What would you buy if money didn't matter...foster parent?

I am a foster parent, and right now I have a 12 pound 3 month little guy in a SafeSeat. He is 3% for height and 15% for weight right now. I am starting to research what I want to get him when he moves up. DD (2.5, RF, 27 pounds) is in Boulevards and a Marathon in the 3 cars she rides in, but they are all pink or purple, so there probably will be no handing down of seats. She still has plenty of room RFing in them. I love the Britax, but wondered what else is out there. I am not in an immediate need to move him from the bucket, and am just in research mode right now. It is always possible that DFS will go home, so I want something fairly flexible for other kids too.

Because we get a pretty decent per diem, money is not a concern. I want the best, safest seat. It will be in an 08 Honda Odyssey captains chair, an 04 Honda Accord outboard, and an 08 GMC Acadia captains chair.

What would you get????

I'd get a True Fit Premiere for one that tiny, it would last him FOREVER. I love the anti-rebound bar, and the no-rethread adjustment.

Things I would look at outside of britax-
Evenflo Triumph Advance (RF 35 lbs, FF 50 lbs,)
Sunshine Kids Radian 65 (RF 40 lbs, FF 65)
Graco My Ride (RF 40 lbs, FF 65 lbs)
First Years True Fit (RF 35 lbs, FF 65 lbs)

It really depends on what you want/need and how it fits in the vehicle. Most seats are outgrown, forward facing, by height before weight, so only a very rare child will fit to 65 lbs in a convertible seat (most children will outgrow them around 50 lbs). There is a new seat coming next month called the "Safety 1st Air Complete", which I am very intrigued by. With the seats on the market right now I would *probably* either get a My Ride or a Radian, because the 40 lbs rear facing limit is important to me. That said, I also like the True Fit and EFTA. The Radian doesn't always fit nicely in vehicles- it takes up a lot of front to back room, the My Ride seems to take up less. The Radian is very narrow, so it fits in three across situations, which the My Ride rarely fits in. So it really depends on need.

Good luck finding a seat! Oh, and you know you can buy boyish/neutral covers for your Britax seats from Britax or used (as long as they are authentic britax covers designed for your model of seat) .

I wouldn't necessarily count on him being that little bitty forever. All of my foster babies have been teensy tiny when they're little. Some of it is probably genetics, but some of it is also probably because of what they faced in the womb (no prenantal care, poor diet, drug exposure, etc.). Every foster baby that I've known has been super little bitty when they were newborns. But within a year or two, they're all sorts of varying sizes. Some are still light, but are very tall. Some remained short, but are very thick. Some are built like football players now.

I just say that so that you don't buy a seat thinking that you have X amount of time in it because he's so little, because he might not always be. My DS2 was smaller than that (10 pounds) at 3 months, and he's a BIG guy now at a year. He just needed to be fed and cared for properly.

I love my Radian65, but I don't know how well it installs in those vehicles. You may also want more cushioning than it provides - maybe a Radian80 would work? The Radian is my favorite seat for toddlers a year old or so. And it sets you up well if you ever need a 3-across arrangement.

I also think highly of the True Fit (which I don't own) and the Marathon (which you already have).

If it were me I'd go with the Radian 65. I'm kind of in love with that seat since they upped the RF weight limit, it was a great seat anyways and I was just waiting for one of my faves to get a 40 lb RF limit.

How about an Evenflo Triumph Advance? Adjusts easily for all sizes and fits little kids and would last a long time, and isn't crazy expensive? The knob adjuster is nice for rf if your seat backs are flat. Otherwise they may dig into the back, which isn't nice!

If money didn't matter, a RadianXT or TrueFit Premiere, depending on installation and personal preference.

I'd recommend either a radian xt or a truefit premiere.
Because the radian will fit bitty babies all the way up to big kids really well. it's got high weight limits and is tall! Assuming it fits in your vehicle anyhow.
The truefit premiere for the same reasons..though this one is easier to adjust harness height on..(vs the radian).