Good Legroom RF Travel Carseat to Potentially Replace Safety First Avenue RF for long DD?

[gracemamma]

Getting ready for a trip to California for my birthday:

We bought a Safety First avenue as our travel car seat based on reading lots here and on the carseat website. It says it can be rear-facing up to 35 pounds but DD is only 27lbs  but is 34" long.  Last visit to family at Thanksgiving, she cried every time she went in the carseat and there was very little room for her legs. Attaching it in Mom's prius or matrix is pretty tough because the seat belts arent very long (havent got latch) and I think getting it into the middle seat is almost impossible.

- Are there extensions that attach to seat belts that make this easier and would perhaps give DD a bit more room by making the seat not be wedged forward?

- If we rent a car, are some easier for making more room in such seats?

-Would it be better just to buy a new travel seat and if so recommendations?  We need to have something relatively manageable for installation and will be travelling to Europe with her this summer.

We have a Radian in our car at home but it's so heavy, I cant travel alone with DD and seat and baggage.

Everyone says to just FF but I prefer to keep as safe as possible as long as possible.  We do have a couple long car rides  this trip and having her cry in her seat and be cramped is not what we are looking for.

Thanks for help/advice in making my bday happy and safe for DD too!

[leighi123]

- No there arent any seatbelt extenders that you can use and still be safe. 

- Changing the angle of the install might slightly change the amount of legroom she has, but its probably just because its a seat that doesnt have much legroom.  Not much you can do about that.

The radian is SUPER nice to travel with, we travel a ton and I love it!  Get the backpack straps and carry it like that, or put it on a wheely luggage cart (walmart, $15).  I can pull my ds in the luggage cart through the airport, and it will even roll right down the aisle on the plane.  

It installs very easily on the plane as well (FF) and lets ds use the tray table. 

[gracemamma]

Thanks for the encouragement and info!

I'm still pretty reticent to bring the radian as

1- it was a real pain to install in our Siena and I'm concerned it won't go back in well and DHand DC will get very unhappy in the airport after long flights home and big wiat figuring it all out again

2- If its a pain to install in our Toyota's, I'm concerned about having the same pain with Mom's toyotas

3- When I fly solo with DD I put her in the ergo and she seems happy that way. With a 27 lb toddler in front and a 50 lb seat on my back or rolling and luggage, I get a bit scared. Especially as I have some arm and birth injuries where I'm not supposed to lift heavy stuff.

Hmmm. If I consider getting a new seat, are there others that are not overly expensive, good legroom RF, lightweight, relaatively simple to install?  TIA very much!!!!

[chel]

i like the scenera.  it can be attached to a rolling carry-on so nothing else you need to worry about.

[gracemamma]

Thanks! I remember reading before getting the Avenue that the Scenera was very hard to install for some- do you find this to be the case?  How is the legroom RF?  Thanks!!!!

[DahliaRW]

I believe the Avenue and Scenera are very similar, it's just that the avenue has a taller shell.  Your LO will have less growing room in the Scenera.  It'll install very similarly.

How old is  your LO?  When is the last time you used the Avenue?   If it's been a while, you might want to try it out in your vehicle around town and see if she still is upset in it.

I have a complete air.  I'm not sure how the leg room compares to the avenue/scenera, but it definitely has more than the britax seats.  It's also lightweight and easy to haul through the airport and has a very tall shell/headrest for rfing.  But, it is  more expensive than a scenera/avenue.

[gracemamma]

Dahlia- thanks for info on complete air. DC is 19 MO is 34" tall and weighs 27 lbs ish. It was 4 months ago (thanksgiving) that we used the Avenue in Moms matrix and with the seat belt positioning it minimizes her room andher legs have to go off to the sides. She was uncomfy. We havent tried it in our car ever so we could see where things are since then.  Does the complete air work for long kiddos RF for awhile?

[DahliaRW]

The CA works the longest.  The child can rf until the head is even with the top of the headrest in the highest position.  My ds2 who is tall rf'd in it until he was 3 with no complaints of being uncomfortable.  He begged to be turned then, but it had nothing to do with comfort, he just wanted to be more like his big brother.  He had inches to grow  in it, but he was within a few pounds of the 40lb weight limit.  Still has eons to grow in it ffing, though. 

I agree, at 19 months I'd keep your LO rfing.  You may want to take your dd to the store and just see how she fits in the various seats (and you could bring a tape measurer to measure and compare leg room).  I know the CA is sold at Target and BRU.

[gracemamma]

Thanks Dahlia! I checked out the CA and it said it goes up to 40inches RF so DD has 3 inches to go. She's grown 4 inches in about 7 months though. May I ask the height of your DS and whether you think RF is possible longer than 40 inches?

Good idea on measuring in store. It seems alot for a travel seat but if its lightweight too and easy to install, this may work. Just checked on craigslist and none there.

[DahliaRW]

The manufacturer put the arbitrary 40" height on it.  Someone on car-seat.org called them about it and they said it was ok to continue rfing beyond that as long as your child's head is below the top of the headrest.  So it is a parental decision.  My ds rode in it over 40" and has tons of room to grow.  My ds1 is 46" and would still have fit in it rfing last summer (last I checked), but he's too heavy.

Oh, and don't buy on craigslist.  Never buy a used seat.  You don't know its history.

[an_aurora]

My oldest outgrew her CA RF at 43" and 37 pounds, but she has a very, very long torso. Most kids can RF well past 40 inches in it, if you are comfortable making the parental choice to RF past the stated limit.  I don't see it as any different than, say, an infant seat in which we ignore the stated height limits and go by the "one inch rule."

[gracemamma]

Thanks for the height info- very useful to know, particularly if she continues to grow so fast!! 

I haven't been able to find weight info yet, i.e. how much the carseat weighs. I'm trying to make this maangeable fro me to lug alone with DD through airports domestic this month and international next summer so needs to be manageable particularly since Ive got some limitations. 

Also do you all find it relatively easy to install even without latch?

[gracemamma]

ok- found shipping weight as 22 pounds on amazon for this one http://www.amazon.com/Safety-1st-Complete-Convertible-Silverleaf/dp/B002U41OI6 

Im seeing prices from 159 to 230ish,, the all seem to have the same height and weight limits.

[DahliaRW]

I know it weighs less than the shipping weight (I can't remember, I think it's something like 12 or 15 lbs).  Mine is the one without the base, though.  I find it easy to install belt or latch.  If you get the CA 65 the ffing harness goes to 65lbs.  The original goes to 50.  Both rf to 40.  Both have the same harness height.

[mama2soren]

http://sites.google.com/site/carseatmeasurements/ says 15 pounds.

[an_aurora]

In the Prius, are you sure you are using the correct belt path on the Avenue?  It's should only take a very short length of belt for the install, as it's a small seat, and the belts in the Prius would have tons of extra length.