Do I give her my Frontier?

sb518

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #1

Ugh. My sister just put my 4 year old niece in a backless booster. "We don't have the money to spend on another carseat." Her 2 year old brother needs the Chase that she was in.

I have a Frontier in my car that I use for her when I have her, but yesterday I told my sister that I would trade her the worthless booster for the Frontier.

I don't know what to do. I wish I had the money to just buy her a GN. I know my Frontier will get destroyed.

6 month old nephew just hit 20 lbs too. *Sigh*

I know my sister isn't going to change. We've had friendly discussions many times and she talks like she completely agrees with me and how it's so much safer, but for some reason none of it applies to her children.

They'll never die you know. It will never happen to HER.

Should I just dish out the $175 for a GN so I can sleep at night? :crying: I'd rather have her improperly harnessed in a GN than a backless booster.

 

firemomof3

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #2

How much does your neice weigh? How about getting her a Maestro?

 

christineka

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #3

I would make calls to the hospital, health department, wic, and safe kids to find out where and how much a low cost car seat through their program would be. Then, I would give sister the information on how she can get a safe seat for low cost. I might even tell her that if she goes and gets a seat, I will pay her the $25 or whatever it was back for the seat. Some people you can't save. I would not give away a seat that I wanted to keep.

 

TheQueenMother

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #4

How big is your neice? I hate to see you give her your frontier only to have her use it in booster mode and the seat be ruined by her carelessness.
If she is less than 50 lbs, I would be tempted to get a generations 65 or maestro for mom's car because it would be much less expensive than the GN.

 

L

lorismurph

Senior Community Member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #5

For sure the Maestro. I'd much rather see her ruin a $75 seat than your Frontier.

 

A

arly1983

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #6

lorismurph said:

For sure the Maestro. I'd much rather see her ruin a $75 seat than your Frontier.

Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

I have "loaned" and "traded" seats with people several time so I can understand how you feel.

 

MustangMama

Active member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #7

I'm gonna :yeahthat:. All of that

 

Kat_Momof3

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #8

since you mentioned IMPROPERLY harnessed... why not simply pay about 50 bucks and buy her a highback turbobooster... then she's safer than she is in the current seat, but it's less likely to be misused (put the screws in the armrests yourself)

 

cookie123

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #9

Nooooo, don't give her your seat. Yes to the Maestro if you think she will use it.

 

sb518

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #10

She is 43 lbs. Has a CRAZY long torso. 1 notch left on the Frontier for her. I've never even heard of the Maestro... I'll have to google it. Although I don't have any money to buy her a seat, and won't for quite some time. Especially after $510 on car repairs today. And her parents won't qualify for any low-income program. They make big $$ but have a lot of medical debt on credit cards so they can barely pay their minimum credit card payments every month.

 

Splash

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #11

Nope. Give up. They don't care, you have to try to stop caring. I've given up on buying seats for my nephews, because it just doesn't work.

 

Evolily

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #12

I wouldn't buy them a seat. If it was a priority, they would have a seat. If it was a priority, they would use the seat properly. Debt or not. Since it's not a priority they haven't bought one. Save your money.

ETA- I know you know this, but just having a harness seat isn't a magic bubble. If they are misusing it severely it is effectively a baby launcher. At least the seatbelt, if routed in a somewhat reasonable fashion (shoulder belt and lap belt across torso around where they should be) will keep the child from being ejected. That's half the battle.

 

mommy2env

Active member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #13

How about a scenera for your nephew? (I foget what the RF weight limit is) or an Avenue? That way your niece keeps the Chase.

 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Mar 27, 2010

• #14

The maesto height is 18.25.

 

Mommy2Marcus

New member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #15

You said that the she is 43lbs right? If so than she has outgrown the harness in the Chase anyhow as it is a 40lb seat with the harness. Also IIRC it makes a crappy booster, so not a good seat for her anymore.

I would also agree with the Meastro, but it only has a 50lb limit on it. A Gen 65 might be a better choice for weight, but with a tall torso she might have outgrown it height wise.

So I agree with a HBB like the Turbo would be better for her. Also maybe something like the Scenera for the 6 month old.

In the end though. There might not be a whole lot you can do. It really does not seem like they care enough to do better. However I am not sure that a Nautilus or a Frontier if going to help if they refuse to use the harness properly in the end. Good Luck & HUGE Hugs!

 

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babyherder

Well-known member

• Mar 27, 2010

• #16

At the very least make sure they use their backless booster correctly. If you don't have money, she won't fit in reasonably priced highback boosters, and her parents won't pay all you can do is make sure she uses the backless correctly. If she fits in a highback TB I would guess that's the best choice.