New seats!

We got the car seats in today. They are probably the last ones we will ever buy... well, maybe. They are at least the last ones we will buy for at least a few more years.

Our extended harnessing days are over. Erin has just about outgrown the 5-point harness on her seat. She has about half an inch to go before we'll have to remove it and just use her seat as a booster. There is only one seat on the market with higher top harness slots, and they're only higher by an inch, so it wouldn't be worth the $300 price tag for that extra inch since, for all we know, Erin could grow an inch by the time the thing shipped to us, and we'd never even get to use it. For that reason, we bought her the best booster we could find. It's the Sunshine Kids Monterey in red.

I don't like that we're not harnessing anymore. It's bittersweet to move up to a regular booster, because it's widely known that a step up in car seats is a step down in safety. I also know that we gave her the very best for the very longest that we could, and now we're still giving her the very best that we can. No $20 booster from Wal Mart for us. This girl rides in one of the top rated booster seats in the world. As you can see, it has true side impact wings, and is built very sturdy. It is extremely height adjustable (Erin is on the second slot from the bottom), and accommodates kids as big as 120 pounds (yes, I can fit in this booster with room to spare!! But I'm too tall. It only goes up to 5'3".) It is narrow enough to be able to fit in the back seat with two other car seats, even in a compact car like mine. I'm impressed so far. Erin is, too. She'll likely ride in it until she's 12, and then hand it down to Orren. That's why we got red. OK OK, we also got red because it matches the car.

Orren was about to outgrow his Britax Diplomat in height, and also, we were not satisfied with the 35 pound rear-facing weight limit. We did not want to turn him forward-facing until he is 3 years old. The reason is because the risk of death to forward-facing children in accidents decreases drastically between the ages of 3 and 6 due to spinal development. Since rear-facing until 6 is only feasible in Sweden, where they all do it that way, we have had the rear-facing goal of 3 years, but were almost sure not to make it with the 35 pound limit of our Britax seats.

Enter the Sunshine Kids Radian XT SL. It has the highest rear-facing weight limit available in the US at 45 pounds. It is also extremely tall, and can accommodate kids up to about Erin's height, and 80 pounds in weight. Like the Monterey booster that we bought for Erin, it's very narrow, and intended to fit three across in compact cars. Between the two seats, there is more than enough room for another seat for the next baby, so we're thrilled with that. That's one big reason we bought Sunshine Kids seats this time. See the pic? Orren loves being a rear-facing toddler!!



Then we have both of them in the car together. Can you tell how much room there is between them? It's awesome. There's plenty of room for the Primo Viaggio (infant carrier) or the Diplomat, for the third baby.

We're really happy with our new seats. The kids love them.

Our current arrangement:

2007 Chevy HHR with Monterey booster and Radian XT SL
2006 Dodge Ram with Britax Marathon and Graco Nautilus

Stored for the next baby:
Peg Perego Primo Viaggio
Britax Diplomat

We're set for a while. Thank goodness. These things ain't cheap!! HAHA!!