Question Convertible Seat users, esp if your child outgrew it

i still have a ways to go till i need to consider what to replace my infant carrier with (but i'm such a major planner i cant help it!!)
SO
i am wondering of all of you who have any britax car seat rated up to 65lbs, what is the height, weight and age of your child?
what do they like or not like about it currently
at what point did you make the switch to FF and why?
and my MOST important question:
what was their age/ height/ weight when they OUTGREW IT?
and were they able to pass the 5 part booster test thing or did you then need another 5 pt harness seat?

the main reason i am asking is i'm trying to get perspective. after the infant carrrier, do i need to accept the fact i need to buy a convertible seat (RF and then FF) and then followed by a FF only seat with a 5pt harness for an older child,
OR can i find a seat that will grow with them after infant carrier, and not need another seat until they transition when they are older to a booster (using a seat belt) safely?

i would deeply appreciate any and all advice/insight/comments

thank you!
summer

Most children do not make it to what we would consider a safe booster age/size in the Britax convertibles. (For your poll, my daughter outgrew it at age 5, 42# and 42". She's smaller than average, but her height/weight is pretty typical for outgrowing a big Britax convertible.)

Some convertibles do stand a much better chance of getting kids to booster age/size -- those include the Sunshine Kids Radians and the Learning Curve TrueFit, and possibly the Safety 1st Complete Air and the new 50# Alpha Omega Elite.

I have big, long-torsoed kids. My 3 year old has already outgrown my brand-new Boulevard (over the top slots FF, too tall and too heavy to RF.) She doesn't weigh 40 lbs. quite yet. My 15 month old has about 2-3 or so inches to go before she outgrows it rear-facing by height. She tends to be more in the torso than other kids (she's literally half torso) so she'll probably outgrow it by height by 2 1/2 years if she doesn't outgrow it by weight first.

By weight they all fit it just fine. By height they'll get nowhere near it.

That's okay; I've got Radians. And I like the LATCH system, and I like the harness height adjustment, and the headrest is nice, and I love Britax's lockoffs, very easy to use (usually.) RF tethering ability is also important to me. But I'd definitely be disappointed if I'd bought it full price and then got hit by that.

Of course my kids are freaks in the torso department.

DD1 outgrew the Blvd by height FF before her 3rd birthday, at 28 pounds.

My dd was 4, about 45 inches and 45 pounds when she was too tall for the Britax 65# seats. I was not comfortable with her in a belt positioning booster at that time, so she did move into another, larger harnessed seat (Britax Regent). The Graco Nautilus and Britax Frontier seats were not on the market at that time, or I would have most likely gone with one of those, for the simple fact that my 95th percentile child would have fit in the harness on those seats to age 6 (fit in the Regent to about 7.5), and those seats also convert to a booster when the harness is outgrown. The Regent is harnessed-only.

Some kids do fit in the Britax convertibles to age 5-7 (I've heard of even a few tiny/short-torsoed kiddos fit to age 8+), though, an age that is perfectly acceptable to use a belt positioning booster, provided the child is mature enough to stay seated properly at all times.

i am wondering of all of you who have any britax car seat rated up to 65lbs, what is the height, weight and age of your child?

Don't have one but tried DS in one and he was at the top slots at 4 years and around 40 lbs.

at what point did you make the switch to FF and why?

My DD is 22 months and still rf'ing. Children should stay rf'ing as long as their seat allows. DS was able to fit rf'ing until 3 1/2 years and would have fit until 4 in 2 of the seats that now go to 40 lbs rf'ing (they weren't out before he reached 40 lbs).

and were they able to pass the 5 part booster test thing or did you then need another 5 pt harness seat?

All kids are going to need a booster after a convertible. Convertible seats just don't get that big and most kids need a booster until age 8-10 or even longer. So count on needing a booster later.

after the infant carrrier, do i need to accept the fact i need to buy a convertible seat (RF and then FF)
and then followed by a FF only seat with a 5pt harness for an older child,

Not necessarily. There are lots of convertibles that will get kids to a good booster age.



If you want a seat that will last until booster age, I'd try the any of the sunshine kids radians (65, 80, XT), the first years true fit, the safety 1st complete air, and the evenflo triumph advance. The britax seats are really nice, but have lower top slots than a lot of other seats. So the seats I listed will last most kids until booster age, but if your child grows more quickly than you bargained for or isn't mature enough when they outgrow the seat, then you should consider a combo seat.

Your child is still young. By the time he needs a bigger seat, there will be different ones (and possibly better ones) to choose from, so don't get ahead of yourself too much. Get a good convertible to rear-face until at least 35-40 lbs, and worry about the rest later.

