Very tight budget but need new seats

[MrsTorres]

Thanks, I'll start looking at those seats for DD1. I know that height limits are just a guideline, but I have to keep them in mind. Her Scenera goes to 36" by the manual but she clearly was nowhere near close to 1" from the top so she's still in it. Im just looking for something with the highest height and weight limits so that she can remain in it for a long time to come and can use it as a booster later on since she has another 7 years of being in a seat at least. I know grandma isn't going to spend a pretty penny on a seat and then turn around and buy another one in a few years, she's already not too enthused about having to buy another seat when "she could face forward and stay in this one"...but she knows I won't let her turn forward so I told her I'd look for the most budget friendly seats that she could use for the rest of the time and we wouldn't have to buy another one. The Sure Ride is out too, RF max is 37"...sigh.

[brigala]

Yeah, I think the Sure Ride is a bust as far as ERFing. But it's super tall for FFing which is why I was thinking it might work for the older child. I haven't actually sat an older child in it though to see whether it's comfy for big kids or not. I haven't even seen it in person yet.

[jaelynsmommy61607]

Sure ride is very roomy. DD is 44 in and 46lbs 5 years old


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[MrsTorres]

Thanks for the pic! Does anyone have any love/hate for the Symphony 65 LX? This would be for DD1 I'd be looking for opinions.

[jjordan]

The symphony is not a great seat for your dd1, IMO. The booster part is outgrown around the same time as the harness, and you will be paying $$ for the rear facing ability, which you won't use.

[brigala]

You don't seem to believe us when we say there are no car seats that will both do a good job of rear-facing your LO and also do a good job of boostering. Just an observation. If you want to buy an all-in-one, go ahead, but you'll regret it.

[MrsTorres]

It's not that I don't believe anyone...I just want to make sure that we're not buying another seat in 2-3 years. This will be the 3rd seat we've each purchased in 2 years so I'd like to be as thrifty as possible now and down the road. DD1 RFd in her Marathon until she was almost 3 and is still in it now so we definitely got our moneys worth, I just want the same for DD2, especially since she's our last and I know that reselling them probably won't happen. I've been looking at seats and banging my head into a wall for over a month so I thought I'd ask for advice, thinking maybe someone would have a great recommendation.

[jjordan]

You're more likely to be able to resell if you buy Britax than another brand, FWIW. This is a generalization, but the type of person who is most likely to buy a used carseat on Craigslist is less likely to have heard of (and thus want) some amazing-but-relatively-obscure seat.

Companies make seats that try to do it all because they know people will buy it, because it sounds great. In practice, a booster is SO inexpensive that it's truly no big deal to buy one separately. Be careful not to get sucked in to the manufacturer's hype about their all in one seats.

[MrsTorres]

Now Im wondering if once DD1 is out of her booster (she has to be in it till minimum of 9 by law) if I could move DD2 into it...maybe I should factor expiration dates into the mix too? I think at that point DD1 would either go into a backless booster which is pretty cheap and then IF the seat handed down from DD1 to DD2 is expiring I could get DD2 a HBB which is also cheaply priced. Am I making sense? Yes I'd be buying more seats but I wouldn't be spending $150 now and then spending it again in 2-3 years because I could hand one down from DD1. Ahhhh Im so lost!

[jjordan]

Most kids aren't really ready to be out of boosters until age 10-12.

Here's what I'd do. Since you want to keep dd1 harnessed, get her a combination seat, and get a convertible to keep dd2 rear facing.

When dd2 outgrows the convertible (probably 3-4 years, depending on the seat, or possibly less if she continues to be very tall), then move her to the combination seat and get a dedicated booster for dd1. When dd1 passes the 5 step test, give the dedicated booster to dd2. You end up buying 3 seats total to get these two girls through the rest of their carseat years.