What booster seat would you recommend?

tiger926 · Nov 19, 2007

What booster seat would you recommend? Update on pg. 2!!

Our daughter 4.5 years old, is currently in a Radian in my new van, as she has a very long torso (we didn't buy her a Marathon as we found she had a bit more room in Radian). She currently uses the integrated seats in my hubby's Grand Caravan, but her shoulders have grown a bit, so we are thinking we may need to get her a booster seat - we are not happy about this, but since we had such a bad experience with our short-strapped Radian, my hubby will not purchase another Sunshine Kids product ever again - he dosen't trust the company, nor the Canadian distributor and I can't say that I blame him.

The Parkway looks good online, but I haven't been able to see one in person as our Toys 'R Us doesn't have one. I am going to call a few other baby boutiques in my city (there are only 3) and see if they carry Britax as we really like our Marathon (haven't actually used it yet though as our son is still in his Graco SafeSeat, but it looks great in the box!). I notice that Britax has several colours available in the Parkway in the U.S., but here in Canada, I only see granite and onyx colours. So, if I buy a Parkway here in Canada, is it the newest design by Britax? How will I know? Why more colours available in U.S? Also, what's the deal with the Monarch - I see this isn't available in Canada?

I know that the Sunshine booster is coming out, but my hubby won't buy it, and a new Evenflo convertible seat, but I don't much care for Evenflo as she literally outgrew her Triumph in 8 months - slots were way too short! Any new convertible or boosters coming out in Canada, besides these two?

By the way, our daughter is 4.5 years old, very responsible about safety (especially about car seat safety) and does not fool around in her seat at all. She only rides to school in the morning in my hubby's car, and spends the majority of time in my new Montana Van, where her Radian is.

Sorry for rambling - any opinions about Canadian booster seats (money is no issue), would be much appreciated, Tiger

CDNTech · Nov 19, 2007

I don't think the Parkway was redesigned. We never get as many options as the states do... just a fact of life.

The US also gets way more seat choices as well... all we get for boosters from Britax is the Parkway.

The headwings can be close to a child... generally they either hate them or love them (they make great sleeping pillows).

We have a Parkway in Granite that we really like. I use it as our spare for Aiden's friends that come in the van with us.

If she still fits in the Marathon, why not use that in hubby's car until she outgrows it or baby needs it.

While I much prefer kids of her age to be harnessed, as long as she is over 40lbs and will sit correctly for the entire trip... I think a booster would be okay for these situations.

tiger926 · Nov 19, 2007

aidensmom02 said:
I don't think the Parkway was redesigned. We never get as many options as the states do... just a fact of life.

The US also gets way more seat choices as well... all we get for boosters from Britax is the Parkway.

The headwings can be close to a child... generally they either hate them or love them (they make great sleeping pillows).

We have a Parkway in Granite that we really like. I use it as our spare for Aiden's friends that come in the van with us.

If she still fits in the Marathon, why not use that in hubby's car until she outgrows it or baby needs it.

While I much prefer kids of her age to be harnessed, as long as she is over 40lbs and will sit correctly for the entire trip... I think a booster would be okay for these situations.

Thanks - she is pretty much at the top of the Marathon. I will put her in it tonight, just to double check. The problem is, the first time we did this, she got all excited because she thought the seat was for her (she loves car seats, just like we do!), but we told her it was for her new baby brother. If she still fits in it, maybe I'll let her use it for a bit, and I can tell her that she is getting it ready for her baby brother - LOL! She was very close to the top slots about 7 weeks ago, when we purchased it, and she has since had another growth spurt (outgrew 6 pairs of jeans last month!), which is why my hubby noticed that she was very close to the top of her current seat this morning.

Thanks for advice - as long as I know that this is the right Parkway, then I can order it from Superstore, as they have free shipping - although I notice they are $10.00 higher than everyone else, but do ship Britax for free. I don't think anyone in my city has a Britax Parkway in stock, but I am going to call around just to make sure so I can put her in it before we purchase it.

Thanks, Tiger

Jewels · Nov 19, 2007

Dear Born baby also has the Parkway with free shipping . . . it is $129.99, not sure what it is at baby proofingplus/baby superstore.

BudgieStew · Nov 19, 2007

The free shipping with BabyProofing Plus never seems to work out

I'd go with Dear Born Baby

As for cover options. I am sure you could buy another Parkway cover off of e-bay or hopefully when one the U.S vendors start selling Britax covers again.
FWIW I hate the Britax Granite cover its ugly. So would take the Onyx over it any day. I own an Oynx for the winter cover for our Marathon.

CDNTech · Nov 19, 2007

To each his own, eh?

I

the Granite cover... super soft and matches my vehicle interior... yeah, I'm one of *those* people. I like matchy, matchy vehicles where the carseat becomes one with the car.

I've only seen the Onyx on the Marathon and I found it to be scratchy.

Babysuperstore also charges an oversize/overweight fee on items that are *free shipping*.

I've been told that DearBorn Baby has *actual* free shipping.

