need a new seat, need some advice

[PrairieGirl]

I'm needing a new seat for my 27 month old who is currently rear facing in a Roundabout. He is nearing the 30lb limit and his head is almost level with the top of the seat. I know technically he has probably outgrown the height. But he is pretty short.
So if I want to keep him rear facing, I don't see a lot of options out there. I know about the True Fit. It seems okay.
I love the roundabout. The push button release and tighten is like butter. Do any of the other Britax products work this way? I am not too familiar with the new ones that came out, but I have seen the Marathon.
The new ones seem really expensive. Do they rear-face to 35lbs? Is the Marathon still a valid seat to consider? I probably want a seat that harnesses to 65lbs.
What weight does the Radian rear-face to?
If he needs to forward face right now, do I still need to buy a convertible seat?
I'm interested in some opinions.
Also, I have a little one (2 weeks old) in a graco snugride if that makes any difference.
Thanks for any advice!

 

[canadiangie]

What vehicle will the new seat be going into?

Are you near any baby stores, baby boutiques, etc where you can try before you buy?

To answer your question about the RA's butter smooth adjuster, nope, it's not on any of Britax's other seats (available in Canada). It is lovely though, and it's one of the things that makes the RA such a nice little seat. (though, as you've found out, little is the keyword with the RA )

 

[PrairieGirl]

The seat will be going into a GMC sierra crew cab, there is lots of room in the back seat.
I have a toys r us near me, I've seen the marathon there. But they don't have a huge selection of seats, its kinda of a smaller store. There is one store here with a radian. And we have Zellers, I've seen the true fit there.

 

[bubbaray]

THe MA RFs to 30lbs, not 35 (or 33 like it used to). AFAIK, all the Britax convertibles RF to 30lbs.

The Radian RFs to 35lbs, as does the TrueFit. IIRC, the Scenara and the new 3n1s also RF to 35lbs. I've heard that the Avenue is at Sears, but not seen one myself. There is talk that the MyRide is coming here and the Air Complete, but no one has an ETA on either seat last time I checked.

 

[PrairieGirl]

Does the radian really RF to 35lbs? I'm in Canada...
I see the Avenue on the Sears site but it only harnesses to 40lbs.

How about the Britax frontier or graco cargo... should I consider one of those or should I focus on getting another rear facing seat.

So far, is the True Fit the only one that RF to 35lbs and then FF to 65lbs?
I'd be interested in the radian if it RF to 35 lbs.

Or maybe the radian is good as a FF seat on its own, compared to the other high weight FF seats?

 

[sparkyd]

Whether to keep your son RF longer is totally up to you. You have reached the "goal" of getting to 2 years; up to you whether to keep it up longer. In my mind there is no question that it is safer to stay RF, and that is what I would do. You have to do what works for you.

If you do want to keep him RF, the following seats rear-face to 35 lbs in Canada:

First Years True Fit (also harnesses FF to 65 lbs)
Sunshine Kids Radian XT (ONLY the XT model; also harnesses FF to 65 lbs)
Cosco Scenera (newest models only - check label on seat)
Dorel 3-in-1 seats (all brands, i.e. Eddie Bauer, Safety 1st, Alpha Omega etc - also only applies to newest models - check label on seat)
Safety 1st Avenue
Safety 1st Enspira (newest models only - check label on seat)
Britax Advocate (ONLY this model; also harnesses FF to 65 lbs).

There are currently no seats that RF to higher limits than this here. There is probably one coming, but we don't know when and it sounds to me like you need a new seat NOW.

 

[PrairieGirl]

OK, thanks.
To summarize, if I want a seat that RF to 35lbs and then FF to 65lbs, I'm looking at the :
Radian XT
True Fit
Britax Advocate

The advocate is too much money, so that narrows my selection to 2 seats. I might check out the AO just to see what it's like, but thanks for helping to narrow down my search everyone!

 

[sparkyd]

OK, thanks.
To summarize, if I want a seat that RF to 35lbs and then FF to 65lbs, I'm looking at the :
Radian XT
True Fit
Britax Advocate

The advocate is too much money, so that narrows my selection to 2 seats. I might check out the AO just to see what it's like, but thanks for helping to narrow down my search everyone!

Yep. And yeah, the Advocate is crazy expensive.

Keep in mind that the 3-in-1 seats generally don't make good boosters, so don't include being able to use it in that mode in your considerations.

 

[momto2princes]

Between the Truefit or the XT would be it.

The Truefit is an awesome seat and at a wonderful price point. I have suggested it to a few friends and they love it. I tried really hard to love it. Went to the store a few times and sat DS#2 in it. For the price I really thought hard about it. In the end I just didn't want one. I can't come up with any valid reasons it just wasnt' the right seat for us.

We ended up getting the XT and we all LOVE it! Granted it is fairly large RF and it was a bit tricky to install esp to get it a bit more upright but well worth the effort. Before we bought the XT we had a Marathon and I struggled with if I wanted to get rid of it or not for quite a while so that DS could RF for longer or not. I am happy with the decision we made and it is the right choice for our family.