Arrange my van if you feel this isn't okay

I posted in another forum about this and have been told that my dd3 is riding unsafely, so here's your chance to help me put her in a safe position.

Currently, I have in the middle row:
dd4 rfing radian, ds2 rfing tfp, dd2 vivo

Third row:
dd3 ffing radian (untethered), dd1 literider, and ds1 bodyguard

I did have ds1 and dd3 switched, but ds cried about not being able to buckle. He isn't that great with buckling and the bodyguard is a bit more difficult than other boosters. He's now in the 40 spot on the bench with a rigid buckle stalk. Dd1 also used to have trouble buckling, but now she's fine. I had a difficult time buckling dd3 on the passenger's side because I could barely reach into the back over the vivo's headrest. It's also inconvenient to go from one side of the van, to the other, and back again.

I've had dd3 in the middle, third row, but I can't reach her there. I actually have to climb in the back to do it. Sadly, the older dds are unwilling to help dd3 buckle. I think it is difficult for them when sitting next to her anyway. They have tried to help before, but I get impatient and buckle dd.

I've had rfing kids in the third row before. I really don't want to do it again. It was no big deal and actually easier in the old aerostar, but more difficult and more of a pain in the sienna.

There is no way, no how that ds1 is going back to a harnessed seat. He's in a booster for good. I really like him in the bodyguard because the lockoffs make him sit. I also prefer him to be in the third row because he has a strong desire to know how to drive an automobile as well as to know how everything works. When in the middle row, he leans forward to look at everything. In the third row he's too far away to bother.

There are tether anchors in every position in the rear of the van, except the driver's side, third row.

I don't know if this is entirely acceptable but I wonder if it would be ok to tether the outboard CR to the middle tether position. I've seen off center tether anchors before so it seems like it wouldn't be a problem. Maybe someone else will know more than I do.

Laurette said:

I don't know if this is entirely acceptable but I wonder if it would be ok to tether the outboard CR to the middle tether position. I've seen off center tether anchors before so it seems like it wouldn't be a problem. Maybe someone else will know more than I do.

Click to expand...

I posted about that recently and was told that #1 the manual forbids tethering the outboard seat to the middle anchor and #2 that it is more than the acceptable 20 degrees off angle.

Does the Vivo fit where you have the Radian now? Is moving it there a possibility, or does it create the problem of not being able to access the third row?

How old is DS1? Is leaving the booster buckled an option, and having him slide around the belt, allowing you to switch DS1 and DD3? (I'm not that familiar with the bodyguard.)

I'm trying to brainstorm for you, I don't know if these are adaquete answers. I definitely understand the difficulty of trying to arrange six kids in six spots, and come up with the least inconvenient setup. Because let's face it, no setup is convenient, short of throwing them all in there and letting them run around unbelted

I'll try to come up with some more options for you and post back.

Ooh, one more -- can you move DS1 to the second row, the Vivo to the spot where the Radian is, and the Radian to the Bodyguard's current spot?

The vivo only fits in the wide, 40 section of the back bench, so passenger side. It's too wide to fit in the middle and driver's side seats. The bodyguard is too stocky to fit in the middle. Dd1 used to sit in the bodyguard on the driver's side and could buckle, but ds is not so expert at buckling.

I *could* put dd3 in the regent in the middle row and put ds1 back into the radian. He has a little room left in it. I just think that at 7 years old he should be boostered.

I could also put ds1 in the vivo (we have two of them), dd1 in her literider, then dd3 in the bodyguard. It's crazy, but she can buckle herself into the bodyguard in a 3 across, but not buckle a 5 point harness.

Or, I could put dd2 in the bodyguard back there, putting dd3 in the middle row. The big problem with putting a ffing harnessed seat on a middle row outboard seat is that it makes it difficult for the older kids to get into the third row. Ds2 also particularly likes to physically harass dd3. I'm not sure if he can now that he's in the true fit, though, The sides are a lot deeper than those of the radian. I know he doesn't bug dd4 who rides next to him.

Christine,

I have 4 seats in my suburban, and though I most certainly recognize and appreciate the value of having the kids tethered, and would prefer to have them tethered, the sad truth is that currently, NONE of my seats are tethered. We've tried to position the 2 FF boys in positions where they can be tethered, and it just doesn't work for us.

Off the top of my head, I have LATCH in the center of both my 2nd and 3rd rows, and on the flip fold seat in the 2nd row (the only way to access the 3rd row). I'm pregnant and not able to buckle a RF passenger from the 3rd row, plus my RF'er is a crabby baby who needs frequent attention, so she has to be center of the 2nd row where the front passenger can easily access her (or can sit in the flip fold next to her). Her seating position has a tether, but if I put her elsewhere, she screams bloody murder the entire ride.