BudgieStew · Nov 19, 2007

Really? I find the black side of the Oynx to be super soft like velvet. The shiny center part appeals to me since it looks like it will repeal dirt/slush/snow.
I am waiting for the first real snowfall before I change to the Oynx since it will be rather painful to give up the other fun covers for winter.

I'm matchy matchy with the Radian's and the car color/interior colors though but for the Marathon I just got to have some fun.

CDNTech · Nov 19, 2007

Yeah, it was the inside that I found scratchy and since I don't change out my covers that was important.

The velvet is also way too hot for the boys during the summer and since I don't change out my covers that was important as well... sorry that was repetitive.

If I ever had a girl, I would be hard pressed to pass up the Ashley Floral... I adore that cover!

tiger926 · Nov 19, 2007

Thanks for all of the info - I called one of the baby boutiques in our city, and they have new Parkways in stock. They also have the new 65lb. Marathons too, but we just bought the Granite one for our son last month, so I think we're good

I showed my daughter the photo of the Parkway on Britax's website, and we talked about how this is a different strap than her Radian, and she said she was a big girl and could handle it because Tico the squirrel from Dora, has the same kind of seat - LOL! She actually likes the granite colour as it matches her brother's Marathon (would love to have the cow cover in Canada though).

Thanks, Tiger

BudgieStew · Nov 19, 2007

Too funny with Tico

I don't look at boosters much since we are years away from one and what is on the market then will not be the same

I saw that this cover for a Parkway is up on e-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Britax-Parkway-T...ryZ66695QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

snowbird25ca · Nov 19, 2007

I just thought that I would add that there is the cosco apex which you can buy at BRU/TRU now for $180 and harnesses to 65lbs. Because it's more upright, kids tend to fit it for a lot longer than the MA & close to the same amount of time as the radian. And then it converts to a booster. You have headrests in the Caravan, so wouldn't have any issues with the seatback/headrest rule, and the seat would be comfy for her while still giving you a booster for future use when she outgrows the harness. (It's on the website now if your store doesn't have it yet.

Just another idea.

p.s. The new evenflo convertible showing up is the evenflo triumph advance and will have 17" top harness height so will fit about the same length of time as the MA, although some people report it fitting longer than the MA since some kids just seem to outgrow the MA sooner than you think they should due to the contouring/slop of the seat. Probably not worth it for your dd if she's outgrowing the MA though.

Judi · Nov 19, 2007

THe apex makes a tall booster. I like the turbo booster also. The new cosco booster is really tall too, of course you still need a headrest in the vehicle.

tiger926 · Nov 20, 2007

Thanks - tried out an Apex before, and she was already close to top. She literally lasted a few months in her Triumph, so nothing fits her except the Radian and she is just a wee bit away from outgrowing the Marathon. She has been 100% for height since the day she was born, with a very long torso (my son is 110%, so they better get more convertible seat options here in Canada!). She still has a lot of room in Radian, but my hubby does not trust the company at all (we had a terrible experience with our short strapped Radian, as I'm sure you all know, since I've posted many times about it) and so no Radian for her. Plus, we would only be able to online order as no one has it in our city - CTs in our city only have old, short strapped one left, and we aren't going there!

I am worried about a booster not being as safe as a convertible in a crash, but in terms of her being old enough to use one, she is a very intelligent and safety conscious 4.5 year old, so I have no doubt that she will use it properly - we have a seat belt check each time we get in the car, for all of us, so this is something that she has been used to for a long time. She doesn't play with her seats, and in fact, she's the type of kid who notices incorrect car seat and seat belt usage in other people's cars, while we are driving.

Thanks, Tiger

CDNTech · Nov 20, 2007

You have to be careful with the Apex and certain Caravans. My '03 has headrests that are sloped forward... I haven't put an
Apex there, but I'm pretty sure it would not work. I remove those headrests for all my installs because it interferes with 90% of the seats I put in the captain's chairs.

snowbird25ca · Nov 20, 2007

tiger926 said:
Thanks - tried out an Apex before, and she was already close to top. She literally lasted a few months in her Triumph, so nothing fits her except the Radian and she is just a wee bit away from outgrowing the Marathon. She has been 100% for height since the day she was born, with a very long torso (my son is 110%, so they better get more convertible seat options here in Canada!). She still has a lot of room in Radian, but my hubby does not trust the company at all (we had a terrible experience with our short strapped Radian, as I'm sure you all know, since I've posted many times about it) and so no Radian for her. Plus, we would only be able to online order as no one has it in our city - CTs in our city only have old, short strapped one left, and we aren't going there!

Just curious if you were checking the very top slots that are hidden when the headrest is in the lowest position? The slots are higher on the apex than the MA, so if she still fits the MA, she should still have growing room in the apex - probably about 1/2" less than the Radian.

Although if it doesn't work with the contour of the headrests, that really sucks.

And while it won't be an option for your dd with her almost outgrowing the MA, the triumph advance when it arrives is a totally different seat from the current triumph. The original triumph - the one still available for purchase at present, is infamous for being outgrown young, but the new one fits as long as the MA if not a bit longer.

