Question Question about car seats for 6 month old and 2 year old

[mommaof2]

Hello,
I have been reading through these posts and I am so confused! We have to purchase new car seats for both children and I have no idea which ones to buy. We previously had a Britax Boulevard, but my husband got into a car accident in his Toyota Tundra Crew Max so now we can not use it. This was going to be the car seat we used for our baby but now it is not available.
I drive a 2007 Nissan XTerra and the seats are extremely slanted. After reading some of the posts we purchased a Graco MR 65 so the baby could be rear facing as long as possible, but this seat does not fit into our vehicle properly. We tried placing a towel under it and everything and can not get it situated. It is way too lose and I am not comfortable with that. The baby is also tall so we have to put the straps through the second hole and not use the infant cushion. This allows too much room for him to move around even with the straps tightened as much as possible.
We just bought a Graco Nautilus for our 2 year old because we wanted her harvested longer. I like this seat, but wanted to see what people thought about it compared to the BLVD and the TrueFit.
Here are their stats....
2 year old girl, 39" and 39 lbs, long torso.
6 month old boy, 28 1/2" and 19 lbs, and long torso.
When I put my son into the MR he only had about 3-4 inches above his head before he reached the top and I worry about him getting out of it too soon. Any recommendations you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I have looked at a lot of car seats and I am just confused on which one to purchase. I would also like to be able to try it out first since my vehicle is so difficult to get car seats situated. The BLVD we had did fit fine and it was easy to install so I was leaning more towards that. I also like the wings around the head. Thanks.

 

[wendytthomas]

I have a 2001 Xterra, so I know your backseats.

At six months your baby doesn't need a 45º angle anymore, so you don't need to stress about that. However, the 3-4" above his head does mean the seat wouldn't last as long as others. The My Ride has the shortest shell, by far, of the 40 pound rear facing seats.

I'd look at the Complete Air and the Radian. I haven't installed a Complete Air in the Xterra, but the Radian installs pretty easily in all positions in all directions, at least in my car. Yours probably easier outboard because you have LATCH and I don't.

Here's my five year old rear facing in the Radian in the middle of my Xterra. You can see how the slope causes it to be very upright. Which was great for her at five. You might want it slightly more reclined for a six month old.

I have the True Fit Premiere for my newborn. It required five noodles to get it to a 45º angle for her. So you might need more than just one towel if you need a greater angle. But the seat fits very well in the car, and I'm excited to use it.

The Nautilus will work for your two year old. It has the second highest top slots on the market at the moment. The Britax Frontier was incompatible in my car, but that was 1) without LATCH as an option and 2) before they oked the long belt path installation. So it would probably work now, and it would very likely work for you. You might want to check that out as well.

HTH!

Wendy

 

[Maedze]

Welcome to C-S.org.

Firstly, before I start recommending farming equipment, I'm going to guess you meant you want to harness your older child, not harvest her


It sounds like you would really benefit from a meeting with a Child Passenger Safety Technician. The My Ride is actually quite easy to install and should go in pretty quickly. It sounds like you just need a tech

That seat has three different sets of loops for the harness, and can be tightened even to accomodate the smallest newborn. You probably just need to move up a set of loops...check the back of the seat to make sure you're on the 'tightest' setting.

As for the depth of the seat, my taller three and a half year old has more than 2" of shell over her head. She'll easily fit rear facing until her fourth birthday, possibly beyond.

For your daughter, because she's nearly 40 pounds at two years old, I might recommend the Britax Frontier over the Graco Nautilus (which is a great seat). She may actually need the extra weight allowance (80 pounds rather than 65 pounds).

 

[Evolily]

The nautilus is a great pick for your daughter :thumbsup: .

I think your best luck with the my ride will be to visit a CPST. It sounds like you are having multiple problems, which a CPST would be able to walk you through the installation. Plus you would want the nautilus installation double checked, too.

 

[mommaof2]

Thank you everyone! I really didn't mean to say harvest, but maybe I have been farming way too much. HAHA.
I will have to look at the MR again to see if I missed something in the back to adjust it. That was one of my main concerns, also the fact that my husband couldn't get it installed properly in my vehicle. I haven't gone out there yet to look at it though so I may look again. Does anyone have experience with the SIP in this seat compared to the BLVD? It makes me a little nervous to not have something right there by his head. We did also consider the Complete Air too. How does the CA compare to the MR?

 

[wendytthomas]

The Complete Air is much taller with top slots about an inch or so higher. But it goes to 50 pounds forward facing instead of 65. It also sits more upright than the My Ride.

As there are no SIP standards, we have no way of knowing if the wings/deep shells of these seats do anything more than the harness would on its own. So we can't tell you how they compare at all. And the Complete Air has new technology which may be the next greatest thing, it may be a marketing ploy. We don't know.

Wendy

 

[mommaof2]

Can anyone tell me the cheapest you have seen a True Fit premier? I'm looking on Kohl's website right now and they are offering them at 269.99, but they are buy one get one half off! Plus a code for free shipping and I'm looking for a code for a discounted amount off. I saw one for 15% but it says it has expired However, they do charge tax and a 30 surcharge for shipping. Any suggestions?

 

[mylittlet]

I would look at the CA if you can. We have the bv and went to check it out the other day. It is nice. Have your 2y try out every seat you look at for the baby.

When we went to look at the CA the other day I sat our 2y and 3y in it and the MR. In the MR, our 2y, 35#, couldn't rf, our 3y, 45# couldn't ff. In the CA, our 2y had tons of room rf and our 3y could have rf if he weighed less, he had tons of room ff.