Help me pick 3 (or 4) new seats

marciemp said:

I have a 5 3/4 year old, and twin 3 3/4 year olds. We recently got into a minor car accident so we are replacing all of their seats. We are also expecting a new baby in December and will need a new infant seat before then, as the ones we used before have had it.

Oldest DD is 42ish pounds, 44ish inches. She was in a Britax Frontier which I hate, horrible fabric, not machine washable, twisty and very deep straps. Twin DD is 35ish pounds, 37ish inches, in a high back comfort booster/childseat and Twin DS is 35ish pounds, 39ish inches and in the same seat.

So we need to replace all of these seats to something that is high weight harness, that will hopefully fit them very well until I feel they can be in boosters (even oldest dd at nearly 6 does not always sit perfectly in her occasionally used booster, so I prefer to harness them for quite some time) I do not care if the seats turn into boosters after as dedicated boosters are not that expensive when the time comes, and price is not really an issue as insurance will cover some and we just want good seats.

I am sure the girls would both like girly seats if possible, so I was looking at the new Radian's, is this a good choice for all 3? Is there something better. The girls can both strap themselves in now with me just doing a check so I would like them to continue to do so.

As far as the baby goes I was looking at the Graco Safeseat 32, but then saw that a new Britax infant seat will be here before the baby is born. I like the idea of keeping a baby in a carrier as long as possible because with 4 kids 6 and under, going to a from school...it just seems like it would be the best, even if we stop using it as a carrier before then due to weight, we would still have the option (always hated that horrible day of having to give up the carrier with the other 3!) What will the new Britax weight limit be? Is the new Radian RF limit 35 pounds or 30?

So to simplify, need 4 new seats, 3 for kids in siggy below, all high weight harness, nice seats, comfy, easy to use and clean...

Need one seat for new baby, infant carrier high weight limit, easy to use.

2005 Chevy Uplander for now, (then ) 4 year old twins in 2nd row, baby and (then) 6 year old in back.

Only one seat (2nd row drivers) has full latch, the rest will be seatbelt and tether installs.

Thanks so much

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marciemp said:

I thought the Britax Chaperone was good till 30 pounds? Our little ones were in bucket seats that were to 22 pounds and fit until 13 months or so, but at 30 pounds they would fit till 2ish I think. All of my kids were turned FF as soon as they were over 22 pounds because I thought they had to be and didn't know any better by my twin DD was turned back to RF in an Eddie Bauer 3 in 1 I had when she was 2.5 and could have went a few months more but she freaked out and got car sick too much from the change.

My oldest DD really wants a girly seat, pink of any style or design! She already gets some peer pressure (yes at 6!) about the fact that she is still harnessed in because when we car pool or drive other kids for field trips in her kindergarten class they all go backless boosters or seat belt only (the law here is 40 pounds or 6 can just use a seat belt). I actually don't really like it when she rides in her HB Turbo Booster for the trips or if we have an extra kid in the car who needs to be harnessed, but she LOVES it because it is a big kid seat and it is PINK. She actually does sit pretty well most of the time in it, but she does play with her sister or brother so I do not trust it 100% as she gets distracted and forgets. If I remind to sit like a big kid she does, and she will tell her friends that her harnessed seat is safer, so she gets it.

Is my only choice for girly high weight harnessed seats the Radian? I am sure she would fit for a year or more as she is tiny and has only just passed the harness height in the Dorel high back comfort booster/child seat this past year, and was at the 40 pound weight limit about 6-9 months ago months ago. Her weight varies a lot, but she between 42 and 44 pounds now I think, so she is not a big kid. Then we could use it RF for the baby once we decide the Safeseat is too heavy or the baby is past 32 pounds, since the Radian XT RF till 35 pounds, and by then she could do a booster seat full time, she will be 7 or 8 by then.

I also imagine that if DD#1 gets a pretty seat DD#2 will need one too. And why are there no nice seat pattern for little boys? Something blue or orange. I suppose if we did do Radian XT he could have the red.

I also saw the Frontier has some problems fixed, so maybe a PInk Frontier would not be that bad, except the no machine wash cover freaks me out a bit, as I have washed the twins current seat covers at least half a dozen times (potty training twins will do that!) DD's surrent Frontier is so fuzzy, bally where her legs rub I actually used a razor on it the other day (looks much better) My main issues with the Frontier was the twisty bunchy straps, and the cover, so I guess the pink one would still be bad cover wise though, with the fuzz issue, light colour and not machine washable. Too bad because the seat works well.

I tired my oldest in a TF and decided against it last year when we ended up buying the Frontier, can't remember why though.

Anyway any other ideas would be great.

Marcie

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ketchupqueen said:

If you want them to buckle themselves in, the Nautilus might be a better bet than the Radian. The Radian is much harder for most kids to buckle (and unbuckle); my 5 year old can't do it yet, though she can do at least one of her other seats. The Nautilus is reportedly very easy for kids to do up themselves. (The Nautilus is available in Canada, last I checked. )

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