Carrie_R
Ambassador - CPS Technician
I started this week with my "summer" crew, which is just enough different from my school year crew to throw off the vehicle arrangement. I traded two toddler girls for a schoolage boy, in addition to having my schoolagers full time. This greatly messes up my hard-won 3 across battle in my rear seat.
Anyways, I 5-step tested my biggest kid back there, and he passes. It's the third row of the Pilot -- so a slightly shrunken down setup -- and the child is 8.5yo, 90lb (give or take) and 55" Not sure when he grew those inches! LOL! I have him back there with a Monterey and a Coccoro, and have come up with these options:
1) Outboard, with Coccoro center. Pros: fits the belt VERY well. Cons: no support on either side; concerned he won't sit well for longer drives without the armrest guides of a booster. I don't mind reminding him, but he's very difficult to see back there.
2) Center, with Coccoro outboard. Pros: if he falls asleep, he has the Monterey to lean against; also he's least protected (no seat) in the most protected position (center.) Cons: although the belt does still technically fit, I don't really like it. I can't figure out why, except that with the belt coming down from the ceiling, it just seems more "open" -- although it does hit his shoulder at the right spot. Also lap belt is a smidgen worse, although not unacceptable.
3) Outboard, in a booster. My concern about this is that the booster sits a bit (.5"-1") on the buckle stalk, which I know is not allowed. I guess I'm trying to decide if the tradeoff between giving him "false hips" is worth it... how dangerous is it to have the lap belt wrap around that bit? The only booster that I can get to sit there and not totally cause a huge rerouting issue is the Cosco Ambassador; the Monterey fits in that spot as well but sits more on the belt than the Cosco. (It would also be a 6yo in the Monterey.)
I'm leaning towards outboard, probably without a booster, unless it's not really dangerous to have the belt coming out from under it. But I wanted to get others' opinions before I called the whole setup officially set.
If all of these options are really unsafe, I could put the Radian back there again, but the 3yo reallyreallyreally wants to be in the second row and I'd like to honor that if I possibly can. He's been asking politely for months now, and I told him he could move when school was out. I didn't think I'd have this much trouble rearranging seats, though.
Anyways, I 5-step tested my biggest kid back there, and he passes. It's the third row of the Pilot -- so a slightly shrunken down setup -- and the child is 8.5yo, 90lb (give or take) and 55" Not sure when he grew those inches! LOL! I have him back there with a Monterey and a Coccoro, and have come up with these options:
1) Outboard, with Coccoro center. Pros: fits the belt VERY well. Cons: no support on either side; concerned he won't sit well for longer drives without the armrest guides of a booster. I don't mind reminding him, but he's very difficult to see back there.
2) Center, with Coccoro outboard. Pros: if he falls asleep, he has the Monterey to lean against; also he's least protected (no seat) in the most protected position (center.) Cons: although the belt does still technically fit, I don't really like it. I can't figure out why, except that with the belt coming down from the ceiling, it just seems more "open" -- although it does hit his shoulder at the right spot. Also lap belt is a smidgen worse, although not unacceptable.
3) Outboard, in a booster. My concern about this is that the booster sits a bit (.5"-1") on the buckle stalk, which I know is not allowed. I guess I'm trying to decide if the tradeoff between giving him "false hips" is worth it... how dangerous is it to have the lap belt wrap around that bit? The only booster that I can get to sit there and not totally cause a huge rerouting issue is the Cosco Ambassador; the Monterey fits in that spot as well but sits more on the belt than the Cosco. (It would also be a 6yo in the Monterey.)
I'm leaning towards outboard, probably without a booster, unless it's not really dangerous to have the belt coming out from under it. But I wanted to get others' opinions before I called the whole setup officially set.
If all of these options are really unsafe, I could put the Radian back there again, but the 3yo reallyreallyreally wants to be in the second row and I'd like to honor that if I possibly can. He's been asking politely for months now, and I told him he could move when school was out. I didn't think I'd have this much trouble rearranging seats, though.