Please help! Backup/travel/indecisive mom question.

[fancyshmancy]

For the life of me I cannot make up my mind. My son will be 4 in May, weighs 33 lbs and is 37". He is currently FF in an Advocate. He has recently expressed interest in RF'ing again because his little brother does. I am ALL for this, of course, but I don't know how long it would last. We are traveling next month and will need a car seat for the plane/rental and for a backup in my mom's vehicle for when we return. She has my son a few times a week and currently has a Boulevard in her car.

I have mainly been looking at FF only seats (Maestro, Securekid, and Pioneer) but feel guilty buying him a FF only seat when he COULD (and SHOULD) still be RF'ing. I am wondering if I should buy him another convertible seat, such as the Sureride, so he could RF for a while, and which would be fine for the trip but then possibly be a "downgrade" for a backup seat (ugh, I hate typing that and admitting to it, when they all pass the same tests. I'm really not a snot IRL) . Or should I just get him a FF only seat since it will be longer lasting and his little brother can just move into his current seat?

The trip is such a short time that I feel like I shouldn't worry about how easy it is to travel with also!

Please help me decide!

I have been leaning toward the Securekid or Maestro but can't seem to pull the trigger.

 

[aeormsby]

The Sureride will last longer than the Maestro or Securekid FF (higher harness slots) and he could RF until he's 40" so I'd probably go that route. The only possible issue with using it RF is that it can't be installed more upright. But he might change his mind again after a week and there's nothing to feel guilty about for FF an almost 4yo.

And having owned a range of seats I really preferred the extra features on the 'nicer' seats for every day use.

 

[minimalistmama]

Would it be worth borrowing the Boulevard from your mom and trying him RF in that in your car to make sure he likes it?

The Britax seats (Boulevard, Marathon, Roundabout) do travel well too -- they're not the lightest on the market but at around 19 lbs they're really not bad. They're the lightest seats we own and we travel with them all the time.

There's certainly nothing wrong with the Sureride either. But wanted to throw the option out there, since you already have the Boulevard.

 

[murphydog77]

Another thing to consider is that the SureRide has the highest harness height of all the seats you listed, except maybe the Pioneer, at 19". Even though it's a convertible and doesn't convert to a booster, it's still has the potential to keep him in a harness for a very long time.

I personally wouldn't worry about turning him back rf unless he really wants to. He's going to be 4 in 4 months, he's past that danger zone where minor crashes will do harm to him if he's forward-facing unless he has an underlying medical condition.

So, look for a seat for him which has the features that will make it easy to install and use. I like the idea of borrowing the BV to see if he likes rf.