Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 12:58     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
Anonymous wrote:A ginormous 18 mo old will have to forward face. At some point it is more dangerous to stuff 'em in rear facing seats that are not designed for gargantuan babies.


At some point is not 18 months.

It’s not light weight but the Extend to Fit has the longest rear facing measures (or at least it did when we bought it).

Also a PSA that for some cars the LATCH system has a 40 lb weight limit so you would need to switch to belt at that time.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 00:02     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
A ginormous 18 mo old will have to forward face. At some point it is more dangerous to stuff 'em in rear facing seats that are not designed for gargantuan babies.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 15:26     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
Anonymous wrote:Graco Contender has a tall shell and worked for my 99+% kid rear facing until 2.75 or so at which point it worked forward facing and I was ok with that (yes rear facing would have been safer but she was 41 or so inches and there just aren't good options). Its also pretty narrow and fit in airplane seats.

If your 18 month old is 36" now even fast growing toddlers don't really grow more than 5 inches a year so you likely will make it to 2.5 yrs in the Contender. Also at some point their legs grow rather than their torsos and that helps too, so you might make it longer.


Oh and just for fun kid just turned 6 last month and is 51 inches tall .... our travel car seat progression after the Contender was Contender FF until about 4 and then the ride safer vest (she outgrew FF harnessed seats before she was 5) and now she rides in a Graco tranzitions hbb and when we travel we just bring the bottom booster and not the hbb part.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 15:21     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
Graco Contender has a tall shell and worked for my 99+% kid rear facing until 2.75 or so at which point it worked forward facing and I was ok with that (yes rear facing would have been safer but she was 41 or so inches and there just aren't good options). Its also pretty narrow and fit in airplane seats.

If your 18 month old is 36" now even fast growing toddlers don't really grow more than 5 inches a year so you likely will make it to 2.5 yrs in the Contender. Also at some point their legs grow rather than their torsos and that helps too, so you might make it longer.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 08:21     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Just forward face.

An 18mo? No.
Their necks aren’t strong enough to support their heads in an accident. You can do it I suppose and hope you never get in a serious accident. But why would you?


Absolutely no one is telling the 18mo kid to forward face

The “just forward face” is clearly aimed at the OP of this thread with a 2.5 year old who has outgrown rear facing car seats.

The lack of a quote of the 18mo case and the fact that this thread is about the OP makes it pretty clear that comments without a quote are directed at the main subject
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 06:27     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
Anonymous wrote:Just forward face.

An 18mo? No.
Their necks aren’t strong enough to support their heads in an accident. You can do it I suppose and hope you never get in a serious accident. But why would you?
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2026 04:35     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
Anonymous wrote:

Yep. Thanks.


And what did your doctor say?
Anonymous
Post 01/19/2026 14:10     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyone with any new ideas? I have an incredibly tall 18mo old that has nearly outgrown the scenera. I obviously can’t FF yet. She’s 36”, weight isn’t an issue (she’s circa 25lbs). Her torso is crazy long and she has maybe a month or two left before she’s too tall, and we have lots of travel coming up (and would like to out her in it to fly). I also use it regularly in our second vehicle.


Have you talked to your doctor about this?


Yep. Thanks.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 11:04     Subject: Car seat for travel after outgrowing cosco scenera next
Why is rear facing bolded? You kid is way too big for that position. You need to talk to the ped to get correct info.