Subaru Forester- Sunshine kids or Safety First Air

[Naurelover]

Hi,

> I am deciding between these two:
> Sunshine Radian 65 XT or the
> Safety First Air Protect
> We want a car seat where we can rear face for as long as possible. Isn't
> too wide, so there is room for another passenger or a dog kennel. Is very
> safe, for side impact as well as frontal and rear impact and will fit in a Subaru Forester 2010, without squishing the front passenger. Cild won't outgrow the height before reaching the weight?
> Which one would you recommend?
> The Sunshine Radian is kind of heavy (26 pounds) and more expensive, but
> is surrounded by steel.
> Is the Safety First pretty much the same as the Radian as far as safety,
> space in the car.
> Any help you can give me, I would really appreciate it.
Or would you recommend a different car seat.
> Our little one is 8 1/2 months old.
Thanks

 

[Cryssy Jane]

I won't recommend. But I had a 2010 forester as a loaner car when my impreza was in the shop and a radian will not work center rear facing because of the seatbelt geometry. Center at it's tightest I was getting 4-5 inches of movement at the belt path. Passenger side outboard was solid with maybe an eighth of an inch of movement.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

[Naurelover]

Thanks for posting a picture!

Any recommendations?


What about the True Fit? Is it available in Canada?

Thanks

 

[Naurelover]

Thanks for posting a picture!

Any recommendations?


What about the True Fit? Is it available in Canada?

Thanks

 

[canmom]

The TruFit is avaialble in Canada and is on sale right now at toysrus.ca for $99.

http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=3822327#.TkwaiPbCvRw.mailto

 

[mommycat]

Hello and welcome!

The TrueFit is available in Canada but it doesn't meet the criteria of not being too wide - it is a wide seat! That said, if it is installed outboard instead of the middle the other outboard seat should still be more than useable. The RF weight limit is 35lbs so for a heavier baby it is not the best choice.

It would really help with suggestions to know the baby's weight and length, or at least if s/he is high/avg/low on height and weight percentiles.

The Radian is a great seat but can be difficult to install and to change the RF angle on to sit more upright. It helps to have an idea from PP that the outboard install at least is promising and doesn't look too reclined.

The Complete Air is similar in size but Dorel insists that all their seats MUST be installed with the level line actually level to ground, so it may take too much room front-to-back if you follow this manufacturer's instruction.

Other seats to consider depending on budget and/or baby's size are the Graco MyRide or the Britax convertible seats. These options all also have 40lb RF weight limits but have shorter shells and will likely be outgrown by height before weight unless the child is on the shorter/heavier side.

 

[Naurelover]

We were originally considering the Britax Advocate 65 CS but decided against in because of the short shell.

So it sounds like the the Safety 1st Air carseat (not sure of the whole name)will be too long too.

Our little one is 8 1/2 months and she is average height and thin. But I am sure she will start to fill out once she is home.

Does anyone have any more suggestions?


Thanks,
Marion:hug:

 

[mommycat]

The Air seat in Canada usually goes by Safety 1st "Complete Air".

For an average sized child, the shorter shell of the Britax and MR isn't really that much of an issue. RF as long as possible is a fine goal but at some point you do get diminishing returns so if the longest-lasting seats don't work out and a shorter seat works well and gets your child to 3-4yo maybe that is ok. That is up to you as the parent to decide. The MR has lasted my son essentially to his 4th birthday (he still fits with a little bit of room to spare but I turned him a month or two before his birthday for a 3across and kept him that way because he asked). He still has ~8lbs left by weight but height was the limiting factor for us. We could use the TF RF still for another 2-3lbs (but choose not to). It would be nice if I knew where he sits in terms of percentiles but I don't recall.

If your DD is relatively thin then the TrueFit may be a great choice aside from the width (and potential for issues with harness placement across the shoulders, it seemed to slip a bit with my DS when he was younger; this seems to be a case-by-case issue and ideally you would try before you buy). If you expect she may gain to above-avg weight percentiles for whatever reason then you can assess the odds of 35lbs being sufficient or not.

I did want to come back to say that no seat in Canada can honestly be said to be safer than another. We have a pass/fail certification system so all seats on the market have passed and are "safe" but no crash test results or comparisons are available to make a ranking or comparison. Any rankings you may see are typically based on ease of use and installation, etc, not safety. All manufacturers can claim additional safety but there is no true way to verify these claims as a consumer, they are a matter of faith in the marketing info. (Yet another personal judgement call.)

BTW, the CS feature is not universally liked as in some cases it can make the installation more difficult instead of better. :twocents:

 

[Naurelover]

Thanks Cat! :hug:

Do you feel that the Truefit(or MyRide) or the Britax Marathon(or Boulevard) are similar and meet my criteria?
But the Britax is more expensive, for the same thing.

Marion
:fencing:

 

[mommycat]

I think all these seats are probably just fine for an average-to-smaller sized child. Assuming you don't yearn to RF to 5-6yo. The TrueFit works better for thinner kids because of the weight limit.

The Marathon and Boulevard are based on the same shell, with extra pieces added to the BV. e had the classic MA and were very happy with it (other than the 32" stated height limit and 30lb RF weight limit, thank goodness that's changed!). The MyRide has very similar shell height and top harness slot as the MA, I think the MA has a slightly shorter shell and slightly taller top slots. The MR has a bit more leg room RF. The MA has the option of tethering RF. The TF has a 35lb RF weight limit but a taller shell and taller top slots (will last longer FF). It has decent leg room. It is a wider seat, or at least it is wider to sit next to because the MR/MA/BV have more contouring in the shell with a narrower base so you can fit under the shell when you sit next to them.

DS2 is about to turn 4 in just over a month. I just checked him last night and he is somewhere around the 25th percentile for weight and just a little over the 25th percentile for height, so not that big. (Wish I had updated my siggy, the exact stats are at home.) He has 2lbs left in the TF and maybe a quarter inch of height left in the MR (I have't measure with a ruler though so don't quote me!). He would probably just have outgrown the MA RF.

I wanted to RF as close to 4yo as possible but if I had not had seats to work I was ok turning earlier. He was FF in GP's car and daddy's car earlier. I'd prefer to see kids RF to 3yo, 2 at a bare minimum.

You can check the girls' growth chart to try to estimate what age the seats might get an average child. You can plot your DD's percentiles to see where she stands now. Having an accurate weight and height would help us with suggestions.

35lbs seems to be right on the 50th percentile line for a 4yo girl, and a 50th percentile 4yo girl looks to be about 39.5". (Apparently DS2 would be very average if he was a girl... LOL!) So, if you are happy with getting to ~4yo RF and your DD stays 50th percentile and below for weight and height, any of these seats should be fine.

You may be able to get some good sales on seats as stock is cleared out for new 2012 models. For example, the TF is on sale right now for $100 at ToysRUs (but is showing "out of stock" online). The MyRide is on sale for $132. The Britax seats are on sale too but are still more $$, haha. They are very nice seats though, with fun covers, so I have paid the extra money in the past just to get the seat I wanted.

 

[Naurelover]

Hi, I just wanted to say Thanks:hug:
I picked up a Britax Marathon at our local baby store.
It was the one I felt most comfortable getting. It ended up being almost the same price as the Safety 1st.

Just have to install it and we are good to go

Thanks,
Marion
:happy-wavehello: