2006 Freestar and baby on the way

[Sydsmom]

Hi! I just bought a 2006 ford freestar with a. 2 seat bench in the middle and I have a 4.5 year old in a harnessed nautilus (JUST moved her op to second to last top slot so she'll be harnessed for a while I hope). We have a baby on the way due the end of August and I would like to start looking at seats now. I would like to put him in the middle Row next to DD if possible and I must have a seat that ERFs. There is a loose budget of $300. We have an infant bucket (Safeseat) that expires December 2012 so if we need to use bucket for a bit we can if I can get new straps. I have a feeling MIL was being 'helpful' and washed the straps while it was in storage in her basement. I have a buy buy baby locally so I can try out a few seats if needed but I would like a few suggestions on what will work. I was hoping the radian xtsl ( or whatever diono calls it now) would work because I like the high rf weight limit but I'm open to suggestions. Thank you so much for your help!!

PS: Cross posted on car-seat.org

[jjordan]

First I would probably try to decide whether or not you *want* to use the bucket. If not then no need to bother with the new straps. But if you DO plan to use it, then you might have a few more options for a convertible seat since there are some that don't work well for newborns but are more likely to work for a 4-5 month old baby.

Any idea what size this baby will be, or what his growth pattern might look like?

Offhand, the following convertible seats usually work for newborns and will keep most kids rear facing to age 3-4 and harnessed forward facing to age 5-6. All can be had for under $300. I don't know offhand how any of them do in a Freestar.

Graco MyRide
Evenflo Triumph 65
Evenflo Momentum 65
Maxi Cosi Pria
Britax Roundabout 55
Britax Marathon 70
Britax Boulevard 70
Diono Radian (any model)
The First Years/Lamaze TrueFit (any model)

You might need the newborn insert for a Britax seat - they're about $15 on Amazon, I think. If you go with Britax I'd probably get one, leave it in the package, and return it if the baby fits in the seat without it.

If I'm missing any seats, I'm sure that someone here or on c-s.org will suggest it.

One thing to keep in mind - in the end, it doesn't matter what someone *else* thinks of the seat, it matters what *you* think, since you're going to be the one using it every day for as long as 5-6 years (or more!). So go to Buy Buy Baby or Babies R Us or wherever, and really put the seats through their paces and decide what you like!