I feel foolish for admitting this BUT I never really understood why I should ERF or harness my older two children til 80lbs.
Recently, however I clicked on a link to the kyle david miller foundations web site and WOW were my eyes ever opened!!!
I am looking into getting three Britax Regents for my 35 lbs 2 y/o, 42lbs 5 y/o and 54 lbs 8 y/o. We don't have credit cards and money has been tight for the last year (since my husband got hurt a work, I have written about it before) All of our bills get paid and our kids are well feed and clothed but we do not have ANY extra. I feel really bad, I wish we could just by all three right now. But we can't.
Any way the point of my post is to ask some questions that I truly do not know the answers to. Please help if you can.
Should I be ERFing my 5 y/o and 8 y/o? Or are they too big?
My van is a 2005 Chevy Uplander. The two middle row seats have LATCH but the back bench seat does not. Is it still safer to use the britax seats and harness them? Or is not having them LACTHED in more dangerous then having them buckled in with booster seats??
Can you rear face with the Britax Regent seats? (I have tried to look that up, but no luck yet)
Is a infant carrier safer (for my soon to be son) then a convertible seat? We have a carrier BUT if a reg seat rear facing is safer... I really want to do what is safest for all three (soon to be four) of my kids.
If infant carriers ARE safer, which is the best to get? We have one that was a gift BUT I will totally take it back and get a (more expensive, I'm sure) safer one.
Also is there anything else about car seat safety that I should know??
Please if you are going to bash, don't waste my time or yours. I really didn't know about these issues til I joined cafemom.
Thank you for your help!!
*EDIT* I was gone for awhile and just got home. Thank you for the advice I have gotten already!!
I looked it up on Google, I know nothing about them personally, but by looking up it looks like they are only forward facing, and it says that they can be installed with the latch or with the seatbelt.
As for the carrier vs. convertible, I used a convertible, but after actually reading about safety on websites, I wish I had saved that $100. There may be better seats out there, but I had an Alpha Omega, and it basically only covers the bare minimum for rear/forward/and booster.
Sorry I'm not much help.
Thank you for replying. I tried google but I kept getting a TON of shopping sites.
Quoting ColtonKeatonMom:
I looked it up on Google, I know nothing about them personally, but by looking up it looks like they are only forward facing, and it says that they can be installed with the latch or with the seatbelt.
As for the carrier vs. convertible, I used a convertible, but after actually reading about safety on websites, I wish I had saved that $100. There may be better seats out there, but I had an Alpha Omega, and it basically only covers the bare minimum for rear/forward/and booster.
Sorry I'm not much help.
Ok t ostart off:
1. The 5 and 8 year old are probably to big to ERF. Most people get to about 3 years old ERF. I don't know any chair that is legal in the US to ERF past 45 lbs. There is a chair that will ERF to 55 lbs. but they are not yet legal here and they are very expensive.
2. What are the children's measurements? Height? The 8 year old and 5 year old may be getting close to hieght limit of the REGENT which is 53 inches.
3. The carseats that go up to 80 lbs. with a harness have the same height limits as the seats that only harness to 65 lbs. The Graco Nautilis at walmart for $155 will harness to 65 lbs. or 57 ". I am getting my Sunshine Radian80 this weekend. A wonderful cafemomer name MommyBunch found it for me on sale for $209 at the sunshinekids.com website.
4. For the 2 year old, I would suggest a myride65 or the truefit. The truefit will only ERF to 40 and the myride will ERF to 45 but they both harness to 65 lbs. and they are both under $180. I do not know of any britax seats that RF past 33 lbs but I do know that the regent ONLY foward faces. YOU CANNOT USE IT AS RF.
5. I would get an infant carrier and then switch to a convertible such as the myride65 when the baby outgrows the infant carrier because although many convertible seats say 5 lbs. and up, they usually don't do great with small babies.
If I didn't mention anything let me know. I tried to answer as much as possible.
