Question How would you order these by height? My shortlist

[elyrayday]

Would anyone be willing to help me place these seats in order based on height (my boys are tall and average weight). My head is spinning from all the options and I think this is this summary is exactly what I need when I head out shopping soon.

For DS1 - How would these be ranked in terms of harnessed height, from most (highest) to least?
a) Britax Pioneer (without clicktight)
b) Graco Argos
c) Britax Frontier 90/Pinnacle with clicktight


For DS2 - How would these be ranked in terms of ERF height, from most (highest) to least?
a) Chicco NextFit
b) Graco MySize 65
c) Britax Boulevard/Advocate

Thanks!

 

[aporthole]

Would anyone be willing to help me place these seats in order based on height (my boys are tall and average weight). My head is spinning from all the options and I think this is this summary is exactly what I need when I head out shopping soon.

For DH1 - How would these be ranked in terms of harnessed height, from most (highest) to least?
a) Britax Pioneer (without clicktight)
b) Graco Argos
c) Britax Frontier 90/Pinnacle with clicktight

For DH2 - How would these be ranked in terms of ERF height, from most (highest) to least?
a) Chicco NextFit
b) Graco MySize 65
c) Britax Boulevard/Advocate

Thanks!

Britax Frontier/Pinnacle 20.5" top harness height
Britax Pioneer 19.5" top harness height
Graco Argos (I'm not sure on the new Argos 80 Elite, but the regular Argos is 18")

Britax Boulevard/Advocate ClickTights and Graco MySize will all get ALL kids to the full 40 lb rear facing weight limit.

Chicco NextFit and Britax Marathon ClickTight are slightly shorter and will still get MOST kids to the full 40 lb rear facing limit. A small percentage of extra long torsoed or tall/lightweight kids could max out the height a little before the 40 lb rear facing limit.

Non-ClickTight Britax seats are much, much shorter.

 

[aporthole]

I looked up the specs on the Argos 80 Elite and it also has the same 18" top harness height as the regular Argos.

 

[elyrayday]

From reading the blogs, it looks like the top FF MyRide slot is 17"

Based on DS1's 95% growth chart, it looks like he will be burning through three more inches between now (just turned 4) and 5 years of age. Holy moly!

Does that mean that, harnessed, the Argos would only buy us a few more months, the pioneer to just before his 5th birthday, and the Pinnacle/Frontier 90 to just after his 5th birthday?

What is a safe age for a kid to be boostered without harness? I mean, we are still working on potty training most days with this kid. I can't imagine him maturing all that much in these time frames.

 

[aporthole]

Kids that age grow an average of 1-1.5" in the torso per year. Typically 1" of torso growth for every 3" of overall growth.

The Graco MyRide's top harness height is 16.5" and the deep recline of the seat forward facing makes it outgrown sooner than a seat with the same harness height that sits more upright.

Kids should stay in a 5 point harness until age 5 and 40 lbs as a bare minimum. Maturity also plays a huge role in booster readiness. There are plenty of wiggly impulsive 7 years olds that still benefit from being in a 5 point harness as they lack the ability to maintain proper positioning at all times which is paramount for booster use.

 

[aporthole]

What is your oldest's current height and weight? Is he the one riding in a MyRide? Where are his shoulders in relationship to the top harness slots? It is pretty normal for many kids to max out the MyRide around 4.5. If he's just now level with the top harness slots, he should make it very close to at least 6.5 in the Pioneer's harness and closer to 7.5 in the Frontier's.

 

[elyrayday]

Thanks - that makes sense that not all of his growth will be in his torso. It is interesting that the recline of the MyRide also makes a big difference.

My oldest has been riding in the MyRide, ERFing until age 3, and FF after he turned 3. Now, having just turned 4, his shoulders are even with the top slot of the harness. His overall height is 43" (and weight 40 lbs).

 

[aporthole]

43" sounds about right for maxing out the MyRide.

If you have the budget for it, the Frontier is a great choice and super easy to install with the vehicle seat belt with the awesome ClickTight feature. My almost 6 year old will never need the full height capacity (he's on the shorter side at 44") but the install makes it totally worth it for us. I'll get him a dedicated booster at some point and pass down the Frontier to kid #2 once she's done rear facing in a couple years.

 

[elyrayday]

43" sounds about right for maxing out the MyRide.

If you have the budget for it, the Frontier is a great choice and super easy to install with the vehicle seat belt with the awesome ClickTight feature. My almost 6 year old will never need the full height capacity (he's on the shorter side at 44") but the install makes it totally worth it for us. I'll get him a dedicated booster at some point and pass down the Frontier to kid #2 once she's done rear facing in a couple years.

I have been hesitant about the ClickTight feature. Seems that with all the moving parts there is room for more to go wrong. Also, I have seen people in here complaining about the seat getting stuck or seatbelts being stretched. But I really do like the height. I wish I could get that height with an old fashioned install...

 

[aporthole]

If you unbuckle the seat belt before opening the ClickTight, it releases the tension and is easy to open. I have to intentionally leave some excess slack in my seat belts before closing the ClickTight or else it does stretch the seat belt more than I'm comfortable with. Leaving some slack still results in a rock solid install but without the extra pressure on the belts. Knowing how to make slight adjustments really helps. Overall, I really love the ClickTight feature and think it is totally worth it.

We've had the Frontier with ClickTight for almost 2 years now (got it when they first released) and just recently got the Boulevard ClickTight for my rear facing almost 3 year old.

 

[elyrayday]

Thanks. I will consider it. Are the lower parts of the harness connected to the non-moving frame of the seat? Or are they connected to a part on that "trap door"?

 

[aporthole]

They are on the moving ClickTight seat portion. I saw the discussion where someone said it made them uncomfortable knowing the harness attached to a moving piece, but it doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Cnidaria]

You could try to find a used Frontier 85 (which has almost but not quite as tall a harness as the 90). You'd just have to make sure you could absolutely trust the seller that it had never been in an accident, never had the straps washed inappropriately, etc. You'd also need to find one with a far-out enough expiration date that it's worth your while (otherwise you won't get to take advantage of the tallness!). Someone on this forum might be selling one. There's a swap section.

Another route might be to get a shorter seat now (e.g. Pioneer, SecureKid) and see how things go. Maybe he'll be booster-ready by the time he outgrows it. Maybe there'll be some other super-tall harnessed seat on the market then. And the ClickTight mechanism will have a couple more years under its belt to get recalled or not ;-)

 

[Cnidaria]

Although if they really did raise the max harness height on the Pioneer to 19.5" (when the seat was first released, it was 18.5"), there's no need to look for a used Frontier 85 because the 85's max height was also 19.5"!