I have a 4 year old and a one year old. My 1 year old is still in his infant seat and my 4 year old is in the Forward facing Britax. I need to upgrade the 4 year old and put the one year old in the Britax, but I am not sure what type of car seat would be best. Suggestions would be great!
We went from the Britax Marathon to the Britax Frontier and loved it. The Frontier is still a 5 pt. harness.
I'm not too familiar with the Britax seats, but I can tell you about the Diono Radian. I've had 4 Radians with 4 kids and absolutely love them. They used to be Sunshine Kids Radian but now are Diono. I have been using these seats since 2006 and wouldn't go to anything else. I was recently in a car accident and had to replace my nearly 4 year old daughters Radian. Even though she will be 4 next month, she's petite and needs to be in a 5 point harness still. I got the Diono Radian 100. It can be used rear facing, forward facing up to 60 lbs, then a booster to 100 lbs. They are not as bulky as the Britax but still have all the safety features, side impact, etc. I bought my last one on Wayfair.com. Free shipping and no tax, received it 2 days after I placed my order. Check them out, they are awesome!
Yay (Yea? LOL) for Britax! :) We started out with our son in a Britax Marathon. When our daughter was old enough to switch out of her infant carrier, our son wasn't quite ready for a new car seat, so we bought our daughter a Britax Boulevard. Our son is now 5.5 and probably 18 months ago we upgraded him to a Britax Frontier...and as dorky as this sounds can I mention how much we LOVE that it has built in cup holders? Now, lots of car seats/boosters have cup holders, so I realize that isn't exactly a selling point. Britax, however, DOES have one of the top safety ratings for car seats. They are a little more expensive, but very worth it in my opinion. We have been happy with all 3 of our Britax carseats (our son's original Marathon is currently our spare for our daughter...until it expires). I would recommend the Britax Frontier. :)
Not sure what the limitations on your infant seat are, but FYI, new guidelines from the AAP came out that say infants should be rear-facing until age 2. So if possible, you might want to keep the baby in the rear-facing seat for another year, and that gives you a year to decide on a new seat for the 4 year old.
I was recently hit on the driver's side when a man driving a large Chevy van ran a stop sign. I was driving a 2009 hyundai Santa Fe. Both front and rear side impact air bags deployed. My son who is 5 1/2 was in a Britax frontier 85 sitting behind me. He did not get even a scratch on him. His window shattered so you know we were hit hard. The frontier has side impact protection. I believe this seat saved my son from major injuries. My son only weighs 38lbs so the 5 point harness was very important to us. We replaced both my older and younger sons' seat (5 1/2 and 3 1/2 yrs old)
with the frontier 90.
When I asked about the next step, many people suggested the Britax Frontier. My DD is still in her Marathon, but I have that one "bookmarked" for when I need to upgrade.
When we needed to switch our younger one to our Britax convertible seat, we moved our (then 4-year-old) to a Graco High-back Turbo Booster. They run about $35-$50, and the back comes off for when they get bigger. You need to make sure your child meets the height and weight requirements, and that s/he's ready to be in a booster seat. While it's safest to have your kid in a five-point harness (like on a car seat) as long as possible, I didn't want to invest another $150-$200 in a convertible seat. Also, we carpooled to preschool, and the Turbo Booster is a lot lighter weight than a car seat. Good luck!
We just got my 4.5 year old son the Graco Affix. It's a highback booster that converts into a backless booster. No 5-point harness though. But it does attach to the car via latch and had good ratings and reviews. He really likes the little cup and snack holders and seems pretty comfy.
Britax Frontier is the best. It goes from harnessed, to high back booster, to backless booster. My son is 6 years old, just under 4' tall and about 50 lbs and he's very comfy in the 5 point harness of his frontier.
The Graco Nautilus is a very similar seat and a lot less expensive. But, it's not quite as comfy. My son definitely prefers the Britax and I think it's worth the money.
Keep your children harnessed as long as you possibly can. With the Frontier or Nautilus, your child is years away from outgrowing it.
Britax Frontier. I have the Graco Nautilus and my sister has the Frontier. Go with the Frontier! Best seat hands down!
We're also a Britax family. Marathon for the almost 2 yr old, Frontier for the 4yr old. I think "best" is totally subjective, though. :)
The 1-year-old can rear-face in any convertible seat. The 4 YO would do well in the Britax Frontier or similar harnessed seat. Check into Evenflo Securekid or Recaro Prosport. Lots of good options!
Graco nutlis 3 in 1 I love it have 2 it 5 point boosters to 65 then can go to high back or no back booster to 100
My husband's car has the Britax Frontier for my 4 yr old and 5 yr old...they just share and both are still in the 5 pt (my hubby very rarely takes both in his car) . The vehicle we drive the most has both boys in Radians---I love these seats--some say they are a pain to install, but I find any of the said inconveniences really do not out weigh the benefits of the seat!! The Frontier is a great seat but really big compared to the Radian !!!
