Need advice for FF seat

I have a 2 year old DD, 27lbs, 35iin. I am looking to get her a new seat in our secondary car ('02 Trailblazer). I am not looking to return her to RF. I have a new baby, whom I am buying a new Marathon for. Both of them will be in Marathons in my van. In my DH car, we have her in a Evenflo convertible seat. I hate it and have since day one. The straps are a nightmare, and I just plain don't like it. I will be getting rid of that, and have bought my son (3months 17lbs) a Scenera for when he outgrows his infant seat. I tried DD in the Scenera, but she seemed a bit big for it. I think she would be more comfortable for a longer period of time in a FF/booster seat. I need help finding one that is inexpensive as she will not be in it much. (I would LOVE to get her a Regent in my car and give DH the Marathan, but I just can't buy two Britax's right now) My mother has a Cosco brand FF only seat that actually is quite easy to use and the straps don't twist. I don't know much about their brand in terms of safety. Any help is appreciated!

just a note: babylove.com has the husky(aka regent) on sale for 169 plus shipping(10-45 depending on where you live, but still cheaper than one new at the store).

As for her a seat, since you arent wanting to go RF again what is her torso height? If you could sit her by the wall and measure from teh ground to the top of her shoulders we could see which seat would last her better.

I will measure her when she wakes up. I did look at that site for the Husky, but it was $200 total with shipping. I hate money being an issue when buying a carseat!

I just got a Scenera for my 27lb 36" 4 yr old as a spare. She fits just great with lots of room to grow. She still fits rf in her RA too so maybe she is short waisted?
C.

okay, she is 13.5 inches from shoulder to floor (sitting). She seemed to fit in the Scenera okay NOW, I was just thinking for down the road. The FF only seem to have longer seats that extend under the knees. Would another Scenera be a better idea than say a Cosco FF only?

I would also down the road like her harnessed for as long as possible, if that helps in seat selection.

if you could find out what seat the cosco is it would help.

I personally would recommend the graco CarGo(such as the cherished cargo at walmart for $89). The harness slots are about 16-17" and with her torso height, age, and weight she would get a good few years out of it. It doesnt make as good of a booster as some other combination seats though, but that might not matter since it is a secondary seat.

You could take her to walmart/target and try her in a few seats. Since she is on the smaller side seats will fit her different. The CarGo is a compact like seat so it wont swallow her like the other combination seats would.

Did you say she is in a marathon in the main car? That should get her pretty far harnessed in the main car.

Yes she is in a Marathon. I just didnt want to pick one from Walmart that was a hunk of junk KWIM LOL?

LOL! I know what you mean. But not all of them are big ole hunks of plastic.

I like the CarGo, especially the new versions with the front harness adjusters. They are padded and plush and there are 3 different models with 3 different amounts of padding(but I prefer the cherished cargo cause there is such a thing as too much padding). They also have the EPS foam like britax does.

And Target has a another one I liked but I cant remember the name.(we dont have a target around here yet so it was a few weeks ago that I saw it).

Avoid all Cosco/Eddie Bauer/Safety 1st highback boosters--all but the Apex and new Cubb have LOWER top harness slots than most convertible carseats. A child has outgrown a harnessed seat by height when their shoulders go above the top harness slots. That's why torso height and top harness slot height matter so much.

The Scenera's top slots are 14.5 inches, so if your dd's torso height is 13.5 inches, she's about an inch below the top slots of the Scenera. The usual Cosco/Eddie Bauer/Safety 1st highback boosters have top slots measuring just 14 inches tall. Most kids outgrow these combo seats harnessed by 3 years old and nowhere near 40 pounds.

The Graco Ultra/Platinum CarGo has top slots about 16.5 inches tall. It has good padding and deep side wings, plus EPS foam. It won't work well long-term in booster mode, but it's a good harnessed seat.

My favorite combination seat is the Recaro Young Sport, but it is pricey ($250) for a secondary seat. It is Britax-quality though, has top slots at least as tall as the Marathon (so, for taller, skinnier kids can be just as good of a choice) and makes a superb long-term booster with deep side wings and EPS foam.

My favorite budget combination seat is the Evenflo Bolero/Generations. It has 17" top slots and makes a good long-term booster. No EPS foam.