In short here are my thoughts. Your infant carrier is very safe for your coming child, as long as it is not expired and has never been in an accident. As for what to get your older children. You could, depending on height RF your 5y/o, but it really isn't necceery. And your 8y/o is too big. I would get a Sunshine Kid's RadianXTSL and RF your 2y/o a little longer though. Your 5 year old could also use a Sunshine seat, maybe the Redian80, it harnesses to 80 pounds, your 8y/o could also use that seat. Or you could stick with the Regent for the older 2. I haven't done new seats since this past March, so I'm not sure what prices are on them.
If your serious about ERF and EH go to the car seta group. My other windows are freezing so I can't add the link, sorry.
Should I be ERFing my 5 y/o and 8 y/o? Or are they too big? No, the 8yo is too big, and while I am not sure of the 5yo height their weight is only 3lbs away from the highest RF car seat limit so I wouldn't bother, ERF, but EH is a great idea.
My van is a 2005 Chevy Uplander. The two middle row seats have LATCH but the back bench seat does not. Is it still safer to use the britax seats and harness them? Or is not having them LACTHED in more dangerous then having them buckled in with booster seats?? A 5pt harness is always safer then a seat buckle especially for children. A car seat is safest however you get the best installation, so yes they are perfectly safe in your 3rd row being installed with just he seatbelt.
Can you rear face with the Britax Regent seats? (I have tried to look that up, but no luck yet) No while the Regent is an awesome seat it does not RF but does harness wonderfully--would be great for your 5yo and 8yo (as long as they aren't too tall).
Is a infant carrier safer (for my soon to be son) then a convertible seat? We have a carrier BUT if a reg seat rear facing is safer... I really want to do what is safest for all three (soon to be four) of my kids. This I am not sure the answer too, I would say where ever the infant has the best fit, which is usually a carrier, but the Graco MyRide 65 and the First Years True Fit fit infants very well.
If infant carriers ARE safer, which is the best to get? We have one that was a gift BUT I will totally take it back and get a (more expensive, I'm sure) safer one. Some of the top ones are the Graco 32, Chicco key Fit 30, The new Baby Trend Flex Lock.
Quoting BabyinAug08:
Ok t ostart off:
1. The 5 and 8 year old are probably to big to ERF. Most people get to about 3 years old ERF. I don't know any chair that is legal in the US to ERF past 45 lbs. There is a chair that will ERF to 55 lbs. but they are not yet legal here and they are very expensive.
2. What are the children's measurements? Height? The 8 year old and 5 year old may be getting close to hieght limit of the REGENT which is 53 inches. My 5 y/o is 43 inches (just went to the DR yesterday so I am sure) My 8 y/o is 47 inches, I am not sure about my two year old as he has grown some since his last doctors visit.
3. The carseats that go up to 80 lbs. with a harness have the same height limits as the seats that only harness to 65 lbs. The Graco Nautilis at walmart for $155 will harness to 65 lbs. or 57 ". I am getting my Sunshine Radian80 this weekend. A wonderful cafemomer name MommyBunch found it for me on sale for $209 at the sunshinekids.com website. I was able to find the Britax Regents online at hipmonkey.com on sale for $159.99 with free shipping and no sales tax. My children are short as am I and my husband. IDK how fast the will grow in height. If they are over 65 lbs BUT under the height limit should I still harness them??
4. For the 2 year old, I would suggest a myride65 or the truefit. The truefit will only ERF to 40 and the myride will ERF to 45 but they both harness to 65 lbs. and they are both under $180. I do not know of any britax seats that RF past 33 lbs but I do know that the regent ONLY foward faces. YOU CANNOT USE IT AS RF. Oh, I tried looking up about the regents rear facing but I just kept getting shopping sites. Which companies make the myride and truefit? I would like to see how much they cost.
