RF or FF 3yr old in a truck?

[TheNimpsGirl]

My son just turned 3 and I'm not really sure what to do about seats for him; I'm out of the loop with what's new and fantastic with seats. He is 41" tall, with a 15" torso and has been sitting steadily at 40-41 pounds for the last six months. He wears 4/5T shirts and 4T pants.

He still rides RFing in my car in a XTSL on the second to the top slots. That being said, I feel like his weight is making the seat dip farther and farther to where I worry it's not safe (can it brace against a Chevy Aveo's seats btw? The manual is fairly vague)... I saw there's a new adjuster, maybe get on that band wagon?

I had to flip him this fall FF in each of the grandparents cars because of weight first with the TF and height (then shortly later weight) next with the MR. He switches back and forth without problem.

Getting to the point... DH just bought a 2004 GMC Sierra with a crew cab and I have no idea what seat to buy. RF? FF?

Obvouisly if I choose to RF him it would be in another XTSL with a rear face tether. I tried this out with the one we already own in the middle and it fits fantastic, very upright and very tight without touching either seat. Problem is, he's already on the top slots for the harness FF so when he hits 45lbs I'm not sure how much time he will have using it FF.

Or if I FF which seat? If it makes a difference, there are head rests outboard but not in the middle and a lap belt only in the middle.

Thanks!

 

[ProudMommysince09]

How often will he ride in the truck? My DD is the same weight as your DS and honestly she's been FF in my dad's car for the past six months. But, she only rides in it maybe once or twice a month, so I'm okay with that. If he is not in there a lot, I don't know if I would spend that much money on a Radian if you won't get that much use out of it.
If he is in there on a daily basis and you would be more comfortable with him RF, then I'd go with the Radian (also if money is not the issue).

 

[mylittlet]

I would buy him a combo seat for the truck and use the radian rf in the main vehicle. I would look at the evenflo securekid, graco nautilus and britax frontier.

 

[TheNimpsGirl]

He won't ride in the truck very often, a few times a week at the very most.

Is the Frontier still the tallest FFing seat for harnessing? I'd like to keep him harnessed as long as possible.

 

[mylittlet]

Yes the frontier is the tallest harness and tallest booster on the market.

 

[DAR]

We have a 2007 gmc Sierra crew can and both the Nautilus and Frontier 85 have great installs. DS just outgrew the latch and we have a good short belt install on the Frontier 85.

I am no help for rear-facing as we had a Marathon for DS's. Since neither ride much with DH, I just moved it to FFing instead of buying a new seat.

HTHs