Yes....I need more carseat help.

[WDWorBUST]

Okay I really want to get DD a Regent (if not 2) for her to move into after she outgrows her Marathons. They are currently on sale right now so I really need to decide if that's really what I want to do. She is currently 41" and 41 pounds and 4 years old (11/1 was her birthday). But I actually have LOTS of questions.

1.) Where can I find at what weight I need to quit using LATCH on her marathon? I can't find anything about it in my owners manual. We have a 2002 Jeep Liberty if that helps.

2.) I know the weight limit for her marathon is 65 pounds....but when does she outgrow it by height? I know she will probably be fine in her Marathons for another year or so....but since the Regent would take her through age 9 I'm thinking there is no problem with it getting out of date and I can pass a Marathon on to my nephews new baby that will arrive in June.

3.) Also....can a Marathon and/or a Regent be used in a vehicle without LATCH?

I'm sure I'll have more questions....but I think that will get me started.
Thanks!!
Amanda

 

[bumbershoot]

Last question first. Absolutely those seats can be used without LATCH. It's all about the best fit for your car. With DH's old car, he didn't have LATCH, and our Roundabout was rock-solid with the seatbelt. With my newer car, we could never get it AS solid as in the Duster, but it worked better with LATCH than with the belt.


The height info should be in your Marathon manual. So should the LATCH/weight info, actually. Hmm.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I thought the vehicle manufacturer's often had a different limit. What if your car without LATCH doesn't have a place for the top tether?

 

[bumbershoot]

On the Britax site, I found 3 different Marathon manuals. Assuming you have had yours for awhile, I'm using the one from before '07. On the WARNING page (topped with yellow) it says that 48 lbs is the LATCH limit, and that if the car manual doesn't tell you anything specific about the LATCH anchors in the car, to just assume the 48 lb limit.

Interesting, I did not know that.


In that manual, on the page about Checking Harness Height, it states that once the top slots are necessary, the child can use the seat until the tops of the ears are level with the top of the restraint shell or the kid goes beyond 65 lbs.


BUT!!!

On the most recent Marathon manual on their site (doubt this is for your seat, but I include this to show that they change things) states that 40 lbs is the latch limit.

And I can't find the top limit for height (except that it mentions 49" on the WARNING page in the most recent manual)



Now I have to go scrounge up my Roundabout's manual to check the height thing for myself...

 

[bumbershoot]

Now I'm looking at the Regent manual online, and it does state, basically, that for kids over 50 lbs you must use the short-route lapbelt configuration, and when using that configuration you must use the tether.

And if there are no tether anchors, to contact the car's manufacturer for assistance.


OH man now I have a headache. For some reason, it takes a lot out of my mental state to comprehend carseat manuals (though I otherwise LOVE reading manuals!).

 

[mrsannb]

www.car-seat.org

They have all the answers!

 

[WDWorBUST]

Thanks for taking the time to check on those....I could not get the manuals to open from the britax site at work today (our internet has been funky for a week or so and they'd been working on it but our network administrator is out of the office this week). I still don't know what is best. I just don't know what to do....I'm not ready for a booster - I want to keep her harnessed....but, especially with the Regent, I don't want to have to move it and my mom keeps her so we really need two seats when I do upgrade and I don't really want to shell out $420 to get them right now. I guess I could get one now and wait to get another when she has outgrown her marathons. But then they may not be on sale......carseats make me crazy....actually just constantly worrying about her and trying to figure out what's best makes me crazy.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Britax has this sale a couple of times a year...so if you don't catch it now you will have another chance!

Go check out the link that was previously posted...lots of car seat geeks to help you out!