Can someone PLEASE help me solve this - car seat dilemma I'm having

coasterqueen wrote: I'm going to go NUTS if I don't. Megan is growing out of the infant car seat and we are going to move her to Kylie's car seats. I have an Evenflo Triumph in my car and Dh has a Graco Comfort Sport in his car. So Megan will use those. So now the dilemma is what to get Kylie.

My loving husband is being a pain in my side spewing stuff about how the rule for booster seats is 4 years and 40 pounds. Kylie will be 4 years in 6 months and she's 35 pounds now. I try to explain to him she won't be 40 pounds in 6 months, no way no how. He just wants to go with a booster.

His issue is money. He doesn't want to spend a ton of money for 2 seats and turn around and get her a regular booster when the time comes. So I've been looking for convertible/boosters. There are no guarantees these types will actually be good boosters either. And the best ones are around $180 to $260. I'm going to go crazy over this because we are fighting ridiculously over this and this is really a really PETTY thing to be arguing about IMO.

So what do others do? Going to do? done in the past? Please save my sanity before either Dh and I get into a knockdown drag out fight over this. We are so happy with each other but this darn situation is driving us INSANE. Me, more than him, because he's a CHEAP SKATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TIA! edit for spelling.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: Sorry I can't be of much help...Katy is a month or so away from outgroing the Triumph and the only one we have found that will keep her in a 5 point harness any longer is th e Britax Husky...problem being really expensive and it won't fit in our car with 3 car seats. Before we found the Triumph would fit her she was in a booster for about 3 months. The Husky would definately fit her until she was ready to just use a seat belt but you would also have to be willing to spend the big bucks. We got the Evenflo big kid and it fits 30lbs. and as long as she had a big lunch Katy is 30 lbs.

Jamison'smama replied: We bought this one. I like it---and Jamison is fine with it also.

It works fromj 20 up and converts to a regular seatbelt at 30 (although we are still using the harness)--is this what you were talking about? It got good reviews on the carseat board.

luvmykids replied: We have a booster from evenflo or graco called the turbo back booster, it's for 30 pounds and up. The back comes off later for a true booster, it has cupholders and reading lights. I don't remember the cost, I think around $100

C&K*s Mommie replied: We use a standard no back booster for Christian in my car, and my mothers car. It adjusts the seatbelt to come lower on her shoulder, than it would had she not had a booster at all. We have a 5pt harness/seatbelt adjuster booster for her on longer car trips.

We purchased the no back for around $15. And the two in one for around $80, I think. We actually use that one for Kellie everyday. Kellie has a 5pt harness/adjuster in my mothers car, as well.

coasterqueen replied:
That is the one DH wants to get out of the convertible/boosters! I checked car-seat.org's reviews and they only recommend the Britax, Radian and a few others.

I trust you Brenda because i know you would have done the research Btw, do you think that gives Jamison enough side-impact crash support? I felt the Triumph did that for Kylie but am worried ones like the eddie bauer won't.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: We have the Triumph and have always liked it, but DH wanted one for his car too, so we recently bought the Evenflo Generations. It's a convertible/booster and goes upto 100 lbs. The seatbelt fits in when you're ready to lose the five-point harness. But this way you get the back part too, not just the booster seat, kwim? I'm assuming that's the kind you're talking about. I'm not sure how much we paid for it at Target. Maybe $180, but we're happy with it because it's so similar to the Triumph, just bigger of course! Wil sits in it now in DH's car just fine.

Jamison'smama replied: We looked at the Generations also--It was just too new to have enough reviews when I bought the Eddie Bauer. I could not spend the money on the Britax--that's why we originally went with the Triumph--I LOVED the Triumph but when the styrofoam started breaking and then broke completely in baggage handling I had to buy another one right away.

I do like the one I bought--I feels pretty secure much more so than the lower priced Eddie Bauer--It seems to fit her pretty well also. It doesn't have that nice piece in between the buckle and her legs--so easier to pinch skin so we have to be very careful.

I actually went on the IVillage site and read their reviews on the carseat before I bought it.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: how tall is Jamason? We have that seat...different print but Katy outgrew it about 6 months ago. w/o using it as a belt positioner and she really didn't seem secure with the belt positioner in that seat.

Jamison'smama replied: Jamison is about 33 inches tall and 34 pounds.

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
This is what we have. It's a little less expensive than most, but we've been real happy with it.

coasterqueen replied:
I thought Jamison had to be shorter than Kylie. DH said Kylie didn't fit well in that one, I don't remember. We tried her in about 6 different ones. That was the one he really wanted, though.

Kylie is 35 pounds and 40 inches tall. Most of the ones we looked at she had barely any room to grow.

amynicole21 replied: We bought the Cosco Touriva (or scenera - they are the exact same just different brand name) for $45 at Target. It is in the top 5 best rated on all of the car seat boards I researched. And I did A LOT of research. The only thing that I really don't like all that much is that it is not very squishy and comfy, but Sophia doesn't ever complain.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: We got this one.

Graco Turbo Booster

We've had it about 6 months. It says abvout 40 pounds... but zach weighed 36 pounds when we got it - we figured we weren't gonna be petty for 4 pounds. He weighs 39 pounds now. There's a sholuder attachment to our vehicle - the strap gets held lower on him so it doesn't choke him.

We love it - it'[s very very portable, and we've brought it into restaurants on occasion, or at my mom's house for Emilie to sit on it on a chair to eat at the table with us.

It wasn't expensive (40$ canadian), and we like it.