Soooo, do your best. And if it's just not possible, it's just not. You're already doing awesome - great seats w/ great features, installed correctly, best practice, etc...

~Star

How much does dd3 weigh again? I know she's a peanut.

I might consider boostering her vs. leaving her untethered, but I'm really not the expert on the physics of all that.

I agree that your 7yo should be boostered.

I'll try to brainstorm some more and throw some suggestions out tomorrow.

Carrie_R said:

How much does dd3 weigh again? I know she's a peanut.

Click to expand...

She weighs 34 pounds and has a 14 inch torso. She fits beautifully in the bodyguard, but yeah, she's really small. She will be 6 in December, so only half way through the 5th year.

Since it is a radian, I an totally fine with it not being tethered. I tether when I can, but don't panic with that seat, when I can't. I bought it because of how it crashed not tethered, since I had 2 cars with out tethers at the time.

Judi said:

Since it is a radian, I an totally fine with it not being tethered. I tether when I can, but don't panic with that seat, when I can't. I bought it because of how it crashed not tethered, since I had 2 cars with out tethers at the time.

Click to expand...

That's what I had thought too, and so I settled on this arrangement because it worked with the least amount of crying, screaming, and discomfort. It was said in an above forum that any untethered ffing car seat, including the radian is so less safe that it is best to do backflips (paraphrasing here) to get all ffing seats tethered. A certain person even said she'd help arrange my van to get that radian tethered. I have only one ffing harnessed seat in my van and only one spot without a tether. Unfortunately, having that seat in the untethered position seems to me to work best. Of course, having 6 kids in car seats is no easy feat in it and itself. It's a pain and I try not to go anywhere! Some seating arrangements are a whole lot more of a pain than others.

Well, we don't live in a perfect world with perfect cars, and perfect car seats. I was up in Washington with whataboutpuppy and AutumnLily. We had 3 companions and 2 radians (RFing please) to fit in a Sequoia. We needed to leave a spot empty for a 10 or 12 year old. I knew what I wanted, what would be perfect, but it did not work, period. So, we have a FFing 4 year old for a couple months, until they get a new car.

Yes, tethering is always safer, but geez, your kids are safer than 90% of the kids riding. They are riding correctly.

Does it have to be with current seats? A year ago when the MR first came out, I found out I could install it center 3rd row FF, with a Vivo on either side and the Vivo kids had no problems buckling.

Since DD3 has a 14 inch torso (did you say that or did I imagine it?), that should last her awhile FF.

Could you just switch the RN and the Literider?

safeinthecar said:

Could you just switch the RN and the Literider?

Click to expand...

The problem with putting the radian in the middle is that I can't reach without going into the third row. With the current setup, I buckle the two little people, then reach over the seat (no headrest) to buckle dd. I'm just too short to reach the middle seat. Back when ds was in the radian he was in the middle, but he could buckle himself.

OMG!!! I went out to play with the seats since we've accomplished a lot of cleaning today. I hemmed and hawed about whether the time could be "wasted" playing with car seats. I decided I could. Dd3's seat was not buckled at all!!! I bet dd1 accidentally unbuckled it once and didn't bother to say anything. I'm going to try dd3 in the middle row in the regent. She could buckle and unbuckle herself in it while playing in the house.

I fit the bodyguard, literider, and vivo accross the back row. For now I have ds and dd in the same seats, but if ds cries too much, I'll switch them around. Dd is better at buckling than ds.

christineka said:

The problem with putting the radian in the middle is that I can't reach without going into the third row. With the current setup, I buckle the two little people, then reach over the seat (no headrest) to buckle dd. I'm just too short to reach the middle seat. Back when ds was in the radian he was in the middle, but he could buckle himself.

Click to expand...

Could you reach over if you reclined the seat the rfing RN is on?

Wait, I just thought of something. DD2 couldn't manage the RN buckle until I got the longer crotch strap.

safeinthecar said:

Wait, I just thought of something. DD2 couldn't manage the RN buckle until I got the longer crotch strap.

Click to expand...

Well, that's worth trying. The longer crotch strap is still on dd4's seat. (It used to be ds1's seat and I never got around to changing the crotch straps.)

In the meantime, I put the regent in for dd3, she tried it out. She can buckle and unbuckle all by herself with the tightened harness. She's tickled pink to have an enormous pink car seat.