best harnessed seat with head support? (canada)

U

Unregistered

Guest
Hi! My DD is 25 lbs, and 34 1/2 inches tall, at just past 2 YO. She needs a new car seat. and I'm doing a lot of studying about it right now.

What I find I like about a seat is head support, so they don't flop over while they are sleeping in it. what choices I have narrowed down to right now are...
evenflo generations
evenflo traditions
graco platinum cargo
intera
britax marathon?

I looked at the britax, and can only find one store that could send it to me in B.C., and they don't have any till the end of august, but they are on sale there. I am attracted to the parkway for my older DD, as the head wings are perfect for car sleeping, I assume.

I haven't seen any of these seats IRL, so please tell me which would be better for head support, my main concern, next to safety, of course.

I also would like the seat to last for the rest of the carseat experience for my DD. I guess convertible boosters are what I'm looking at mostly.

(and BTW, don't forget I'm in canada :p)
 
ADS
U

Unregistered

Guest
would love to get a reply from someone knowledgeable. please :)

I looked at the britax seats, and the one that really attracted me was the wizard, as it has those wings on the side of the head. unfortuneately I can't get the wizardin canada, arg. is there any other carseats here that look and act like that one?

(BTW, I live really far out of town, so I can't go to the store to look at them myself)
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
no, unfortunatly. :( They only sell marathons and parkways, everywhere I have looked.

maybe I could go the the states and buy one there? a boulevard.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
If you want a convertible booster, known as a combination seat, then of the ones you listed I would recommend the Evenflo Generations. I've seen it recommended here along with the Evenflo Bolero as one of few combination seats that actually work well as both a harnessed and booster seat.

However, at 25 pounds your daughter could still ride rearfacing for a good long while, and so I would recommend the Britax Marathon. It doesn't have the wings, but I haven't heard a whole lot of people say how uncomfortable it is, plus kids rarely wake up complaining of stiff necks, even after sleeping with their heads on their bellybuttons or in their armpits for hours. The Marathon is similarly shaped to my Radian and my daughter can lean against the Radian comfortably to sleep.

How old is your older DD, and what does she weigh? If she's much older she can use a Parkway for a few years, then that can be passed on to your then five or six year old, at least for a couple of years before it expires.

Oh, you could come to the states and buy a Boulevard, but just know that it's illegal in Canada to use seats bought in another country. Same with the US. We can't legally use a Canadian Marathon here (though I'd give the cop who knew the difference a medal!).

Wendy
 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member
Your daughter is very close in size to mine, and in age as well it looks like. We purchased a Britax Marathon in February for her - she is rear-facing - and she LOVES it. She fits in it so well, and never looks uncomfortable when sleeping in it either.

We have to replace it due to space limitations, and I really hate to see it go into storage.

A lot of money, but well worth it, even for only a max of 9 months use.

We got ours at a local shop, but Toys R Us sells them as well.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
My dd is 25 lbs, just past 2 YO, and I measured her torso; 13 inches right on the dot.

I'd lurve to get a marathon :drool, but wow, that price! in canada, I can find them for 299.99 (free shipping at least) And I just have this thing about the kids slouching in their charis. It may not bug them, but it bugs me, and I don't think that its good for them in the long run. Is there an insert or something that I could but in the marathon for more head support?

I think I will get a parkway for older DD during her birth day/ x-mas time . she is a very big for her age at 3 1/2 YO. I measured her along with the little one, and she is 40 3/4 inches tall. I don't know how much she weighs right now, but shes quite big boned and muscular.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Unregistered said:
I think I will get a parkway for older DD during her birth day/ x-mas time . she is a very big for her age at 3 1/2 YO. I measured her along with the little one, and she is 40 3/4 inches tall. I don't know how much she weighs right now, but shes quite big boned and muscular.

Size doesn't matter for a booster as much at this age as much as maturity. There are FEW 3.5 year olds, or even four year olds, who can sit appropriately in a booster for the entire ride of every single ride. The parkway helps a little with this, but I would definitely keep your older daughter harnessed for another year or two, until you would stake her life on the fact that she'll hold still and be where she should be in the seat, not pulling on the seatbelt, not leaning down to get something, not leaning out the window, etc.

Wendy
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
If you want headsupport and don't want to do a convertable then look into the Recaro Youth Sport. It's a FF carseat only, but is great as a harness (to 40 lbs) and then makes are great booster.
 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member
Unregistered said:
If you want headsupport and don't want to do a convertable then look into the Recaro Youth Sport. It's a FF carseat only, but is great as a harness (to 40 lbs) and then makes are great booster.

This is not available in Canada, and the OP says even in her thread title that she is in Canada.
 

cantech

New member
I empathize with your frustration! Our lack of choice in seats here in Canada (especially for long torsoed children) is abysmal!!!