5. I would get an infant carrier and then switch to a convertible such as the myride65 when the baby outgrows the infant carrier because although many convertible seats say 5 lbs. and up, they usually don't do great with small babies. I could get two regents and a my ride or true fit and just move each kids up as they out grow each seat right? Like once Dennis (the baby) out grows the carrier he could move into Kirby's seat and Kirby should be big enough to FF in a regent and MaryAnn would have most likely out grown the regent. Do car seats expire?? How often should I replace them??
If I didn't mention anything let me know. I tried to answer as much as possible.
Thank you so so much for your answers!! I replied above with a few more questions.
Thank you!! I was really worried that they might not be safe in the third row! I am thankful to all the mommas who took the time to reply.
Quoting KC3210:
Should I be ERFing my 5 y/o and 8 y/o? Or are they too big? No, the 8yo is too big, and while I am not sure of the 5yo height their weight is only 3lbs away from the highest RF car seat limit so I wouldn't bother, ERF, but EH is a great idea.
My van is a 2005 Chevy Uplander. The two middle row seats have LATCH but the back bench seat does not. Is it still safer to use the britax seats and harness them? Or is not having them LACTHED in more dangerous then having them buckled in with booster seats?? A 5pt harness is always safer then a seat buckle especially for children. A car seat is safest however you get the best installation, so yes they are perfectly safe in your 3rd row being installed with just he seatbelt.
Can you rear face with the Britax Regent seats? (I have tried to look that up, but no luck yet) No while the Regent is an awesome seat it does not RF but does harness wonderfully--would be great for your 5yo and 8yo (as long as they aren't too tall).
Is a infant carrier safer (for my soon to be son) then a convertible seat? We have a carrier BUT if a reg seat rear facing is safer... I really want to do what is safest for all three (soon to be four) of my kids. This I am not sure the answer too, I would say where ever the infant has the best fit, which is usually a carrier, but the Graco MyRide 65 and the First Years True Fit fit infants very well.
If infant carriers ARE safer, which is the best to get? We have one that was a gift BUT I will totally take it back and get a (more expensive, I'm sure) safer one. Some of the top ones are the Graco 32, Chicco key Fit 30, The new Baby Trend Flex Lock.
I think the 8 yr. old could probably be in a booster unless your not comfortable with that, and either two graco nautiluses or two regents for the 2 and 5 yr. olds. If you want to erf the 2 yr. old I would get the sunshine kids radian xtsl which rear faces to 45 lbs. Maybe a true fit for the baby??
The True Fit only RF to 35 lbs, not 40. The My Ride can RF to 40 lbs, not 45. Currently the only seats on the US market that can RF to 45 lbs are the Radian SL models.
Quoting BabyinAug08:
Ok t ostart off:
1. The 5 and 8 year old are probably to big to ERF. Most people get to about 3 years old ERF. I don't know any chair that is legal in the US to ERF past 45 lbs. There is a chair that will ERF to 55 lbs. but they are not yet legal here and they are very expensive.
2. What are the children's measurements? Height? The 8 year old and 5 year old may be getting close to hieght limit of the REGENT which is 53 inches.
3. The carseats that go up to 80 lbs. with a harness have the same height limits as the seats that only harness to 65 lbs. The Graco Nautilis at walmart for $155 will harness to 65 lbs. or 57 ". I am getting my Sunshine Radian80 this weekend. A wonderful cafemomer name MommyBunch found it for me on sale for $209 at the sunshinekids.com website.
4. For the 2 year old, I would suggest a myride65 or the truefit. The truefit will only ERF to 40 and the myride will ERF to 45 but they both harness to 65 lbs. and they are both under $180. I do not know of any britax seats that RF past 33 lbs but I do know that the regent ONLY foward faces. YOU CANNOT USE IT AS RF.
5. I would get an infant carrier and then switch to a convertible such as the myride65 when the baby outgrows the infant carrier because although many convertible seats say 5 lbs. and up, they usually don't do great with small babies.
If I didn't mention anything let me know. I tried to answer as much as possible.
Ashley's Husband Made it Home From a Deployment in Iraq - And Then Tragedy Struck
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on Nov. 19, 2009 at 6:28 PM