car seats help, advice, for honda odyssey 2016

[Mamalove]

hi, I recently posted about configuration in my odyssey.

however, now checking the expiration dates on my car seats-two of them are expiring soon and i started doing research and was feeling overwhelmed and thought i may as well try to get some advice to narrow down my choices-that would be so appreciated

i have my 3 year old still rear facing in a britax marathon 70. but its a 2010 model and will need to be replaced .
at the end of july of this year, her measurements were 2 feet 10 and a half inches and 25 pounds. she is in the 5th percentile for height and off the charts for weight. i would love to rearface her as long as possible.

and then my baby on the way, is already measuring small. my other two kids were under 6 pounds , full term babies, so i tend to make them small. that is why i feel i am limited cuz i need to find a car seat that could potentially fit a small weight baby.

i am happy to skip the infant seat and buy a convertible for the newborn since i found my babies always woke up when transfering from car to house so the whole snap and go thing didnt work for me.

the other problem is my budget- since needing to buy not one but two new car seats my budget is probably under 200 for each but still flexible.

just to add, my oldest child, who is 5 and a half years old is in a harmony defender which we bought more recently so we wouldnt need to replace yet. his last visit 7 months ago, he was 40 and a half inches (8th percentile) and 37 pounds (21st percentile). so he measures small as well. not sure if that helped though, knowing that at some point we could buy him a high back booster and my 3 year old could potentially use his seat. however, we would love to keep him in a 5 point harness as long as possible...

anyway, in the last thread i posted, i did want to be able to use the two middle seats in the odyssey as those are the safest positions, but a lot of people mentioned that few seats fit in that middle seat.

and of course, ease of installation is important cuz my husband and i both tend to have trouble installing. we just had trouble installing the harmony defender using the seat belt and ended up using latch. we couldnt figure out why we had such a loose fit with the belt so we are very newbie ish, when it comes to installing. so ease of installation would be a huge plus. we probably would be willing to go over budge to get at least one of the new car seats installed easier.

sorry for such a wordy post. thank you so much in advance, for anyone who can help give advice.

 

[Nedra]

If you want to rear-face your 3 year old as long as possible, the Extend2Fit car seat has high weight and height limits, and will also have the ability to add additional leg room. You don't NEED those high height and weight limits in order to get her to a safe age to forward-face (4 is generally considered safe) but if you want to keep her rear-facing after 4 years old, a seat with some extra leg room couldn't hurt. That seat is coming out in January and it will be $199

As far as ease of installation, if you don't feel the need to rear-face long past 4, another Britax would also be a good option for her. My 2.5 year old is about the same size as your 3 year old and she has about 1.5-2 years of rear-facing life left in her Roundabout. The Roundabout is the only Britax convertible under $200 (usually retailing for $130-145 or so), but it would probably get your daughter to a fine age for forward-facing.

As far as the baby, if you want to skip the bucket seat, a Coccoro might be a good bet. It can also be found for around $200 and fits newborns well, provided that they are at least 19". It wouldn't last all that long, but by the time it was outgrown you could probably pass your daughter's convertible down if she was ready to forward-face in the Defender and your son was in a dedicated booster. I don't know what the installation issues are with the Odyssey center seat, but if width is the issue, then the Coccoro is only 15" or so in width.

These are just the first thoughts that came to mind. I don't have an odyssey, though, so I can't say what works for that vehicle.

ETA: I just read the odyssey +1 successful install thread and saw that the Coccoro does not work in the +1 seat, but apparently the new generation Britax seats do. One other suggestion would be to get your daughter a Marathon or Boulevard G4.1 and your new baby a Roundabout G4.1. These seats would be very easy to install, the newest Britax seats can rear-face longer than the older ones, and your total cost would still be around $400 total, even though the Marathon and Boulevard are over $200. I think the Britax seats are also supposed to be decently good for fitting small babies too.


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[lgenne]

The fact that your kids are small works in your favor for extended rear facing/harnessing/lower anchor use.

I would look at the Graco Milestone for the +1 seat. It's a bit over your budget, but it works well in the +1 spot. And it fits newborns well. Alternatively, you could get a Chicco Keyfit (under budget). It fits even preemies well, fits the +1 like a glove, is super easy to install, and will probably fit your baby for at least 2 years, at which point you can shuffle car seats.