MaineRN said:

and were they able to pass the 5 part booster test thing or did you then need another 5 pt harness seat?

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Ok, I just re-read this part. I thought you were asking about the 5 step test to go into a seat belt.

The 5 step test is to determine if they are ready to go into a seat belt with no booster. To go from a harnessed seat to a booster, they should be at least 4 years, 40 lbs, and able to sit correctly (this is an important one as most kids are quite fidgety until 5 or 6).

Shaunam said:

Ok, I just re-read this part. I thought you were asking about the 5 step test to go into a seat belt.

The 5 step test is to determine if they are ready to go into a seat belt with no booster. To go from a harnessed seat to a booster, they should be at least 4 years, 40 lbs, and able to sit correctly (this is an important one as most kids are quite fidgety until 5 or 6).

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The 5 step test can be adapted to determine if the child is ready to ride in a booster, as well. Child sits all the way back on the booster, knees bend over the edge of the booster, belt fits appropriately, etc etc. And of course, sits properly for the whole ride.

My ds1 outgrew the marathon ff right around his 5th birthday. He was 45" and 45 lbs. He has long legs though, and his poor legs looked uncomfortable in the seat long before that point. (He always told me he was comfortable.) Just like a pp's dd, I got him a Regent, but I would have bought a nautilus or frontier instead if the option would have been available at the time. DS2 is taller and longer in the torso than ds1 was, but he has a Radian65. It looks like ds1 would still fit in the Radian, so I am hoping that it will get ds2 to a comfortable booster age.

Rebecca
K - 7.5, 51.5", 57 lbs, Monterey
A - 25 months, 37.5", 32 lbs, rf in a Radian65

I think Logan will be almost 6 before he outgrows the marathon. He is tiny torso though. He is 35-37 pounds(fluctuates) and 40 inches right now.
My other son outgrew it at 4 1/2 years old.

My dd will outgrow the marathon very soon, right at about her 5th birthday, so definintely not booster age.
If you are looking for a seat that has a better chance of getting your child to booster age, the TRuefit and Radian are great options. They both have higher top slots, so will fit kids longer.

Buying a convertible is not an option. You have to get a convertible, and best practice would be to keep your child rearfacing until the height or weight limit of the seat..we have mostly 35 and 40 pounds rearfacing seats, so many chuldren can get to 3-4 years of age REARfacing in their convertible seats now. YAY! Then, harnessing forward facing for another 2 years or so, until age 5-6, and then you can safely move most kids into a booster.
You do NOT need to necesarily get a forward facing combunation seat that has a harness and acts as a booster.
As long as your child makes it fporward facing to about 45+ pounds, and 5+ years old in their convertible seat, which is VERY possible for about 95% of kids in the truefit, radian, triumph advance, 50-lb alpha omega, complete air, or myride, as well as possibly the large Briatx convertibles, marathoin and boulevard and roundabout 50, then you are good to move into a good high-back belt positioning booster when the convertible seat is outgrown.

how big is your child now? height/weight and torso height? are they following a certain percentile on the growth charts? With this info, we can try to forecast/predict the best options for you.

Piper was 6 and 38 pounds when she outgrew the Britax Wizard. She had loved it, said it was very comfortable. She outgrew it rear facing at 4y8m when I got tired of weighing her daily to see if she was 33 pounds (she was 31.5 pounds naked). Obviously she's smaller than most, though.

Because of her weight I wasn't putting her in a booster full time when she outgrew her Wizard. She's riding harnessed in a Nautilus for another .5" in the torso. Then we'll use it as a booster. She's got a Parkway that fits her very well that's in my husband's car.

Wendy

My son is on the small side, but I will answer your questions anyway.

i am wondering of all of you who have any britax car seat rated up to 65lbs, what is the height, weight and age of your child?

My son will be 5 years old in 2 weeks. He is about 41 inches tall and 32-33 pounds.

what do they like or not like about it currently

He's never had any complaints about his seat.

at what point did you make the switch to FF and why?

I turned him forward facing about 3 months ago. He reached 32 pounds fully clothed. Our marathon has a 33 pounds RF weight limit, and I had no desire to weight a nearly 5 year old on a daily basis.

and my MOST important question:
what was their age/ height/ weight when they OUTGREW IT?

That hasn't happened yet. He probably has 2-3 years until he outgrows it.

and were they able to pass the 5 part booster test thing or did you then need another 5 pt harness seat?

While he still fits in the Marathons, DH knows of my carseat obsession and bought him a Frontier to "celebrate" Jordan turning forward facing. So, he rides in a Marathon in one car and a Frontier in the other.

