Come with me, and let us puzzle

On February 1, I'm having major surgery. I'll be in the hospital for just under a week if all goes well. During that time, the children will be at a combination of home, my mother's and my sister's.

To further complicate matters, AFTER the surgery I will be both unable to lift children OR install car seats for roughly six weeks.

So whatever is done, needs to be in place before February 1. Seats will not be able to be switched between vehicles.

Vehicles:

2005 Ford Freestar (ours)

2006 Nissa Versa (my sister's)

2004 Toyota Rav 4 (my mother's)

Children:

5 years, 47 pounds, 47", booster trained
(just 2 weeks shy of) 4 years, roughly 38 pounds, roughly 40"
2 years, 29 pounds, 35"

Seats:
Graco Nautilus
Graco My Ride (2)
Graco TB (high back)
Britax Wizard (33 lb)
Britax Boulevard (33 lb)
FPSV booster (2)
Radian 65 (2) (35 lb)
Safety First Complete Air

I am not opposed to buying a new product or products to make this work, although obviously I would prefer not to.


Facts to consider: 5 yo is booster trained. 2 yo and 4 yo obviously ride rear facing. However, they will not ride rear facing for this six week duration in MY car, as they are unable to climb into their MR by themselves, and I cannot lift them.

Furthermore, the 2 year old is particularly obstreperous, and his forward facing seat needs to be EXTREMELY easy for him to get into for this time period because I simply cannot give him a 'boost' if he gets fractious. (Honestly, I'm anticipating a lot of tearful (me) and angry (him) waits in parking lots for a month there ) Also, the 5 year old MUST be in the Nautilus in my vehicle, because he rides in the third row, I cannot bend over to help him buckle, and the Nautilus is the only seat he can manage without assistance.


Other points of note. The Radian does NOT fit rear facing in my sister's car (Nissan Versa) without intruding upon the room of either the driver, the passenger, or both (my sister is very tall, and frequently drives with another very tall adult).


So I'm playing out a few options in my mind. What would you do?

I don't know how well they'll puzzle, but here is a suggested lay out.

My dd can easily climb into our BV/MA ff or rf with a little stool (or without if she is in the mood). We like the Ikea ones with the little holes so they can be secured. Do you think your youngest would/could climb into the CA rf? The back seat of the RAV 4 is narrow - I don't know this will work.

2005 Ford Freestar
5 - Graco Nautilus
4 – MR ff
2 - CA RF

2006 Nissa Versa
5 - FPSV booster
4 - RN FF
2 - BV RF

2004 Toyota Rav 4
5 - FPSV booster
4 – Wizard FF
2 - RN RF

who's car other than yours will the kids be in the most? That will help decide who gets more of the RF seats.

And do you know if the MR works in your mom or sisters car for 3 across? Do the MR's have to be next to a radian to work, and do they have to be going different directions? I don't know about the versa, but I think the rav 4 has a pretty smallish backseat (unless it has 3 rows?)

What three seats would be your top three picks for Older DS? I am guessing GN, TB but what else does he normally ride in?
I would go with the GN for ods for your car with YDS sitting in radian as it is the lowest to climb into. You might see how well ODS does with putting YDS in his seat JIC. My girls are 4 ,8, and 10 and even the 4 y/o can buckle the almost 2y/o in a pinch.

They are going to be staying first with my mother and then home with my husband, and then with my sister before they come home with me.

I thought about just sending the minivan WITH the kids but both my mother and sister have to deal with permitted parking, so that won't work.

I would be very, very surprised if I could puzzle two rear facing seats next to each other in either of the other cars.

I'm thinking about RSTVS, a large and a small.

Here's what I came up with, and I think I hit all of your qualifications.

Freestar:
5 y/o - Nautilus
4 - CA FF (or RF if willing to climb in all the time)
2 - Radian FF (it's the most low profile and easy for kids to climb in.

Versa:
5 - Turbobooster
4 - WZ or BV FF
2 - RF My ride

Rav 4: I wasn't sure if three across was an issue, so I tried to get ones that puzzle well.
5 - FPSV booster
4 - RF My Ride
2 - RF Radian

My Ride and Radian puzzle like a dream, but there's a little "lip" of the my ride that hangs over to the radian.

So if they fit, I think I would do

van:
FF nauti
FF radian for 2 yo - low to the seat for easy climbing
FF wizard for 4yo

Versa:
RF MR
FF booster
RF CA
(pick whichever kid fits which RF seat better)

Rav 4:
FF blvd
RF radian
FF booster
( I only say FF blvd b/c I think you might need it in order to puzzle better with the RF radian in a tight 3 across. If the RF MR will puzzle with the RF radian, then do that so both kids can RF).
so that would be
RF MR
FF booster
RF radian

I would save your CA and MR for the older RFers if they will fit in a 3 across. I hear the CA is narrow.

