boulevard, Contender, Milestone, 4ever, Coccoro.

Any others I should add to my list? Suggestions/advice/experiences with any that I've listed?

I love my Milestone. [emoji5]️

It's great RF (although I've only had it in the hard-to-use +1 of our Odyssey; I assume it works well in other seats too, but we don't have to worry about front to back space there) and FF. Easy to install with LATCH (I haven't done a seat belt install). My 3 year old, who is probably bigger than your kids will be at 4, seems to prefer it over the Radian. The baby liked it as well as anything (he's not really a fan of car seats in general.) Harness height adjustment is super easy. Harness adjustment is also smooth and easy, even RF. Everything about it just works.

What about a "middle of the road" clone? One thing my older two definitely care about on the "plushness" spectrum is harness pads. And a Size4Me or whatever will take up less front to back space. (ETA: less than a Contender, I mean.)

I will also chime in with my LOVE for my Milestone! If the closed back is your only concern, I wouldn't worry about that at all - the harness adjustment is SO smooth and easy. There's 10000% no need to pull the harness from the back at all. Perhaps the easiest adjuster I have ever had TBH. I got mine specifically for space-saving concerns and it's working out super well for me! Milestone vote from me!

lgenne said:

What about a "middle of the road" clone? One thing my older two definitely care about on the "plushness" spectrum is harness pads. And a Size4Me or whatever will take up less front to back space. (ETA: less than a Contender, I mean.)

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I know it sounds crazy, but I really do prefer the Contender. I am a big fan of the flip foot! And for some reason, even though I know it is supposed to take up more room than the Size4Me according to the blog comparison, it doesn't. Maybe it's easier for me to install it more upright? They both only have one recline and, in the store, they looked about the same as far as how much space they take up on flat ground, so I was surprised that the Contender is supposed to take up more space....

I did worry about the lack of harness pads. Right now, my older daughter uses them on her Britax seats because of the uncomfortable webbing, but neither kid used them on the Aton 2 (after we realized that they were pushing the chest clip out of position) and DD1 doesn't use them on the Nextfit. I did call Graco and the guy said that it was similar enough to the Size4Me that it would be okay to use those pads on the Contender and that he could order them for me in a neutral color. Not sure how much they would cost or whether I'd get a different answer from another Graco rep if I called again, but it's at least a possibility.

I love my G4 Boulevard. The harness still fits my 43", 40 lb 4 year old! She will outgrow it soon, but it is definitely a long lasting seat, especially since your kids aren't enormous like mine.

I would get a CCO and a G4 Boulevard. I wouldn't get another Roundabout because their FF height and RF height are much shorter than the Boulevard.

I bought my gigantic 1 year old a CCO and she happily used it until a bit over 2. We LOVED that seat. It does frequently require a tether though and can be a tough install.

I very rarely adjust the harnesses on seats, so I don't have much to say about that.

I hated the CCO install. I never felt like it was in there very good. I didn't like how Griffin sat in it either.

Is replaceable harness on your must have list? What about kiddo being able to see out? I was just thinking about that so thought I'd mention it.

cookie123 said:

I hated the CCO install. I never felt like it was in there very good. I didn't like how Griffin sat in it either. Is replaceable harness on your must have list? What about kiddo being able to see out? I was just thinking about that so thought I'd mention it.

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I have never replaced a harness so far. I guess it hasn't occurred to me. I've cleaned puke off of harnesses before, but thankfully the smell has faded enough that I haven't felt the need to inquire about replacement. I guess it would be very necessary if we were ever in a situation where the harness was fraying or we had to cut it, though. Good point. Do you call about this kind of stuff ahead of time when choosing seats? Is it written somewhere in the manual whether or not the harness is replaceable?

I haven't thought much about the kid's ability to see out. DD1 has never complained specifically about not being able to see out, but her complaints in the car definitely are lacking in specificity. ;-)

gigi said:

I bought my gigantic 1 year old a CCO and she happily used it until a bit over 2.

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Do you know how tall your 2-yr old was when she outgrew the CCO? Did she outgrow it by height or weight? Was she FF or RF?

Not the person you asked, but my DS2, who has pretty normal proportions, both in terms of height/weight ratio and torso/leg ratio, but is a bit larger than average and always has been (pretty much in the 60th-80th percentile for all measurements ever, except for his 25th %ile head) outgrew it RF shortly past his second birthday by height. He was over 3 before he outgrew it by weight.

I've never used it FF.

She outgrew it RF and FF basically at the same time. She was probably 37"/30ish pounds. Not 100% sure on that but she was right on the height limit for RF, I might have gone an inch or two above before she outgrew it. She is always about 90-95%ile height, 20-40%ile weight.

I will say the CCO seems to last longest for skinny babies, my daughter has zero butt cheeks and thigh gap, so there is nothing talking up room in those areas and it buys her more time in seats.

My DS was a smaller kid and was able to rf in the CCO until 3 and still fit ffing. My petite DD1 still fit in the CCO ffing at 5 (although she didn't use it).

Ok, so what do you all think of this?

1 CCO (for DD2 in the Impreza, with DD1 in the Nextfit)
1 Contender (for DD2 in the Forester)
1 Milestone (for DD1 in the Forester)

My rationale for the CCO is that I will always wonder about the CCO if I don't get a chance to play with it. And if I buy it and it's a total bust (when I play with the buckles, practice install it, etc) I can return it. But this is my last kid, so if I don't get a CCO now, I never will! Plus, based on what others are saying, I think I could probably get my little kiddo to 2.5-3 years old RF in it and during that time it would make a good travel seat and I will have other convertibles to use after that.

My rationale for the Contender is that I can get it for about $100 or less, AND I like it. I will use it for DD2 so that it takes up less space (headrest will be in a lower position) and then evaluate whether I continue using it after DD1 gets to 4 RF. Even if the kids hate it and I end up switching it out for something else, it will make a good spare seat because it is so tall. It would also be a good travel seat.

My rationale for the Milestone is that it seems like I can't go wrong!

What do you think? An alternative combination of 3 seats?

Sounds like a good plan!

I loved the CCO as a travel seat. It was the best travel seat out of all the seats we've had!