[Jane's4]

I've been over this every which way and could really use some advice. Background: We have 4 kids in carseats. We own a 2005 Evenflo Embrace infant seat, 2 2002 Evenflo Triumph convertible seats, and 2 Graco turboboosters (2004, 2006). We would like to use as many of those as possible and purchase as few new seats as possible, while having each kid as safe as possible. Currently, the kids are as follows

ds 15mo.--15lbs, 29in--Embrace infant seat
dd 4yo.-- 31lbs, 38in--Triumph convertible
dd 4yo.-- 35lbs, 39in--Graco turbo booster
ds 7yo.-- 40lbs, 46in--Graco turbo booster

We need to move ds 15mo. right away as he is too long for the infant seat. Also, dd 4yo. is too tall for the Triumph (shoulder straps just below shoulder). I am not satisfied with other dd 4yo in the turbo booster as she tends to fall asleep and "flop". ds 7 is ok where he is.

So we were thinking we'd put the 15mo. old in the triumph (RF) and buy 2 5-pt. boosters for the 4-year-olds, saving the second Graco turbo booster for later. Any other ideas that might help us minimize what we buy and get the most bang for our buck?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Joannarachel]

Your solution is really the only one that will work because both girls are too small to be in boosters, and the baby has far outgrown his infant carrier.

Just remember that your convertibles are going to be expiring in two years, so you'll eventually have to replace the baby's convertible too.

If you tell me your budget and the kind of car you drive I can give you some recommendations

 

[Jane's4]

Thank you Joanna!

I am willing to spend what I have to to keep them safe--so if there is a particular seat that is truly safer, we will find a way. But I don't care about and don't want to pay extra for unnecessary features or the "cuteness" factor.

I was thinking--since, as you said, the Triumph will expire before the baby outgrows it, should we buy one of the convertible seats with a higher weight/height maximum for one of the girls to use now and baby to use later, and switch my other dd to a 5pt booster. I think she's big enough for that type of booster?

We drive an Odyssey, so we can fit any types of seat

 

[thepeach80]

You could definitely do that, buy a higher limit convertible now and then pass it down, but how will the 4yo handle having different seats? Can you have the girls sit down against a wall and measure from the floor to their shoulders? I'm assuming since the one is too big you're looking at about 16" torsos which narrows down your options some. Your kids have long torsos like mine!

AJ is currently in a Sunshine Kids Radian which harnesses till 65# and is a convertible as well. It's top slots are about 18". Your best bet for longest use would be the Britax Regent, even your oldest could fit in it. Other options include the Cosco Apex (if you have headrests or captains chairs) and you might get away w/ something like Evenflo Generations or Safety 1st Prospect (not sure on harness height there). Fisher Price has a new seat too, the Safe Voyage which is like the Britax seats, but cheaper.

 

[Joannarachel]

Jennifer pretty much suggested all the seats I was going to. She's wicked smart, hey

 

[Jane's4]

Thank you both. I measured the girls' torsos--one is 14" and the other 14.5", but the top harness slot on the convertible seat we have is 14". I'm having trouble finding harness slot measurements online so I think I will go to babiesrus and do some measuring.
If you don't mind one more question, is the Regent specifically a booster? I'm wondering if the baby will be ready for it in 2 years when the Triumph expires, since he will be just over 3 at the time?

Thanks again.

 

[Joannarachel]

The Regent is a forward facing carseat that harnesses from 22-80 lbs. You could actually keep your girls in it for a very long time

. It is huge, though. And you can't take it on aircraft, which might be something to consider if you fly a lot.

 

[True Blue]

I would go get at least 2 Marathons (or other large seat, like the Apex...which we have at my mom's house and I do like. Just keep in mind it must be in a seat with a headrest behind it to support it.) for the twins so they can remain harnessed for another couple years. The baby can have the Triumph for 2 years. Then you can get another less expensive harnessed seat for him at that time if you are not ready for the twins to move out of their seats, and he can use that until you are ready to move at least one of them out of the Marathon. Or, if you are done with the twins being harnessed at that point, move him right into a Marathon and the twins into boosters.

Personally, my 4y/o is really tall and can maybe sqeeze a year out of his Marathon at this point, so when we needed to replace our Roundabout for DD I bought him a Regent so he can remain harnessed until he's at least 6. HTH!!

 

[thepeach80]

http://www.carseatdata.org/csnumbers.html

 

[Jane's4]

Thank you all so much. Jennifer, that website is fantastic. I'm forwarding it to everyone I know with kids. I think I'm ready to go shopping!

 

[True Blue]

I forgot about that site, it's great. Except I don't think it's completely accurate. There is no way the 2nd highest slot on the Regent is an inch lower than the top slot on the Marathon!!! I know bc we have both, and if this were the case, DS would need the top slot in his Regent.

 

[thepeach80]

Yeah, some of the measurements are a little off. but it's fairly close for at least top slots which is what is more important when choosing a seat next to weight. I'm pretty sure the first 3 measurements are off b/c my friend's ds is still under the bottom slots at 3 and last time I tried it (this was about 5 mos ago though) AJ was still under the 2nd slots and he's about 15.5" for torso.