Car Seat for 2 Yr Old

My daughter is in a Frontier (she is 5), and my son is now in her old Marathon (he is almost 3). In my husband's car we have Regents but those don't fit in my car. I heard that the Frontier is replacing the Regent model because it has the extra safety of side head rests. So I would suggest the Frontier (or the Graco Nautilus, which a lot of people also seem to like).

The salespeople at Great Beginnings in Germantown are very knowledgeable about the different seats and I am lucky that they steered me away from the seat I was going to get (a Radian), which they said she would grow out of too quickly. I think the Frontier will last us several more years.

I've used Safety 1st for my youngest since he was born. He had his convertible infant/toddler carseat. And now he has a toddler seat (up to 80lbs) that works great.
Hope that helps!

graco nautilus for your daughter. let on use the marathon. iae twonautilusesnd love them. it's the olny car seat your daughter will need. thisseatwillkeep your daughter in five point harness til she's at least 5 (65 pounds) which is recommened by the cdc i beleive.

I believe they recommend that children stay rear facing until 30 lbs if at all possible, though you can turn them around sooner.
There are seats on the market that will work for your toddler now and then can be used later as a booster when he gets bigger.

I had a very similar situation with my two sons. I had a very nice Britax Boulevard for my oldest and my youngest was getting ready to get out of his infant carrier. So what we did was move my youngest to the Britax and purchase a new seat for my oldest. Truly the searching was maddening because I did not want to skimp on safety but also did not have the money to purhase another Bouleveard at $300. We ended up getting a Graco - Nautilus 3-in-1 Multi-Use Car Seat, Bravo - sold at Babies r us or at Walmart for under $150.00. This is an excerpt from the web - "Nautilus is a harness seat, a high-back booster and a backless booster. Because it adapts as your child grows, from age 1 to age 10, you can buy one Nautilus instead of a toddler seat, booster seat and backless booster. One seat instead of three, without compromising on safety. Nautilus is the last car seat you'll ever need to buy."
I have been very happy with it. It seems to fit my oldest better than the Boulevard seat did and even has a nifty cup holder and little hiding places on the sides which have been quite the hit. When we did the switch we tried to play it up with my oldest that he was getting a new big boy seat and how cool it was so he did not feel we were taking away his old seat to give to the baby. Hope this helps.

I would buy a new booster for your daughter. They have them that will work 30-100 lbs, and they have a 5 point harness until 50lbs. We had a Cosco one that worked really well for us. I would move your son to the daughter's marathon since in can be reverse facing.

M.

Recommendations have changed, and surely the laws will be changing shortly. While the law only requires children be rear facing until they are 12 months and 20 lbs, the AAP strongly urges parents to keep their child rear facing for as L. as possible and comfortable.

Each step up in a car seat is a step down in safety. Rear facing is the safest, then forward with a harness, then a booster, then a seat belt.

When my son was 7 mos we switched him from the infant carrier, which he HATED, to the Alpha Omega car seat. They are about $170, but we will never need another seat. The seat is rear facing until 35 lbs, forward with a harness until 50 lbs and then a high back booster up to 100 lbs.

We've already decided that when we have another baby, we will skip the infant carrier and go straight to the Alpha Omega seats!

Britax Regent is a toddler 5 point (22 lbs to 80 lbs) and is rated #1 for safety standards....it's currently on closeout at places like amazon.com and albeebaby.com for a discontinued seat cover color, and is cheaper than the marathon (use marathons for both kids in my car and love them). We just got the regent to have in my husbands's car and both kids LOVE it....TONS of room for them to grow (3.5 and 2 yrs old).

I just went through this recently. i have 3 kids and am preggers with #4 so i've gone through quite a few car seats. my fave was the britax marathon. but when it came time for my 2 year old to move up i decided to try something different mostly because of money and the fact that there would be another baby which costs!!! SOOO... i decided to go with the graco nautilus this time around. i have not for one second regretted this decision! It is a forward facing only convertible car seat. It is the last car seat she will ever need! it started as a 5 point harness seat, then becomes a belt positioning booster, then a backless booster! there are many colors to choose from and after doing lots of research and googling coupons i ended up getting ours for about $150. they run from about 150-215. my favorite thing is that we also have the graco snugride and turbo booster for 2 of our other kids so they all match! good luck. here's a link...
http://www.albeebaby.com/graco-nautilus-3-in-1-car-seat-8...

So, I am a car seat technician as well as being the mom of a 17 month old. Car seats are built to last 6 years, so as long as the Marathon is new, you could move your 8.5 month son to that and puchase a new seat for your daughter. She should not go into a booster until she is at least closer to 4, but they have lots of new seats out now that can start with harness straps in them until she is 50 or 65 pounds and then will turn into a booster. The Graco Nautilus is one of the easiest to find, and it is a nice seat (although I have only seen more boy styles). The Britax Frontier is a wonderful seat if you can afford the extra money for it or find a good deal on it. I know Evenflo makes a good one also, but I do not know the name of it off the top of my head. Just look for a seat that has a harness that can stay on until 50 or 65 pounds and if you want it to a seat that will turn into a booster. Hope that helps. Also, the newest AAP recommendations are now saying to keep infants rear facing until they are 2, which the Marathon usually accommodates them that long (or at least close!) Good luck and happy new year!

You can get many seats that become boosters , until the child is tall/heavy enough they use the 5 point harness and you secure it in your car as you do a regular car seat , then when you start to use as a booster seat you take the 5 point harness out and strap the child in with the car seat belt. My daughter has a safety first (cannot remember which model) , it was around $100 and she used the harness until she was tall enough and old enough to use as a booster , this particular model you can use the harness until the child is 40lb (around 5 yrs old). My advice would be for you to go somewhere like Babies R Us where they have more selection , pick out a few that is within your budget and then look for consumer opinions online , and keep in mind that the most expensive doesn't always mean it is the best/safest you can buy.

Hope this helps

K.

We have a Britax Frontier for my daughter that we got when she was getting too tall for her Roundabout. It is a combo seat that is a 5 point harness carseat that converts to a high-back belt-positioning booster. When we got it for her she was about 27 pounds and 3 feet tall. She loves the new seat and is very confortable in it.
I have friends who also have the Graco Nautilus which is the comparable seat made by a different company. I looked at both but decided to get the Frontier because the crotch strap receiver on the Frontier can go farther forward and once that buckle is no longer in front of the child, you must convert to the booster mode.
We are expecting our second and we plan to buy another Frontier when the new baby will be ready to move to the Marathon that is in my husband's car.
Good luck with your decision.