3_call_me_mama replied: We have an evenflo one that is 3 years adn 30 lbs. and 38 inches. cameron is 41 inches adn 34 lbs. So it fits him fine. It's a belt postioning one (which I wasn't thrilled about ) but he was too tall for all teh five point harnes sones and I jsut dont' have teh $$ to spend on a britax. ( I wish i did but we dont. (Although we were given a britax booster with an adjustabel back that is for 40 bs and up. So he will switch to that once he is 40 pounds. )

coasterqueen replied: Thanks everyone. I wish I knew where you got your safety stuff, because everything I'm finding and being told when I post on other boards is to go with the Britax Husky/Regent for my van and the Generations (Graco or Evenflo, can't remember) for DH's.

I've been told the Eddie Bauer is not good as well as some of the others.

Rocky - Kylie can not be in the graco turbo booster because she's not 4 years AND 40 pounds. She's only 35 pounds and it might take another year or more before she gets 40 pounds. That one won't provide the necessary safety for her.

As far as the rest that posted...do you mind me asking you what you tried to look for in a seat? Maybe I'm trying to find too much. It wasn't this difficult when I bought the convertibles because the Evenflo Triumph was the next best in line to the Britax, which I couldn't afford. This time around when trying to find combo's there seem to be so many in line after the Britax, but all ones that are EXPENSIVE. I really hate looking at it from the expense side of things because safety is more important and we do get more than our money's worth out of them because both kids get to use them, but sigh.

I know the things I'm looking for in the combo are: EPS foam, a bit of extra padding because we do travel some - comfort for Kylie, large head wings to provide enough safety in side impact car crashes, and the most/longest use we can get out of it for Kylie. Those are the things I'm looking for the most AND trying to find that in cheap ones, lol. All the ones we tried out she didn't seem to have much room to grow AND the head wings were barely there to provide that side impact crash protection.

I must admit I'll go with any cheap one in DH's car. We already have a cheap convertible in there. He only picks up the girls from daycare (1/2 mile down our country road) and occassionaly has to take them into town in it, but that's it. We've decided that if we put 2 cheap car seats in his car, meaning no EPS foam, no real side impact crash protection, etc that we will ONLY allow his car to be used to pick them up from daycare and no quick in town errands anymore. It's too much of a chance, especially in that little Neon. One accident and well, nothing is really safe in that car.

Anyways, since the ratings you are seeing are different than what I'm seeing can anyone provide me what they looked for in a car seat? Maybe I'm just thinking about this WAY too much. Dh thought I was in the beginning, but I think I tugged on his heart strings too much on the situation and now he thinks the safety issue is very important, probably just to shut me up.

As it is now he wants to go with Britax for both girls in my van and cheaper car seats in his van. Now making us buy 3 new car seats instead of 2.

amynicole21 replied:
I look at the overall safety rating. Here are some links on the Cosco Touriva/Scenera:

Car-Safety.org

Car Seat Site

Also, if you just search on those two models on the car seat board, you'll see that they are recommended by the CPS techs.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: In Ontario I think the laws on Booster seats are a lot stricter. They have to be at least 65lbs (I could be off on this). Anyway I would go with a convertable booster seat. In the end you would need it for both girls anyway. I only used a regular booster with Emily and used a convertable booster with Spencer and I loved the convertable one so much better. I felt that he was more protected. Good Luck, men can be so stubborn sometimes!

booey2 replied: Sorry Karen, I am of no real help, we didn't purchase the first two seats the boys had, they were gifts. The one Thomas is using right now is an older Evenflo one and the are no side headwings, kinda sucks because if you saw him sleep your neck would ache. We like the ones we have Thomas's is a version of this one with the arm rests or cup holder - carseat .

coasterqueen replied:
Thanks Amy for the links. I've asked on the Car Seat.org board and they suggest Britax, Radian or Recaro all the way. I remember Ulrike from BF board on IV. It seems to me she hasn't updated her page with all the new ones out. The Touriva is recommended as a convertible, and I would go with it for the cost, but it's only to 40 pounds, so then you'd have to buy a booster and I'm looking to secure Kylie in a 5 pt harness longer than 40 pounds (I think) which would mean I'd have to buy a combo at some point anyways. So I guess the time to do it is now.

Is Sophia a long way from 40 pounds? It's so hard to know at this age, because they slow down so much in the weight department. I keep wondering will Kylie be 40 pounds before the end of the year or will it take her much longer.

I haven't seen the other link until now so I will definitely read that one over. Thanks again.

sunrosejenn replied: I have the Alpha Omega by Cosco as it hold up to 80 lbs rear and forward facing. Eliana is still rear facing as in Jan she was only 17lbs 6oz and 28 1/2in. At the time it was only $100 (got this as a gift). I also bought a second one from Walmart and it was $50ish can't remember which one at the moment and holds up to 80lbs

coasterqueen replied:
Jeannette,

I think one of ours holds up to at least 65 pounds, but I'm finding that LENGTH plays a more important role in them growing out of their seat. I'm trying to place less importance on weight and more on heighth factor - such as how many harness slots, the length of harness slots, etc. I'm sure you won't have that issue with your little one unless she's tall for her age. It seems I'll have less of an issue with Megan in the heighth department than I do for Kylie for sure.

amynicole21 replied:
Yes, Sophia is only about 30lbs or so... she'll be in this one for a while

coasterqueen replied:
Oh yeah she will. Such a cute petite sweetie she is.

~~*Missi*~~ replied: I am a cheap skate so we bought the alpha omega elite by cosco. LOL

That way for 180$ I have a seat that will get me thru all stages, 5lbs to 100lbs!
Sorry i can't be more help but epinions.com is a nice site that you can research them cost and read reviews.