What carseat??

I am looking to get my youngest a new seat since he isn't liking his current one too much right now. He is currently in a Graco safeseat in the center of my 2006 honda civic. I also have 2 Graco turboboosters without backs beside him for his older brothers. I need something that will still keep him rear facing but that will fit with the other seats. Any suggestions?

What are the ages and weights of your kiddos, that will give us a better idea of what to suggest :thumbsup:

He is 9 months and about 20lbs and 28 inches long.

Also the ages and sizes of the two children next to the baby

5 1/2 yrs old and about 45lbs, not sure of height
6 1/2 yrs old and about 51lbs, not sure of height

They are fine in their seats, it is just that I need something for the baby that will work with their seats.

Do you have the screws in the armrests of your turboboosters?

Ideally both of your older children would be in high back booster. Usually we don't like to see kids in backless boosters full time until their 8th birthday. It helps them sit properly, may provide additional side impact protection, and helps position the belt better on their smaller frames. Highback turboboosters would be a good option if they fit by height.

Are you in Canada? For your baby, I would look at the Sunshine Kids Radian, Safety 1st Complete Air, Safety 1st Avenue/Uptown, and Cosco Scenera. They are relatively narrow seats, the last three are actually made by the same company despite the different brands. It is likely your baby has growing time in the snugride, it is outgrown by height when there is less than 1 inch of hard shell above the head or when the weight limit is reached. I would focus on getting the bigger kids in highback boosters before buying a new seat.

We also recommend rear facing beyond 1 & 20 lbs. It provides much greater protection- one study showed a 500% increase in safety rear facing between the 1st and 2nd birthday. If you google "extended rear facing" and read for a little bit (or search for youtube videos!) it will give you a good idea of why.

I agree with those seat suggestions. The Radian will arguably last the longest both RF (40 or 45 lbs, 40?? inches), FF (65 lbs, 18" top harness slots) and in temrs of expiry (8 years), but is also the most expensive. The Scenera is a great budget seat but very basic, no EPS foam etc and only has a short harness (14.5" top slots) and 40 lb limit for FF. It is 35lbs RF and has a decent height shell, and has a 6 year expiry. The Avenue is similar to the Scenera but with EPS foam and more padding. The CA is 40lbs/36in(?) RF and 50lbs/18"THS for FF, and 6 years expiry?? (or is it 8 like the 3in1s?? anyone?). MOst kids outgrow seats by height before weight so it would be very similar to the Radian. But I think the Radian is narrower as well.

All these seats should fit fine RF in your Civic unless you are tall, especially if you install a bit more upright. I have had the Radian RF in my '07, I think I tried both in center and driver's side, and I fit comfortably to drive - but I'm 5'2".

I tried having the older boys in their boosters with the backs and they wouldn't fit beside the babys seat, I have the armrests on the lowest setting just to make them fit. The babys seat was given to me and I love it but he hates it now and screams all the time. I was looking at a seat at wal-mart by Graco and it looks like it might work since it is up higher than most of the carseats I have seen. I would like to have the backs on the boosters again but need to find a seat for the baby that will work. Does anyone know if the Graco seat works beside the turboboosters in my small car. I need the driver seat back quite a bit since I am 5'10.

They are in boosters with backs in my husbands van but he needs the van during the day for work so I have to use the car to drive the older boys to school. They are only in the car for 10 mins or so on side streets twice a day. We walk when we can but some days we just have to drive. Oh and the screws are in the armrests of all the boosters.

I just really need something for the car to help my littlest guy, he gets so red and starts coughing cause he crys so hard when he is in the safeseat. I did try him in my friends babys carseat and he didn't cry but that seat was so wide so it doesn't work for what I need.

The Graco MyRide does sit up on a base, but it is also very wide. I think you would have better luck with a lower profile seat. The other Graco convertible, the comfort sport, is not recommended because it is outgrown too soon- it only lasts a little bit longer than an infant seat (in fact, it might even be outgrown sooner than the safe seat) .

The Sunshine Kids Radian would be an ideal option if you can get it to fit in your car, as the base is only 12 inches wide and it is very low profile. It does install rather reclined, though there are some tricks to getting it more upright and sometimes the top of the shell will fit in between the two front seats. I would see if you can test out some seats in your car. Babies R Us often allows people to try out the seats before they buy, and you can always buy a seat, go to the parking lot to try it in the car, and return it if it doesn't fit.

Where are you located? Maybe someone here is near you and has some seats you could try out.

Walmart recently started carrying the Graco MyRide, as Celtic said it is a wide seat though maybe the width is high enough that it might clear the booster armrests. I haven't tried it next to anything or even thought about it much. It looks like that works FF (but don't turn your baby FF anytime soon!!! eek) so maybe it would also work RF?? If it was the Comfort Sport you saw, I 2nd the statement to not get it.

The Radian would be a great option to try because it is very narrow. There are tricks to get it to install more upright that have varying degrees of success. Much of the time it can be done. You might have better luck getting it in well+upright+leave room in the driver's seat if you put it passenger side outboard, assuming you have a lap/shoulder belt + headrest in the center for the booster. Luckily it is very narrow which means you would be more likely to fit the two boosters side by side than with another seat. And it is also possible that a Radian would allow you to use the backs on the boosters.

From the successful 3 across thread:

Patriot201 said:

2006 Honda Civic

FF Britax Parkway
RF Sunshine Kids Radian XT (seatbelt/RF tether)
FF Graco Nautilus (seatbelt/FF tether)

RF SafetyFirst Avenue
FF Cosco Scenera
FF Sunshine Kids Radian XT
(all installed with seatbelts)

FF Britax Boulevard
RF Sunshine Kids Radian XT
FF Recaro Vivo
(all installed with seatbelts)

Click to expand...

With pics:

Patriot201 said:

2006 Honda Civic

* Recaro Vivo (using seatbelt, of course)
* RF Sunshine Kids Radian XT (installed using seatbelt and RF tether)
* Graco Nautilus (installed using seatbelt and FF tether)

Two installed carseats are independently secure. This is a TIGHT fit, but it works.

Click to expand...

If you search that thread Patriot201 has some other combinations, but this one had boosters and seemed the most applicable. If she can get a Nautilus in there with two other seats - wow. Both the Radian and Parkway are narrow seats though. You might consider trading the older kids' boosters in for Parkways (the Britax Parkway Slide Guard) since they are very tall as a high back booster, tend to fit kids well, and are narrow.