For the other rear facer, a Graco "clone" (Size4Me/Fit4Me/MySize/Contender) is a nice, relatively budget friendly seat with some nice features. They're all the same basic seat with slightly different features and price points.

 

[Mamalove]

oh wow thank you so much for all your info! the corcorro might not have worked also for me cuz my last baby was 18.5 inches so not sure if this baby would have fit in the beginning. but it did look like it might have been good for all your other reasons.

again, thank you for doing all that research for the middle odyssey seat- so so nice of you!!

i can't thank you enough!

the only car seat i seemed to come up with that you didnt mention, that i thought may have been good was the graco size4 me 65 , which looked good for both my 3 year old and newborn. is it hard to install? curious if there was a reason you didnt suggest it cuz it goes for 140 dollars. it says babies starting from 4 pounds can fit (not sure about the height).

 

[Nedra]

The size4me 65 is a good one to consider! Here is the carseatblog review of it: http://carseatblog.com/18372/graco-size4me-70-convertible-carseat-review/

I didn't think of it because it is kind of off my radar -- I have a small car and it takes up too much room for me to use myself. But I think it would be a good choice for the Odyssey. Checking the +1 successful install thread, it looks like it will *not* be compatible with the +1 seat, however, so you would need to place it elsewhere in the vehicle.


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[Mamalove]

oh ok thanks so much!and thanks again for checking the thread!

just curious why you chose the newborn to be in the roundabout and the 3 year old in the marathon/boulevard? and not the the other way around?

for some reason when i look at pics of the roundabout, it looks less cushy than the marathon/boulevard so thought mayb newborn would fit better in marathon/boulevard but im totally not knowledgeable on this stuff.

 

[Nedra]

Eventually (but probably not for awhile) your 3 year old would need the extended height of the marathon/boulevard if you want to keep her RF as long as possible. You could have each of them in either seat to start -- and they are equally padded (at the lower end of the child size spectrum, the marathon and the roundabout are essentially the same seat aside from the no-re thread harness on the marathon).

ETA: another difference between the marathon and the roundabout is the HUGS pads. They aren't required for rear-facing either child, but if you *wanted* to use them for one of your rear-facing kids, they would likely be too big and bulky on the newborn, so that would be another reason to put your older child in the marathon/boulevard, and have your younger one in the roundabout that doesn't have HUGS anyway.
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[Mamalove]

oh okay, makes sense! thanks for your advice

so i'd probably get the roundabout for the newborn but still unsure if i'll get the graco size 4me 65 or wait for the graco extend 2 fit for my 3 year old cuz then i could eventually use the new 3 year old seat for the newborn when the 3 yr old goes in the harmony defender....

i just like the idea that if i'm gonna get a new car seat, want to get the most out of rear facing. but def helpful to know that the britax marathon/boulevard have better rear facing life than my current very old edition from 2010.

when i bought my 2010 britax marathon, i had no clue about rear facing past 2 years and i now know that britax isn't known for long rear facing. luckily my kids are on the small side and i was still able to rear face them even with old britax.

 

[lgenne]

I don't know if the Roundabout works in the +1 or not. The successful +1 thread certainly says that late generation Britax convertibles work there, but later in the thread it says they (mostly) don't, because you either have side overhang (in wide mode or if captain's chairs are removed) which Britax does not approve, or you can't access the 3rd row at all in narrow mode.

 

[Nedra]

I don't know if the Roundabout works in the +1 or not. The successful +1 thread certainly says that late generation Britax convertibles work there, but later in the thread it says they (mostly) don't, because you either have side overhang (in wide mode or if captain's chairs are removed) which Britax does not approve, or you can't access the 3rd row at all in narrow mode.

Wow! This +1 seat is really complicated! Sorry, Mamalove. I wish I had more actual experience with your car to offer...


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[Mamalove]

haha, ok thanks! still really helpful so far! ill have to read through the +1 seat thread to see what to do

 

[aporthole]

I didn't see it mentioned but your Marathon 70 has a 7 year lifespan. The way you wrote it made it sound like you were calculating a 6 year span, but you actually have an extra year longer.

