Question Help on the whole Carseat Issue!!!

My son is 5y 10 months my daughter is 2y 8 months I do not have latch in my car... not getting a new car until June of next year. I have a 97 Isuzu Trooper

Son is riding in a Parkway (oldstyle) & Regent(1x) daughter
Daughter in Marathon

I just bought a Regent for my son. I thought putting him in a harness would be safer but now I wonder if I should have bought the Monterey booster. I had intentions of moving my daughter into the Regent in say 6 months or a year but wonder if it is too big for her or just keep her in the Marathon? I have even thought about buying the Boulevard


So I now have a Parkway, Parkway SG, Marathon & Regent.

My son is 45" tall and 46-48 pounds - Do you think he will be just as safe in a Monterey as the Regent? Should I keep him harnessed longer? I can always buy a Monterey in a year if he is safer in the Regent right now.

I am so confused at this point! All seats fit my car and my kids fine. I have the Regent behind the passenger seat and my daughter in the middle right now. I have read that keeping a child harness TOO long could injure their neck and spine AND have read to keep them harnessed. Sooo do not know what to do!
I want what will be the safest thing for my kids to ride in...


Son is 5y 10 months 45" tall 48#
Daughter is 2y 8 months

Here are my options:
1. Son in Monterey Daughter in Regent
2. Son in Monterey Daughter in Marathon
3. Son in Regent Daughter in Marathon

Granted if you do a bit of booster training your son is definitely old enough and weighs enough to use a booster as long as he is mature enough which with a bit of training you will know fairly quickly if he can sit properly and not play with the belt 100% of the time for every trip.
You can keep him harnessed if you wish there is nothing wrong with that if you feel he isn't ready for a booster. I still have my son harnessed. Statistically I don't believe the %age of "safer" at his age/weight between using a booster properly and a harness seat is very great.

I would vote son in Monterey and daughter in Marathon.

I voted Marathon because I don't have any experience with the Regent being in Canada it isn't available to us. From what I gather it is a fairly large seat and being that she is so young (you didn't include her stats in the post) I figure she would fair better in the Marathon for now.

I am going to measure and weigh my daughter tomorrow.

So I am going to measure and weigh both kids again

Also considering the Frontier for my son.

Hi, I remember your Regent thread in the Installations forum the other day where you posted about the long belt path seatbelt installation. We need to revisit your Regent installation based on your DS's weight of 48 lbs. in your Trooper. For kids weighing 40 lbs. and up, it should be installed with the vehicle seatbelt and short belt path method if it's a Regent manufactured since approx. late June 2007, referred to as a "post-advisory" Regent. I'm guessing since your Regent was newly acquired that it falls into the post-advisory category. The short belt path seatbelt installation also requires the use of the top tether, and you can retrofit your Trooper with up to 3 tether anchors if it hasn't yet been retrofitted (more details on that below). The long belt path installation method you were posting about the other day is intended to be used for post-advisory Regent installations for kids weighing under 40 lbs.

If you haven't already had your Trooper retrofitted with a tether anchor, which you need to use with a short belt path Regent installation and recommended with any forward facing harnessed seat installation, the Isuzu tether anchor part number is 8-97805-890-2, called a "child seat anchor," and retails for approx. $7-$13 each according to the LATCH manual. You can retrofit a tether anchor for each second row seating position, and there are 3 8mm weld nuts in the cargo floor for installing the tether anchors. If you opt to get a Frontier, the Frontier requires a tether anchor in harnessed mode at 65 lbs. and up.

Specifically, I would rather see an almost-6y/48# child in a good booster than an untethered Regent.

Generally, there is no evidence to show that harnessing big kids (>6y/50#) is safeR. It is safe. Properly-used boosters are also safe at that age/size. My general advice (which, um, may run contrary to some of the feelings on this board -- sometimes I think all the carseat buying *scares* newbies) is that there's no NEED to buy new carseats all the time. If the child fits in the harness and is comfortable in the harness, keep the child in the harness. When the child outgrows the harness, the HWH seat is needed for a sibling, or the child needs a spare seat for carpools or g'parent cars, buy a booster.

I used the short belt path for the Regent and it is also tethered

Ahh, good to hear. So you did have the Trooper retrofitted already? :thumbsup:

This is what I have decided:

Son:
Use the Regent in my car since he mostly rides with me. Keep the old style parkway in my car (buckled) as well for any kids who needs a booster and rides with us. The new Parkway SG in my husbands truck. When he is finished with the Regent I will order him a Monterey and that will become his main seat.

Daughter:
Keep her in the Marathon and move her to the Regent when my son if finished with it.
Should I RF my daughter??? She will be 3 the end of Dec.

Thanks so much for everyones help. I feel good that they are as safe as I can get them.