What is safest? The quest for sane safety

christineka

New member
The latest setup I have doesn't work. The booster kids can't buckle themselves. It's a pain to put the 3 little ones in and out from the back. It just isn't going to work. If I could go out and buy a multimac I would. I'm sure it would solve all of our problems. Unfortunately, I can't.

My latest idea is to get 3 regents and harness everybody for years to come. All buckles will be in front and easily accessible. I'm certain that my girls, most especially 8yo will complain. I'm not sure that it is safest to put older kids in harnesses.

Then, there is the idea to just put all of them in turboboosters, which could be fine- until someone falls asleep and falls out of the seatbelt. We aren't the type of people to have spare seats sitting in the hall closet just for long drives, though.

I'm at that point where I'm starting to consider that 12 passenger van, but I neither want one, nor do we really have the funds for one, nor would dh ever consent to it.

As a recap: I drive a 2007 8 passenger toyota sienna. My children are currently: dd 9yo @50 lbs, 18 inch torso in a new monterey
dd 8yo @50 lbs, 18 inch torso, in a vivo
ds 6yo @45lbs, 16 inch torso, in a vivo
dd 4yo 31 lbs, 12.5 inch torso, rfing avenue
ds 2yo 30 lbs, 12 inch torso, rfing radian
dd 3mo @13lbs, 1st slot in keyfit

The vivo doesn't work well in the middle-most position because the seatbelt falls out of the guide. It is a pain for a child to climb under rear-facing car seats. Passenger side in the third row is really the only place where I can fit a booster seat semi-comfortably. The driver's side works with the backless turbo. I can't do three boosters across the back. The buckles for the seatbelts on the captain's chairs are hard to get to when in one of our boosters. I really want my dd3 to remain rear-facing until she weighs 35 pounds.

I've got birthday money. I'm willing to sell seats. I'll beat dh up till he allows "the perfect" and also safe setup of car seats. Tell me, what will work that is safe enough and is also reasonably easy to deal with.
 
ADS

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
Have you considered selling one of the children? :D ;)

I'm sorry, i have no advice, i just admire how much work you've put into it......
 

lynsgirl

New member
Christine, does your ds1 still fit in the Radian? Do you still have the Tribute (I think you had a Tribute or another EF convertible)? If he still fits in the RN, you could conceivably put it in the middle of the third row and put Vivos (or if the Monterey fits, then that one) on either side. The problem I see with that is that the RN doesn't sit up on a base, so it might be what's making it hard to buckle boosters next to it (rf OR ff). I have had 2 PWs and a FF MA in the third row and while it was a PITB to buckle, it wasn't *so* bad, because you could get your hand between the booster and the MA base.

OR does the Avenue fit well RF in the third row driver's side? You could have the Avenue RF OB, RN FF next to it (w/ds1) and a Vivo or the Monterey OB. The KF would stay where it is, behind the driver (2nd row), other child (RF ds2) in Tribute (? or another new seat?) center, and other booster 2nd row, passenger side, to make getting to the third row easier. To get your dd3 buckled in RF, You'd have to step up and lean over from the side, if she could climb in herself. It's not hard to buckle a RF seat upside down :p.

Not sure if this works or not. I know something *will* work out! And it *is* cheaper to buy a new seat (or 2 lol) than a new van, especially when you've got a great van for your kids already :).
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
I know I fit a Vivo/ FF MR/ Vivo in my 3rd row, and the booster kids ahd enough room to buckle. Would 6yr DS fit FF in the MR? At least until 4yr DD hit 35 pounds and could use it FF? Though it seems odd to buy that seat just to FF.

How about 2 FF RNs in the 3rd row with a booster? DO they install well? Would 6yr DS and 8yr DD fit in them? The 8yr DD may be too tall though.
 

christineka

New member
Ds1 fits in the radian with room to grow. (I made him sit in it one day when my parents were visiting. He complained the whole time.)

He has outgrown the myride. (I tried him out in it.)

The older girls barely fit the radian with their shoulders over the top slots.


