today on which carseat it right…

Jan 25

Posted by: Rachel in: blog, carseats, parenting

Ladies and Gentleman, let’s have a round of applause for our contestants!! Most current seats 5 point harness until 40lbs only, and then your left with a few choices other than a belt positioning booster. Please see Kyle’s video and Belle’s gift for more info on that subject. The following contestants will 5 point harness higher than the 40lb maximum of most current seats on the market.

Uuuuup first, we have the beautiful Britax Regent! The fabric options, all two of them, well…they suck, especially with the pattern lineup for the rest of the Britax seats. But none the less, this is the Lazy Boy of the carseat world. It’s claim to fame? A 5 point harness system to the whopping weight of 80lbs (assuming of course the torso height is 20 inches or less). After just sitting my huge behind on the floor and measuring my own torso height (24 inches), and am encouraged by this seat. I just wish it had some fluff. You know some nice pillows, and such. I feel like my little Boogaman would be lost in this thing. It is a forward facing only seat, so it is not for immediate purchase or use, seeing as how he can rearface for another 7lbs in his current seat. But, as far as safety…this is about as good as it gets. Take a look at the Regent’s cousins, the Decathlon and the Boulevard. Now that’s the fluff right there, that’s the fluff-stuff I’m talkin about…they look like pint sized Swedish Massage chairs from Brookstone!

And next on the list, the Sunshine Kids Radian80 or Radian65. The numbers suggest the weight limits of the seats. But here’s the thing, the top harness slot on each seat is the same, about 19 inches I believe. So they are basically saying, here’s our carseat… If you have a skinny kid that isn’t growing in height, get the 65, if you have a fat kid that isn’t growing in height, get the 80. Hmmm. And oddly enough, it appears the fluff only comes with the fat kid seat. That makes sense. It also boasts being a slimline seat, so you can fit 3 of them in a row across your carseat, not that that applies to us right now. I’m told that it is nearly impossible to get another person in between two Britax seats, much less another carseat. It also is a convertible carseat meaning that it can rearface and forward face, and top-tethers in both positions, a complaint I have with our current carseat. So this one would be available for immediate purchase, should I decide to go this route. I would feel more comfortable with him tethered in the rearfacing position, but his current seat does not allow for it. He could be rearfacing for at least another year or so. After reminiscing, I noted that he gained about 8lbs over this past year, and his growth rate will probably slow down weight wise over the next year. I was sold on it this morning until learning that the top harness slots were 18-19 inches instead of the Regents 20-21. By that time, it could make the difference in another 6 months to a year or more in the carseat. So that is something to think about. Oh and it folds up, because honestly, where would we be without folding carseats? Weird! Another spectacular choice in color options, here they are:

Okay I realize this is getting incredibly boring, but stick with me. Two down, two to go. I’m told through the grapevine that Recaro is coming out with a new convertible carseat. The stats are as follows: 5-35lbs rearfacing, 20-70lbs forward facing. The height of the top slots is still out with the jury. This seat is due to be released in May 2007. Here we have pictured a close cousin from the US of A (left), and one from across the pond in Europe (so much cooler by the way!) I’m told it may look similar to either one.

And last but not least, we have the one that we aren’t telling dear old dad about…because, frankly, we will have to take out a loan if it is the chosen one. Seriously, all of the above carseats are approximately $250 give or take $20, but this bad boy…four hundred and fifty dollars (and comes in a box looking like a piece of Caterpillar Earth Moving Equipment no less). It looks pretty plain to me, especially with the price tag. Not saying you can put a price on safety, but that one is well above the maximum cost of any seat I’ve seen thus far. Seat stats are as follows: 22-65lbs, 57 inches or less (4′9″!!), but the top harness slots are no higher really, coming in at 19.5inches. It is in the running, but I would say, not the most likely purchase. No fluff. I really prefer fluff.

I have been advised that seatbelts are positioned for a person no shorter than 4′9″. Why can’t all cars just come with an installable/removable 5 point harness for every seating position and take the guess work out of this for us?!