Car Seat Recommendation

rgraves

New member
I have four kids and a 2013 Grand Caravan. We live in Canada.

Our 2.5 year old needs a new car seat. He is just over 30lbs. Due to where the LATCH and top tethers are and the ages of his siblings, he has to go in the 3rd row, middle seat and use the LATCH instead of the seat belt. His sister sits next to him and the LATCH is off center, allowing his seat to fit, while the seat belt would be too close to her seat to fit.

We have used the Britax Frontier for his older brother so I thought about using that, however it has a weight limit of 40lbs when using the LATCH. I figure he will reach 40lbs in the next year or two, so buying another one of those won't be a good long-term solution.

Can someone recommend a good car seat that can use the LATCH for children larger than 40lbs?
 
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MelodyoftheForest

Active member
I am seeing that the Evenflo SureRide has a 55lb lower anchor weight limit. I couldn't find anything else that went over 50lbs, including the Maestro and Cosco Finale, the other two lightest FF seats I could think of.
 

rgraves

New member
Thanks. I'll look into the SureRide.

Here's my configuration:
seatpositions.jpg

Due to LATCH positions and ages, the 6yr old and 1yr old have to be where they are. That leaves positions #2, #3, and #5 to put our 2.5yr old and our 4yr old. Position #3 has to use the seatbelt and there's no top tether there so that can only be used for booster seats.

My thoughts are:
-Put the 2.5yr old into position #2 with the SureRide since it has a LATCH and top tether off-center. The seatbelt is in the center so it would be too close to our 6yr old to fit.
-Move the 4yr old to position #5 since his Britax Frontier now has to use the seatbelt (he is 40lbs). I don't think our 4yr old is big enough for a booster seat yet and would rather keep him in a 5-point harness even if he is old enough.

Does this make sense? Are there any other ideas I'm not thinking of?
 

MelodyoftheForest

Active member
Isn’t the top tether for the offset 3rd row LATCH allowed to be used with either seat 2 or 3 if the seat is installed with a seat belt? I am not absolutely sure of that, so check your manual. That could give you the option of keeping the older two kids in the third row if that is easier for you. It would also give the oldest more room to buckle her booster toward the center of the bench.
 

rgraves

New member
I don't believe so. Here's what the manual says:

"An incorrectly anchored tether strap could lead to increased head motion and possible injury to the child. Use only the anchorage position directly behind the child seat to secure a child restraint top tether strap."

Technically the tether strap is centered while the LATCH anchors are off-center - so even the center position doesn't have the tether and LATCH line up directly. I think it's still allowed for that position though.

However putting the seat on the 3rd row drivers side would be too far away from the tether, I think.
 

MelodyoftheForest

Active member
I must have been thinking of another van, then. Sounds like you have a good plan with looking for a seat you can install with the lower anchors. You could put either FF kid in the offset position 2 with the right seat. At this point, I think it just depends on what works better for you as far as having access to buckle them and which siblings would do best near each other. I would absolutely keep the 4 year old harnesses until the maturity level is up to following the rules of a booster, probably in a year or two.
 

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