Trying to find a 3-1 seat for an '08 Escape

I'm trying to find a 3-1 car seat for our 08 Escape. I want a car seat I can use rear facing and still have use for a tall adult in the front passenger seat. I plan on putting the car seat in the rear passenger side seat, as I was told that that is the second best place, my oldest daughter will sit in the back drivers side. Any help would be great, I'm currently leaning toward the Britmax Marathon. Thank you,Diana

I think the Marathon is a great choice!

But I'm not sure about the 'which side is safest' advice you got...any seat in the back is VERY safe, and you should do what is most convenient (ie, allows the driver to have adequate legroom, or allows you to hand the older child things when at a stop light...or if your older child needs to be dropped off in a school dropoff lin, passenger side is easiest in that case... )

What is the age/weight/height of this child you are wanting the seat for? Or might it be for a new baby you are expecting?

A lot of times, the 3-in-1 seats are not all they seem to be. They might do each task okay, but don't always excel at any of the tasks. For recommending a seat, I would be more likely to recommend a convertible seat and then another seat down the road when that seat is outgrown.

I missed the title...do you think 3-1 is becoming a common term for 'converible'?

My youngest daughter is 6 months old and is about 19lbs, she's going to be tall. I want something for her that will go from rf to ff to a booster, at least for a little bit. I would really like to get 3-4 years out of it. She's getting too big to lug around in the infant carrier, and don't want her in the middle of the rear seat, because I want to give my oldest DD ( she's 6 and about 60lbs and around the 4' mark) some room.
Thank you for telling me that I can move my youngest DD to the driver side, that really does make it easier to put her in and out, and to let the oldest out at school, friends, etc.
Thank you for any help or suggestions, it's been a long time since I've bought a car seat, and hated the one I had for my oldest. I'm willing to pay for a good seat that won't make me mad or frustraded, I'm one that once I buy a seat, that's it I won't be getting a different one, no matter. I live in a small town in Alberta that's 2 hours from a bigger centre, so I have to order my seats thru Sears, Home Hardware, or go online, so any suggestions on where on line to buy would be great too, thanx again.
Diana

I'm going to move this to the CDN forum since we don't have the same seats available as the US.

Where abouts are you in AB? I'm in Edmonton, and there's another in Calgary area. My parents live right near red deeer as well.

My recommendation would be an EFTA, MA or Radian. None of these convert to a booster, but all of them should get your little one to 5yrs old in a harness which is an appropriate age to go out and buy a dedicated booster.

The 3in1 seats have many drawbacks to them, and it won't be the last seat you ever need - you'll still have to buy another ff'ing harnessed seat in most likelihood, as well as another dedicated booster. The biggest drawback is that the top headrest position isn't usable with the harness, so most kids outgrow the harness before they're big enough/old enough/mature enough for a booster. (See http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=39120 for more info on the 3in1 harness height issue.)
It also doesn't make a very good booster, so you will have to buy a dedicated booster regardless of what seat you get now.

So my advice would be to get a convertible seat with good tall harness height and higher weight limit, and then plan to buy a dedicated booster.

The EFTA is $150. It will be going on sale March 28 at Sears for $134.99. I'm not sure if they have it online yet, but you could call and ask if it's available through catalog order. I know BRU/TRU is backordered until mid april and I'm not sure what the other stores are like, but our stores are all sold out. Our wal-mart has it for $144.99.

The MA is $299, the radian is $229 or $279 depending on if you get a regular or a premier seat. The MA is available at TRU/BRU online, also babyproofingplus.com carries the MA as well as the radian - babyproofingplus does charge a surcharge for shipping on the radian though, so if it's the radian you decide to go with, let us know and we can recommend sites with true free shipping on the radian. :thumbsup:

Whether or not you can put your youngest behind the driver's seat will depend on the height of the driver. In our Escape, we couldn't fit the infant SafeSeat behind the driver's seat when DH was driving. It fit nicely behind the passenger seat and still gave plenty of room for him to sit as a passenger. The SafeSeat is the largest infant seat available in Canada, so the majority of convertibles don't take up anymore room than it does. So, I confident you'll be fine with pretty much any convertible behind the passenger seat, and behind the driver's seat will depend on the height of the driver. The good thing with a convertible is, you don't need room for the handle or room for your hand to reach a release lever, so the convertible can be much closer to the driver's seat.

