Question Need recommendation on a convertible

[tallylassie]

I'm looking for a convertible that walks the line between allowing ERF while not being a beast. DD is average size, just like her big brother. I have a 2005 Acura TSX, so a kinda tight backseat, and would love to install outboard so DS can forward face in the center in his MA. Leg room for passengers would be nice!

So, If you were me what 2 or 3 seats would you be trying out at BRU?

Thanks in advance!

 

[EmmaCPST]

How old is your older child and how much growing room does he have in the Marathon (a FF seat is outgrown in height when the shoulders are above the top harness slots or the ears above the top of the shell). Most of the time it makes sense, since you already have one convertible, to pass the convertible down RF to the younger child and go with a combination (FF with 5 point harness, then functions as a booster) seat for the older child.

But, the Marathon is pretty wide and most combination seats are pretty wide as well, so you're going to have a tough time fitting them side by side in your Acura.

The Diono Radian is the narrowest seat, and will fit next to your Marathon, with an angle adjuster it will sit upright enough that it's not going to kill your front to back space. It also has a nice tall shell, most kids can easily RF to 4 in it.

 

[tallylassie]

How old is your older child and how much growing room does he have in the Marathon?

DS is going to be four this summer; he’s on the next-to-top slot, pretty close to moving up to the top slot.

Most of the time it makes sense, since you already have one convertible, to pass the convertible down RF to the younger child and go with a combination (FF with 5 point harness, then functions as a booster) seat for the older child.

We have a Roundabout and a Maestro in our second vehicle. The RA expires when DD is just past two, so I had figured on buying a convertible that we could move to vehicle #2 so she could RF there longer. Then she could use the MA in my car, as DS would have definitely outgrown it. HOWEVER, I am totally open! I do like the idea of going ahead and getting DS a more comfy combination seat. I mean, I will have to at some point since he’ll outgrow the MA before he's done being harnessed.

The Diono Radian is the narrowest seat, and will fit next to your Marathon, with an angle adjuster it will sit upright enough that it's not going to kill your front to back space. It also has a nice tall shell, most kids can easily RF to 4 in it.

Don’t they have to be one to use the adjuster? DD will probably be 9 or 10 months when she’s ready to graduate out of her KeyFit (this is the older one, before the KeyFit 30). I'm thinking ahead by 5 or 6 months.

As an aside, we’re not going to have any more children, so ability to hand anything down past DD isn’t a factor. I feel disloyal saying this about a perfectly good seat, but if there were a solution that excluded the MA, I might be secretly relieved as the high profile has always annoyed me. And I really do need to have an outboard seat available for a passenger.

 

[EmmaCPST]

Ok, taking all that into consideration, I would probably put the Marathon and the Maestro in car #2 (assuming it's fine if both seats are outboard in that car, because they're definitely not going to fit side by side unless it's a huge car), and then get two new seats for car #1.

For your 3 year old, the Graco Nautilus or the Britax Frontier. The Frontier harnesses longer, and has a lot of nice little features that the Nautilus doesn't, but is quite a bit more expensive.

For the baby, I would lean heavily towards the Radian because I know it'll fit next to either seat and still leave room for a passenger on the other side and it has all the ERF capabilities you want. Technically, they do need to be 12 months to use the angle adjuster, but the engineers have said that was just them being cautious to be sure no one used it with a young baby without head control. I would be fine using it with a 9-10 month old.

Also, with a Radian and a Frontier they could easily be almost last seats you buy... the Frontier has a 9 year expiration, and the Radian has nice high top slots so theoretically, your 3 year old could use the Frontier in harness mode for the next 4 years, when he'll be 7 and could switch to booster mode if you want to, leave #2 in the Radian until she's outgrown it in height, probably another 2 years past that at which she'll be 6 and your oldest will be 9, move her into the Frontier in booster mode and him into a backless booster and you're set. So it's a pretty decent investment.

And I totally feel your pain about the Marathon sitting up so high lol personally I've always disliked that!

 

[tallylassie]

This is amazing... Thank you so much!