Comments | hedgeflower: Why am I awake?

hedgeflower

Why am I awake?

Jan 21, 2008 02:33

Its 2:30 and I have been researching car seats for 3 hours. I need to go to bed. For those of you who are interested in keeping your children in 5 point harnesses this is what I have found (I asked mild_eep to post this on RMC too ( Read more... )

Comments 4

jbubble January 21 2008, 15:32:42 UTC

I wanted to get a Sunshine Kids Radian 65, but was told by the CPS tech at the fancy baby store that it wouldn't install properly in my (LATCH-less) 2000 VW Passat wagon. Apparently it's a great seat, IF you can get a good install, but it can be tricky. It's easier with LATCH than with the seatbelt, but after a certain weight, you'll HAVE to use the seatbelt, so you may want to check how it installs both ways before buying.

I ended up getting a Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe as Milo's nowhere near 55 lbs, and he has another set of harness slots to go in his Marathon (the FPSVD was made by Britax and is based on the Marathon shell) It's been discontinued though, so the ones that are still available are likely to have older manufacturing dates - if you're concerned about getting something that you can use with an infant, it may well expire before your child outgrows it at this point.

jbubble January 21 2008, 15:43:27 UTC

I also just want to say that I too spent many late nights researching obsessively too before I came to my car seat decision this fall! So you're not alone. :) I was trying desperately to find something narrow (like the Radian 65) to keep Milo and Calvin next to each other in my Passat, while leaving the rear drivers side seat free for a booster for playdates or an extra adult, but no dice. that space will vanish once I finally turn Calvin forward-facing and I have to move Milo out of the center (I have the Decathlon rear-facing outboard puzzle pieced in next to the Marathon forward-facing in the center - it's tight but it fits!) The FPSVD ended up in Mac's car, replacing the outgrown Cosco Touriva.

hedgeflower January 21 2008, 16:12:01 UTC

R is in a Britax Marathon and we are running out to Walmart (eww, but they are the only place that carries the seat) to get the new Graco Nautilus for J. I like that it converts into a backless booster so I don't have to buy yet another seat in three years. He is 38lb and 43 inches, so I imagine he will be harnessed for a long time.

I would love to have them side-by-side but they would kill eachother long before a car accident did and I could never fit the puzzle together with our seats (Marathon and Costco AO).

Anyway, I was surprised to learn that you can't use the LATCH in my model Passat (2003) after 40 lbs. Why don't they make these things more obvious?

jbubble January 21 2008, 16:38:00 UTC

Truth be told, I probably *should* separate their seats at this point. Calvin's picked up on what fun it is to poke Milo repeatedly and so far Milo takes it but it's only a matter of time before it gets ugly :)

And I know...it's no wonder that they estimate 80-90% of people don't have their car seats installed correctly. Heck, even the head of the NHTSA wasn't installing her seats right (http://www.motherproof.com/2007/10/even-nhtsa-boss.html)!