Enable (or disable) me, please...

I swear, every time I think I've got my dck seat situation "finalized," one of them goes and grows again. Gah... I need some hand-holding here, since I feel like I should be able to make my own mind up, but am really waffling and have no one to discuss this with (everyone here thinks I've lost my ever-lovin' mind.)

I'm trying to decide whether or not to spring for a 45lb RF Radian for J. He's 2y8m, 37-38", 38-40lb, currently RF in a MR. He was FF from 11mos in mom's car, something insane like 9mos in dad's car (which he's hardly ever in,) and probably 12 or 13 mos in mine. If I'd known then what I know now, he would have RF longer in each of them, but whatever. He still rides FF in both mom and dad's cars, but has been in the MR since early June with me.

I originally got it to RF him through the summer, that was my deal with myself, to have him RF through when we travelled a lot. Of course, at the beginning of summer, there wasn't the possibility of anything else being available. So in early Sept, when I turned him as I'd planned, he was fine day one, but day two complained that I'd passed his seat down to the babe. (He has a bizarre attachment to the stupid pillow on it, lol!) So, since mom said she thought he was under 40lbs, and he still fit, I turned him back around and figured I'd leave him 'til he topped 40lbs.

I was putting him in last week and realized he must have had a growth spurt, because he's just barely an inch from the top now. Further, he must be pushing close to that 40lb mark (winter clothes don't matter so much, as my RFers take their shoes off and the kids just use blankets.) So I'm debating whether just to turn him FF (I could use any of four or five seats) or to buy the RN.

I think where I struggle is that his parents don't give a crap... overall they're great parents, and awesome people, but when it comes to car seat safety they just don't get it. I'm currently locked in a fight with dad about following the new booster law for their kindergartener... "They're not ticketing yet," is his word on it. So, I'm stressing over turning this child, and whether or not to stress myself financially (it's doable, no one would go without food or power by any means, but it would mean a few sacrifices of my own,) and on one hand, he's 32mos... but on the other hand, he's not yet three and knowing what I know now, I'd like to RF kids until at least 3 if not 4...

So, if this was your charge, WWYD? If it was your baby, at 2.5, would you buy another seat? How much longer will a child who has outgrown the MR last in a Radian?

TIA for listening to my whining and any advice given. I had almost talked myself out of it when I talked myself back into it so... I decided I should get some other opinions.

Thanks again,
Carrie

If it were MY baby, at 2.5, yes I'd buy a new seat if I could no longer RF in what I already owned. But, I don't think I could spend that much on something that wasn't for MY child.

If it were my own child, I'd do it in a heartbeat, if it was financially doable. :thumbsup:
But for someone elses's child~ especially in the case where mom and dad dont really care about it~ i'd be comfortable FFing him.
I have nannied in the past, and currently do home daycare, and there are some things that I will spend $ on for charges, but the price of a $ 200 or $300 carseat, just isnt one of them. (unless of course, your OWN child will use the carseat when the charge isnt using it, or if u plan to have a child soon who could use the seat, etc..) :twocents:
HTH

Thanks for your responses, ladies. I don't have kids of my own, and even if I found Mr Right tomorrow, I'm thinking it would be 4-5 years before I would "need" the high RF weight of the Radian, at a minimum. So, it would definitely only be used for J (I'll probably be done with this set of children by the time the current baby would be at that size.)

It's helpful to hear from others who have the child vs charge comparison, since I don't; I've had these children/familes for many years (7+) and not having my own kids, they're the only experience I have. 50 hours a week with a kid since they were just a couple of weeks old makes it harder to separate

I think I'll rearrange car seats this weekend again, and put him FF then. I really think he's at the top limits of the MR RF, and I'd prefer not to push it. If I find that I'm still really uncomfortable with him FF, I may still spring for the RN... otherwise I'll work with what I have.

Thanks again. Like I said, I don't know anybody "in real life" who would listen to my debate, since they don't understand why he's RF in the first place. (Worth a note that mom and dad don't fight me -- they understand why I make the car seat decisions I do and have acknowledge that I do "the right thing" -- they just aren't concerned with practicing it themselves.)

That is a tough one! I do think he would fit heightwise a long time in the radian if you bought one but with only 5 lbs until he would outgrow it I really don't think I would do it either.

Hugs!

Thanks for letting me know about the height -- that was one thing I wondered about. I forgot to ask in my first post, does anyone know of any stores where you can try a Radian out in your car?

I just saw some 'fancy math' to get one for $212, I think if I could get it for under $200 I'd do it. But for now I'll try the FF and see how I handle it... lol.

Sunshine kids has a retailer look up on their website, you can try to find a store that has them on it.

If you did buy one you could always sell it after he reaches 45 lbs.