U
Unregistered (Susan)
Guest
Hi there,
I'm on the verge of a big car seat purchase and wanted to get some input before I do anything. I have three kids, aged almost-5-years, just-turned-3-years, and 4-months. The two youngest are about to outgrow their respective seats, so they definitely need to be replaced, but I'm sort of contemplating a change with my oldest as well.
Until this weekend, they were in:
~5-year-old (~36.5 pounds, 42 inches, 23 inches sitting, 15 inches to his shoulders)
--Forward-facing Radian 80 (purchased a bit over two years ago, stickered to 33 lbs. RF, if that helps--so not an XT), which was in the third row of our Honda Odyssey, outboard.
3-year-old (~32 pounds, 37.25 inches, haven't taken more specific measurements because I'm pretty sure I know what we're going to do with her)
--Rear-facing in the same model Radian 80, outboard in the second row (driver's side) of the Honda.
4-month-old (18.9 pounds, 28.5 inches, rather big girl!) *was* in a Graco Snugride. She was right on the brink of outgrowing it by height--had *just* an inch above her head--so we moved her out of it before driving long-distance for the holidays.
So *right now* we have all three kids in the second row of the Honda Odyssey:
3-year-old on the driver's side, RF in the Radian, ~5-year-old in the center, FF in a Costco Alpha Elite (or some such...not the convertible, but the FF/booster, which we use with the harness), and 4-month-old on the passenger's side, RF in the other Radian 80.
So we're pretty sure we're going to replace the 3-year-old's Radian with an XTSL, since she's approaching the weight limit for RF (ours is stickered to RF 33 pounds, and my understanding is that SKJP has said they are safe to 35, but it misses the (August 2008?) cut-off for the 40 RF standard).
I think we'll probably keep the baby in one of the older kids' Radians for now (with the infant inserts--she'll probably inherit the XTSL when she approaches the 33 pound mark herself).
We're having trouble deciding what to do with our 5-year-old, though. We could:
--keep him FF in his Radian. He has plenty of room before he outgrows it by height, and he's nowhere near the weight limit, of course.
--rear face him in an XTSL. This would mean moving him to the second row, because while I'm comfortable with him buckling himself into his Radian, I wouldn't be able to check his harness from the 3rd row if he were RF. I would probably put him in the middle of the second row, because he *can* buckle himself in, but I'm not sure if that would be best, since he wouldn't be directly behind another seat (although I don't think his seat would fit totally in between the front seats, either).
--put him in a high-back booster (either in the center of the second row or in the third row). This isn't my inclination, but I'm throwing it out there as another option. I've heard/read some opinions that FF 5-points aren't necessarily safer than a well-fitted booster, so I've tossed the idea around.
So I guess I want the most advice about my almost-5-year-old, but I'm also open to suggestions for the baby (or, for that matter, if you think the XTSL isn't a good seat for the 3-year-old, tell me that, too! But I feel pretty good about that decision).
Where the baby is concerned, we're having a hard time getting the harnesses to feel as secure as we would like them, and my husband (who tends to do more of the car seat adjustment/installation) seems to think she's just too small for it to fit any more snugly than that (I keep telling him that if they bill it as suitable for a 5-pound baby, is can CERTAINLY fit our almost-19-pound baby appropriately). Any advice on that? It does *feel* as though it can't get any tighter (you pull the strap and it just...won't tighten any more). Any advice on what to do with that? Also, I'd like opinions on putting the 4-month-old in the Radian without the side-impact protection of the XT. Should we be putting her in a different seat? I would consider getting her an XTSL, too, but I'd also be open to an altogether-different seat, since she'll probably be able to inherit the XTSL from my other daughter by the time she reaches a 33 or 35 pound RF limit on another seat. Suggestions?
Sorry this has turned so long, but it's a big purchase, and I want to make sure we're making a well-informed decision.
Thanks!
Susan
I'm on the verge of a big car seat purchase and wanted to get some input before I do anything. I have three kids, aged almost-5-years, just-turned-3-years, and 4-months. The two youngest are about to outgrow their respective seats, so they definitely need to be replaced, but I'm sort of contemplating a change with my oldest as well.
Until this weekend, they were in:
~5-year-old (~36.5 pounds, 42 inches, 23 inches sitting, 15 inches to his shoulders)
--Forward-facing Radian 80 (purchased a bit over two years ago, stickered to 33 lbs. RF, if that helps--so not an XT), which was in the third row of our Honda Odyssey, outboard.
3-year-old (~32 pounds, 37.25 inches, haven't taken more specific measurements because I'm pretty sure I know what we're going to do with her)
--Rear-facing in the same model Radian 80, outboard in the second row (driver's side) of the Honda.
4-month-old (18.9 pounds, 28.5 inches, rather big girl!) *was* in a Graco Snugride. She was right on the brink of outgrowing it by height--had *just* an inch above her head--so we moved her out of it before driving long-distance for the holidays.
So *right now* we have all three kids in the second row of the Honda Odyssey:
3-year-old on the driver's side, RF in the Radian, ~5-year-old in the center, FF in a Costco Alpha Elite (or some such...not the convertible, but the FF/booster, which we use with the harness), and 4-month-old on the passenger's side, RF in the other Radian 80.
So we're pretty sure we're going to replace the 3-year-old's Radian with an XTSL, since she's approaching the weight limit for RF (ours is stickered to RF 33 pounds, and my understanding is that SKJP has said they are safe to 35, but it misses the (August 2008?) cut-off for the 40 RF standard).
I think we'll probably keep the baby in one of the older kids' Radians for now (with the infant inserts--she'll probably inherit the XTSL when she approaches the 33 pound mark herself).
We're having trouble deciding what to do with our 5-year-old, though. We could:
--keep him FF in his Radian. He has plenty of room before he outgrows it by height, and he's nowhere near the weight limit, of course.
--rear face him in an XTSL. This would mean moving him to the second row, because while I'm comfortable with him buckling himself into his Radian, I wouldn't be able to check his harness from the 3rd row if he were RF. I would probably put him in the middle of the second row, because he *can* buckle himself in, but I'm not sure if that would be best, since he wouldn't be directly behind another seat (although I don't think his seat would fit totally in between the front seats, either).
--put him in a high-back booster (either in the center of the second row or in the third row). This isn't my inclination, but I'm throwing it out there as another option. I've heard/read some opinions that FF 5-points aren't necessarily safer than a well-fitted booster, so I've tossed the idea around.
So I guess I want the most advice about my almost-5-year-old, but I'm also open to suggestions for the baby (or, for that matter, if you think the XTSL isn't a good seat for the 3-year-old, tell me that, too! But I feel pretty good about that decision).
Where the baby is concerned, we're having a hard time getting the harnesses to feel as secure as we would like them, and my husband (who tends to do more of the car seat adjustment/installation) seems to think she's just too small for it to fit any more snugly than that (I keep telling him that if they bill it as suitable for a 5-pound baby, is can CERTAINLY fit our almost-19-pound baby appropriately). Any advice on that? It does *feel* as though it can't get any tighter (you pull the strap and it just...won't tighten any more). Any advice on what to do with that? Also, I'd like opinions on putting the 4-month-old in the Radian without the side-impact protection of the XT. Should we be putting her in a different seat? I would consider getting her an XTSL, too, but I'd also be open to an altogether-different seat, since she'll probably be able to inherit the XTSL from my other daughter by the time she reaches a 33 or 35 pound RF limit on another seat. Suggestions?
Sorry this has turned so long, but it's a big purchase, and I want to make sure we're making a well-informed decision.
Thanks!
Susan