Please Set Us Up for Home and Travel

MomWithKid · Jan 30, 2016

We would love your expert advice.

The Kids:
3 year old, 36 inches, 24 lbs (tiny)
13 month old, 30.5 inches, 22 lbs (50th%)

The Current Seats:
Foonf
Cybex Aton Q
Combi Coccoro (used for travel for older kid)

The Problem:
Foonf - 3 year old complains his butt hurts, seat too hard
Cybex Aton Q - 13 month old has outgrown
Combi coccoro - 3 year old has outgrown rear facing

The Vehicles:
Mercedes Benz ML320 (home)
Fly on airplanes
Mini van rentals
Mid size car rentals

The Buy?
Most likely we will buy two seats so probably looking for one for travel and one for home, although it could be the same seat:

The Style:
We need narrow seats because i generally sit between both boys in the back seat.
We like cushy seats especially for three year old.
Safety is our priority and budget is unlimited for carseats
We wish that 13 month old could still fit an infant seat for our upcoming trip to California so that if he falls asleep in car we could transfer him to the stroller.
Travel seat must be easy to install on a variety of vehicles

Ideas?
Thank you for taking the time to think this over.

Natalie

lgenne · Jan 30, 2016

I take it the 3 year old is still rear facing? And you want to keep it that way?

Assuming I have that right, for the 3 year old, if you want narrow, I think the obvious choices are Diono (any of the convertibles) or a Graco "clone": Contender, MySize, Size4Me, Fit4Me, Headwise. Those are all essentially the same car seat, with slightly different features/sellers.

For the 13 month old, there aren't a lot of infant seats that are narrow and fit past 30 inches. A Graco Snugride 40 is about the only thing that would give you anything like a reasonable amount of growing room, and it is narrow.

MomWithKid · Jan 31, 2016

Thank you for your reply.
Yes we want to keep the three year old rear facing.

For home use, one of the radians makes most sense for narrow and plush? Is it more plush than the foonf?

And for travel, what would you do? Forward face the tiny three year old in the combi coccoro or which seat installs easily?

As for the infant seat, i didnt realize they make such a seat with growing room! Does it have the european belt path system for easy install in taxis and rentals and can it easily install?
Thank you for your time.

lgenne · Jan 31, 2016

Radian: yes, they're pretty plush, and have some memory foam under the butt. I think the clones are pretty plush, too, though. They're not quite as narrow, but they're pretty narrow.

For travel with the 3 year old: Forward facing for travel is reasonable. It's up to you. If you don't want to forward face, your options:

Radian: very narrow and compact, fits down airplane aisles, can be worn backpack style. If you FF on the plane, the tray table can fold all the way down. It's also heavy, has extra parts for rear facing (you'll want an angle adjuster for rear facing--I don't think I mentioned that before) that you'd have to carry along, and installing in certain seating positions may be difficult or impossible, which can be a serious concern with rental cars.

Graco clone: lighter weight (but heavy compared with the Coccoro), less problematic for installing in unpredictable vehicles. Bulkier, and the tray table won't fold down.

I don't think the Snugride 40 allows Euro routing.

jwilliams · Jan 31, 2016

The Diono seats are cushier than the Cleks. My heather gray RXT is slightly cushier than my plum one, but both are much more cushioned than my Fllo. (Clek has apparently increased the cushioning for 2016.)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MomWithKid · Jan 31, 2016

Hooray for
Clek being cushier in 2016. Im tempted to buy a 2016 clek for our home seat and give the 2014 foonf to the baby.

In the meantime,
What should we travel with?
If i wanted to keep the three year old rear facing for travel, is there a seat similar to the combi coccoro that is plush, narrow, and super easy to install in rentals that i could use for the three year old?
Thanks

lgenne · Jan 31, 2016

I think a clone (MySize, Size4Me, or Fit4Me) is probably your best bet. The other "flavors" of the clone are either less plush (Contender) or wider (Headwise).

featherhead · Feb 1, 2016

MomWithKid said:
Hooray for
Clek being cushier in 2016. Im tempted to buy a 2016 clek for our home seat and give the 2014 foonf to the baby.

In the meantime,
What should we travel with?
If i wanted to keep the three year old rear facing for travel, is there a seat similar to the combi coccoro that is plush, narrow, and super easy to install in rentals that i could use for the three year old?
Thanks

You could also purchase a new cover for the Foonf that you already own.

MomWithKid · Feb 1, 2016

How could i purchase a new cover for the foonf? Would it be more padded?

And as for the graco clones, they would
Be good as travel seats?
Thanks

featherhead · Feb 1, 2016

MomWithKid said:
How could i purchase a new cover for the foonf? Would it be more padded?

And as for the graco clones, they would
Be good as travel seats?
Thanks

I assume you would purchase it from the Clek website. They said all upgrades for 2016 are available to purchase for older seats, which includes the more padded cover.

Please Set Us Up for Home and Travel

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