I know you are trying to plan ahead and get the most bang for your buck...but in my opinion, the convertible carseat purchase is more important than the infant seat purchase. My son only rode in his infant seat for 8 months before we switched him to a convertible. But he rode rearfacing for an addition 4 full years after being moved to a convertible. Even if we didn't use both Marathons to expiration or until they are outgrown, we still got our money's worth out of the seat.

I think AFTER a child is turned forward facing (preferably after the child is 3 years old)...that would be the time to start to think about getting "the last seat you will need to buy" Thinking about it at the child's 1st birthday is premature.

My kiddo fit in her MA till she was 4.5 rearfacing and 6 forward facing... http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/FFAlbum/Sarah.aspx (she fit in it a good 6-8 months after that picture)

No, it's not a massive enormous use it forever seat like some of the others out now, but it's extremely easy to install and use properly in a huge variety of cars. And it easily meets the bare minimums of age 2 rearfacing and 5 forward facing for average sized kids. A booster is fine for most kids at 5, but many of us here prefer to harness longer and would buy something like a Nautilus or Frontier after it to harness to 7 or 8 or so before moving to a good highback booster. (which they should sit in as long as possible, up to age 10 or longer, for significant head protection in side impact crashes).
:twocents:

we have a FPSVD (which was made by Britax) it is practically the same seat as the DC/MA
what is the height, weight and age of your child?
was my DD's before outgrown then is now my DS's
DS is now a 3yo, 37-38lbs & 40in? he won't cooperate for a height at all.
what do they like or not like about it currently
no complaints from my DS. he loves it. i personally don't see the big fuss over it. its nice but the shallowness of the seat causes my DS to put his feet up int he seat in front of him. my favorite part is the cover. we have the cowmoo. it just adorable & i wanted to make a statement. most other people comment on the cover
at what point did you make the switch to FF and why?
when he outgrew it Rfing by weight. he was 26months when he reached 33 lbs (that was the limit on this seat) he reached 35lb 2 months later
and my MOST important question:
what was their age/ height/ weight when they OUTGREW IT?
and were they able to pass the 5 part booster test thing or did you then need another 5 pt harness seat?
my DS is still in it but i anticipate that he will outgrow it around 4yo like my DD did. my DD was just over 40lbs & not sure of height (16 in torso?). i have to say i was a lil dissappointed that it didn't last that long for my kids. my original plans was that my dd would have outgrown it at 5yo & then i'd be fine with her in a booster. at the time the FPSVD was her spare seat in grandmas car. so i was forced to either booster at 4yo OR buy another 5pt. i bought the regent so that i KNEW she'd make ti to 6yo NO DOUBT about it. technically she was able to be boostered but i wasn't comfortable with it. even at 5yo she is a lil woggly. she has a booster for a spare/ short rides & she still needs some correction on a short trip

the main reason i am asking is i'm trying to get perspective. after the infant carrrier, do i need to accept the fact i need to buy a convertible seat (RF and then FF) and then followed by a FF only seat with a 5pt harness for an older child,
OR can i find a seat that will grow with them after infant carrier, and not need another seat until they transition when they are older to a booster (using a seat belt) safely?
it depends on the child really. if the child is above average in height the likelyhood of needing another 5pt is rather high. there is no guarantee that a convertible will last as long as you want it to.

Michael outgrew his marathon at just over 4 years old, around 45lbs, and somewhere around 47 inches (he's very tall). He moved to a booster at that time, but only until we figured out it wasn't working because he wouldn't sit still. He then went to a regent until he outgrew it at around 7 years old. To put his height in perspective he's now 8, 4'6" tall, and weighs 62lbs.

Isaiah outgrew the marathon around his 5th birthday. He was around 40lbs, and 42-43 inches tall. He went to the nautilus because I wasn't comfortable with him being in a booster at that time because he couldn't sit still. He has now moved to a booster at 6 years old.

Kaitlin is 2, 29-30lbs, and 37 inches tall (very tall for her age). She is still rear facing in the marathon. When we purchased the marathon the true fit wasn't out yet. She had outgrown her safeseat1 and we had to get something. If I had known that there would be other options 6 months to a year later I would have gotten a scenera and waited. I would love to have a true fit, especially a true fit arb, or even a complete air, but I'm not getting another seat until she outgrows the marathon. If she keeps up the growth pattern she's on then she *might* make it to 4 in the marathon.

I just sold the BV recently and Z had about 1" in it before outgrowing it. Her stats are in my siggy. I am guessing she would have made it to about six years old and 50ish pounds in the seat.

She loved the BV. She liked her "pillows" and how comfy it was. Z had no problems being in the seat even though she rides in a backless booster with her parents.

She could have gone straight to a booster. She is in one in her parents' cars. However, I chose to keep her harnessed in a Nautilus. More because I really wanted a GN than that she wasn't ready.

DD1 out grew the MA at about 4.5 years. She out grew by height as he shoulders went over the top slots of the seat. She also looked pretty cramped. She was about 44" and 45# at that point. She has always had a super long torso.
We did attempt to move her to a booster (again) at that point and the TB fit well but she was not ready. Everytime I looked in the mirror she was leaning over to get a toy, drink or play with her baby sister. So we got her a Regent (which she is out growing..). Now, at nearly six years, she is ready for a booster and doing very well with. I honestly think with DD2 she could reach a booster age in the MA if I hadn't sold it.

My son is big and tall and outgrew the MA before he turned 3 by height. He was about 38" tall and 40lbs or so. He then went to a bigger 5 point harness seat as not quite 3 is definitely not old enough for a booster. He now has a Regent and at just turned 5 still fits.

And I LOVED his Marathon. I had never had a higher end seat before, just the usual graco and evenflo (not that they're all bad, but just 2 years ago there was a pretty wide gap between them and Britax) and was amazed at how much easier it was to use. The lockoffs are a godsend for vehicles older than '97 or for rear facing when you don't want the seat to tilt from a tight locked shoulder belt. And it was just...easy. I'd never been able to get his seat in that quickly! Always took a lot of fighting and sweating. There are some seats now that I like, too, the Evenflo Triumph Advance. No lockoffs, but incredibly comfy looking, no rethread harness, and pretty easy to install. High top slots and 50lbs weight limit, too. The True Fit and Graco MyRide 65 are 2 other seats that would definitely be in the running right up there with Britax convertibles.

Especially since the MyRide has such a high rear facing limit: 40lbs. Depending upon your child's size, if you are worried about the expense of a higher weight harness seat later, you could always go with a Cosco Scenera at $45 - little harder to install rear facing, generally requires the use of one or more pool noodles - but has 35lbs rear facing limit. And then plan to spend the money you saved when it comes time for the higher weight forward facing seat later.

MaineRN said:

i still have a ways to go till i need to consider what to replace my infant carrier with (but i'm such a major planner i cant help it!!)
SO
i am wondering of all of you who have any britax car seat rated up to 65lbs, what is the height, weight and age of your child?

Click to expand...

49", 53lbs, just turned 5 y/o.

MaineRN said:

what do they like or not like about it currently

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DD1 loved her Marathon from the day she got it... over 4 years ago. Her problem with it only came about recently, when her legs grew longer than the seat could comfortably support them. This could have probably been remedied by giving her something to rest them on, but considering that she was about to outgrow the harness, just turned 5 y/o last week, and is about to start school, we opted to just get her a new "big girl" seat.

MaineRN said:

at what point did you make the switch to FF and why?

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I think it was somewhere around 2 1/2 y/o. Mainly, because we felt that she had reached a size where she would still be safe FF..... and because we grew tired of my (meddling , yet loving ) mother nagging us for 1 1/2 years that she should be forward facing.

MaineRN said:

and my MOST important question:
what was their age/ height/ weight when they OUTGREW IT?

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She has a short torso and long legs. Even though now she is at 49", the harness slots are still slightly above her shoulders, and at 53lbs she is still below the weight rating.

MaineRN said:

and were they able to pass the 5 part booster test thing or did you then need another 5 pt harness seat?

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She could have used a booster, but we opted to keep her harnessed longer. I ordered her new Pink Sky Frontier Tuesday evening from diapers.com (a tip I got from this forum) and it arrived yesterday. She loves it as much as she did her Marathon (actually we all loved her Marathon, DD2 loves her's as well), and I hope she continues to like her Frontier even after the "new" has worn off.

MaineRN said:

the main reason i am asking is i'm trying to get perspective. after the infant carrrier, do i need to accept the fact i need to buy a convertible seat (RF and then FF) and then followed by a FF only seat with a 5pt harness for an older child,
OR can i find a seat that will grow with them after infant carrier, and not need another seat until they transition when they are older to a booster (using a seat belt) safely?

Click to expand...

That's something you'll have to discover when the time comes, based on how your child grows, and age they outgrow the convertible. If your child grows the way mine did, then it would be possible to go from the convertible to a booster (as long as they could stay seated correctly), but I would recommend staying harnessed as long as possible. If you don't like the idea of having to buy a convertible, then HWH seat, and then a booster.... after your child outgrows the convertible, there are options out there (such as the Graco Nautilus and Britax Frontier) that will allow you to keep your child harnessed longer and later convert to a booster.

MaineRN said:

i would deeply appreciate any and all advice/insight/comments

thank you!
summer

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Although, I am not as knowledgeable on the subject as the ladies of this forum, I hope this post was helpful. Good luck.