FYI I called Sears and the EFTA is not available for catalog order yet.

snowbird25ca said:

I'm going to move this to the CDN forum since we don't have the same seats available as the US.

Where abouts are you in AB? I'm in Edmonton, and there's another in Calgary area. My parents live right near red deeer as well.

My recommendation would be an EFTA, MA or Radian. None of these convert to a booster, but all of them should get your little one to 5yrs old in a harness which is an appropriate age to go out and buy a dedicated booster.

The 3in1 seats have many drawbacks to them, and it won't be the last seat you ever need - you'll still have to buy another ff'ing harnessed seat in most likelihood, as well as another dedicated booster. The biggest drawback is that the top headrest position isn't usable with the harness, so most kids outgrow the harness before they're big enough/old enough/mature enough for a booster. (See http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=39120 for more info on the 3in1 harness height issue.)
It also doesn't make a very good booster, so you will have to buy a dedicated booster regardless of what seat you get now.

So my advice would be to get a convertible seat with good tall harness height and higher weight limit, and then plan to buy a dedicated booster.

The EFTA is $150. It will be going on sale March 28 at Sears for $134.99. I'm not sure if they have it online yet, but you could call and ask if it's available through catalog order. I know BRU/TRU is backordered until mid april and I'm not sure what the other stores are like, but our stores are all sold out. Our wal-mart has it for $144.99.

The MA is $299, the radian is $229 or $279 depending on if you get a regular or a premier seat. The MA is available at TRU/BRU online, also babyproofingplus.com carries the MA as well as the radian - babyproofingplus does charge a surcharge for shipping on the radian though, so if it's the radian you decide to go with, let us know and we can recommend sites with true free shipping on the radian. :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Hi there. We live in Grande Cache, in the mountains, it's beautiful, I lived in St. Albert for a short period of time though, and have had to go to Edmonton for lots of other things.
I looked on babyproofingplus and they didn't show any radians, they did have the marathon though, so is that free shipping if I get the marathon thru them? Otherwise I can get it thru tru.
My husband is 6'2" and I'm 5'11" so we need some room for both of us, I've read the reviews on the marathon and am really leaning towards it, plus I really like the covers you can get, lol.
Diana

TJ's Kids (available online) also carries both the Radian and Marathon, just as a FYI. I've never found their shipping cheap or free, though!

If you're planning a trip to Edmonton in the near future, I think that e-Children carries both as well, but it might be good to call ahead and see what they currently have in inventory. My friend bought a Radian there last week, but it had to be sent from their store in Calgary.

I second Trudy's advice. Stay away from anything that says "3-in-1" or that it's "The only seat you'll ever need!" Those seats maybe labelled as Cosco, Eddie Bauer, or Safety 1st and may go by the name of "Alpha Omega" or "Enspira". They have very low top harness slots which are often outgrown by only 2.5-3 years old. So you then have to go and purchase another seat just to keep DC harnessed at least to the legal minimum of 4 years and 40 lbs. I personally prefer to see children to be at least 5 or 6 years old before going in a booster. Any younger than that and they just don't have the physical and/or emotional maturity to be safe sitting in a booster. Those seats also make poor boosters. There are other seats (as already mentioned to OPs) that are a much better value for your money.

Britax Marathon
* RF 5-30 lbs, FF 20-65 lbs. Make sure you get the 65 lbs model, some stores are still selling the older 48 lbs model (i.e. Babies “R” Us has both models available).
* 17" top slots.
* Doesn't fit newborns well. Lasts most kids to 5-6 years old.
* Built-in lockoffs to replace locking clips
* Very easy install.
* Tethers RF
* 19.5" wide
* $299.99 at Junior Baby
* 14 covers to choose from (not sure if all are available in Canada) You can view them at www.britaxusa.com

Sunshine Kids Radian
* RF 5-30lbs, FF up to 65lbs in 5 point harness. Make sure you get the 65 lbs model, some stores are still selling the older 48 lbs model (i.e. Canadian Tire).
* Lasts most kids to 2-3 y/o RF and 6-7 y/o FF.
* Tethers RF.
* 1 recline position for RF, 2 recline positions for FF.
* 3 harness buckle slots, 5 harness slots (Bottom three for RF only - top two for RF or FF.)
* 18 in top slots.
* Has some installation issues. It’s best to try it out in your vehicle before buying.
* Has on-board storage for ALL of the straps!
* Great for 3 across situations, only 17" at the widest point and 13.5" at the bottom.
* Great for travelling, folds to only 7" thick and has shoulder straps. Can be carried over shoulder
or as a backpack.
* 8 year expiration - almost all other car seats have a 6 year expiration date.
* www.skjp.com has the manual available for viewing.
*$199.99-$229.99 at Junior Baby. $229.99-$269.95 at TJ’s Kids. Only difference is cover options and infant and toddler padding.

