Carseat for big baby.....

[angrypixiemama]

My godson is 27 inches long and 21 pounds at 7 months. (Would you believe he was a preemie? :) ) Anyhow, his parents need a carseat for him - convertible - and since my girls are peanuts, I feel out of the loop and less than helpful. His dad is tall, so it is likely that he will continue to be tall, and he is a chunk! I love our Britax Boulevards, especially for extended rear facing, but I think they can be a bit short. I also have girls and still had problems with the crotch being tight - not sure how that would work for a little guy? I am hoping to get them the most bang for the buck, in terms of the carseat lasting as long as possible. Thanks for any suggestions! 

[mama2soren]

Any of the Radians (the company that makes Radians used to be called Sunshine Kids, now they are called Diono) or a Safety First Complete Air would do the trick.

Last time I checked, JustKidsStore.com had good prices on the Radians.  My son RF in one until 3.5 very comfortably.

[Norabella]

I'll second the Radian recommendation. My DD was 28" at 6 mos (though only 17 lbs), and outgrew her infant seat by height at 8mos. So, having a pretty good guess that height was going to be our limiting factor for RF I bought a Radian 65 which she is still RFing in at nearly 3.5 years old (and ~32lbs) . She has about 1" of torso growth left, which is one more growth spurt if her 1.5-2" at a time pattern continues. I anticipate that she'll fit RF until somewhere right around 3.75 unless her growth slows considerably, in which case she *may* make it to 4. But, having made it to 3.5 I'm not too worried about having to turn her FF. Also, you may read that the Radian has installation issues in some vehicles, and I hesitated on that count, especially since lots of people seemed to have issues w/ Toyotas which are popular in my family. However I decided to give it a chance since it seemed the best fit for us in every other way and I'm glad I did. I've installed Radian's (my DD's, my nephew's and a friend's) in ~15 different vehicles, including 8 different Toyotas, in the last 3 years and never been unable to get a solid install.

[cristeen]

If you're looking at a tall kid, I'd suggest taking a look at the True Fit Premier.  I know there is 1 seat with a taller shell, but I'm drawing a blank right now on which one.  The problem seems to be choosing a seat with a tall shell for the tall kid or a higher weight limit for a heavier kid.  But if you suspect tall, I'd look at the TFP, and hopefully someone will chime in with which seat it is that has a slightly taller shell.  My giant will outgrow the TFP by height by the time he's 3, and he outgrew it RF by weight at 2, but he is truly an exception.  Most kids will do neither.