Have you tried out any of these 3 across scenerios yet?

Is there a reason your DS can not climb into the MR while it is RF?? Marcus has been able to climb into even some of the tallest RF seats since he was about 19 months old. Just a thought, but maybe you could work with him on it or offer him a stool to help him.

However if he can not nor will he be able to by then, then I would go for the Radian FF for him. The main reason being as everyone else stated, it is so low.

I actually think it can be easier for a kid to climb into a RF seat rather than a FF seat. When they climb into a rear-facing seat, they have the shell of the seat and the vehicle's seatback to reach for when getting in. My daughter could climb into her RFing Marathon a lot easier than she could get into her Frontier when she first switched from RFing to FFing. So it might be easier for your littlest kiddo to climb into a seat RFing. Plus, you won't have the potential for the "slide to the floor" move like with FFing.

My daughter was able to climb into her Boulevard RFing at around 2.5 by herself, and my 25 month old can almost do it (he can climb in, but can't quite manage to get himself into position). Maybe you could have your 2 year old practice getting into whatever seat you decide on for your vehicle between now and February so that he can do it by himself (or with a little stool for help).

bree said:

I actually think it can be easier for a kid to climb into a RF seat rather than a FF seat.

Click to expand...

I found this, too. When both my little ones were rf in BVs in my van, I had a stool between the two seats. DD would go through the gap under one of the rf seats (through the 'secret passage' ), and then into the middle of the van, and use the armrests and the stool to get in the seat rf. She had an easier time doing this than getting into the ff BV from the front. My DS1 just needed to be careful not to trip on the stool on the way into the 'way' back as we call it..

Don't some Rav 4s only have 2 usable seating positions in the back?

flutie128 said:

Don't some Rav 4s only have 2 usable seating positions in the back?

Click to expand...

Yes. I'm pretty sure the 2004 had three seating positions.

Both the Rav 4 and the Versa have TINY back seats. I've tried putting a FPSV booster next to a forward facing Radian and it can't be done, at least in the Versa. I imagine that's true in the Rav4 as well.

I just read that on here recently. It is a good thing if all 3 will be able to get back there.

Just a thought, can you train the 5 yo to help the 2 yo into his seat? My 5 yo loves to get her little bro into his seat. Might help a bit...he wouldn't have to buckle her, you will still be able to do that, right? He's just be the one giving the lil guy a "boost" to help him into the seat?

So then the MR and the blvd/wizard are all probably out completely, and you say the FP booster is also too wide.

have you tried the radian, radian graco TB combo in the rav 4?

it that works, then you could try the CA (avenue, narrow booster?) in the versa?

Since many of your seats are wide, I guess I don't see you being able to use the wide ones in this situation. Do you have any local friends with radians they could swap with you for a short time?

Would lending a harnessed booster seat help?
We've got an Evenflo 40 pound Generations (or Bolero, I can't figure out the difference, but 40 pound and same dimension either way),
an inexpensive Evenflo harnessed booster (has MUCH higher top slots than the Cosco equivalent),
and an Evenflo Chase.
Probably not useful, but we can also lend a Scenera (or two).

These are all so low profile and relatively skinny that it may help your puzzling. Jo has never had a problem climbing into these himself. I know keeping the kids RFing is a priority, but if you can't get it to work, then you could keep these options open - we are happy to lend.
We are also happy to do some childcare for you if you need it. Jonah is becoming lonely without regular playmates.

Good luck!

I have a 40 pound Radian collecting dust that I'd be willing to let you borrow. I'm not sure if it's worth the drive.

The MyRide and Radian do do some crazy puzzling. The MyRide is in its plastic bag because I was returning it.

Can't give any carseat advice - but I'm sorry you need to have surgery. It must be so hard to plan with 3 little ones. Hope all goes well.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'm printing this out and taking it with me I'll try a few combinations. If nothing works, I'll order some RSTVs and call it a day.

It's unfortunate that I need surgery, but the alien babies won't come out vaginally. Their double heads are too big.

I'm usually just getting advice here (including a lot from you ), but I had some ideas. I used to have a Forester with a very small back seat, and the only way I could 3 across was with a Radian in the middle. This could actually work pretty well since 4 of your seats sit up on bases so should puzzle well with the RN one way or the other, and I was able to get a RFing AOE next to the FFing RN, so the CA may likely work too.

So I would start with a FF RN in the middle of both cars for the 5 yo. Then I would try to put the Britaxes (1 in each car) RFing for the 2 yo. Then I would try the My Rides and/or CA RFing for the 4 yo (obviously turning first the 4 yo and then the 2 yo if more than 1 of the 5 seats don't fit RFing next to the Radian in either car).

Then in your car you have the 5 yo in the Nautilus, the 4 yo in whatever convertible's left and 2 yo in a borrowed Radian (RFing if they can learn by then and either a MR or the CA is left for the 4 yo, FFing otherwise).