Regent or Frontier? (tall, long-torsoed, broad-shouldered child)

We were set on the Frontier until we went and tried it in the store today. My son (just turned 4, tall, 43 pounds) had just about 1 inch of room left with the harness height at the highest setting. Of course I can't predict how quickly he'll grow, but it seemed like he could easily outgrow the seat in a year.

The store employee recommended the Nautilus, and when we tried it he did have a lot more height room until the maximum harness height. But he was already majorly squished in the shoulders. So that's not going to work.

Wendy had suggested we might consider the Regent, and now I am seriously considering it. I just don't want my son outgrowing the harness at 5.

My husband is about sick of it, and just wants to buy a carseat quickly. (My son has outgrown the top slots on his Marathon.)

So, none of the stores around here have a Regent to try out in person. We'd be buying it sight unseen, which we have never done with a carseat before.

Questions:
* Does the Regent have plenty of shoulder room for a broad-shouldered kid? (The Frontier had plenty.)
* Is one of these two carseats easier to sleep in then the other? Recline more, or something? My son does still fall asleep in the car on long afternoon rides, and I'd like him to be able to continue to do that comfortably.

Question calling for speculation:
* How much more time in the harness will the Regent give us, as opposed to the Frontier? My husband says, if it's 2 years difference, then okay you can get the Regent. But if it's only going to buy us 6 months, then let's get the Frontier, which we can buy right here tomorrow.

Question calling for your personal opinions (fire away everyone):
* What would you do? Does the newer side-impact protection on the Frontier outweigh the additional time in the harness? I realize there is no hard data on the newer-style SIP, so I know this is simply a survey of opinions

If we get the Regent, I expect my 7.5yo daughter will have outgrown her booster when my son hits the top slots and he will be going into that. So the fact that the Frontier turns into a booster is not a huge factor in my mind.

Thanks in advance for your advice on this. There is so much information, experience and wisdom here.

Blessings,
Teresa
DS-12, DD-7.5, DS-4, DD-15 months

I'd go w/ the Regent. I don't have one but am planning on ordering one in the next few days. My dd is really big for an almost-4-yo and is about to move to the top slot of her Nautilus. While I LOVE the Nautilus, I'm afraid she'll outgrow the GN before she's ready for a booster, so I want to order a Regent before they are all gone. I've heard nothing but great things about its comfort and sleepability (if that's a word!). It's top harness height is about 20 inches, whereas the Frontier's is about 18.25 inches (Nautilus about 18.50-18.75). You'd definitely gain a year or more in the Regent over the Frontier.

We have both a Regent and Frontier...yesterday I wanted to throw both in the trash... LOL...but that is just because I had to switch from LATCH to seatbelt because of Honda and their 40lb LATCH limit...!!
The Regent is BIG and WIDE and TALL...like I could sit in it... that also needs to be taken into consideration about what vehicle you are putting it in!
The Frontier is a tiny bit more compact but still a large seat. IMHO I think it's "sleepability" is a tiny tiny bit better than the Regent. Seems to have a bit more recline plus the wings help - could be the difference in my car and DH too.
It does have higher top slots, but who knows how fast he will increase in torso length...?
Overall, we as parents like them both. FYI my DS (age 5) prefers the Frontier over the Regent because it feels/looks like a big kid seat and he LOVES having the cupholders!

We have a husky, older version of the regent for our 3y6m, 43", 45#. He is in the 2nd from the top slots. He is very comfy and likes that its blue, very important to him. We got it 6m ago. He didn't fit the nautilus in the shoulders at that time. We liked the frontier, but money was tight and the husky came from a very close friend that had moved her son to a booster. Ours will expire when 5y2m.

I can email you a pic, but can't post pix from my phone. If you want you just give me your email address. You can pm me on here.

If you want to harness to closer to 6, go with the regent. My 43 inche 43 pound long torsoed dd is just about at the 3rd slot in the regent. She is on the top slot of the nautilus. My other long torsoed dd would have made it to just under 5 in the nautilus, and made it to just under 6 in the regent.


Nautilus


regent

These were taken on her 4th birthday about 2 weeks ago. She outgrew the decathlon in January at 3 years 3 months.

The Regent is defiantly wider and taller than the frontier! My son is too tall for the Frontier and still has tons of growing room in his Regent! He's just now at the second to top slots of the Regent with an entire harness height to go still. I seem to get a tad more room in my Regent than others at about 21.5 inches the ones in the stores seem to have 20-20.5 inches, but still significantly higher. Also the Regent is defiantly wider than the Frontier! The Regent's back is basically flat where the frontier, nautilus, and other higher harnessing seats aren't.

What you need to realize with the Regent is that it's a BIG seat! You have seen the frontier and Nautilus in the store and think they are big they are no where near as large as the Regent! Nothing really prepares you for the size of this thing until you see one in person and even then I didn't think it was all that big until I got it in my car. It's seriously the size of the captains chairs in mini vans and actually over hangs some makes and models of mini van if that tells you how big it is.

Your child will have plenty of growth room in the Regent! As for the SIP question. The Regent is such a big seat that while it doesn't have wings, it does offer some SIP. Once you get it in your vehicle you will see what I'm talking about. The Frontier has 18.5in harness heights and the Regent has 20in harness heights. That is another inch and a half which if your child grows torso and legs can equal 3in of total growth.

I have two regents ( albeebaby.com has them for 165 right now) and we LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Highly recommend. You have to tether the tops though, so make sure you have a tether spot. My 5.5 year old daughter has a TON of growing room still in hers! Hope that helps!