Which car seat(s) for 3 yr old and new baby in big SUV?

Here's my situation. I have an almost-three year old who weighs about 30 pounds and is 37" or so tall. She's in the Evenflo Triumph she's had since birth and overall we really like this seat. For several months I've been thinking about what seat to get her next. We've tried her out in several seats but each time we've decided we like the Evenflo Triumph better.

I'm due in May with another baby. I'm trying to figure out what to do. My daughter could stay in the Triumph until she's 40 pounds and I could get another Triumph for the baby. BUT I think the Triumph is pretty wide, and that's going to make it completely impossible for me to sit in the back seat with 2 car seats. We have a Ford Expedition, so not a small car!

I'm sort of thinking about two Britax Decathlons. I tried my daughter in one and we didn't love it. Well, I liked it the best out of the ones we tried, mostly because of the nice padding. What I didn't like was the big rubber strap-encasing chest thingies. They seem really stiff and uncomfortable.

I know I want to stay with a harnessed seat and I don't really like the look of the Radian for some reason. We aren't in the car that much but we do drive 10 hours one way to visit relatives several times a year, which we do overnight so the seat should be comfortable enough for my daughter to sleep in. She's usually forward facing but when we do these trips, I sometimes turn the Triumph around to rear facing and more reclined.

What do you think? I also haven't decided if I'm going to put the two seats next to each other, with the baby in the middle or if I'm going to put both seats near doors. If I do that I'll most likely leave the middle seat folded forward and go into the way back to nurse/potty. It's a shame, though, because our middle seat is really car seat friendly - it pulls way forward by itself so it's pretty easy to access from the front seat, but not really until the seat is forward facing I guess.

Anyway... I'll stop before this gets even longer. I just keep going in so many different directions! Thanks in advance for any ideas/opinions from those of you who are more knowledgeable and experienced!

FWIW, those rubber things are called HUGS, and they actually do serve a function. They help reduce head excursion in a crash. They aren't needed rear facing, but are required forward-facing.
We have a Marathon (exact same seat without the extra padding, which is only for young infants, and with a different harness adjuster) and my daughter has never had a problem with them, however, she was RF until 2 1/2, and they've been on the entire time we've owned the seat, so she's used to them.

Just my two cents here.....I love my two Marathons. We too have been on long 12-15 hour trips and both of my kids slept like rocks! We have the rear-facing Marathon for our 2.5 yr old and she loves the incline for sleeping. My daughter has never complained about the "hugs" system. I thought it was also to help keep the straps from twisting? I absolutely LOVE this seat and highly recommend it. These seats are first class all the way. I always thought Britax was known for extra comfort. Their covers are extremely soft and plush, almost luxurious like. And they are a Breeze to install. I had a Graco Comfortsport before and thought it was a great seat, but when my Britax's came in I couldn't believe how much more AWESOME they were!!
Good luck with your decision!! Car-seat shopping is FUN!!

I also love our Marathon. DS has been in it since 14 months or so and has never once complained about the HUGS. They aren't overly stiff and don't seem to bother him at all. He's almost 4, and he certainly tells me if there is something he doesn't like, LOL. I really, really love Britax seats. We've gone through the Roundabout which I LOVED, and mourned the day he outgrew it. We nnow have the Marathon in one car and the Regent in the other and I love them both. Britax just makes such great, high quality seats. And, they are so easy to install, with a belt as well as LATCH. I can install my Marathon rock solid with a belt in under a minute.

Good luck with your decision.

I see what you're saying about the hugs, but remember you don't have to use them rearfacing. My son is 32 1/4" tall and 24 lbs. I have him RF without hugs in his MA. I don't care for them either, they're big and clumsy and I can't seem to get the straps as snug with them on. My son is still pretty small, and I don't think it will be much of an issue by the time I turn him. I've tried my friend's child in his seat with the hugs and they were actually pretty nice, they kept her from trying to get out of her harness. They made it downright impossible for her to move the chestclip. So they do have their benifit pre crash, too.

Love my MA as well--all of my Britax seats, actually..

The HUGS have never been a problem with my kids, either, although they have been known to chew on the tips when teething....
As for where to put the kids, I found out quickly that both of them beside each other didn't work as well, simply b/c my DS(3.5 at the time) often tried to "help" or "feed" his younger brother.... Of course, that is some thing that you'll have to see about. Now they have to be separated because the younger pokes at his brother and the distraction to me is not worth it!

groovymom2000 said:

The HUGS have never been a problem with my kids, either, although they have been known to chew on the tips when teething....
As for where to put the kids, I found out quickly that both of them beside each other didn't work as well, simply b/c my DS(3.5 at the time) often tried to "help" or "feed" his younger brother.... Of course, that is some thing that you'll have to see about. Now they have to be separated because the younger pokes at his brother and the distraction to me is not worth it!

