Monterey VS. Regent for 2nd vehicle??

Ds3 is 4.5 yrs old and weighs 52 lbs! He is 45 in. tall! He rides in the regent in our primary vehicle! He now rides in the Graco TB in dh Jeep but I want to either move him to the regent or the Monterey! He only rides in this car about 1-2 times a week for about 20 min. tops! What do you all think?? I am going to purchase a Monterey for DS2 anyway so I think I may try ds3 in it to see how he does. He prefers the harness but he may like the Monterey. A big concern is if he likes the Monterey then he may end up not wanting to ride in the harness anylonger in main car! THis will not be an option for him! ANy suggestions?

How long is his torso? My dd is also 4.5 and is close to 47 inches tall (but only 46.5 lbs) but her torso is only 17 inches so she still has a lot of growing room in the Regent and will probably fit until she's 6-7. Unless his torso is seriously long, I'd consider the Regent. You'd probably get some good use out of it.

OR, as a compromise, what about the Graco Nautilus? It has 18.25-18.5 inch top slots and a 65 lb weight limit on the harness, then converts to a good high back booster and also to a low back booster. You'd probably be able to keep him harnessed for another year or more and then you'd have the booster for him too. Just a thought... It all would depend on his torso length.

mom23boys said:

Ds3 is 4.5 yrs old and weighs 52 lbs! He is 45 in. tall! He rides in the regent in our primary vehicle! He now rides in the Graco TB in dh Jeep but I want to either move him to the regent or the Monterey! He only rides in this car about 1-2 times a week for about 20 min. tops! What do you all think?? I am going to purchase a Monterey for DS2 anyway so I think I may try ds3 in it to see how he does. He prefers the harness but he may like the Monterey. A big concern is if he likes the Monterey then he may end up not wanting to ride in the harness anylonger in main car! THis will not be an option for him! ANy suggestions?

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My DS rode in a booster in our secondary car and never complained about riding in a Regent in our main car. In fact, I bought him a Nautilus last month because he kept bugging me to get him a harnessed seat for my car! (To be fair, when we bought the Parkway, he was only in my car 1-2x a month. Now he rides in my car four days a week, 20 minutes a day.)

And Mom23boys, may I suggest that your posts might be a little easier to read (and thus get more responses) with fewer ! and more paragraph breaks? In my professional life as a writer/editor, I've found that a little ! goes a long way, and long paragraphs are hard to read online :twocents:

BookMama said:

My DS rode in a booster in our secondary car and never complained about riding in a Regent in our main car. In fact, I bought him a Nautilus last month because he kept bugging me to get him a harnessed seat for my car! (To be fair, when we bought the Parkway, he was only in my car 1-2x a month. Now he rides in my car four days a week, 20 minutes a day.)

And Mom23boys, may I suggest that your posts might be a little easier to read (and thus get more responses) with fewer ! and more paragraph breaks? In my professional life as a writer/editor, I've found that a little ! goes a long way, and long paragraphs are hard to read online :twocents:

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Thanks for the suggestion. I am sort of new to posting online so any advice on more user friendly posting is apprecitated

I did consider the Nautilus but the crotch strap bothered him on the furthest out position. He has never has any issues with crotch strap complaining before so that worried me. His torso is approx 16.75 and he is on the same spot as your dd in your photo in the regent. I am still undecided about moving him from the harness.

I am probably going to order the Monterey for 8 yr brother and see how he likes it. That way I can try him in it and then I can m ake a better decision.

I went ahead and ordered a Monterey in the red this morning from Elite. I did purchase the return shipping insurance just incase. I read that some posters had some trouble getting the Monterey to extend all the way up for the 22" belt guide and others didn't have the hard of a time. I am hoping this one will be an easy one.

Ds 2 is almost 8 and has a 19" torso so I will try him and ds3 who is 4.5 yrs with a 16.75 torso and weighs 53 lbs to see how he fits for a sceond seat. If they both fit well then I may order another one. I really wish that there was at least one that had tan as both of our cars are tan leather. I have to choose safety over color at this point.

Dh does not have SIP and that is why I prefer the Monterey in his Jeep. THe MDX has side curtain airbags so that is not a problem in that car. BTW, neither of the positions that this seat may go have latch, is that a problem. There are tether anchors but does the Monterey tether also?

the monterey doesn't have a top tether. just lower anchros. & no it doesn't HAVE to be latched in. ours isn't in our OLD van. just treat it like any otehr booster. buckle it in reagrdless if there is an occupant or not