large car seats?

[cbock]

i recently returned from a trip home for thanksgiving with my two boys. while we were there, i realized that my 5 month old son is now too big for his car seat. he has been using his older brother's graco seat that is rated to 20lbs. when we weighed him, he was 23lbs! i do have another of his older brother's car seats. it's a cosco, alpha omega elite. that seat can be used as a rear facing seat and for children up to 35lbs. the problem is, in my maxima, it takes up a LOT of room. almost rendering the front passenger seat all but useless. if i put it in the middle, my older son's booster seat does not have a lot of room.

i am a recent widower and am interested in trading in my maxima as it is a daily reminder that i don't need. i am not interested in a minivan. and am only slightly warmer to an suv. i prefer cars. can anyone recommend a rear-facing car seat/car combo. car seat price is not a concern as this is critical to my child's saftey. if it's $50 great. if it's $300 great. whatever meets my saftey and (hopefully) size requirements, is what i am interested in.

TIA
chris

[Kaytee]

roundabouts are fairly large but the smallest of the Britaxes. I am a fan of those personally.

If I were you I would go to babies r us and they will allow you to try the carseasts out in your car, that way yo uknow if it fits.
There is also a webisite. I think it is carseatsafety.org that has a list of cars and which carseats fit the best in each.

[cbock]

thank you kaytee. i did spend some time in babies r us yesterday. as always, they were very friendly and did offer to allow me to try any seat they have in my car.

thanks for the link, i'll check it out.

[Kaytee]

I just was rereading your post, your 5 month old is bigger then my 2 year old!!! lol She has issues right now though that we are working on, but she should be 23lbs if she followed her growth curve properly. You have a big boy there!!

[cbock]

yes, i do have a big boy! he's amazing! i found a site that seems to provide decent information: http://www.carseatdata.org

here's a pic of the big guy.

[Kaytee]

thats the web site!!!
He is sooo cute!!!!!!

[jenilouise]

He's a doll! My 5 month old is 17 lbs. as of this morning. When is your little guys birthday?

[cbock]

thank you kaytee, your's is cute too. looks like she has loads of personality.

jenilouise, thanks, i love the bottom left pic! my 4yo is june 11th and my 5mo is june 7th.

[Trina]

Adorable baby boy you have there, cbock! At his size I recommend getting a convertible car seat that harnesses past 40 lbs.. You're going to need one. LOL! Options listed here:
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/Over40.aspx

I have a Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe and love it. It's made by Britax for Fisher Price and is essentially a Britax Marathon without all the bells and whistles. It harnesses rear facing up to 33 lbs. and forward facing up to 55 and costs about $130-150. (The Britax Marathon is about $250.)
http://www.albeebaby.com/fiprsavodeco1.html

Whatever you get, be sure it has a 5 pt. harness and front harness adjuster. Avoid car seats with over head shields. A 5 pt harness is the safest choice.
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/fivepointshield.aspx

Be sure to keep him rear facing until at least 12 mos. and 20 lbs., although he has already hit the 20 lb. mark. LOL! Safety experts now recommend babies stay rear facing until they have outgrown the rear facing limits of their convertible car seat. Rear facing better protects the head, neck and spine in the event of a crash.

OK, I'll stop for now. I'm a CPS Tech and could go on and on.... LOL!

[cbock]

thank you for the recommendation. i'm going to try to locate a safe voyage or marathon and try to fit it in the car.