What seat for Grandma's car??

for my 3 year old i want him RF and he is in a MT in my car and a Two way in hubbys truck. right now in grandma's car she has a MR65 RFing. The only thing is she says she cant undo the buckle on it, also i think im goin to have to put him FF in her car since he is close to 40 pounds. hes at 37.8 pounds. If it was up to me i would buy an xtsl so he can RF longer in her car but dont think hubby is up for that specially since i have 2 Swedish seats lol. I have a Radian 65 but im not sure if that can be installed into a ford taurus with the seatbelt FF?? and if i can get it installed in there do i use the safestop or not since hes close to 40lbs? its been a while since i have used the radian so i dont remember all the details and SIL has my manual for it. What would you get for your 3y5m old would you get the XTSL just to keep RF or FF him in i dont know what lol and what would be easier for her to unbuckle?

For a 3.5 year old and a tertiary seat, I'd go forward facing :twocents:

Why not use the MR forward facing

She cant undo the buckle on the MR she said it took her 15 mins tryin to get him out of the seat.

She might find it easier FF....you're working with a slightly different angle.

Have you shown her how she needs to press down rather than in?

yeah i have i also though of the Graco Nautilus but it has the same buckle. Normally Colton can get out of his seats and this is one he doesnt know either. So i was thinking if i got one he knows how to do then she wouldnt have to worry about getting him out he can unbuckle himself.

Go shopping with grandma and have her try unbuckling a few different car seats. I've heard some people find it easier to unbuckle the Nauti/MR buckle because it takes less force to push down rather than in, but everyone's different!

And... I'm kind of hesitant to even suggest this... but what about showing her how she could loosen the harness all the way, and let Colton wiggle out. Just so she doesn't spend 15 min struggling if it happens again? I wouldn't want this to be the primary way of having her take him in and out of the seat (too cumbersome to get kid in, worry about harness wearing or getting stuck or something, etc.), but if she only sometimes has trouble with the buckle, that option might solve the problem.

Otherwise, I'd be fine with turning a nearly 40 lb. 3yo FF. Especially in a non-primary vehicle. Some seats I'd consider having her test for ease of use would be the Nautilus (maybe the slight angle/position change would help?), Generations 65, and Apex 65 if grandma has headrests in her car.

This is, of course, assuming that the MR the Radian doesn't install well in her vehicle, or she cannot unbuckle it either. If you use the Radian, I believe that in a chat with a SK engineer (?), he said to continue using the SS to 40 lbs, and while he wouldn't really say to use it over 40 lbs, he said to take it off when you realize your child is 40 lbs.

We have an Evenflo Maestro in the grandparent's car. Cost effective and both grandma and DD love the cupholder.

The only reason I didn't suggest the Maestro is because I don't know if the 50 lb. limit will last long enough for a nearly 40 lb. 3.5yo to get to a good booster age. Depends on the kid though... if his growth curve has slowed down a lot or he tends to be a slow gainer it could be great.

What is his torso height? If he has a shorter torso, then you might look into the Generations 65. It is easy to undo the buckle on. My MIL has it in her car for my son & has not complained about it. It does have shorter top slots than the Meastro, but it has a higher weight limit if he needs that. I also found the buckle easy to undo.

Thanks everyone
well we all went to the store and hubby decided he wants the frontier LOL. guess once he outgrows his MT or TW then we will move the frontier to one of our cars. MIL said it is easier than the graco one plus colton can undo it himself so he can help her out. So much for not spending lots LOL but i got it for $230 plus a 20% off coupon so it wasnt too bad. Too bad i dont have a girl i see the pink sky ones cheaper all over. He did want the pink one though :ROTFLMAO: