Question WWYD? Outgrowing RF by height

[BeepBeep]

We have 2 toddlers rear-facing in Roundabouts. They are not even close to outgrowing that seat by weight, even for RF. However, I just noticed the other day that they are outgrowing it by height. Although the Britax website says that RF is okay until the child reaches a shoulder height of 15", our manual for at least one of the Roundabouts states that the child's head must be no closer than 1" to the top of the seat for RF. They are already there!

Now what?!?! I was really hoping to leave them in the Roundabouts since they were expensive seats and they have YEARS left in them forward-facing (my oldest child is just now growing out of it at almost 5). But since the tots are 21-months-old, I hate to turn them FF. DH is against throwing down $500 for two Marathons and wants to just turn them FF like we did with our oldest when she turned 1 (we didn't know any better and didn't know about Swedish tethering either). We love the size and ease of use for the RA's.

WWYD? Would you buy a cheapie seat that could get them some more time RF and then switch back to the RA's once it's time to FF? Leave them as is and hope they don't shoot up an inch before their second birthday, then switch them FF? Beg DH to buy Marathons?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mykidsmylife]

I would switch to cheapy seats like the scenera and leave them rf longer...

I hated my roundabout for that reason. It is short.

 

[emandbri]

Are they seats that your 5 year old used or did you buy new ones? If they are 5 years old they are about to expire anyway and you can buy marathons.

If they are new then I would personally buy something with a taller back that you can use for a bit longer.

See if your big lots has some safey first uptowns, they are only $65 and have a tall back.

Our maybe some evenflo triumpth advances. They have a taller back and are cheaper than marathons.

here are some crash test videos that might help your husband decide that rear-facing is the way to go.

rear-facing crash test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K62Ea8Fs4ng

forward facing crash test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMFPSStXfqE

You are pretty lucky to have made it 21 months, my 9 year old was too tall around 16 months.

 

[christineka]

The Uptown/Avenue is an inch taller than the scenera. When I tried my dd out in the marathon it looked like she had the same amount of growth room in it and the avenue. So, if picking among the cheapie seats, I'd pick the avenue or uptown.

 

[zeo2ski]

I had the exact same problem with the RA, and went ahead and bought the MA. A truefit, radian, or recaro would last longer height wise Rfing. I felt pretty stupid for buying that roundabout--but I loved that seat! So since we had only used it 8 mos, we had planned to use it again to FF later, but with a 40 lb FFing limit and short harness height, by the time they actually turn FFing, you don't get very much use out of it FFing either. So we sold it. It was hmmm, I guess 1.5 years into it's usable life by the time we sold it, and it went on ebay for $132 plus shipping (which was like $28 since we're in NY and someone in CA bought it, lol, but the ebay shipping we charged was $25 and they still bought it for that price).

So if you tell DH the math of buying MAs and selling the RAs, plus the added years of being able to fit in them, it looks like a much better deal!! I'd break the purchase price down into $ per month (over the 6 year life) and compare it to how long is left in the roundabouts before they';re outgrown

 

[NannyMom]

If/when DD outgrows her RF seats by height, I will be buying True Fits. She does have a Marathon in her most frequently used car. Also, the True FIt offers more leg room for rear facing than the Marathon. I haven't had a chance to play with other, cheaper seats so I don't know how tall their shells are. But I would deffinetly buy a cheaper sat before turning forward facing.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Your 5 year olds till fits ff in a Roundabout! You must have a very tiny 5 year old!

If it were me, I'd likely buy new seats but I can understand that your dh doesn't want to buy new ones. If the Roundabouts are newer, you could always sell them and use the proceeds to fund new seats!

 

[loufrando]

I feel your pain! The same thing happened to me with dd2. Our RA is older (5 years old now) and it's manual states that rf is outgrown when the head is even with the top of the shell and she still outgrew it by height at 16 months! I was sooo sad.

I bought a Marathon to keep her rfing longer in my car (that she's in 99.8% of the time) and moved the RA to my dh's car ffing because we needed a seat for her in his car anyway.

In your situation, I'd probably buy 2 Avenue/Uptown's and either move the RA's to your dh's car (if that's an option) or sell them and pocket the difference for some HWH seats for when they outgrow the Avenues. Or save them for when they turn ffing. I know the RA's are awesome for ease of use. Love those seats. Darn shell height!

 

[mimieliza]

I had the same problem with my RA. I bought an Evenflo Triumph Advance to replace it, and I'm selling my RA on Craigslist.