This is the only car seat thread I can find so I'm posting here. rainbowsockmonkey Our new car has side curtain airbags in the back is it ok to put DS's car seat on the side? I'm assuming it is because they only have LATCH hooks on the side seats, but I feel like I read somewhere not to put your kids next to them. He is in a regular Britax marathon.
If it's not ok then I need help with installing him with the seat belt. I have tried multiple times and can't get the hang of the Britax seatbelt lock off things. I think my manual (which I can't find today) said to use both lock offs, but I was googling their lock offs and I see that I might only need to do one lock off (closest to the buckle) or not use them at all and just put my seat belt in auto locking mode. Any help?
Yes, you can install next to the side curtain airbags.
For seatbelt install, you only use the lockoff closest to the buckle of the seatbelt (pg 10 of your manual).
Thank you!! I think that will solve my problems. Last time I tried to install with the seatbelt I was cursing myself for not splurging on the click tight 😂
The Britax combination seats (Frontier, Pioneer, Pinnacle) are good seats. They have some of the highest facing harness limits that are currently on the market. I'm leaning towards those seats myself, just because I want to keep my kids harnessed FOREVER, but may change my mind once we actually need to buy them, which won't be till they outgrow their convertibles.
Resurrecting this thread again! DS is currently in a Britax Advocate Clicktight convertible seat. He'll be 3 at the end of May, 39.5 lbs, 39" tall. DD is in the Britax Chaperone infant car seat that our son used. DD will be 1 in less than a month and my two options are: 1) Transition her into the Advocate and move my son up to the Britax Pinnacle harnessed booster seat, or 2) Buy another Advocate.
I am leaning towards the first option but was concerned about the safety differences. Just to confirm I was reading your previous posts correctly...does the Pinnacle offer the same level of protection as a forward-facing Advocate? Thanks in advance, rainbowsockmonkey!
Post by rainbowsockmonkey on Mar 9, 2017 12:36:06 GMT -5
ciaobaby using a harnessed booster is just as safe as using a convertible FF. If it were me, I would go with option 1. Depending on your child, you may need to buy a longer lasting harness down the road, and you may as well do it now and pass the advocate to your DD.
Post by rainbowsockmonkey on Mar 15, 2017 8:46:13 GMT -5
I can't remember who all had one, but for those of you with the Evenflo Symphony carseat, there has been a retroactive change made it to. It now allows rear facing when using the lowest 3 harness positions (was previously only lowest 2 positions).
I can't remember who all had one, but for those of you with the Evenflo Symphony carseat, there has been a retroactive change made it to. It now allows rear facing when using the lowest 3 harness positions (was previously only lowest 2 positions).
Headrest hasn't changed? Is there an article about it?
I can't remember who all had one, but for those of you with the Evenflo Symphony carseat, there has been a retroactive change made it to. It now allows rear facing when using the lowest 3 harness positions (was previously only lowest 2 positions).
We're already FF but out of interest how does this work with the infinite slide harness?
Post by rainbowsockmonkey on Mar 15, 2017 9:48:41 GMT -5
meggypoo1 and emmagk, sorry, its for the headrest. The headrest can now be in the lowest 3 positions. I forgot that the harness and headrest aren't connected with that one. I don't have an article about the change, but can post a screen shot of an email from Evenflo that was posted in one of the FB tech groups I'm in.
This helps a lot rainbowsockmonkey! I moved the headrest to the second position like we talked about a while ago and I was thinking she had maybe a month left RF and got sad. We got this seat thinking it would at least get her to 3 RF if not longer. I happy they have made this call!!
Post by activebaby on Mar 15, 2017 13:10:21 GMT -5
I just bought the britax frontier clicktight 5 point harness seat. We got 2 - baby will move to ds1's britax convertible. I'm excited for them to get here. I'm nervous that ds1 may not like his new seat or ds1 will be jealous that ds2 gets his seat. I've been trying to talk it up as a really exciting seat. (I'm afraid to say "big boy" etc. in case he decides he doesn't want to be a "big boy.")