I should've said in my earlier post, your ds will likely get a good 8 more months out of the SS1 even with being tall. My ds is 91st/94th %ile for height - all torso, his torso is longer at 13mos than lots of 2yr olds. He's using the 3rd slots on the radian and 2nd from bottom on the MA & is above them on both (rf'ing in both.) That being said, he still has about 1.5" of hard shell above his head in the SS1 last I checked which was about a month ago. I expected him to outgrow it much sooner than he did considering how early he outgrew the snugride, but the contour of the SS1 just makes kids have much more height growing room than you'd think - even with tall babies. (My ds's torso was measuring between 13 and 13.5" when he still had 2" of hard shell above his head and he was just barely even with the top slots on the SS1.)

aidensmom02 said:
You have to be careful with the Apex and certain Caravans. My '03 has headrests that are sloped forward... I haven't put an
Apex there, but I'm pretty sure it would not work. I remove those headrests for all my installs because it interferes with 90% of the seats I put in the captain's chairs.

Hmm, that really sucks then. Good to know though, thanks.

tiger926 · Nov 20, 2007

snowbird25ca said:
Just curious if you were checking the very top slots that are hidden when the headrest is in the lowest position? The slots are higher on the apex than the MA, so if she still fits the MA, she should still have growing room in the apex - probably about 1/2" less than the Radian.

Although if it doesn't work with the contour of the headrests, that really sucks.

And while it won't be an option for your dd with her almost outgrowing the MA, the triumph advance when it arrives is a totally different seat from the current triumph. The original triumph - the one still available for purchase at present, is infamous for being outgrown young, but the new one fits as long as the MA if not a bit longer.

I should've said in my earlier post, your ds will likely get a good 8 more months out of the SS1 even with being tall. My ds is 91st/94th %ile for height - all torso, his torso is longer at 13mos than lots of 2yr olds. He's using the 3rd slots on the radian and 2nd from bottom on the MA & is above them on both (rf'ing in both.) That being said, he still has about 1.5" of hard shell above his head in the SS1 last I checked which was about a month ago. I expected him to outgrow it much sooner than he did considering how early he outgrew the snugride, but the contour of the SS1 just makes kids have much more height growing room than you'd think - even with tall babies. (My ds's torso was measuring between 13 and 13.5" when he still had 2" of hard shell above his head and he was just barely even with the top slots on the SS1.)

Hmm, that really sucks then. Good to know though, thanks.

We tried her in the Apex at the store, so I can't remember if we found those hidden slots or not, as I was pregnant and not feeling well, so my hubby tried her in it, while I kind of stayed off to the side. I though Apex's were lower top slots than Marathons? Are you saying that the Apex has a higher top slot than a Marathon, but not as high as a Radian?

Is this the correct one? http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B000...1_1?ie=UTF8&searsBrand=core&mqnodeid=16342021

I guess I'm confused because when people ask on here what seats are best for taller kids, Radian and Marathon are always listed, why doesn't anyone mention the Apex? Incidentally, my hubby's van is a 2003 Grand Caravan, so not sure if it will work, although we have a bench seat in there, and not captain's chairs - not sure if that makes a difference?

RE: my son. He is actually 110% for height and 100% for weight, so we aren't sure how long he is going to last in his new Safeseat. It looks like he has a ton of room still to go - actually, his torso doesn't seem as long as my daughter's, but he was 2 inches taller than her at birth. I am a petite thing, who seems to grow huge babies - LOL!

Thanks for the help, Tiger

Jewels · Nov 20, 2007

The Apex top slots are 17" so they are the same as the MA but the apex sits more upright and not as reclined as the MA allowing for there to be more growth in that area. So in the long run the Apex will last longer then a MA but not as long as a Radian.

tiger926 · Nov 20, 2007

Jewels said:
The Apex top slots are 17" so they are the same as the MA but the apex sits more upright and not as reclined as the MA allowing for there to be more growth in that area. So in the long run the Apex will last longer then a MA but not as long as a Radian.

Thanks - that is interesting to know. When we tried it in the store, we didn't see much room, but maybe we missed the top slots. We will definitely try her in this car seat before we buy a Parkway, as we would love to have her harnessed as long as possible. I am still confused about the whole headrest thing though - can you please explain it to me?

Thanks so much, Tiger

supermommyof2 · Nov 20, 2007

She actually likes the granite colour as it matches her brother's Marathon (would love to have the cow cover in Canada though)

Cowmoo is available here (on MAs), although it might be hard to find in stock

Our friends managed to get one and there was 1 in stock when we got our granite one, but DH wouldn't let me get it

tiger926 · Nov 20, 2007

supermommyof2 said:
Cowmoo is available here (on MAs), although it might be hard to find in stock Our friends managed to get one and there was 1 in stock when we got our granite one, but DH wouldn't let me get it

Actually, I was talking about the cow cover for Parkway as Britax makes Parkways in the cow cover in the states only. It looks really cool online!

Thanks, Tiger

What booster seat would you recommend?

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