 

[aporthole]

Because you still have lots of life left in the Marathon, I'd keep the middle child rear facing in the Marathon in a captain's chair, baby in the center (either something like a Chicco KeyFit if you go with an infant seat or maybe a Chicco NextFit or Graco 4ever if you opt to start with a convertible. All 3 of those seats install well on the small center seat. Remove 2nd captain's chair and have the Defender rider in the 3rd row on the same side as the missing captain's chair.

In July 2017, once the Marathon expires, then put the middle child in the Defender and buy a dedicated high back booster for the oldest.

 

[aporthole]

What is the date of manufacture on the SnugRide that you have?

 

[lgenne]

... or maybe a Chicco NextFit or Graco 4ever ... All 3 of those seats install well on the small center seat.

Really? I've only seen reports that the Nextfit does NOT work there, and one report that someone was having trouble with the 4Ever there. Have you tried them yourself?

 

[aporthole]

I haven't done them personally but I've seen multiple pictures from knowledgeable advocates as well as CPSTs whom have done them.

I have seen some people say they weren't able to get the NextFit to work but I've seen more successful installs than reports of unsuccessful.

I sent a message to someone I believe had a successful NextFit install there asking if she has any tips to share.

 

[Mamalove]

oh wow, thanks for all the added input...i didnt see that till now.

my graco said on the bottom of the carseat it expires dec 2015 and the baby is due in january 2016

my britax marathon 70 --i couldn't find anywhere on the seat saying when it expires but i was able to see that the date of manufacture was sept 2010.
so for now, i agree, i will keep my 3 yr old in there until sept 2017. and thnks for the advice- i could then switch her to the defender and give my oldest a high back booster

---

for the baby on the way,i probably will narrow down my decision between the maxi pria 70 with tiny fit, the chicco nextfit or the graco 4 ever because there's a good chance this new baby will be below 19 inches and could be a lower weight. and these seemed like the best convertibles for small babies

any of these three fit in the center seat? looks like the nextfit might? curious if you know if the maxi pria 70 with tiny fit or graco 4ever fit in the center seat?

 

[lgenne]

I've tried the Pria 70 there (it didn't have Tinyfit, but that shouldn't matter for the install) and it worked great on recline 2, but I didn't try recline 1. It looked like it would work.

I've had a Graco Milestone there, also on recline 2 with LATCH. It's fine, and similar but not identical to the 4Ever. It's not a rock solid install, but it's easy to keep it under an inch. (Unless you have the driver side captain's chair removed and your 3 year old keeps stepping on the button that loosens the LATCH strap when he climbs in, anyway...)

 

[lilti9er]

I had an odyssey as a loaner car before and I was able to get a good install in the center with my nextfit on recline #1. I believe the trick was to recline the vehicle seat, install the nextfit with LATCH (loosen the supercinch side all the way, latch both sides in the latch anchors, tighten the regular side first (the side opposite of the supercinch) you may need to pull the latch strap end through the belt path and pull on it underneath the seat cover like you're pulling it to the inside of the carseat, then go to the supercinch latch and tighten that end, then I put the vehicle seat more upright and the carseat becomes rock solid. I store the latch strap ends inside the latch compartments. I hope my explanation wasn't too confusing. If I had the odyssey, I would've taken pics of the install step by step for you.

Oh and if you have leather seats, the nextfit has grips at the bottom where it helps keep it in place better too.

Also, I've heard of the nextfit selling for less than $200 with coupons at target during their baby sale. But I'm no help b/c I can't remember how ppl did it. If you can't wait on sales then you can purchase it on AlbeeBaby.com with 20% off (NOV20), no tax & free shipping. I've bought many carseats as well as other baby gear from them before and never had any issues.

But if you want to try out some seats in your car then I'd suggest to go to a friend with the seats, go to a baby specialty store & ask if you could try before you buy, or even babies r us. Tell the stores that your car is known to have installation issues with many carseats and you'd like to try the installs to make sure they fit. I've done this before and they're usually very nice to help. But usually the employees at a babies r us store are not CSPTs so I wouldn't rely on them for actually installing the seat though. They're normally out there with you to prevent theft of the seat.