WWYD Re: Marathon possibly something else

Hello,

I have a Marathon (obviously from my siggy) DOM is jan 07.

My DH and I have two caravans. His has retrofitted tethers in the back bench seats. He has a regent and a nautilus in there.

In my car, I have a regent and a marathon. Stella will be 4 in September. She is 36lbs. The Marathon fits her fine now, but she only has about an inch below the top shoulder spot if that. She has TONS of room in the Nautilus. Stella is rather tall, but do not know the exact height.

I really like the Marathon, but not sure if it's going to last much more than 1 or 2 years. My 7 year old short step DD is too big for the MA. She was too big when she was 6.

Since carseats expire, should I sell the MA (since it's only 1.5 yrs old I would get more out of it than if I wait until she totally outgrows it) and look into something else that will last her a little longer? I don't want a frontier.

Every other weekend I have to transport 2 more children. Now, I switch the regent to my bucket seat in my van and put the MA in the back along with the Parkway. All 4 kids are fine. For now, I need the two Regents for my 8 and 7 year old. Regents require TT obviously. My back seat has a TT in the middle. Usually MA goes on one side (not TT) and PW on the other.

What would be a better option than the MA given my situation?

Yes... SIGH*** I am actually thinking of switching up the beautiful pink in my van ***SIGH***

Do you like the radian and does it install well where you need it? Thinking radian because it does so well in crash tests w/o the tether and provides more growing room than the marathon - and it comes in pink as well

I have installed the Radian in my van and it worked fine.

Hmmm... wonder if I can swap with someone (My MA for a Radian) LOL.

Does the 80 and 65 have the same shoulder height?

Courtney, how come you don't want to try the Frontier? My Stella adores hers!!

doesn't frontier need to be top tethered?

Also.. I think maybe it would be overkill since we already have the Regents that she can use when the older girls outgrow them.

But I could be wrong

courtfrog2 said:

Does the 80 and 65 have the same shoulder height?

Click to expand...

That is a good question! There is a ton of debate right now regarding that issue. Stay tuned...

But either one has a higher top slot then the MA right?

courtfrog2 said:

But either one has a higher top slot then the MA right?

Click to expand...

Form what I have heard, the Radian measures 1/4 to 1" taller than the Marathon, but most kids have more room than that in the car. It is perplexing.

Technically doesn't the radian states that it can be used until the kids ears are at the top of the shell? It's been tested that way right?

Or am I not remembering correctly???

Correct, the Radian allows kids to continue using it until the top of the ears are even with the top of the shell, or they reach the weight limit, whichever comes first. Whether or not a child would remain comfortable with shoulders above the top set of harness slots is questionable. Some techs/advocates have also continued to express concerns about spinal compression, although we were assured by the seat's designer during the CEU chat here that it's technically safe for kids to continue using with shoulders above the top set of slots.

FWIW, I moved DD1 out of her Radian and back into our second Regent once her shoulders were above the top slots this spring. She outgrew a Marathon's top slots at age 4.5, almost two years before her shoulders went above the Radian's top slots.