Best rear-facing carseat for a tiny SN 15mo old?

507 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by LolaK, Jun 18, 2007

lactationlady

Discussion Starter · Jun 16, 2007

My 15mo dd has special needs (mostly severe hypotonia) and is teeny tiny. She weighs just over 16lbs and we have had her in her infant car seat since birth. It dawned on me today that even though she is well under the weight limit, she has passed the height limit at 30". We need a new seat for her ASAP. Some points to help in helping me make my decision:

We have 3 kids in car seats in a 4-dr Nissan Altima. DS, age 7 is in a radian Kids 65and is rapidly outgrowing it. He is just 55lbs but he is 52" tall. Also, the crotch strap is getting *very* uncomfortable for him and it is as far out as it will go. My original plan was to have all three in the Radian65 (we were going to buy one at a time) but now it seems that I might be better off passing his seat to 4yo DD and getting another Radian for 15mo DD. it just seems like such a *huge* seat for her. She would probably be in it until she is 12! I could get a different seat for her, but it has to be narrow so that I can fit it in. Any suggestions? Also, what do I do with ds? I can't imagine he is big enough to be safe without a seat and it seems the Radian 80 would still be a problem with the crotch strap.

Sorry this is so jumbled. It is way past bedtime. I will check back in the a.m. and edit if this is too confusing.

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alegna

· #2 · Jun 16, 2007

Okay- in no particular order

the radian 80 won't have different straps. It just has a higher weight limit. the strap height is the same.

Now- for your dd I was going to say boulevard- with the infant insert if needed, BUT then I got to the part about 3 seats. If you need three across I think the radian is your best bet.

-Angela

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Mirzam

· #3 · Jun 16, 2007

First of all, how is your 15 month old's head in relation to the top of the car seat shell? Is it less than one inch below the top? If yes, then you need a new seat now, if no, then even if she is 30" long she can still remain in the infant seat until she does get within one inch of the shell. For her next car seat, given her special needs, I would go with a seat that has more side impact protection and will keep her head nicely secure, this would be at this point the Britax Boulevard, but if you can keep her in the infant seat for a while longer, you will have the additional choice of the new Recaro seats (see this thread http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=693750). The Recaro is wider than the Blvd though, so that might be a deciding factor. The thing with the Blvd is it sits high on base which can help with meshing three seats together.

Now for your 7 year old, at this point, given his age and size, I really don't see the point in getting a new harnessed seat for him (and I am a CPSTech!). As you are fitting three in a row in a mid-sized sedan, you will obviously want a narrow seat. If you have a lap/shoulder belt in the center rear seat position, then a nice narrow booster is the Fisher Pricer Safe Voyager (made by Britax), which should free up some space for the Boulevard. So you would have DS in a narrow booster, preferably in the center, the Boulevard RF outboard one side, I would put it on the side the booster is buckled for ease of use and your four year old FF in the Radian on the other side.

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chickabiddy

· #4 · Jun 16, 2007

Another CPST here. If you need to fit three across, Radians are really your best bet for convertible seats. The Radian80 is no higher than the Radian65, but it comes with infant inserts and may be more comfortable for your small special needs child. I also agree that your 7-year-old may be ready for a BPB, which will give you some more wiggle room.

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lactationlady

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 16, 2007

Thanks so much ladies ! That is really helpful!

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alegna

· #6 · Jun 16, 2007

If you have easy access to a store that sells the boulevard (or I guess even a marathon- it will be the same size to try with) I would try them in your car. It's POSSIBLE you could get a boulevard to fit and I think that would be my top choice for your little one.

-Angela

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thepeach80

· #7 · Jun 17, 2007

Is her hypotonia all over? This may be one of the few times I reccomend the Radian 80, and this would be for the infant inserts that come w/ it. It's a great seat for small babies and the inserts would help. I have pics of my dd in it at 8# if you want to see it. We have the 65 for our 4yo and have really liked it. I would look at the Fisher Price booster for your oldest as I think it's the narrowest.

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Momily

· #8 · Jun 18, 2007

Do you think your 4 year old will outgrow the Radian65 before your little one hits 40 lbs? If so, another option would be to get a 0-40 lb seat for your little one, with the idea of moving her when your middle child outgrows the seat.

As to which 0-40 lb seat, I leave that up to the experts, but I just wanted to plant the seed of that idea.

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LolaK

· #9 · Jun 18, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by lactationlady

DS, age 7 is in a radian Kids 65and is rapidly outgrowing it. He is just 55lbs but he is 52" tall.

Sorry, really don't mean to hijack but I thought the height limit for a radian was 49"?? Is this not the practical case? I have been researching our next seat.

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alegna

· #10 · Jun 18, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by LolaK

Sorry, really don't mean to hijack but I thought the height limit for a radian was 49"?? Is this not the practical case? I have been researching our next seat.

Heights for carseats are basically meaningless. What really matters is strap height and torso height.

-Angela

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LolaK

· #11 · Jun 18, 2007

I know that (in theory) but the user manual says 49" is the maxheight. I looked for something like in the britax manual where it shows the picture of the ears level with the seat etc. but didn't see it in the radian manual.

So do you just ignore the max height, if yes why do they bother to have one? Does having a kid who is technically over the max height in a seat void the warranty?

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