Evenflo Triumph Advance
* RF 5-30 lbs, FF 20-47 lbs.
* Infinite adjust harness (no rethreading!), 17" harness height in top position.
* $149.99 at Babies "R" Us.

Compass True Fit
* brand new seat out that will be available from BRU May 16.
* RF 5-30 lbs, FF to 65 lbs.
* No rethread harness.
* $199.99 at Babies "R" Us.

Any of the above seats (except the True Fit, I'm not sure about that one) should be able to keep your DD RF until at least 2 years old. I don't know if you know about extended rear-facing, so here's some information for you. I know it's a lot, but it's worth reading through all of it.

Thanks to Mel at the other car seat board for this information!

NEW REAR FACING STUDY:
http://www.fortwayne.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/SE/20071210/NEWS/712100332

Rear Facing is the Safest Way to Travel

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible for the best protection, to the limits of a convertible seat which would be to 30-35lbs (30 in Canada). OR when the head is 1-inch from the top of the carseat. http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/qt/rear_facing.htm According to NHTSA, a rear-facing car seat is 71 percent safer than no restraint at all, and a forward-facing car seat is 54 percent safer than no restraint at all.

When a child is forward-facing, there is a lot of stress put on his/her neck in a crash. The weight of a child's head in a crash causes the spinal column to stretch...the spinal cord, however, is NOT meant to stretch! This can cause a tear...which means paralysis or even death. This is referred to as "internal decapitation"...the child's head would be slumped forward and it would look as though he/she was sleeping. It doesn't matter if the child has great head control...that means nothing. New data is showing that a forward-facing child is 4 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed than a rear-facing child of the same age.

Note: having a carseat that allows tethering RFing reduces this risk - only two brands on the market currently allow this feature, Britax and Sunshine kids. New carseats can almost always can be tethered FFing which reduces head excursion in an accident. Even older cars can be retrofitted to add Top Tether Anchors

Rear-facing seats do such a great job of protecting children because the back of the carseat absorbs the crash forces. The child's head, neck, and spine are kept in alignment, allowing the carseat to absorb the forces. The child's head is also kept contained in the carseat, decreasing the risk of coming into contact with projectiles.

More Rear Facing Information

1) rear-end collisions are less frequent than front-end collisions

2) rear-end collisions statistically occur at much lower impact speeds than front-end collisions

3) side impact collisions are less dangerous when RFing because of the way the carseat rotates in a side-impact collision.

4.) A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 4 times MORE likely to be killed or seriously
injured in a crash. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible for the best protection. It doesn't matter if their feet hang over the edge of the car seat or touch the vehicle's seat. There has never been a single reported case of hip/leg/foot injury from rear-facing.

5.)What about big babies? A 95th percentile baby may look stronger than his 5th percentile friend, but in a crash the bigger baby is likely MORE at risk if he's riding forward-facing. The rigidity of bones and the strength of ligaments in the spine is likely the same in children of the same age, no matter their size. And a 95th percentile baby likely has a much larger, heavier head, which will pull forward which much more force than that of a 5th percentile child. http://www.freewebs.com/sacredjourneys/newbornpreschool.htm, You can see that a child's head is a fourth of their body as a baby and you can also see how the bones calcify and harden as they get older.

6.) Many parents in the US think it's "weird" to have a 2 year old rear-facing--most children are switched to forward-facing around their first birthday. But if you lived in Sweden, the idea of a 2 year old FORWARD-facing would be "weird," as they keep kids rear-facing until the ages of 3 or 5. In Sweden, children go straight from rear-facing seats to booster seats! Because kids sit rear-facing for so long, fewer than 1 child a year dies in a rear-facing car seat in Sweden. If we also kept more kids rear-facing, we would not only see fewer deaths, but also fewer injuries--especially the really hard to fix ones like those to the spinal cord and head.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868/

http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/rear-facing_seats.html