Click to expand...

I had to keep my two kiddies seperated too! They are 16mths apart and the DD(the oldest) would try to "help" baby. Bless her little heart, but like you said it's not worth the distraction while you are driving. If putting them next to each other works for you, then great!! 16mths is a lot younger tha 3.5yrs. I like now that DD will tell me if little brother is sleeping, awake, or clapping, etc....

Thank you for the replies so far!

OK, the real reason I want the Decathlon is the Tiffany pattern cover. LOL The baby will be a surprise so I'll wait until after it's born to get another seat, just use the Triumph in the beginning probably. But I think it's a good idea to get my daughter a new seat now and get her excited about it and used to it. She might still be upset for the baby to use her old seat - she gets really attached to things. She still misses our old car; we got a new one at the end of December.

Another question I had is, are there any smaller WAHM-run businesses that sell Britax seats? I am in no hurry and am willing to pay a few more dollars to deal with another WAHM.

Right now we have the Triumph in the middle, and the seats on either side are not very comfortable. Is the Triumph really wide, or is any car seat going to be like this? Our Triumph is from 2003. I don't think I'm going to be able to get them installed securely side by side and am going to end up having them separated with the middle seat down (kind of will end up being like a minivan with captain's chairs as the middle row).

Am I right in dismissing the Radian? It just seems so hard and uncomfortable. Definitely skinny though!

Hi emiLy!

We do the captains chair thing - #2 will be here in Feb. and will go in Lauren's old infant seat while she stays in her Britax.

AFAIK, there aren't any WAHMs who are authorized resellers... but we've had great service from albee baby, or you can always buy them locally if you have a famlily owned baby store in your area, and support a family business instead of bigbox.

lisa2976 said:

Hi emiLy!

We do the captains chair thing - #2 will be here in Feb. and will go in Lauren's old infant seat while she stays in her Britax.

AFAIK, there aren't any WAHMs who are authorized resellers... but we've had great service from albee baby, or you can always buy them locally if you have a famlily owned baby store in your area, and support a family business instead of bigbox.

Click to expand...

Ahhh...yes there is!!! Dana from Delphi Forums is an authorized dealer. She runs it out of her house. I'll dig up her email for the OP.

emiLyQ said:

Another question I had is, are there any smaller WAHM-run businesses that sell Britax seats? I am in no hurry and am willing to pay a few more dollars to deal with another WAHM.

Click to expand...

You have a PM with Dana's contact info.

The Triumph is really wide, you aren't dreaming.

I think once you get the Decath you'll come to love it, really! My oldest daughter rode in the now discontinued Fisher Price Safe Embrace. I love that seat, I was used to it, etc. When I got MA's when the baby came along, I was a bit let down to be honest! There were things that just seemed "better" on the FP. But, within a month, I came to love the MA's too. (I still use the FP's for my youngest, but my oldest outgrew it at three.)

I know you mentioned keeping the oldest in the Triumph until she's 40 lbs, but I doubt that's possible. The Triumph is pretty darn short, and will likely be outgrown way before your DD is 40 lbs. Most seats are outgrown by height first. Where is she at in relation to the top slot?

The HUGS really haven't been a problem. My daughter has always been FF in her MA, and they've never bothered anyone. My son started riding in his MA at 4.5 months (RF of course) and I left the HUGS on even though they are optional. I can see how they'd be bothersome for a newborn, but he was tall enough that they didn't really get in the way. He's still RF at 26 months, which is great! (He's too big to RF in the FP now. ) FYI, the HUGS can rest anywhere, you don't need to "position" them.

Good luck!

I agree with what everyone is saying about their Britax car seats. I own 6 Britax seats currently and 3 of them have the HUGS systems on them as they are higher weight limit seats. The only time I have seen the HUGS to be an issue is in small infant but those children are rear facing and HUGS is not required when rear facing. So, Problem solved we just removed them and had the parents store them somewhere they could find them (most in the back pocket on the car seat).

I have a 3yr old that is 40" & 34lbs and is almost to big height wise for an Evenflo Truimph while I like the seat over all. But, With the short seat back a lot of children like my 3yr old who is up in the 95% for height outgrow it way to quick. But, She is in a Marathon with years of growing room.

I also have a 5yr old that is 42" & 41lbs that is in the 25% for height and still fits in her Marathon with at least another year or longer in her's.

I drive a Tahoe and I can't put mine side by side since I have caption chairs in my truck. But, I have installed many Marathons (or their cousin models) side by side in Tahoe/Suburbans. Also it's much easier esp with one is forward facing & one is rear facing.

