Carseat issue

One word of caution about these seats that allow you to harness an older/larger child.... I really, really wanted to harness my almost 5-year-old so I looked into the Nautilus and a couple of the others that harness up to 65 pounds, but they're huge seats! They wouldn't fit in my car! She's in a booster instead, which I don't feel good about, even though she fits it correctly. I just literally couldn't fit the seat in my car. :cursing: Once I get a larger car, she'll be harnessed again.

Before you drop all the cash, just be sure it'll fit in your car.
 
Jennilyn said:
We have 2 car seats that can be used from 5lbs rear facing to 80lbs forward facing. Maybe you can try one of those types?
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Jennilyn, make sure you read the specifics of those seats. In an earlier post I mentioned having been "tricked" by the "80lbs" part on one of those seats (ok, 100lbs in our case). Most of the seats (aka 3 in 1s) that go from 5lbs to 80lbs only harness to 40lbs. There are currently only two seats on the market that harness to 80lbs, both from Britax (Regent and Frontier). Of those two, only the Frontier is available in Canada and then it's only allowed for harness use to 65lbs there. :thumbdown:
 
rochelle789 said:
One word of caution about these seats that allow you to harness an older/larger child.... I really, really wanted to harness my almost 5-year-old so I looked into the Nautilus and a couple of the others that harness up to 65 pounds, but they're huge seats! They wouldn't fit in my car! She's in a booster instead, which I don't feel good about, even though she fits it correctly. I just literally couldn't fit the seat in my car. :cursing: Once I get a larger car, she'll be harnessed again.

Before you drop all the cash, just be sure it'll fit in your car.
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Great point, Rochelle! (BTW, the Sunshine Kids Radian is a pretty slim/small seat that harnesses to 65lbs. There's an 80lb version too, but IMO, it's not worth the extra money since the harness heights are the same as the 65.)

Fits the car, fits the child, used properly every time. THAT is the safest seat for anyone, from infant to adult. (Referring to seatbelts for adults of course.) We took a real gamble that D's seat would fit in our car since we couldn't test it first. Many stores (especially BRU/TRU, USA Baby) will allow you to install seats in your car before purchase to make sure they can actually be installed.
 
Leila-have you heard good things about the Sunshine Kids seat?
We are ready to upgrade Landen, he is on the last harness and about 6 lbs away from outgrowing our beloved Roundabout.
I hate the look of the Regent, and am OK with the Frontier but to be honest neither one float my boat....
 
I LOVE the Sunshine Kids Radian. We got it for K when Noah needed her seat, and we have been totally happy with it. It's very slim, but still really comfy. K falls asleep in it all the time. It's also super easy to install.
 
Thanks, Leila. I'll definitely be looking into that seat.

Unfortunately, my ability to try seats is limited because we only have a TRU and Baby Depot in my city. These stores have very few options in these larger seats. :thumbdown:
 
Devin adored the SK Radian 65 that we had. We were blessed enough to be able to rent the seat from a foundation here in town, so it only cost us a total of $30 for a year of use. If D hadn't outgrown it by weight, I'd definitely have purchased a Radian for him to use for longer!

The XT looks nice, but unless they've changed it, the harness slots are the same height as those of the Radian 65. So if Landen is short and stout, then the XT or Radian 80 would be a good purchase. If he's average to tall, the 65 is the better bet.

That said, do what you can to "test drive" the Radian in your car first. It's a fabulous seat, but it's notorious for having install issues with many vehicles because of the slim build. There's a pretty comprehensive thread about successful Radian installs at car-seat.org too.
 
We have a high weight limit seat (Britax Decathalon) for my 38-lb. 5 year old and love it. We just moved the straps to their 2nd highest slot. His 2nd car seat is a high backed booster, but he's only in that seat for a few minutes a week.

One thing to know about high weight limit seats is that you may not be able to use them with LATCH when your child gets bigger. I've read that many cars' LATCH systems were designed before these carseats, so the LATCH on most cars is meant for a child up to 40 lbs plus the weight of their seat. You need to check weight limits with your car manufacturer since some are stronger, but if your child is over 40 lbs you may need to secure their car seat with a seat belt instead of LATCH.
 
Ay ya ya ya yi all the info here! It's good but my head is totally spinning. Ok, my kiddo will be 8 in March. She's about 4'4 and 62 pnds. Need to figure out the best one for her because she's in one that doesn't have a back to it and I'm thinking that might not be the right kind :blink:
 
Linz said:
how much does he weigh?

this is what we have for our 3yr old. they can be harnessed 'til they reach 65lbs and then it can be used as a highback booster and a backless booster 'til 100lbs.

graco nautilus

^^normally I'm not a graco fan past the infant seat stage, but this one has gotten nothing but great reviews on every site I've seen.
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This is exactly what I was going to recommend. We just bought this seat for Luke after getting high recommendations from a friend who is a carseat technician. It's awesome. We love this seat and he is just about too big for his Britax in Joel's car, so we'll be getting another one of these.

ETA: I haven't read through all of the replies, but just in case... the Nautilus is five-point harness up to 65 pounds (and has higher straps than other carseats- that's where Luke outgrows his seats). Then, the high back and the backless are both up to 100 pounds.
 
Our little boy is also NOT so little. He weighed over 10# when he was born and kept growing FAST! He quickly outgrew the carseat we had and so my husband did a TON of research on what would be the best seat considering the fact that we knew he would keep growing and growing. We ended up with the Sunshine Kids Radian and absolutely love it! This carseat came very highly recommended from all the research that he did. I realize that it was a little more spendy than some of the others, but when you consider that you can keep your child it for many years, the price does not seem so bad. The installation is a breeze and we love the fact that it is slim/narrow. It also folds flat so you can carry it with you if you ever need to take your child on an airplane, etc. We have been very pleased with the Radian and would recommend it to anyone!
 
I stumbled on this post while looking for the click a sigs, and I just wanted to say thank you for all this great info. I'm looking for a new car seat for my 2yo because he's too tall for his current seat (he's 37" already!). The only seats I've found that he's tall enough for are the boosters that harness. I do know that if you're worried about vehicle fit, some car manufacturers have links on their web sites to which seats fit best in each model of their cars. I know Nissan does this as that's what we drive, and I think there's at least one other company, but I forget who. I always check the Nissan site before I buy because we had so many issues when we were first time car seat buyers with our oldest getting a seat to fit right.
 
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