Trina-Carseat Question
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive May 2007:
Trina-Carseat Question
My in-laws are wanting to buy a car seat for Natalie (their first). They would not want to spend the min. $150 for the FPrice Safe Voyage that we recently bought based on your suggestion. What other GOOD options are there that would be less expensive? Natalie is about 32lbs. and between 36"-37" I'm not sure. She has a long torso and outgrew the Gracos that both my parents and I had. She will not be in it very much, but I still want to feel like it's a secure choice. She's about to outgrow the carseat my parents have as well, just based on her long torso, so it would be helpful for them as well.
Any suggestions would be appreciated! She's not ready/able to use a booster yet is she? Any info on that would be helpful, too. I think I have bookmarked some of the sites you've recommended in the past though. I'll try to look for them!
Thanks!!
Since Natalie is long torsoed and has already outgrown most convertibles (or will very soon) your choices are very limited. The FP Safe Voyage deluxe was a good choice for her because it has higher harness slots, goes up to 55 lbs. and is reasonably priced, compared to other car seats that harness past 40 lbs.
She is definitely too young and too little to use a belt positioning booster. We recommend kids to be at least 4 yrs. and 40 lbs. before transitioning to a booster, longer is even better.
Another option worth trying is a combination car seat which harnesses up to 40 lbs. and then transitions to a belt positioning booster. However, I fear the harness slots wouldn't accomodate her long torso height for long. A good example would be the Graco Cargo. There are different versions. Have her sit in the demo seat first, to be sure the harness slots are high enough, and if it works, be sure to get one with a front harness adjuster.
Target - Graco Cargo
More car seats that harness past 40 lbs.:
CPSafety.com - Over 40
I have to get my kids off to school, but will check back later.
Thanks alot! I will check into these. I was afraid that she didn't have many options other than what they consider to be "expensive" ones. (Keep in mind, they don't understand why she needs a carseat in the first place. Yikes.)
Thanks 
Could you ask your inlaws what their price range is, and then buy the Fisher Price/Britax one yourself, and pay the difference? If they say they'll pay $100, get the seat, give it to them, take $100 from them and they won't know you put in your own $50. To me it would be worth it to have her in a safe seat that will last her awhile.
If they are wanting to physically purchase it themselves, I'd just say it's much better for you to take Natalie to the store and try them out so you're sure it's a good fit for her height/weight, or that you have a car seat tech friend who can help you out and you even know great online places to buy, so let you take care of it and they can reimburse you.
So something like the Graco Turbobooster is lap-belt only, correct?
Our old Graco(I can't remember which it was)and my parents she quickly outgrew with the torso issue. The "freebie" shower gift Safety First convertible with the overhead shield that we use in DH's truck once a year has tons of torso room left, go figure!
Kate, that's a great idea!
The Graco Turbo Booster is a dedicated belt positioning booster. It has no harness and requires the use of the vehicle lap and shoulder belt. (ALL boosters require both a lap and shoulder belt. Lap belt only positions are only good for installing harnessed car seats.) We recommend kids stay in harnessed car seats until at least 4 yrs. and 40 lbs.. Before then they are not mature enough to sit properly in a belt positioning booster. They wiggle out of position and tend to pull the shoulder belt out of place, which would be dangerous in the event of a crash.
FWIW, overhead shield seats are not recommended. They only have a 3 pt. harness, which doesn't offer as much crash protection and isn't able to get as snug a fit as a 5 pt. harness. Not to mention the fact the child's face smacks against the shield during hard braking or a crash. 
This chart may be helpful when shopping for a car seat with high harness slots.
http://www.carseatdata.org/measurements.php?tun=dd
Good idea about pricing the car seat because it's more than worth it for her to be safe. It irks me though because it's most definitely NOT a money issue for them, they just don't see the point of safety. We would definitely take her with us to try one out. I don't think they mind about that, it's just the $ for them.
Thanks for the booster info also Trina. I thought that was the case, but I was trying to win an argument, LOL (and I did!!)
I knew the overhead shield seat was not the first choice, but we just kept it as a second seat which has been used maybe 6x her whole life. I'm actually anxious to get rid of it. We'll be buying the FP Voyage for the truck pretty soon. She hasn't been in the overhead shield seat for quite some time, but we did check her in it for the height issue.
Thanks for the chart, too! I'll keep you posted on what the IN-LAWS decide to do!!!!
You're welcome! Glad to hear you won your argument.
My in-laws are buying the FPrice Voyage! (Shock!) DH and I both dropped our mouths when they told us today. We couldn't believe it. VERY pleasantly surprised and relieved!!
YEAH! Great news! Be sure they get the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe as the regular version only goes up to 40 lbs. and the harness slots aren't as tall.
Here it is on sale:
http://www.specialtybaby.com/fiprsavodeco2.html
Thanks! I already ordered theirs from a different site though, for a little more, but I'll be ordering another for my parents tomorrow and I'll use this site for them. I remembered on the Deluxe version, but thanks!
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