need suggestions!

Hi all!

I'm posting for the first time today, although I've taken advantage of lots of the information on this site already! I've also been reading some of the other forum questions to see if I could find answers there, but I decided that I'd just have to post about our situation...

We have two daughters- a three year old (31lbs, 39in), and a 6 month old (14lb 12oz, 26in). I'm not sure of their torso heights... My three year old is already forward facing. She is currently in an Evenflo Triumph Advance. However, her head is above the back of the seat. She still has a bit of room between her shoulders and the top shoulder harness slot, but she just looks like she's getting too tall for it. The baby is still in the Graco SnugRide.

We just bought an '08 Chrysler Town and Country with captain seats in the middle row. We have two bases for the SnugRide- one installed in the car (an '03 Pontiac Bonneville) and one in the middle row captain seat in our van. She won't actually "outgrow" that seat for a little while, but it is getting difficult for me to actually carry her in it. The bigger problem is with my three year old. She appears to be outgrowing the EFTA (when her ears are above the shell, right??) and needs a new seat. I'd like to have a seat for each vehicle, or at least a seat that is very easy to install and reinstall so that we can move it easily between vehicles.

So, my questions... Do I put the baby in the EFTA RFing? I could install it that way in the van and just leave the SnugRide in the car. Then what seat do I get for the three year old? I've been considering the TrueFit, but since we won't be using it RFing, I don't know that it's worth it. I think the Graco Nautilius would be a good fit for her, and get her totally through with the booster and everything...

Any suggestions??

I would recommend either the GN or Britax Frontier for you 3y/o. And do you have the Evenflo Triumph Advance? Because I cannot imagine she's outgrown it. What is her torso height (have her sit up against a wall and measure from the floor to her shoulder)

I would look into the Nautilis for the 3 yr old and pass down the EFTA for the baby to use RF. Also, just because you use an infant seat doesn't mean you have to remove it from the car every time. You can leave the infant seat in the car and just take the baby out.

It will be more cost efficient to buy a seat for the older child and pass down hers to the younger. You will get more use and life out of the seat when you do it this way.

I think the nautilus is a great choice. IMO, installs easy. But also if you can find a good sale, you could get 2 (or eventually get a 2nd).

The EFTA would be a good seat to hand down to your baby. However, given your three year old's stats, I can't imagine it's possible that she's outgrown it. Would it be possible to post a picture of her sitting in the seat? She can turn her face away for privacy protection

Ultimately, it would be best if you have 2 seats in each vehicle, so I would recommend getting another convertible and holding off on a GN or FN until your little one outgrows the snugride. When your littleone outgrows the Snugride, you could move her to the convertibles and retire the snugrides. Between now and when that happens, you have time to shop for the best deals on 2 GNs or 2 Frontiers, or one of each.

T&C
ETFA
Snugride

Bonneville
New convertible
Snugride

Your dd must have a really tall torso - at 39" she should still be able to fit in the ETFA. I would suggest a MyRide for the new convertible for extended rf, but if she is getting too tall for the ETFA, she'd be too tall for the MR rf.

I looked more closely at DD1 in her carseat last night... The top of her head is above the back of the seat, but not her ears. I'll try to get a pic today, and also measure her torso height.

While DD2 still has room to grow in the SnugRide, I just wonder if she'd be more comfortable in a convertible...

Hhhhmmm... Maybe a True Fit... DD2 could stay in the SnugRide for now (in both vehicles). DD1 could use the True Fit as her primary seat in the van, and we could move the EFTA to the car as her secondary seat. Eventually, DD2 could move into both of those convertibles and we'd have to look into new seats for DD1. Does that make sense??

Is a True Fit a good option??