Dd2 who sits in the blush vivo in the spot pictured can buckle without complaint. She could do so in the seat behind her when it was next to the radian. She is the child most resistant to change.

I sorta got tired of looking at the tribute in my house and sold it.

That's okay, though. I have birthday money. I can sell the monterey which I bought for 1/3 the price. I can pester dh till he lets me do whatever I want.
 
Last edited:

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
I don't really have any suggestions about the carseat setup. I just want to say that sometimes there just isn't an ideal solution.

I spent 3-4 years twisting myself into a pretzel several times a day to buckle two TBs on either side of a Marathon in our VW Golf. It really, really sucked. And the kids were too young to wait in the car while I ran inside for 3 minutes at the gas station to grab a loaf of bread, so that meant I'd have to spend five minutes getting everyone back in the car just for a 3-minute trip inside.

Everything took twice as long as it should have, every trip made my back hurt, I routinely broke my nails off squeezing my hand between those seats. It was all so tedious and frustrating.

Anyway, my point is - keep in mind there just might not be a solution. I'd hate to see you spend a lot of money and effort trying to make it easier (which I completely understand - I bought a whole new car just to make it easier!) only to realize that it's just going to suck no matter what.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
Team Tex has a narrow backless booster that may work better in the 3rd row. Do you want to go backless?
 

sirrahn

Active member
Honestly, I'd turn the 4 yr old and get a rfing seat out of the way...maybe even the 2 yr old too depending on how close to 3 he is. I just personally don't feel that the safety advantage is great enough at their ages to outweigh the sanity challenge you have getting them all in every. single. trip. Others are free to feel differently;).

So I'd do Vivo, ffing Avenue, backless Turbo across the back then Vivo, Keyfit, Radian across the middle. If you move the Keyfit to the middle it will be a lot easier to buckle the 2 y.o in the Radian whether it's rfing or ffing. It's not hard to lift an infant seat to the center IME. GL!
 

cookie123

New member
I think selling 2 of the kids would be about right.;) I always thought a minivan was perfect for 3... Or maybe the 12 passenger van would be the real fix.

Seriously, good luck with your dilemma. I hate boosters and 3 across. An invention is probably in order.
 

christineka

New member
I had dd ffing for a while. I just didn't feel comfortable with it because she's too tiny. I also found that she and ds2 could not sit next to each other facing opposite directions. We took a trip out to the city and when we got there dd's face was cut and bruised from ds kicking her head. He can't do that if she's rfing too or if she sits somewhere else. If she sits somewhere else there is plenty of room for her to rf in the wider convertible seat that we have.I absolutely will not turn my 2 yo ffing. He's not going to ff until he's 4yo.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
I understand that many feel like a RSTV isn't an "everyday" kind of seat, but honestly, as i've been thinking about it, i think I would see if you can make one work in one or both center seats. A bigger kid in a RSTV, in the middle of a row in a newer sienna, is still going to be REALLY safe. It certainly provides more protection that say, a backless turbo like your oldest was used to riding in prior to the monterey. And I think it'll buy you the width you need to make it work with other seats.
 

christineka

New member
I think the issue with the rstv as an everyday restraint is just that it seems cumbersome to put on. I think I may need to look into it, though.

Whatever magic anyone thinks will happen by turning children forward facing- isn't going to happen with my seats. The radian is quite a bit wider when forward facing as opposed to rear-facing. Rear-facing it takes up 13 inches, but forward it takes up 17 inches. I am doubtful that I could get two ffing radians side by side on the 60 part of my back bench. (I went out, played with the radian and took measurements.) A backless turbo won't fit next to the ffing radian, but it will when it is rfing. How I wish for the multimac!

Right now I'm thinking of putting6 yo ds in a ffing radian, 2yo ds in a rfing radian, and then having a booster on the passenger's side. 6 yo won't like it. He'll complain every day. Maybe twice a day. He didn't like the radian. I'm picking my brain...I think I need to try out a recaro since it sits up on a base. Now, I am full of questions, so I will start a posting party.
 

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