buying 4 seats - lots of ??...

so we are going tomorrow to get the 4 seats that insurance is paying for.

we have twin 9 month olds (18 and 20 lbs) a 3 year old (25-30 lbs not sure exactly - pretty small) and a 4 1/2 year old (between 40-45 lbs VERY long torsoed). the smaller twin has very low tone and a cranial band/helmet. we have an 04 montana van (that may or may not be totalled - if it is we have no idea what we will get - van or suv) and we currently have the babies in the middle captains chairs with latch and the big kids in the third row ff and tethered in comos.

so i'm thinking the myride for the 3 year old. she could rear-face in it. she loves the seat (very comfy, cup holders, pretty). she is so small i think she'd be fine in it for years.

for the 4 year old we have a como new in box that he can go into. he still has a couple inches in it. i want to buy a good booster for when he outgrows that. we're planning to try him in the vivo, monterey, and parkway sg and see what he fits best in and where the belt lies on him. does this seem like a good choice? i have a young sport made in 2006 that we could use as a booster, so i might be better off buying another convertible?

for the babies...right now we have cassius in a snugride without the base and one in an old school triumph. we love the snugride because we can put it in the stroller and have one baby facing us (we switch out which baby is in it in the stroller), it's very reclined which cassius likes (he gets fussy in the triumph) and we flop it foward to fold down the seat to buckle up the big kids. so i'm thinking about getting a safeseat/snugride 32/35 to replace the snugride. also that way we would still have an infant seat if/when we need it again (HA!). our old one had certainly made it around the family so i'm sure this would be well used.

i have NO IDEA what to get for fox. i like the myride and that would last him a good long while. i wonder if it would be better to get a radian xt though in case we need a 3 across solution. or it might be better to get a seat with a more easily adjustable harness height like the symphony or blvd? or just get another myride?

we tried the complete air's and cassius doesn't fit well in them with his helmet and i really am not fan.

so my questions are:

should i get a booster ahead of time or just get another convertible?
do the myrides puzzle well with the radians? does it puzzle well with a regent (in case i end up needing one of those for jet before he is booster ready)?
is there any reason i would rather buy the radian 65 or 80 over the radian xt? or is the xt just all around better?
is there any reason i need a coccoro? cause omg i love that seat.

I'd do a Graco Nautilus for your 4y/o
I'd give the new Como to your 3y/o (and rf him)
I'd get a Graco MyRide for one twin
I'd get a Graco Snugride 32 for the other twin.


Then down the road I'd give the Como to the twin in the SR32, move your 3y/o to the Nautilus, and get your 4y/o a booster. If baby in the SR32 grows faster than expected you could just get him a Scenera to bridge the gap, or splurge and get another MyRide.


I dunno, seat foreshadowing is not my forte, so feel free to ignre me.

canadiangie said:

I'd do a Graco Nautilus for your 4y/o
I'd give the new Como to your 3y/o (and rf him)
I'd get a Graco MyRide for one twin
I'd get a Graco Snugride 32 for the other twin.


Then down the road I'd give the Como to the twin in the SR32, move your 3y/o to the Nautilus, and get your 4y/o a booster. If baby in the SR32 grows faster than expected you could just get him a Scenera to bridge the gap, or splurge and get another MyRide.


I dunno, seat foreshadowing is not my forte, so feel free to ignre me.

Click to expand...

This is what I would do also, except I would the put your dd in the myride and twin #1 in the como, assuming he fits well in it.
I just ordered a coccoro and don't have it yet so I don't know yet if I am willing to give up my bucket for the times it comes in handy, but you could consider getting one for twin #2 instead of the snugride32. I am not sure how well it would work with a helment since I haven't seen one in person yet.

we just sold a nautilus and he actually had more growth left in the como than the nautilus (i don't know if that is typical or if he sits weird in one or the other or what).

and what would you get for the 4th seat?

and fox (the bigger twin) fits great in a como (and loves it). so that is definately an option.

The como does have higher slots but it is too tight in the shoulders for my kids before they get to the top slot. It is awesome if his shoulders will fit and he doesn't mind being that high up.
Have you tried a Frontier?
If you want to keep in the the Como I would look at 2 MyRides and a snuride 32.

