Would you recommend the Diplomat for petite baby?

tny915

New member
DD2 is a peanut. She's 9 months old and 25%ile or so in height but has fallen entirely off the weight chart. I think she's about 25 inches and 16 lbs now. I was all set to get a Diplomat for her all my research seems to have people recommending the larger BV and MA seats over it. I checked out the BV yesterday and it's just huge! It's hard for me to imagine my tiny baby fitting well in there.

My guess is that DD2s growth will mirror big sister's, especially since she has so far measured smaller than DD1 at all ages thus far. DD1 RFed until about 18 months but could have for longer, as she didn't yet meet the max of the seat restrictions by the time we turned her. (Turned her FF because we didn't know any better at the time.) She was in a Roundabout until she turned 4, then we moved her to a Radian and a Nautilus. DD1 is 5 now and about 41" and 38 lbs.

So with tiny kids like these, would you recommend the Diplomat for us?
 
ADS

Maedze

New member
No, even with tiny children I wouldn't recommend the Diplomat. It's an unbelievably short shelled seat and is simply outgrown way too early to make it sensible purchase.

In your case I would consider the Compass True Fit, Evenflo Triumph Advance, Britax Boulevard or the Safety First Avenue, but I wouldn't waste money on the Diplomat.
 

BW1426

Well-known member
The harness straps are the same on the Roundabout/Marathon and Diplomat/Boulevard, just the Marathon and Boulevard go a couple inches taller. So, Both seats will fit a baby pretty much the same.

How much exactly, does your DD weigh?
 

tny915

New member
She weighs 16 lbs 9 oz as of 2 weeks ago.

Do the similar sized seats use the same shell? So the Marathon/Boulevard would fill the same footprint and the Roundabout/Diplomat would fill the same footprint?

And is the Diplomat EVER recommended for purchase from you all who are in the know?

Thanks for the quick responses!
 

Maedze

New member
Yes, the Marathon and Boulevard have the same sized shell, while the Roundabout and the Diplomat are its miniature counterparts.


The Diplomat is recommended pretty much exactly never here. Any attribute it has is done better, or will last longer, or is more cost effective on another seat.
 

BW1426

Well-known member
Diplomat

Product weight 16 lbs
Seat Base / Foot Width 19"
Seat height 25"
Interior seat width 11"
Interior seat back height 21"
Bottom to lowest harness slot 10.75"
Bottom to highest harness slot 15"
Seat weight (without base)16 lbs.



Boulevard

Product weight 20 lbs
Seat Base / Foot Width 19.5"
Seat height 28"
Interior seat width 11"
Interior seat back height 25.5"
Bottom to lowest harness slot 10"
Bottom to highest harness slot 17"
 

brittany741

New member
The only reason we had a diplomat was that the Boulevard didn't fit in my Volvo at the time. We got another car and our boulevard will be here tomorrow. If a Boulevard fits, don't waste your money on a Diplomat. DD outgrew it by height and just turned 18mos.
 

Genevieve

CPST Instructor
Just for referrence, I have very small kids. DS1 has never been on the growth charts, and DS2 is barely on (about 5th for both height and weight). We had a roundabout as a spare for a little while. DS2 outgrew it rearfacing at about 20 months old. I was not even close to FF him, but his main seat is a Marathon and he has TONS of growing room in that seat. He will reach the max weight limit for RF.

So, with my very small kids and having the experience with the RA, I would never recommend the RA/Diplomat.
 

Maedze

New member
The only reason we had a diplomat was that the Boulevard didn't fit in my Volvo at the time. We got another car and our boulevard will be here tomorrow. If a Boulevard fits, don't waste your money on a Diplomat. DD outgrew it by height and just turned 18mos.

Did you have a technician help you? A Boulevard will fit with beautifully in the back seat of a Volvo. :thumbsup:
 

MoreLatte

New member
My DD4 was 12# at 9 mos and that's when we put her in the Marathon. She fit in it very well at that size. We had no problems with headflop and the harness fit her nicely, we just removed the HUGS until she was a little larger.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
The Diplomat is recommended pretty much exactly never here. Any attribute it has is done better, or will last longer, or is more cost effective on another seat.

Yes, this, i woudl NEVER recommend one of those pricey seats for what they are. If you truly don't want a higher weight convertible, I'd save my money and get something like an Avenue and then plan to possibly need a high weight harness FF seat at a later point in time....
But the main thing is that the shells on those seats mean you wont be able to RF to the limits, and that is SO important. So, you'll need another convertible after them. so,unless you like buying 2 of the same thing, to get the same amount of use that you would have gotten had you just gotten 1 good seat for cheaper in the first place, there really isn't any reason to get those small seats.
 

o_mom

New member
If you don't care about the money, then it's not a *bad* seat by any stretch, just not the most cost effective way to go about it. If you have no problem spending another $75+ if it is out grown rear-facing too soon and/or another $150+ if it is outgrown FF too soon, then I'm not going to talk you out of it. If you (or your DH) will have a hard time buying another seat in a year or so to keep her rear-facing longer, then this is not the seat for you. :)

If you plan to have multiple kids very close in age and can pass it down - you might get a good use out of it. My Roundabout has been in almost continuous use for the last 5 years between my three kids and my youngest still fits rear-facing at 21 months with room to grow. However, I have small kids and they are close in age... I realize that not every one is going to have three kids in 3.5 years. If this is your last child or will be for several years - you won't get much use for the price.
 

catsmom

New member
I have a Diplomat and although I like it, I would not buy one again. I bought one initially because I didn't think a bigger seat like the Marathon or Boulevard would fit in my Audi A3. I was wrong as I have a Marathon in there right now. I will be putting the Diplomat in Grandma's car for the occasional times she'll be riding in the car. I have a pretty tall 23 month old (~60 percentile) and she still fits RF in a diplomat so I don't think all kids will outgrow it early - although she will outgrow it by height first (since she's only about 21 1/2 lbs right now and not on the charts at all weight-wise). The Marathon would have been a much better choice from the beginning. That said, however, I do like the Diplomat for traveling. I took it on the plane with me cross country and it was nice and small.
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
Just wanted to chime in and say my petite DD rode in a MA and I always liked the fit. She just outgrew her MA at age 8! :thumbsup: We had a RA previously, and while I did love that carseat, I'm glad we went with a MA for the replacement because we got so much more use out of it, but all the features we loved on the RA.
 

tny915

New member
Thank you, everyone! :)

I'll be getting a Marathon or Boulevard. That leads me to another question as to which one to get, but I'll start a new thread for that.
 

Joh

New member
Yeah another Diplomat owner here, suggesting to go with something a little bigger. The Diplomat is a great seat, but DS is about to outgrow it rear-facing at 20 months (I estimate we have about 4 months life left in it). He is tiny too, 50% for height and 6% for weight. In retrospect it was a waste of money, but I took someone else's advice without researching for myself!
 

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