Hi! I'm new! (From Canada)

[PeachyPie]

Hi there! This is my first post here! I'm in Toronto and have two kids, a 3.5 year old girl who we kept RFing in her Safety 1st Complete Air until she was 2 years 8 months old. She got too tall and her brother was born (couldn't fit two RF seats in our car). He is now 7 months old and in a Graco Safeseat but will be moving into the Complete Air soon! My daughter will be moving into the Graco Nautilus after that.

We have a second vehicle now (which the Nauti is currently in) but will need a couple new, less expensive, seats when Sept comes along and my husband and I will be picking them up/dropping them off at school. We also have a Evenflo Maestro in my mom's car for my daughter. I'm thinking of getting this seat again for her in our second car but am pretty stumped on what to get for my son. I'm sure after spending more time here I'll figure something out. I've been directed to this forum so many times through my google searches, so I figured it was time to contribute to the conversation! Thanks for having me!

 

[Brianna]

Welcome to car-seat.org

Great job on keeping your daughter RF until 2 years 8 months! I'm curious though- did she outgrow the seat by the one inch rule or by the stated height limit?

What's your budget for your new seat, and what vehicle(s) will it be going in?

 

[mommycat]

Hello and welcome! Always nice to see some new "faces". You have made some great choices for your kids, they are lucky to have a mommy who is able to do her research.

If you were willing tell us how long/heavy your DS is (even just "short and heavy" vs. "petite" etc.), we could suggest some less expensive seat choices that might work for you. Hope you find some helpful info on the forum and share your experience with others who might benefit from visiting the site. :thumbsup:

 

[PeachyPie]

I could have kept her RF longer but she wasn't happy that way any more, and it was the month before my son was born so I figured it was an ok time to switch. We were actually on a road trip and she was miserable. It was nap time and she wasn't sleeping. I told my husband to pull over and I turned her around on the side of the road (on an exit, it was safe, haha). She fell asleep almost instantly. She's got some seriously long legs so I think she truly was uncomfortable.
Currently she's 36 lbs and 39-40 inches tall.

My son is a tank, lol. He's 7 months old and 23 or 24 lbs and I'm not totally sure how tall but I think about 28", maybe 29". He still has one more slot to move up on his Safeseat though so I'm not quite ready to retire him from it yet. It's heavy as heck to carry but sometimes it's worth it for convenience!!

I'm wondering if it's a good idea to get the Maestro for my daughter. I know it has 18" top harness slots which is good, but the 47 lb weight limit it kind of low. But since she's tall and slim (but not skinny) do you think that she'd outgrow it in height at around 47 lbs? If that's the case, she'll also outgrow her Nautilus at the same time (since it also has 18" top slots) in which case spending the extra $$ to keep her harnessed to 65 lbs was kind of a waste! Or, do you think she would reach 47 lbs first? It's all very confusing, lol.

 

[mommycat]

The Nauti top slots are a smidge taller, aboyt 1/4" (install variation aside). My 4.5yo DS has approximately the same stats as your DD and I wouldn't hesitate to get a Maestro for him. He has a similar build to his older brother who is 47lbs/47" at 7yo. He has probably outgrown both the Maestro/Nauti by height (he still had room in the Radians and Nauti when he stopped using them quite some months ago) but is just at the max weight for the Maestro now. Sounds like your DD gains a bit quicker than my low-average percentile boys, but her proportions are quite similar. I would guess she will be at a decent booster age before she outgrows the Maestro, and she will do so by height.

That said, I hear the new Nautis have a 10 year expiry? Which I am still afraid to really believe but it would make the seat a good choice for handing down to #2. The Maestro is only 6 years. Which is probably just long enough too if you get a new DOM...

As for the Nautui being a waste, it does have a bit more harness height, it does last a lot longer than the Maestro in booster mode so it's not a total loss anyway, her brother may need the extra weight limit when he gets to FF, and, well... I just prefer using the Nauti over the couple of times I've tried out the Maestro, and that's got to be worth something! :lol:

 

[canadiangie]

Hi and welcome,

I would consider the Safety 1st Guide 65 for your son for in your hubby's car. It's on for $98 at Walmart. Rear faces up to 40lbs, forward facing up to 65lbs.

 

[PeachyPie]

Thanks so much for the replies!! Why on earth have I never heard of the Safety 1st Guide before!!!??? That's amazing! Is there something really bad about it that it's so cheap?

 

[mommycat]

It is one of the seats that just recently came to market. I had not heard of it until a month or two ago. I am not aware of anything bad about it, I think the manufacterers are trying to bring some decent, compact, budget friendly seats in to fill a bit of a void. ?

 

[PeachyPie]

Yeah it does sound like a great second seat! And I really like our Complete Air so I'm kind of used to Safety 1st. I actually had the Complete Air when it first came to market in 2009, the one that didn't have a base and only went to 50 lbs. I ended up giving it to a friend who was in need of a seat, and we bought a new one on sale at Toys R Us that goes to 65 lbs. I really love the seat.

On the TRU website the Guide 65 has a 1 star rating (out of two reviews) and the issue is the head rest pushing their child's head forward, causing some major head slump. The would be a deal breaker for me if it was our primary seat but since it's being used as a second seat I think I'm okay with that.