As for boosters... I can't say which is better. It is all about how well it fits your son. The Vivo and the Parkway SG fit both my older kids well, even though neither rides in a booster yet. The monterey is too wide for either of them, even in the smallest settings.

If you have a skinny kid it may be fine in the shoulders. My oldest is a skinny tall thing and at 4 I tried her FF in the Como, she had about 1 1/2 inches to grow and fit fine, loved it. It's not well loved for rear-facing, though, so if your oldest fits and is comfortable in it I'd say go ahead and do it.

If you'll never use the Radian outboard, you could go with the 65 to save money. That's about its only advantage. I know some kids aren't fans of the head wings...

I feel your pain on loving the CCO but not needing it!

I would try the 4yo in the frontier. If he fits, that would last him a good long while and become a booster if needed.

Then I'd put bigger twin in the como.
little twin in a new SR32
little 3yo DD in a pretty myride.
For the 4th new seat I'd get something to move the little twin into, perhaps another MR, or a radian XT. If insurance is paying, get an XTSL for whoever needs more weight for RFing or a narrow seat for any 3 across that may be necessary.

I havn't tried it, but I've seen pics here that the MR and Radian puzzle very well next to each other when both RFing.

so that's probly what I'd do,
frontier, SR, MR, Radian
or
MR, SR, radian and (radian or MR).

yup, he is a skinny boy.

the van only has tethers in outboard seats, so if we needed the radian ff that is really the only option.

thank you guys!

feel free to keep the thoughts/comments coming. i love all this feedback. it's giving me alot to chew on. i'll certainly be dreaming of carseats tonight!

the shop im going to in the morning is this www.lonestarbaby.com they had a huge selection - everything i saw on their website they had in stock at the store. we're going to spend the morning trying out kids in seats.

Which lonestar baby did you go to? I've been to the one in NRH and love it there. My dds call it Carseat Land. I would probably get a Regent for Jet. We adore ours. And if he's a long torsoed one, you might need it. And I'd probably skip the bucket and get a MR65 for your guy who likes the recine. Also, sounds like a MR would be good for your girly, or you could get her a RN. Fox, I would probably just put in the Como you have since he loves the seat. My littlest dd also loves the Como. I would probably wait on the booster. Get the CCO. Then if you wanna swap out the Como and the myride you can.

ok, i went to the frisco lonestar baby. i got a rio radian xt, a safeseat 1 in nectar, the petina bloom myride, and the gray/black myride. right now i have jet in the como, marvel and fox in myrides and cassius in the safeseat. i'll post some akward angle cell phone pics in a minute. the radian is in the box right now, but i hope to try out some 3 across solutions when i get my van back for when cash outgrows the safeseat1.

jet's growth has really slowed down (almost no torso growth in a year really) so i don't know if we'll need a regent. i didn't get a booster though. he is not ready for one yet and if her has a sudden growth spurt then we would just need to get a regent. i just really hate that seat (for no real reason) so i'm not going to buy it unless i need to.

marvel was ff today, but we are going to try her rf once we get the trunk/hatch area empty so we can buckle her.

Off topic - I just noticed your name.... Aja... she was my favorite from Jem and the Holograms!

Back on topic....

I'd get a Britax Frontier (makes a better booster when the time comes) for Jet

As for seating, this is what I'd do.

I'd put Marvel in the center of the third row in the Radian (or remove your other captain's chair and put her outboard - really depends if you can put it in there rearfacing and on how much room it requires)

I'd then put both twins in Myrides (I think Cassius will love the recline because, as you can tell, it's very reclined) either on either side of Marvel or with one in the center and one outboard.

THEN... I'd put Jet in the 2nd row in a captain's chair.

You can load the babies through the back hatch.

I can tell just by looking at the current seats in the back and the space between them that this should work.

When you put Marvel's My Ride RF, can it be on the driver's side, and Jet passenger's? It looks like you have a Sienna, and I know there's not tether anchor driver's side But I know this is all temporary until you get your van back.