Best combination seat for 4 year old???

[rustedsun]

Hi,
My name is Alisa. I am an American living in New Zealand. We have 4 year old twins (each weighs about 33lbs and 39 inches tall), using First Years True fit car seats, which we brought with us from the US. We also have a one year old, born here in New Zealand who is currently using an infant carseat (he is 22lbs....not sure how tall he is now....

We are planning on moving our baby into one of the First Years True fit carseats, because it will fit in our car, with the removable headrest, so we can keep him rear facing for at least another year.

This will mean that we will need to get another car seat for one (or both- to keep the peace) of our twins.

I want to keep the twins in a 5-point harness, as it is safer and our carseats are quite narrow (peugeot 307 sw- the car has a latch system) and using the car seat belt with a carseat on the narrow seats is difficult.

We will be traveling to the US later this month and we are planning on buying the carseat while we are there. We may be moving back to the US in a year or so and I also feel like the seats from the US are much safer.

I would love to hear your suggestions. Thank you so much!!!

 

[Keeyamah]

Hi, and welcome.

The only thing I can comment on is with the True Fits, if you little one is 22lbs, you have to use the head rest. I own one for my DS and it says that in many places on the seat, especially on the warning label right under the headrest.

I hope someone comes in with an answer to the rest of you questions soon

 

[Brianna]

Welcome to car-seat.org

I'm not sure what the legalities are using US seats there, so that is something you may want to consider.

Assuming you do want US seats, the Evenflo Maestro would be the most budget friendly. It harnesses to 50 pounds, has 18" top slots, is quite narrow and converts to a high back booster- although it is outgrown as a booster shortly after being outgrown in harness mode.

The Graco Nautilus and Evenflo Securekid 300/400 both harness to 65 pounds and convert to high back boosters, have 18" top slots, and the Nautilus also converts to a backless booster. The Graco Argos is similar to the Nautilus except it has a 70 pound harness limit and you don't have to rethread the harness.

The Britax Frontier 85 harnesses to 85 pounds, has 20" top slots and converts to a high back booster. It's the widest of the seats I've listed.

Do you need to fit all 3 seats in one row or does your vehicle have a 3rd row?

PS- it's great to hear you plan on RFing the little one until 2!

Sent from my DROID4 using Car-Seat.Org

 

[rustedsun]

Every time I try to sit down and write I am attacked by a child who somehow manages to make my post disappear, too bad I don't have car seats inside the house.

Thank you for your advice.

American, European and Australian carseats are legal in New Zealand.

Thanks for the heads-up on the True-fit. I tested out the seat with the head rest rear facing. It is going to be a tight fit, but it will work. In the meantime we will just keep our 13 month old in the infant seat as it is tested up to 13 kg (28 lbs). and he only weighs 10kg.

Our car a peugeot 307 sw does have three rows but they are narrow and the car isn't very long. The seats are adjustable and can easily be removed. The third row where we currently have our four year olds does not have latch but does have tethers. The second row only has latch on the side seats. The seat belts do not lock.

As for the 4 year olds, I want to keep them in 5-point harnesses for a couple of reasons...1)safety, 2)I want them to be able to snap themselves in 3) the seats are narrow and I am worried with fixed seat belt positions it will be very hard to get the seat belt in and out.

We often move our 4 year olds car seat to other cars when the kids go on playdates, etc. While we love the true-fits because they lock the seat belts and stay in so securely they are bulky and hard to move in and out of the car.

We think that in about a year or two we will move back to the US and probably buy a minivan....giving us more options for carseats. Hopefully by the time the kids out grown the harnesses we will have a car that works better with seats.

 

[rustedsun]

Thanks again for all the help.

I am deciding between the Evenflo Maestro and the Evenflo Securekid.

The Securekid is about $50 more expensive and the harness lasts longer, but I can't seem to find any information about which might be narrower, easier to install or lighter.

Can anyone provide a comparison?

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

 

[bree]

Thanks again for all the help.

I am deciding between the Evenflo Maestro and the Evenflo Securekid.

The Securekid is about $50 more expensive and the harness lasts longer, but I can't seem to find any information about which might be narrower, easier to install or lighter.

Can anyone provide a comparison?

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

I believe that they are somewhat similar in dimensions, because the Securekid is based on the Maestro's shell. This thread has pictures comparing the Securekid 300 and the Maestro: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=210696. This blog post over at carseatblog.com has some great pictures and info about the Securekid 300 and 400: http://carseatblog.com/16523/evenfl...ew-lightweight-champion-of-combination-seats/.

For 33 pound 4 year olds, I don't think you'll get much benefit from the Securekid's 65 pound weight limit. Since the top harness slot heights are the same on the Maestro and the Securekid, I'd guess that it is likely that your kids will outgrow both by torso height before the extra weight limit of the Securekid would matter.

The Securekid does adjust in booster mode, so it will go taller (these charts indicate only a half an inch taller, but I don't know how it really works in practice: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvfUm4x64h3AdHpYd2k4RlQ1TnhUSGx4VEZaY09KUXc&hl=en#gid=0) than the Maestro in booster mode (as Brianna said, the Maestro is outgrown in booster mode soon after being outgrown by height in harness mode), so that could be considered something in the Securekid's favor. However, it may be worth it to save the money now on the Maestros and put that saved money toward buying some nice, tall, dedicated boosters (that will also convert to backless boosters) down the road.

