Holly
New member
*Warning, very very long, late night ramblings. Trying to make sense of the jumbled mess in my brain, trying to get it out and shut it off so I can sleep. Very long, you've been warned!*
I am being driven crazy and it's dumb that it's bugging me so much right now when it doesnt really matter and there isn't much I can do right now.
I get that way, once I get an idea and start thinking about it, it's hard to focus on anything else. This is the 2nd night in a row I've stayed up late on the computer trying to figure this out, but of course it can't be figured out right now so WHY can't I just turn my brain off and think about it later?
Here is the situation, and I've talked about it before on here.
My oldest dd wants a booster, and I'm ok with her in a booster now, but I'd like to wait until she's closer to 6 before allowing her to switch full time.
We have a Graco Turbo booster (high back) and I've tried it in my car before, she fits great in it, and it fits well with our 3 across, but it's a pain in the rear to buckle because of the arm rests in the way, the proximity to the seat next to it, and the floppy belt stalk. When I've buckled her before, I have pulled the seat way over to the side so I could put my hand in there to buckle her easier, then pushed the seat back into place after she is buckled. That is a huge pain and I will not do that all the time just so she can be in a booster like she wants, buckling her in the radian is so much faster and easier.
So, I've been thinking about flip up arm rest boosters, thinking that should help and make it easier for both of us, however it needs to fit her properly and fit with 3 across.
So far, there are just 3 boosters with flip up arm rests that I know of. The compass boosters, evenflo big kid, and the boost air.
I'm not totally ruling out the boost air, but I saw it in person the other day and I really don't like it. It's big and ugly and the arm rests don't flip all the way up because they bump into the ugly deep sides.
The evenflo big kid seems like it could be ok if she fits in it properly, but I hear a lot of bad about it too.
The compass, the main thing I'm hearing about them is they are wide so may not work for me, and the belt fit tends to not be the best on little kids.
Dd won't be 6 until July, and the last time I recall knowing her weight, she was about 35 lbs (I think near her 5 year old check up).
I'm obsessed with thinking about the compass, trying to figure out if it will fit in my car, or fit dd. Of course the only way to know for sure is to try it, which I plan to do in several months (buy it from walmart.com so I can return it to the store easily and for free if I need to). So why am I not content to just wait and try it then? There is no more info I can gain right now, why can't my mind put this issue to bed for now?
It's driving me crazy!
I keep running install scenarios in my head, thinking which seat I'd put where, and trying to figure out in my mind if they will fit. I keep picturing getting a radian RF behind the passenger seat and the other FF in the middle, or the booster in the middle, and I keep going over "Is that possible" and "What if I can't get the radian to fit RF behind the passenger and still leave enough room for the front seat?". We have advanced air bags so the seat can't rest on the front seat. Our RA50 is in that spot now, and I have the passenger seat as far back as I can, but then I try to imagine if I could be comfy in the front seat with it up further to accomodate the radian.
Then I agonize over "What if I can just barely make it all fit, and then dd jumps in and the belt fit is horrible?"
Then it bugs me because my brain doesn't want to have to think of any possible back up plan, my brain decided that the compass looks better than the evenflo or boost air, and refuses to want to consider them as what might have to be (in order for dd to use a booster, we CAN keep her in the radian if we have to, she's not using the top slots yet).
I'm just so irritated that I don't have the answers right now. My brain wants the answers, I want to plan and KNOW what we are going to be doing. It's frustrating me to not have any idea what we'll end up doing.
I keep trying to tell myself, She is FINE, we don't HAVE to move her to a booster, she will stay safe no matter what, but all the options keep swirling around in my head and keeping me up at night. It's ridiculous! At this point, if had an extra $60 laying around, I'd be tempted to just order the dang thing right now and try it out just so I'll stop thinking about it.
I keep trying to look up any more info on the booster, looking to see what cars people have had it fit in, if anyone has had success with 3 across, if anyone has pics of their kids sitting in one so I can guess how the belt might fit dd. UGH! NO! I must stop! I can try it out in the spring or something, it's not THAT far off, I can be patient, but no, I want to know now. UGH!
Yeah, I think thats all. Just late night ramblings from me at 1:30 am. Maybe now that I've typed this, I can turn off my brain for a bit and get some sleep tonight.
If you've read this, you are a saint, ths turned out WAY WAY long!
ETA, just remembered, I have been reading online that the compass boosters are only 2 inches wider than the TB, so thats been driving me nuts too, trying to estimate in my mind if there could be room for an extra 2 inches of car seat. UGH, there I go again. Must stop!
