New Car Seats

I recently realized that I should keep Carter rear facing longer. Many of you know the two incidences behind that, so I won't rehash it here. "Thank goodness my baby was rear facing!" is all I have to say. 

I LOVE our current seats - the Britax Marathons - however Carter has hit the maximums for rear-facing, and I can't justify the cute covers any more. I will miss the blue velour and the cute dog bones and paws - or "clues" as Carter calls them. Sorry Britax, you can't meet our needs any more. Carter's current seat only rear-faces until 35 lbs. Carter is 34. It also only latches until 45, which made me scratch my head and ask "I have to uninstall the latch and seat belt it for the last 20 lbs?" That seemed silly to me. Why can't they make a seat that will hold to its restrictions with the restraint provided? The two main reasons that I went with Britax: Safety ratings - they held the top spot, and the fact that they are made in the USA. We buy American made products whenever possible. I am proud of the fact that Carter's seat was made in North Carolina, and it is installed in a car made in Tennessee.

However, we have graduated to a seat that has almost stolen the top spot for safety from Britax. The Sunshine Kids (or Diono now) Radian XTSL. They will hold a child rear-facing up to 45 lbs, and their latch will hold this seat in place safely with a child weighing up to 80 lbs.

Carter seems to like them:

I was worried that there was not enough side protection, but there is more head protection. Plus, I can fit 3 of these COMFORTABLY in the back seat of my car. I can finally carpool with my friends that have more than one child (but not more than 2 because I really only have 3 seat belts back there. So, I should just say that I can now carpool with my friends who have 2 kids huh?). I have been able to fit 3 Britax Roundabouts in the back of my car, but their weight limits are lower than the Marathon. We upgraded to the Marathon when I no longer needed the small seat to fit into my coupe. I held onto the Roundabouts so we could carpool. However, it was difficult.