Which car seat (budget friendly)

U

Unregistered

Guest
I have a 30 month old who is RF in a Safety 1st and has outgrown it height wise.

30 lbs.
13 in torso
30 months.

Can be FF or RF or a combo seat. Would like to keep in a harness. Also needs to be able to be used with a seat belt as my car does not have latch

I have about $150-$200 to spend, would prefer to keep on the lower side
 
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skaterbabs

Well-known member
Which Safety First seat are you using, and how has she outgrown it by height? Does she have less than one inch of seat shell above her head, or are you using her standing height as the guide? Additionally, what is the make, model and year of your vehicle? Are there other passengers in the vehicle?

Without knowing the answers to those questions, I would suggest the Evenflo Triumph Advance. About $130, it RF to 35 lbs, FF to 50 lb and the topmost harness position is actually a tad higher than the Britax Marathon.

All current seats can be installed with either seatbelt or LATCH (never both.)
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
TrueFit? With deals you can often get it for $170 or thereabouts, and it has the highest shell of any convertible on the market.
 

hboo22

New member
I got my True Fit at www.learningcurve.com for $150 with the coupon code SDN25 or you can use LCFRIEND if you create an account. It RF to 35lbs (with a very tall shell-my 3 year old is ERF) and FF to 65 lbs (my 4 year old is also in one, with lots of room left).
 

jess71903

Ambassador
Love my True Fit! I would highly recommend it. It has the most RF leg room I have seen to go with the tall shell and high top harness positions. I got mine from albeebaby.com for $170 with free shipping, but would have gotten it from learningcurve.com if they hadn't been backordered at the time.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
I want to second what the pp asked..HOW are determining if your child has outgrown it by height? If you are simply using the stated height, you could still have time in the seat...with only a 13 inch torso, odds are your child's head is still within the shell, is it not? And could you please tell us which seat exactly you have..safety 1st is not a seat, it is a company/brand name, not an actual seat name.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I have this seat.
http://www.target.com/Safety-1st-Al...=3579961&rank=pmrank&rh=p_36:$100-$199&page=1

I think she is to tall because her hair is taller then the shell. When I lay her hair down she has right at one inch. I also measured her sitting on the floor vs the shell height and came up with about 1 1/2 inches of room.

The seat has to be on level 1 or 2 to use RF and level 3 to ue FF and level 4 is booster. I am using level 3 RF, in clear violation of what I know, but if I make the seat any higher I will have to use the seat belt and not a harness so I need a new seat.

I was looking at true fit in monet or graco nautilus or the sunshine kids radian 65.

I do not have a car but use a ford focus and a chevy lumina regualray. DD would be passenger rear, baby would be in middle, she is 3 months, 13 pounds and in a graco safe seat
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
I also want to know how she's outgrowing it, but I would recommend the Evenflo Triumph Advance, The First Years Truefit, or the Radian 65.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Why not just use that seat forward facing? She's got 10 pounds and 1.5" of torso height before she outgrows it forward facing.

If you'd like to continue to rear face, the True Fit is a grand seat for it. It's definitely tall enough. :) And you can use setting three rear facing on it without a problem. If you're going to forward face her I'd look at the Graco Nautilus.

Wendy
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
If I use the seat FF then I have to put it in the booter mode, right? It can be used FF until 40 pounds in harnes but she is to tall when face forward. Not sure how that works, she seem to be shorter when laying reclined.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
You are correct that if her shoulders are over the third slots, she can't use that seat FF.

I have seen some kids "slump down" a bit when they are in the RF seat, you're right that that can happen.

I think that I would definitely get the TrueFit if she's so tall. :)
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
The top slots on that seat are a lot higher than 13 inches, so if she has a 13 inch torso, there is no way she has outgrown it. you have adjusted the headrest up to the highest usable position? When it is adjusted up as high as it goes in harnessed mode, the inner headrest part is actually higher than the outside shell, does that make sense? I'm just sitting here scratching my head, because my 4 year old, 16 inch torso-ed child can still fit RFing and FFing in that seat, well, she can by height, she is too heavy to use it at this point. I just took us outside in the dark cold rain to make sure I'm not hallucinating, and yes, she still fits by height.
i am thinking that you have NOT used the red adjusters to pull the headrest up into the top usable position. Is there any way you can get us a pic of it? Again, the inner headrest part will actually be TALLER than the actual shell of the seat when it is pulled up into the top usable position.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
The top slot says for booster mode only. My manual says slot 1 and 2 for RF only.


I made a mistake on her measurments. 13 inches in butt to shoulder. 19 inches for butt to head

I do not have a digital camera.

I think I am going to go ahead and get the true fit anyway though. Anyway know when it will go on sale since they have the new model?
 

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