I am being driven crazy and it's dumb that it's bugging me so much right now when it doesnt really matter and there isn't much I can do right now.
I get that way, once I get an idea and start thinking about it, it's hard to focus on anything else. This is the 2nd night in a row I've stayed up late on the computer trying to figure this out, but of course it can't be figured out right now so WHY can't I just turn my brain off and think about it later?
Here is the situation, and I've talked about it before on here.
My oldest dd wants a booster, and I'm ok with her in a booster now, but I'd like to wait until she's closer to 6 before allowing her to switch full time.
We have a Graco Turbo booster (high back) and I've tried it in my car before, she fits great in it, and it fits well with our 3 across, but it's a pain in the rear to buckle because of the arm rests in the way, the proximity to the seat next to it, and the floppy belt stalk. When I've buckled her before, I have pulled the seat way over to the side so I could put my hand in there to buckle her easier, then pushed the seat back into place after she is buckled. That is a huge pain and I will not do that all the time just so she can be in a booster like she wants, buckling her in the radian is so much faster and easier.
So, I've been thinking about flip up arm rest boosters, thinking that should help and make it easier for both of us, however it needs to fit her properly and fit with 3 across.
So far, there are just 3 boosters with flip up arm rests that I know of. The compass boosters, evenflo big kid, and the boost air.
I'm not totally ruling out the boost air, but I saw it in person the other day and I really don't like it. It's big and ugly and the arm rests don't flip all the way up because they bump into the ugly deep sides.
The evenflo big kid seems like it could be ok if she fits in it properly, but I hear a lot of bad about it too.
The compass, the main thing I'm hearing about them is they are wide so may not work for me, and the belt fit tends to not be the best on little kids.
Dd won't be 6 until July, and the last time I recall knowing her weight, she was about 35 lbs (I think near her 5 year old check up).
I'm obsessed with thinking about the compass, trying to figure out if it will fit in my car, or fit dd. Of course the only way to know for sure is to try it, which I plan to do in several months (buy it from walmart.com so I can return it to the store easily and for free if I need to). So why am I not content to just wait and try it then? There is no more info I can gain right now, why can't my mind put this issue to bed for now?
It's driving me crazy!
I keep running install scenarios in my head, thinking which seat I'd put where, and trying to figure out in my mind if they will fit. I keep picturing getting a radian RF behind the passenger seat and the other FF in the middle, or the booster in the middle, and I keep going over "Is that possible" and "What if I can't get the radian to fit RF behind the passenger and still leave enough room for the front seat?". We have advanced air bags so the seat can't rest on the front seat. Our RA50 is in that spot now, and I have the passenger seat as far back as I can, but then I try to imagine if I could be comfy in the front seat with it up further to accomodate the radian.
Then I agonize over "What if I can just barely make it all fit, and then dd jumps in and the belt fit is horrible?"
Then it bugs me because my brain doesn't want to have to think of any possible back up plan, my brain decided that the compass looks better than the evenflo or boost air, and refuses to want to consider them as what might have to be (in order for dd to use a booster, we CAN keep her in the radian if we have to, she's not using the top slots yet).
I'm just so irritated that I don't have the answers right now. My brain wants the answers, I want to plan and KNOW what we are going to be doing. It's frustrating me to not have any idea what we'll end up doing.
I keep trying to tell myself, She is FINE, we don't HAVE to move her to a booster, she will stay safe no matter what, but all the options keep swirling around in my head and keeping me up at night. It's ridiculous! At this point, if had an extra $60 laying around, I'd be tempted to just order the dang thing right now and try it out just so I'll stop thinking about it.
I keep trying to look up any more info on the booster, looking to see what cars people have had it fit in, if anyone has had success with 3 across, if anyone has pics of their kids sitting in one so I can guess how the belt might fit dd. UGH! NO! I must stop! I can try it out in the spring or something, it's not THAT far off, I can be patient, but no, I want to know now. UGH!
Yeah, I think thats all. Just late night ramblings from me at 1:30 am. Maybe now that I've typed this, I can turn off my brain for a bit and get some sleep tonight.
If you've read this, you are a saint, ths turned out WAY WAY long!
ETA, just remembered, I have been reading online that the compass boosters are only 2 inches wider than the TB, so thats been driving me nuts too, trying to estimate in my mind if there could be room for an extra 2 inches of car seat. UGH, there I go again. Must stop!