Big baby - carseat?

[Kiki Runs]

Help me out here, ladies. I'm looking for a convertable carseat that will hold ds past 40 lbs. So far, the only one I've found/heard of is the Britax Marathon, which is rear-facing to 33 lbs, forward-facing to 65 lbs. However, it's also $$$. I found some on sale for $180, and it seems the usual price is $220 - 250.

Right now, ds is still in his infant seat - barely. He will definitely outgrow it within a month. Last week, we purchased a Graco Comfort Sport for $70, and it's rear-facing to 30 lbs, forward-facing to 40 lbs.

The problem is that ds is big (at his 2 month well-baby visit, he was 16 lbs and 25 inches). Our pediatrician said that babies usually triple their birthweight by one year, and ds is definitely on track to do it thus far. If he keeps it up and triples his birthweight, he will be 36 lbs at one year

I wasn't thinking when we bought the Graco - all the carseats we could find had the same weight limits, so we just picked the best we could out of our meager selection. Then last night I saw a thread here about the Britax Marathon and realized that there ARE carseats that can hold bigger kids. Are there others?

Right now, I am leaning toward returning the Graco and purchasing the Britax, but dh really doesn't want to do this. The only reason he gives me is $$$ - the Britax does cost more than twice what the Graco costs. As far as I am concerned, money is not an acceptable reason not to purchase the best safety equipment. We can afford to buy the Britax - it will be a stretch, but I think in the long run, it will be worth it, especially since it seems that we will need to purchase another when ds outgrows the Graco.

So my questions are these:
1) Are there any less expensive (than the Britax) carseats that will hold ds past 40 lbs?

2) Do you see any reason to use the Graco rather than the Britax, other than money?

3) Can you help me think of some good arguments for the Britax to convince dh?

4) Whether we use the Graco or the Britax, what do we do when ds outgrows it? If we use the Britax, he'll be much closer to using a toddler/booster seat by the time he outgrows it, but if we use the Graco, what do we do after a year (approximately)?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can share with me.
Kinsey

[jazminflower]

wow was he really 12 pounds at birth???
our dd outgrew her infant seat at 4 mos!!! (20 pound limit)
we bought the marathon: very pleased!!!
to answer your questions:
1. fisher price made some carseats a while back that held to 60 pounds. they are no linger in production. maybe e-bay??? they had geed reviews at consumer reports.
2. obviously i would choose the marathon.
3. this was my justification for spending the $ on the marathon: dd was well on her way to being over 30 pounds at one year---she was 28 pounds instead .both her paternal cousins were big---a boy:48 pounds at 3 years and i think the girl was 40 or so at 3. boosters are not really recomended until around 4 years. so to prevent another carseat dilemma and/or purchase i just spent the extra $ now, knowing she would be safe for a long time. i anticipate moving her to a booster when she is 6- this is based on her cousin who is now 6 and weighs 65 pounds.
4. when he outgrows the graco, you may be stuck again, when he outgrows the marathon, he gets a booster seat

another thought: another seat britax makes is the husky/super elite- a much bigger seat, though weight limit was 80 pounds last i checked. then you would need no other seat for your son. it is a HUGE seat though.

also, before buying the marathon, check it in your vehicle if possible--is it big too.

i do love ours and i'm glad i bought it for dd. it is extra comfy and the top sides are so that when she falls asleep in to her head is not drooping unsupported (i hate that).

good luck in your search!!!

[abranger]

I have the marathon and love it. The rear facing to 3000 pounds is great! it is recommended that kids stay rear facing as long as possible it is co much safer. Also in our case I think it will be the onlt seat we will need...ie can forgo a booster

Amy

[danaalex]

we have two britax carseats that we love. we also really like our cosco eddie bauer seat. cosco also makes the same carseat called the alpha omega. it can be used rear facing beyond 22 lbs and forwarded facing to 60 or 80, i can't remember. it is not recommended to be used as a booster but your child could use it as a carseat until it is outgrown, weightwise. also, it is less expensive than the marathon.
hth

[chicklet]

We used the Cosco Eddie Bauer - I wasn't happy with it. We only used it for about a year, then dd outgrew the straps. We chose the Britax Super Elite (no longer made under thet name) and I can keep her in it to 80lbs with a harness.

I'm saving my $ for the Marathon for ds, 30lbs and rear-facing now in a 4yo Fisher Price from dd.

I wish I had bought the Roundabout instead of the FP - I would have saved in the long run. Sometimes it pays to buy the better seat.

[danaalex]

i am really glad we bought our britax roundabout. we really like it. we wanted a 2nd forwarding facing seat for our 2nd car so we bought the eddie bauer. i have been pleased with it. our dd1 is 31.5 in. and she still fits in it nicely, she'll be 2 in august. i think carseats fit kids differently, it's like different brands of clothing, lol!

[AmyG]

I don't like the Britax. We don't have one ourselves, but one of my friends does, and I put DS in it one day when we went somewhere together. I don't know the exact specifications, but it the maximum length of the child for rear facing seemed to be very short, and DS's head was almost up to the top. (He's 5 months, about 22 pounds, and around 28 or 29 inches.)

We have an Evenflo somethingorother (Triumph maybe?), and it seems like it will fit him for much longer. It may not fit him the whole time he's forward facing until he moves to a booster, but we'll deal with that when the time comes.

And I wouldn't count on your particular baby being triple his birthweight at one year. That's average, and the average baby is around 7-1/2 pounds at birth. Most babies will grow very quickly for about the first 6 months and then mainly just get longer but not a whole lot heavier for the second half of the first year, especially breastfed babies. My baby tripled his birthweight by 4 months (he was 5 weeks early and 6 lb 9 oz at birth, and then he weighed 20 lb at his 4 month checkup), but he's not putting on weight very quickly at all now. He has only gained about 2 pounds in the last 6 weeks. He's just getting longer and starting to thin out.

[Kiki Runs]

Thank you all for your replies. We have decided to go with the Marathon after all - dh finally agreed that it would be better to spend the money now and have a quality carseat that ds can use for a long time.

I understand that what the average baby does will not always apply to MY baby, but ds is gaining weight quickly. Right now, he is certainly within reach of tripling his weight by a year, which is why I posted this thread. We'd rather plan for a big baby and have an average-sized one than count on him not tripling his weight and end up with a giant!

Thanks again.
Kinsey

[girlzmommy00]

JMO but I really love our Britax seats and would recommend them highly. They are more expensive but you really get what you pay for.
Seats that have 5 point harnesses for over 40 lbs are hard to find. I believe it's just the Britax Marathon on the market today. Fisher Price used to make the Futura that can be found on Ebay occationally. That's a forward facing only seat that can be harnessed past 40 lbs. I'd bought one but it didn't work well in my car.
We ran into that problem with my dd, Lauren. She was just 5 lbs 8 oz and 19 in at birth (she was 7 weeks early) but was 30 lbs and 36 in at 12 months, 40 lbs and 40 in at 24 mo and now at 3 is 46 lbs and 46 in (interesting how her height and weight are usually the same number now). We ended up just getting her a Britax Star Riser Comfy booster when she turned 2. But boosters are usually not recommended since children usually don't understand to leave the seatbelt buckled and sit properly. Luckily Lauren cooperated for the booster, other wise we would have had problems.
But if Lily (my 9 month old) grows like Lauren did, we'll be buying a Marathon as well. Lily's 26 lbs but 31 in at 9 months. We tend to have tall girls with long torsos, so they outgrow the seats even faster.
But sizes aside, I don't think you can go wrong with buying a Britax seat! Again JMO