Cheap harnessed car seat recs

[ilikedonuts]

My friend said her almost 3 year old outgrew his Britax convertible (she couldn't buckle it or something). So she has him in a high back booster. I told her I would send her options bc she cannot use the booster bc he's way too young. He's 39 in 37 lbs.

The cheaper the better.

@fivedogs

[Deleted]

I have an Evenflo Maestro ($75). The Chase is even cheaper (there's a $50 option on Amazon, but it's pink).

[vanillacourage]

Anything is better than a 2 year old in a booster seat. 

This is one is $40:
www.walmart.com/ip/Cosco-Highback-Booster-Car-Seat-Quigley/21128091

eta - wait, he'll probably grow more than 3 inches in 2 years. Get the seats the others have recommended. 

[karinothing]

How is he too big for a britax FF? Can't the head go above the top? Don't they go to 70lbs? How big is this kid. Maybe try to use the britax first to see why he didn't fit

[karinothing]

Apr 1, 2015 19:04:05 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Apr 1, 2015 18:58:29 GMT -5 karinothing said:

How is he too big for a britax FF? Can't the head go above the top? Don't they go to 70lbs? How big is this kid. Maybe try to use the britax first to see why he didn't fit

There is probably no kid on the planet that will get to 70 lbs in a regular Britax.  Their top slots are only 17 inches on the Marathon and Boulevard and 16 inches on the Roundabout.  The Sureride is 19 inches.  

I don't know if is more likely that the mom isn't using it correctly or if the seat is actually outgrown.  I think it is possible for a super tall 3yo to outgrow it by height FFing.  

My kid probably will. Poor short DS LOL. But that makes sense.

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2015 19:04:05 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Apr 1, 2015 18:58:29 GMT -5 karinothing said:

How is he too big for a britax FF? Can't the head go above the top? Don't they go to 70lbs? How big is this kid. Maybe try to use the britax first to see why he didn't fit

There is probably no kid on the planet that will get to 70 lbs in a regular Britax.  Their top slots are only 17 inches on the Marathon and Boulevard and 16 inches on the Roundabout.  The Sureride is 19 inches.  

I don't know if is more likely that the mom isn't using it correctly or if the seat is actually outgrown.  I think it is possible for a super tall 3yo to outgrow it by height FFing.  

Thread hijack, @fivedogs what is the max height for the Marathon? DS is 38" tall so I think he's getting close. He's 3yo.

[ilikedonuts]

I'm pretty sure she doesn't really know what "outgrowing" a seat truly is, but she insists he doesn't fit and that they can't buckle it.

She seems to be really listening to me though thankfully.

[karinothing]

Apr 1, 2015 19:18:55 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Apr 1, 2015 19:09:31 GMT -5 karinothing said:

My kid probably will. Poor short DS LOL. But that makes sense.

LOL, he would have to be incredibly disproportionate to make that happen.  A 50th percentile boy will hit 70 lbs around 9-10 years old, and will be 53-54 inches in height.  The height limit for FFing on the Britax Marathon 70 is 49" (and a kid would have to have an incredibly short/disproportionate 17" torso to make that work).  It's likely the main reason that Britax makes the Frontier, etc. - some kids outgrow the convertibles before they are ready to booster.  Not a problem for a lot of kids, but I think there are people on here that have kids who have outgrown them.  

The Boulevard ClickTight has top slots of 18.5" and much taller, so it will last a bit longer.  

I don't know! Last time at the Dr. he was 50% for weight and 7% for height lol. And I have a short torso. He is likely doomed! Random side note, can a kid be in a frontier until they are ready for a backless booster? Or would they need to do the frontier and then a high back belt positioning booster? This car seat stuff is complicated. No wonder so many people mess it up.

[karinothing]

Thanks @fivedogs, that makes sense!

[zarapipe]

Apr 1, 2015 19:19:54 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

I'm pretty sure she doesn't really know what "outgrowing" a seat truly is, but she insists he doesn't fit and that they can't buckle it.

She seems to be really listening to me though thankfully.

Do you live close? Could you offer to take a look and see if you can get him buckled comfortably?

[aspentosh]

Apr 1, 2015 18:50:14 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

If he is tall enough to outgrow a Britax convertible, I would not get the Maestro or Chase. They are not much/any taller. I would suggest the Evenflo Sureride. $85-90, and it has taller top harness slots than any seat except the Britax Frontier. It does not convert into a booster, but she already has a booster for later use in a few years.  Thanks for saying something!    

csftl.org/evenflo-sureride-review/

www.walmart.com/ip/Evenflo-SureRide-DLX-Convertible-Car-Seat-Bishop/42338084
www.walmart.com/ip/Evenflo-SureRide-DLX-Convertible-Car-Seat-Paxton/35847032

This is the one we got for a grandma/aunt car based on recommendations here and CSFTL. It's got a really tall shell so should work well.

[motzie]

I bought a Safety First Guide 65 for when my niece visits. It was $75 on Amazon. She is almost exactly the same size.

[penguingrrl]

Apr 1, 2015 19:19:54 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

I'm pretty sure she doesn't really know what "outgrowing" a seat truly is, but she insists he doesn't fit and that they can't buckle it.

She seems to be really listening to me though thankfully.

Is she putting a heavy coat on him? If so it may be making it hard to buckle.

And both of my girls outgrew a FF marathon by right around their third birthdays, so it really can happen. They're tall and their torsoes are on the long side, and since the marathon doesn't have the tallest top harness straps a tall kid definitely can legitimately outgrow it around 3. But I suspect that's rare.

[penguingrrl]

Apr 2, 2015 12:32:52 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Apr 2, 2015 11:31:09 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Is she putting a heavy coat on him? If so it may be making it hard to buckle.

And both of my girls outgrew a FF marathon by right around their third birthdays, so it really can happen. They're tall and their torsoes are on the long side, and since the marathon doesn't have the tallest top harness straps a tall kid definitely can legitimately outgrow it around 3. But I suspect that's rare.

I always want to point to you whenever there is a "kids can't be that tall" carseat question.  Because you have giant penguin children.    

LOL!!!! Love the pic . Yeah, my kids are why taller harness height seats were designed. It was the only way to keep them harnessed even to the bare minimum of 4! DS is about to go to the 4th harness slot on his radian and he's RF. At 2y1m. Any hope for him RF until this seat expires when he's 4.5 is quickly slipping away.