BC's law requires children to remain in a harnessed seat until at least 40 pounds. And they also have a clause about appropriately restraining children. So your older DD may still need a harness depending on her weight. Regardless of the law we'd all encourage you to keep her harnessed for as long as possible. The Evenflo Chase is a less expensive option for forward/booster combo seat. It will harness to 47 lbs. and 45" for Canadian use and has top harness slots of about 17". It retails for about $90. I don't have specifics on the Generations or Bolero but check them out too be careful of online information it is quite often the US standard.

The Marathon for younger DD is a good choice. You could use it rear facing to the seats limit and then forward face. Rear facing reduces the head flopping because they are more reclined than forward facing not to mention all the other benefits of rear facing.

I would stay away from the Intera if you're expecting to use each mode in sequence. It has a 40 inch limit to the forward facing harness mode and most children will reach 40 inches long before they reach the 40 pound minimum for booster mode.

The Graco Platinum Cargo is also a great choice but has lower top harness slots and height limits than the Evenflo Chase so could be outgrown by height sooner.

HTH

Belinda
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Sorry Cantech but the Graco Ultra CarGo harnesses to 48 lbs and has higher harness slots a tad higher than the Evenflo Chase, which harnesses to 47 lbs (ok, so they're almost the same).

I own both seats and like them both. But heads keep flopping forward. I'm not sure what can be done about this.

The Marathon also harnesses FF up to 48 lbs but at $350 is more than twice the price of a Graco Ultra Cargo! I'm sure they're great seats but just too expensive for most of us here in Canada. That's why you see so few of them. They're really an upscale item here, unfortunately.
 
B

butterfly@netidea.co

Guest
holy crap! I won a boulevard on ebay! I didn't think I could. I've never gone on ebay much at all. I got it for 266.00 USD... but it should last a loooong time for my DD.:cool:
 

bbartlettnfld

New member
Oh.. NO! You can't use a Boulevard in Canada...

:(
Using an American seat in Canada is illegal! You can encounter some serious probelms with vehicle insurance. Your coverage could be suspended! Meaning you would have no recourse if your child was ever injured in a collision. As soon as your insurance company discovered that your child was in an unapproved carseat that would be the end of it.

When certian brands of carseats are not available in Canada that means they have not been tested by Transport Canada and deemed safe for use in Canada.

You just wasted $266USD..

BethAnn
Canadian Carseat Tech.
 

super_grape

Active member
We have a Marathon for DD #1 and she LOOOOVES it!
She is 37" and 31 lbs. and is happily RFing.
I had a hard time with the $350 price tag too but I found
a store (Kiddytown in Ottawa) that would let me make
payments on the seat and that helped a lot!
The quality of Britax seats far surpasses that of all the others
available to us in Canada
and once you spend some time with a Britax the price won't seem
so bad, I promise:) !
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
wendytthomas said:
Oh, you could come to the states and buy a Boulevard, but just know that it's illegal in Canada to use seats bought in another country. Same with the US. We can't legally use a Canadian Marathon here (though I'd give the cop who knew the difference a medal!).

Funny story about that--

I used to work with a woman who was having problems with her carseats (mostly with a tight installation). She went to one of the "free checks" at Babies R Us one weekend and came back to work on Monday completely upset. She said the tech who checked her seats told her it was illegal to use two of the three carseats she had. The tech told her that in the U.S., you can only use American carseats.

My co-worker was really upset. She said she had researched and researched to find the "best" carseats. She said she had chosen a carseat for her oldest child that seemed safe (a Century Breverra something or other) because he could use it as a booster (I know- not the best choice, but she was trying), a carseat for the middle child that seemed safe (a Britax Roundabout), and an infant seat for the youngest child that would fit into her stroller and seemed safe (a Peg Perego Primo Viaggio). The tech told her she couldn't use the Britax or the Peg Perego because they were not American seats. :p

I guess the tech didn't realize that, although Britax and Peg Perego are not American companies, you CAN use their seats that are sold here in the U.S. :p

It is a bit scary that, of the three seats this woman had, the BREVERRA ( :confused: ) was the one the tech said to keep??? Yikes!!
 
B

butterfly@netidea.co

Guest
well, don't worry, i won't get the safest car seat after all.

It seems that customs doesn't allow carseats to be imported, which I feel is a blessing in disguise. I think I will just go with the carGo platinum, it will be safe enough.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I don't know if the Safeguard Go is available in Canada but you might check it out at their website www.safeguardseat.com If I remember correctly it has a harness to 60lbs and then becomes a booster. I think it also requires that the seat back be as tall as your child to provide head support, and a tether.
 

tjham

New member
I have a 5 yr old granddaughter who still sleeps in the car, always harnessed. Between her parents and me, we have many car seats :D .

The Chase and Bolero (similar to Generations) are not
so good for sleeping unless your vehicle seat-back can recline a little :( .

The Platinum Cargo (with belt guides removed) and Marathon are both great ;) !
 

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