My mom is going to start watching the kids in May. She can't lift dd in the bucket seat.
We have 3 Britax Marathon G4.1's for ds which I know are fine for him for quite a while.
What kind of seat will be next for ds? He's 34 pounds. I don't know how tall. Is it something we can switch him to now and then use the Marathons for dd? Or should he stay in the Marathons and we buy new seats for dd?
If ds should stay in the Marathons, what is a good middle of the road seat for dd? If it matters, my mom has a Kia Sedona and we have a Toyota Venza and a Scion xB.
Help me. I don't know what I'm doing or what to do! Please and thank you 😊
Post by rainbowsockmonkey on Apr 15, 2017 18:01:47 GMT -5
Graco Wayz/Transitions, Graco Nautilus, Harmony defender, Evenflo Maestro, Evenflo SecureKid are all recommended combination seats. All of them except the Evenflo Maestro will harness till 65lbs (Maestro will only harness to 50lbs). They will all become a HBB, and the Graces and the Harmony Defender will also become a NBB (although NBB are fairly cheap to buy later on, usualy around $20).
Graco Wayz/Transitions, Graco Nautilus, Harmony defender, Evenflo Maestro, Evenflo SecureKid are all recommended combination seats. All of them except the Evenflo Maestro will harness till 65lbs (Maestro will only harness to 50lbs). They will all become a HBB, and the Graces and the Harmony Defender will also become a NBB (although NBB are fairly cheap to buy later on, usualy around $20).
Ok, thank you. And J will be ok in those at 34 pounds, right?
Post by Susan0utLoud on Apr 15, 2017 19:17:35 GMT -5
Also rainbowsockmonkey, if money is no obstacle (likely it's not as mil will pay if we ask for kids bday present), is a Britax combination seat any better than the ones you listed?
Post by rainbowsockmonkey on Apr 15, 2017 19:51:27 GMT -5
athn64, the atlas is another good one as well, and will last most kids to booster age.
Susan0utLoud, no carseat is "better than another" since they all pass the same safety standards. The Britax combination seats have some of the highest limits for FF harnessing on the market. If J is on the higher end of the growth charts, or you plan on keeping him harnessed for a while, not just the bare minimum, then the Britax's are the way to go. The Frontier/Pinnacle will both harness to 90lbs and have a top harness height of 20.5in, and the Pioneer has a 70lb harness max and still has the 20.5in top harness height.
Susan0utLoud we have the nautilus and I like the ease of installation, and the clips are relatively easy to do. Dd1 can buckle herself in but not out. Plus there are cubby holes on the side and a cup holder. It's not an overly wide seat either. But I think it's one of our heaviest seats for the seat weight itself. I highly recommend it.
We also just switched to the Nautilus and really like it. The only con I see is her head seems to flop forward more when she's sleep than when she was in the Graco Contender. She tells us every day how much she loves her new car seat
Susan0utLoud, we have the Graco Nautilus 80 and love it.
I need to research. What do you love about it?
We needed a seat with a higher weight limit. It was easy to install and we needed something on the smaller side because it went in our Civic. It converts to a HBB and NBB. I also found it was always on sale. We got it for $160. If you only need the one that goes to 65 lbs, it's even cheaper. The only thing I don't like are the strap pads. They're a weird rubbery material and I can't figure out how to get them off.
Susan0utLoud we have the nautilus and I like the ease of installation, and the clips are relatively easy to do. Dd1 can buckle herself in but not out. Plus there are cubby holes on the side and a cup holder. It's not an overly wide seat either. But I think it's one of our heaviest seats for the seat weight itself. I highly recommend it.
I heard that it was one of the heaviest too but we leave it in one car so that's not an issue for us.
Also, DS was happy in it from day one and he had never FF before.
lrmrtn we don't move it either but it can make a difference for the latch limits. If I remember correctly the max weight latch can hold is 65 lbs and that's the combined weight of your seat and child. So the heavier your seat is your kid can't be as heavy.
lrmrtn we don't move it either but it can make a difference for the latch limits. If I remember correctly the max weight latch can hold is 65 lbs and that's the combined weight of your seat and child. So the heavier your seat is your kid can't be as heavy.
Dd has also loved it!
I've never used the latch, just the seatbelt. I was never able to get as secure of a install with the latch in our cars. I don't know if it's me or our cars or what... We also had DS in the middle seat in DH's car before we switched him to FF.
Post by springbeduk on Apr 20, 2017 12:20:23 GMT -5
rainbowsockmonkey does the evenflo sureride suck? I have a vague memory of you saying do but couldn't find it in this thread. Carseatblog.com seems to think it's ok but consumer reports rating is low but I can't see all details because don't subscribe. Amazon ratings seem ok but one just said not good for RF in small cars. Crap.
Dd really needs a new seat (too tall for the scenera next we have) and I'd like to keep her rear facing. She is 36.5 inches so average height but longer torso shorter legs so seems taller when sitting. Only about 30 lbs. Even on long car rides (and daily long commute) she has been comfortable in the scenera even though it has like no padding.
Small car (older civics) - even the scenera is kinda a tight fit, actually. So need a seat that will fit. We switch seat between cars often do light is good. I use seatbelt to install because has always seemed easier especially when moving seat btw cars often.
I'm a wicked cheapskate by nature so Britax prices just make my skin crawl. Plus they are big, right?
rainbowsockmonkey does the evenflo sureride suck? I have a vague memory of you saying do but couldn't find it in this thread. Carseatblog.com seems to think it's ok but consumer reports rating is low but I can't see all details because don't subscribe. Amazon ratings seem ok but one just said not good for RF in small cars. Crap.
Dd really needs a new seat (too tall for the scenera next we have) and I'd like to keep her rear facing. She is 36.5 inches so average height but longer torso shorter legs so seems taller when sitting. Only about 30 lbs. Even on long car rides (and daily long commute) she has been comfortable in the scenera even though it has like no padding.
Small car (older civics) - even the scenera is kinda a tight fit, actually. So need a seat that will fit. We switch seat between cars often do light is good. I use seatbelt to install because has always seemed easier especially when moving seat btw cars often.
I'm a wicked cheapskate by nature so Britax prices just make my skin crawl. Plus they are big, right?
Wanted to let you know I saw this. Naptime is in 30min, and I will post a real response after it is nice and quiet here.
rainbowsockmonkey does the evenflo sureride suck? I have a vague memory of you saying do but couldn't find it in this thread. Carseatblog.com seems to think it's ok but consumer reports rating is low but I can't see all details because don't subscribe. Amazon ratings seem ok but one just said not good for RF in small cars. Crap.
Dd really needs a new seat (too tall for the scenera next we have) and I'd like to keep her rear facing. She is 36.5 inches so average height but longer torso shorter legs so seems taller when sitting. Only about 30 lbs. Even on long car rides (and daily long commute) she has been comfortable in the scenera even though it has like no padding.
Small car (older civics) - even the scenera is kinda a tight fit, actually. So need a seat that will fit. We switch seat between cars often do light is good. I use seatbelt to install because has always seemed easier especially when moving seat btw cars often.
I'm a wicked cheapskate by nature so Britax prices just make my skin crawl. Plus they are big, right?
The Sureride is a good seat (my sister just bought 3 to use with my nephew). It is long lasting (40lbs/40in RF), and even longer FF (65lbs/54in) and will last most kids to booster age. The downside is, that it only has 1 recline level when RF, and that can make it difficult to fit in smaller cars RF and still be able to use the seat in front of it. It runs $70-$90 normally depending on where you buy it and what print you want.
Another one to consider would be the Graco Contender. It will RF to 40lb/40in/1in from the red adjuster handle, and will FF to 65lb/49in (will also get most kids to booster age). It has a bubble recline, so it can be more upright to give more space to the front seat person. It's usually around $120-$140.
Right now, Target is having a trade in event for car seats. If you bring in an old seat they will give you a coupon for 20% off a new one. Both of the seats I listed above are available at Target (some stores may not carry them, but Target.com does).
Then Comes Family, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.