I know you mentioned that you think the True Fits are bulky, but you also mentioned that your seat belts do not lock. If that's also the case with the seatbelts in the cars you are moving the 4 year olds' seats into, it may be worth the hassle to keep the heavier True Fits with their convenient built-in lockoffs and buying a new convertible seat for your 1 year old instead. Otherwise, you might be dealing with locking clips for seatbelts that don't lock (except for when the emergency locking retractor kicks in, I'm presuming). I personally think that dealing with 2 locking clips any time I had to move a seat would be more of a hassle than dealing with the extra weight of the True Fits, but that's just my own opinion, and maybe it would be easier for you to deal with the Maestro or Securekid.

Additionally, the Maestro and the Securekid are only going to buy you about an extra half inch of harness height over the True Fit, so that's another reason why I wanted to mention the option of sticking with the True Fits.

If you do think the Maestros or the Securekid will work for installation for you (I don't know what the LATCH limit is for your car, but maybe LATCH will work for you; the Securekid 400 has a type of LATCH that is supposed to be particularly easy to use, but it doesn't always play nicely with the lower anchors of every vehicle), then I think it just depends on how soon you want to buy another booster after these seats.

The Graco Nautilus and the Graco Argos used to have an Elite version with built-in lockoffs, but I don't know if they are still being sold.

 

[rustedsun]

Can the Securekid use just the latch and tether without the seatbelt while in harness mode?

I am now looking at putting all three kids in the second row, where there are latches on the side. I could put the baby in the middle in the True-fit RF and the four year olds on the sides with the latched in securekids.

It looks to me that the cupholders on the securekid/maesto would be lower down than the armrests on the True-fit when RF....if not this configuration wouldn't work. I just tried our two True-fits with the infant seat in the middle row....they almost fit but not quite. If the Securekid cups are lower than the wings of the True-fit then I think we would be set.

I think the kids would all enjoy being on the same row anyways.

We love the internal locking chips on the True-fit. They seats are always so tight and secure, there is never any wiggle and I love that! If it weren't for needing a new seat for our one year old, and planning a trip to the states, we would just keep out four-year olds in the True-fits, even though they are bulky. But with having to buy a new one right now we thought it might be worth buying a seat that would last longer than 65lbs, like the True-fit.

 

[rustedsun]

I have also looked through our owner's manuel and can not find anywhere that states the weight limit on the latch or tether. Any idea where I can find this information? I tried looking online and I wasn't able to find anything.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!

 

[rustedsun]

Sorry again, does the Maestro have latch also? The installation video on the Evenflo website shows installation with the seatbelt only.

 

[bree]

Can the Securekid use just the latch and tether without the seatbelt while in harness mode?

I am now looking at putting all three kids in the second row, where there are latches on the side. I could put the baby in the middle in the True-fit RF and the four year olds on the sides with the latched in securekids.

It looks to me that the cupholders on the securekid/maesto would be lower down than the armrests on the True-fit when RF....if not this configuration wouldn't work. I just tried our two True-fits with the infant seat in the middle row....they almost fit but not quite. If the Securekid cups are lower than the wings of the True-fit then I think we would be set.

I think the kids would all enjoy being on the same row anyways.

We love the internal locking chips on the True-fit. They seats are always so tight and secure, there is never any wiggle and I love that! If it weren't for needing a new seat for our one year old, and planning a trip to the states, we would just keep out four-year olds in the True-fits, even though they are bulky. But with having to buy a new one right now we thought it might be worth buying a seat that would last longer than 65lbs, like the True-fit.

I have also looked through our owner's manuel and can not find anywhere that states the weight limit on the latch or tether. Any idea where I can find this information? I tried looking online and I wasn't able to find anything.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!

Sorry again, does the Maestro have latch also? The installation video on the Evenflo website shows installation with the seatbelt only.

Both the Maestro and the Securekid models can be installed with LATCH for harness mode. I'm not sure what the LATCH weight limit is on the them, though, so maybe someone else will know the LATCH limts on the Maestro and the Securekid. Hopefully, one the techs with access to the LATCH manual will be able to tell you the LATCH weight limit of your vehicle, as well.

I'm not sure how the cupholders would fit next to a True Fit.

I don't think you'll need the 65 pound harness weight limit of the Securekid or the True Fit for your kids to get to a safe booster age. It's really unlikely that they'll gain almost 30 pounds over the next 2 to 3 years or so before they are old enough for a booster, and also, they will most likely outgrow the Securekid's harness by torso height well before 65 pounds. I think the Maestro's 50 pound harness weight limit would be sufficient, especially if you discover that LATCH will work for you between the Maestro's and the vehicle's LATCH limits if a seatbelt install would be an issue due to non-locking seatbelts. I don't know how much extra time in booster mode the Securekid gives and whether it would be worth the price increase over the Maestro, given that you won't need the extra harness weight limit of the Securekid.

 

[rustedsun]

Thanks so much for the help. I'm not surprised that after all my questions I have come back to the carseat that you first recommended. Thanks for helping me work through all my questions. I love this site.

Does anyone happen to know the latch limit on the Maestro?

Is there any chance anyone knows the latch weight limit on a
Peugeot 307 SW?

Thanks again.

 

[KaiLing]

Does anyone happen to know the latch limit on the Maestro?



Is there any chance anyone knows the latch weight limit on a
Peugeot 307 SW?


Thanks again.

From the 2011 LATCH manual: 48 lbs or vehicle 's limits for Evenflo seats. Peugeot isn't in my LATCH manual (or I'm failing to find it).

 

[rustedsun]

Thank you so much for your help.

I have called the Peugeot dealership and they are looking into the latch limit on the car. At first they didn't have any idea what I was talking about.