Big toddler in a Volvo

[bealily]

My son is 2.5 years, 40 inches and 42 lbs. He´s outgrowing his rear facing car seat and I can´t find a RF that is ok for his size.

So I´m looking for a FF car seat that´s good for big toddlers and is sold in Canada.

Is it ok to put a 2.5 year old in a booster seat (like the Diono/Sunshine Montery booster or the Britax Frontier XT), or am I better of with a Diono Radian RXT or the Britax Boulevard 65. I´ve also been looking at the Graco Nautilus. Clek Oobr looks good too, but I think he might be to little for that one.

I´m driving a Volvo XC90 and I think these car seats should fit in there, although some say that the Britax might be hard to get in.

Hope someone has some info for me since I´m feeling lost!

 

[snowbird25ca]

At 2.5 years old your son is way too young to be going in to a booster. Kids that age don't have the understanding to sit still and they don't have the maturity or impulse control. When in a booster, they essentially become responsible for keeping themselves sitting still and not unbuckling or leaning out of position - that one second unbuckle or reaching for a toy on the floor could be the one second action that kills him if you crashed right then - and no 2.5 year old is going to be able to understand that type of importance. (And I wouldn't want to try and explain it to a toddler that age either.)

Your guy is pretty tall and big for his age, so I'd probably lean towards the Frontier XT if it fits in your vehicle. It has a 65lb harness weight limit and has the highest harness height available in Canada (20".) It generally fits fairly well in vehicles through one of the install methods, so I wouldn't expect you to have any issues.

What seat is he in right now? Could you just turn it ff'ing for him and continue to use it for awhile yet?

Nothing comes to my mind for the XC90 so far as common incompatibilities go, so I don't think you're going to run in to any major issues, but I'd go with either a Nautilus or a Frontier XT given your son's current height as that's going to get you the most growing room and keep him harnessed the longest. (Frontier will last longer than the Nautilus.)

 

[HONEYhas3]

The FRXT installs nicely in the XC90.

 

[QuassEE]

I had an XC90 up until a year ago (one of my favourite cars) and we used the Frontier in it, in the outboard seating positions. It was a great fit.

-N.

 

[bealily]

Thank you for you answers.

He is currently in a Maxi Cosi Mobi (don´t think it´s sold in Canada), it´s only rear facing but is supposed to good up to 25 kg (55lbs-is) but his torso is just to long

It´s good to hear that you guys have been able to put the Frontier in your Volvo´s.
The issue with Volvo xc90 (and some other Volovs I believe) is that the headrest tilts forward quite a bit so it´s hard to get a nice fit with some car seats.

 

[QuassEE]

If you're a resident of Canada, legally you need to use a Canadian seat..so moving to the next level of seat might serve a dual purpose at this point. The headrests aren't a huge problem with most harnessed seats, in the XC90. Boosters can be challenging. We switched to the built-in pretty quickly, when my son was 6..but there's no way my youngest child would've been mature enough for it at 6.

-N.

 

[FrauDrA]

Thank you for you answers.

It´s good to hear that you guys have been able to put the Frontier in your Volvo´s.
The issue with Volvo xc90 (and some other Volovs I believe) is that the headrest tilts forward quite a bit so it´s hard to get a nice fit with some car seats.

We have an XC70, with a Frontier XT. I was worried about the headrests, too, but the Frontier fits well. The Marathon was a fiddlier fit against the headrest. Weve been using out Boulevard RF, and I hope it will fit FF when the time comes!

As an aside, we just picked up our new XC70 about three weeks ago (our 2008 was leased), and the headrests are somewhat different, but still cannot be removed.

 

[snowbird25ca]

Boosters can be challenging.
-N.

It's an expensive solution, but the Clek Oobr can be used in those positions where the headrests tilt forward provided it's installed with UAS. All that it requires when installed with UAS is that the top of the booster touch the vehicle seat back or headrest so it's a very good solution in these situations - albeit a more expensive one. (I know you're aware of this already, but just saying for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread.)

 

[bealily]

If you're a resident of Canada, legally you need to use a Canadian seat..so moving to the next level of seat might serve a dual purpose at this point. The headrests aren't a huge problem with most harnessed seats, in the XC90. Boosters can be challenging. We switched to the built-in pretty quickly, when my son was 6..but there's no way my youngest child would've been mature enough for it at 6.

-N.

When I moved to Canada from Iceland I wasn´t aware that my car seat would be illegal. I only found that out recently when I started thinking about having my infant car seat sent here since we are expecting another baby this summer. It sucks having to buy new car seats since I know the car seats standards in Iceland are good. But I´ll get a new one for the baby and since my son is outgrowing his anyway I´ll get him a new one too

Hopefully Canada will have rf car seats for heavier kids (55lbs) at some point...and I hope my new baby will be a bit smaller than my son, it will make things easier

Thank you all for you answeres, I´ll go out and try the Frontier this week!

 

[FrauDrA]

When I moved to Canada from Iceland I wasn´t aware that my car seat would be illegal. I only found that out recently when I started thinking about having my infant car seat sent here since we are expecting another baby this summer. It sucks having to buy new car seats since I know the car seats standards in Iceland are good. But I´ll get a new one for the baby and since my son is outgrowing his anyway I´ll get him a new one too

Hopefully Canada will have rf car seats for heavier kids (55lbs) at some point...and I hope my new baby will be a bit smaller than my son, it will make things easier

Thank you all for you answeres, I´ll go out and try the Frontier this week!

Off topic, but have to say I was enchanted by Iceland! My husband and I finally visited in 2009 and loved it. We definitely want to go back some day and do the circle trip!