Harness seat for Very big 3 year old

[Unregistered]

We have a conundrum on our hands. We have three children:
son1 is 3.25 years, 48" and 50lbs. He's in a Recaro convertible in the third row secured with lap belt and no headrest. There are no headrests in the third row. Shoulder belts are on the sides. We just realized his head is above the seat and the manual specifies the seat must be on a headrest if that's the case. We can't move him to the middle row because he has access to son2 and son3.
Son2 is 6 months, 25 lbs and has 1/2" left in his evenflo embrace.
Son3 is 6 months 20 lbs and 1/2" left in his evenflo embrace.

We were hoping to keep son1 in his recaro until 4 and then put him in the r Cato booster we have. That's not going to work. He needs a new seat before then. Son2 and son3 are needing a convertible now. We were thinking of getting another recaro and having both 6 month babes in those. But we will probably run into the problem of them outgrowing then prior to turning four, just like their brother. Dionos are an option for ll 3; however I don't know if they will fit if we have the driver seat ll the way back-which is where it must be for both adults to drive.

Our truck (excursion) has no Latch, lap belts in the middle seats and no top tether. I really need the side middle seat vacant as its where I sit to tandem nirse the babies.

Please help us!
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[wendytthomas]

Hi there.

A Britax Frontier would work well for your big guy. For your younger ones, Dionos or Cleks would work well with their 45-50 pound rear facing limits and 44" height limits.

What year is your Excursion? Sounds like you need to get top tethers retrofitted and we can help you with that.

Wendy

 

[Jeanum]

Although they're large/heavier enough vehicles to be completely LATCH-exempt, all Ford Excursion models (2000-2005 model years) were factory equipped by Ford with top tether anchors for each second row vehicle seating position, making it already possible to top tether any forward facing harnessed carseat installed in the second row, and also possibly on the third row passenger side depending on which Excursion model year the original poster drives. The LATCH manual indicates the second row's factory equipped top tether anchors in all Excursion models are on the back of the vehicle seat on the seat leg, and that some second row seats actually have two top tether anchors, either of which can be used for a forward facing installation on that second row seat. The 2002-2005 model year Excursions also have a third row passenger side top tether anchor located on the back of the seat frame, in addition to the second row top tether anchors. Ford does not have a top tether anchor retrofit for the non-factory equipped third row seating positions.