I just replaced my Evenflo Truimph with a Decathlon for my older DD. She has almost outgrown the Truimph by weight, but I'm not sure what other people are talking about when they say it's outgrown by height too soon. I think DD has maybe an extra inch of torso growing room in the Decathlon vs. Triumph. That said, the Decathlon is really nice. It can be used for a wider range of kids and is very easy to install and easier to adjust. My daughter likes her new seat; the HUGS hold the straps so that she is able to pull them over her shoulders by herself and she doesn't mind them (although she's not picky). I was able to install the Decathlon tightly without having to fight it. I think the design of the base makes it easy for it to fit tightly with the car.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I think the Decathlon is just a hair narrower than the Triumph.

According to http://www.carseatdata.org/csnumbers.html the Triumph's top slot is 15.5", the Decath's is 17.5".

The seatbacks are 21" vs 25.5". That's the biggie for extended (and even sometimes just getting to a year) RF ability.

A friend's son outgrew the Triumph at exactly two. He's still in an MA, with plenty of room to grow, at four.

The Triumph IS really nice. I liked my friend's a lot. I was just surprised how soon he outgrew it. He wasn't a big kid, but must have been all torso. He lasted in his infant carrier to nearly a year, so he got very little use out of the Triumph.

I don't know anything about the Triumph. I'm just chiming in to say I love love LOVE my Britax seats!! I started some 5 years ago with a Roundabout. Fell in LOVE with that thing. It's just dreamy! So I had a RA and a Fisher Price Safe Embrace. Equally lovely. But of course, each only having a 40# limit. I wanted more. Then came the Marathon. Sweet! A RA only bigger, rock on! I presently have all 3 of those seats in use. Wondering what to do next...another MA, or will the 5 yr old outgrow his MA before the dd outgrows the RA...
We have 2 Britax boosters as well, just for the record. Fabulous seats, love them all.

So..what would I do? Get Marathons for each (or the Boulevard or Decathalon, whatever your preference, all are great). One now...or just wait til that kid outgrows current seat. Then one when the baby comes. Unless you use an infant seat, then by all means, use that then get a MA when it's outgrown (or you tire of it...my baby still fits his snugride but we moved him to the FPSE recently because I do not want to lug the baby seat around anymore, hadn't been doing so, so what's the point? move him into the comfy seat already )

Anywho...placement..
Well, I have 5 kids, they don't have a lot of leeway. You sit next to him and you don't cause problems..period!!! My kids have all done quite well with that naturally. It's very rare one bothers the other..sure, a little harassing from time to time, but I have stair step boys too LOL I just say knock it off before mom knocks you out and that's the end of it. But that's when they're older...each old enough to start something. They never bother the babies...never. They're really great about that. So, that's not been an issue for us. We've had my 2 yo dd next to the baby and now have the 5 yo ds next to the baby. Baby in the outboard position just because it's easier to get the baby in and out and the elder (the 2 or 5 yr old) are able to get in and out of their seats on their own. It's actually easier for the 2 yr old to climb into the center seat. We leave the other outboard seat folded down to allow access to the rear, she climbs up on that and into the middle seat (er, did, when she sat in center row) (we have a '98 Expedition by the way)

I like the baby outboard for convenience. Much easier to get them in and out, whether they be in a convertible or a baby seat. Easier to reach them outboard. And they're safe being rear facing. Thus putting the 'less protected' forward facing child in the center of the vehicle, making them now safer...follow?

Well, there's my novel. Did I answer anything? Did I help at all? LOL Hopefully at least a tiny bit.

Oh installing the seats next to one another...not a problem. As I said, same vehicle, just an older model, and 5 kids all in a seat of some sort. I can comfortably fit the MA next to the RA and FPSE. I can fit 3 seats of any combo in the rear even. Oh and the rf/ff puzzling works REALLY well. Meaning, you could have baby rf outboard and elder child ff center in the same row and they would snug up together quite nicely, but not 'squished' KWIM?

Ok, I"ll stop now..again, hth more than confused hehe

Everyone is mentioning the Marathon. I think the Decathlon is replacing the Marathon, and I want to get the newest possible seat so I have the longest time before it expires. Are Marathons still being manufactured, or am I correct in going with the Decathlon for this reason?

Tara - I'm amazed you can get 3 seats in the back! We tried it in our car one time when we were going with another family on a day trip. We tried two forward facing seats with a rear facing infant seat in the middle, and it didn't work. I think the two FF seats were big ones (my Triumph and my friend's something... Fisher Price maybe? Not sure). Anyway, that's a good idea about keeping my daughter in the middle. She's really used to being there - she climbs in the front doors and then over the middle of the front seat into her seat, and I can buckle her in from the driver's seat. It's so cool! That should help her feel more comfortable with all the changes that are going to be happening...

Nope, they aren't discontinuing the Marathon at all . How about the Brooke cover? (Not sure if Dana can get that one, though....).