Arrangement help please!!

Mommy2Marcus

New member
So, I will be taking both of my nephews at least once a week this summer. I plan to take them to the park & other things with me. So I will have a 7 YO, 5YO & a 4 YO. I plan to harness the 5YO & 4YO. I have available to me a Nautilus, Gen65 & Maestro.

I tried letting the 4YO nephew, he will be 5 in May, ride in his booster with me as I was hoping to get him riding properly. He rides in a backless with my MIL. However it was NOT good & did not go well. So I put him back in a harness with me.

So I was thinking of putting the 4YO & 5 YO in the back seat in the Maestro & Gen65. Then putting the 7YO up front in a backless or high back. Would this be horrible? He rides in nothing with my MIL & sits in the front. I would love to be able to get them all in the back, but without going & buying all new seats, it is not going to happen. Plus my 2 top tethers are outboard & I can not install anything in the middle, I have tried.

So would a 7YO in the front in a good fitting booster be okay with the seat all the way back be ok? I know it is not ideal, but what other option should I choose? I am not sure how I feel about putting a harnessed seat there b/c I can not tether it & I think it would be hard to get a good install with. So please help me.

ETA: I drive a small 2 door 1997 Subaru Impreza.
 
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PurpleLucy

New member
I'm not a tech, so while I read most threads, if I think a tech needs to respond, I don't. I don't want to give out wrong information.

IMO, I would never put a child that young in the front seat just to go to the park. I would only do it in an emergency. Is there a park within walking distance?

My solution would be buying seats that can fit in the backseat (2 radians or 1 radian and a maestro?), or else I would not drive them anywhere.

Good luck sweet.
 

PurpleLucy

New member
I'm not a tech, so while I read most threads, if I think a tech needs to respond, I don't. I don't want to give out wrong information.

IMO, I would never put a child that young in the front seat just to go to the park. I would only do it in an emergency. Is there a park within walking distance?

My solution would be buying seats that can fit in the backseat (2 radians or 1 radian and a maestro?), or else I would not drive them anywhere.

Good luck sweet.
 

PurpleLucy

New member
I'm not a tech, so while I read most threads, I don't respond if I think a tech should respond. I don't want to give out wrong advice.

IMO, I wouldn't put a child that young in the front seat just to go to the park. I would only do it in an emergency. Is there a park within walking distance of your house?

My solution would be to buy seats that allowed the booster to fit(2 radians or 1 radian and a maestro?). If I couldn't afford that I would take them anywhere.

Good luck sweet.
 

CTPDMom

Ambassador - CPS Technician
The least protected child in the most protected position.

If necessary, I would put the older harnessed child in the front IF I could get a good install. And with the seat moved back as far as possible.

If I could not get a solid install and it was necessary to transport all 3 kids I would put the bolstered child in the front with seat seat moved as far back as possible.

Ideally, though, I would just plan to stay at home on those days as neither plan is optimal.
 

Mommy2Marcus

New member
I'm not a tech, so while I read most threads, if I think a tech needs to respond, I don't. I don't want to give out wrong information.

IMO, I would never put a child that young in the front seat just to go to the park. I would only do it in an emergency. Is there a park within walking distance?

My solution would be buying seats that can fit in the backseat (2 radians or 1 radian and a maestro?), or else I would not drive them anywhere.

Good luck sweet.

I understand that. However any ideas will help me. Yes, I wish there was a way to avoid going anywhere, but I promised my nephew that he could go with us this summer b/c he was upset that I always take his little brother, but not him. However he is in school all day & I go get his little brother early in the day. So not taking him is not going to be an option. I will NOT break my promise.

Also buying all new seats is not an option. I can go buy a booster or backless booster, but can not afford to go buy much more than that. So it will have to work in some way with what I have. I can try getting the Maestro & Gen65 or the Maestro & GN next to each other, but just not sure it is going to happen.

I also wish there was something within walking distance, but there is nothing. It is already going to be a fight with me making the 7YO ride in a booster again as by state law he is legal without anything, so therefor rides in nothing.
 

mamakc

Active member
Does the 7yo fit in the gn? If so, I would put the 7yo in it in the front seat, moved all the way back. Even if it is a fight to get them to agree to it, it is that or not go! Or, alternatively, I vaguely remember reading on here before that you can tether a seat in one row to an unused seatbelt in the row behind it. So maybe you can tether a harnessed seat in the front to the middle seat in back, then have a booster & other harnessed seat in the back. The oldest harnessed rider would go in front, the other two in back. If that is truly possible, someone will hopefully chime in the details. If not, someone please correct me! :)
 

afdani1984

New member
Are the headrests on your front seat stationary or do they move up and down and make an opening? I know the headrests in my car (chevy cobalt) have two poles that go into the headrest so when I push it up there's an opening. If this is the case, you may be able to run a tether down the back of the seat..under the headrest and anchor it to a strong/stationary part of the back of your front seat. If there are no anchor points, you could see about getting a tether adapter. I don't see why this wouldn't work, as people in SUVs and vans have to do the same thing to tether to bench seats. I could be wrong, if so..someone correct me.
 

Pixels

New member
It is preferable to leave the seat untethered than to invent your own, unapproved anchor point. Subaru, Graco, and Evenflo all do not allow the seatbelt from the row behind to be used as a tether anchor at any time, so that's not an option. The oldest FFing harnessed rider is the one to put up front if you can get an acceptable install. An untethered seat is an untethered seat, whether that seat is a harness or a booster. A tethered seat is safer than an untethered seat, but an untethered harness is no less safe than a booster.

If you can get a good install in the front, then put the 5yo in a harness (untethered) in front and the other two kids in back. If you can't get a good install in front then your only option is to put the booster rider in front.
 

afdani1984

New member
It is preferable to leave the seat untethered than to invent your own, unapproved anchor point. Subaru, Graco, and Evenflo all do not allow the seatbelt from the row behind to be used as a tether anchor at any time, so that's not an option. The oldest FFing harnessed rider is the one to put up front if you can get an acceptable install. An untethered seat is an untethered seat, whether that seat is a harness or a booster. A tethered seat is safer than an untethered seat, but an untethered harness is no less safe than a booster.

If you can get a good install in the front, then put the 5yo in a harness (untethered) in front and the other two kids in back. If you can't get a good install in front then your only option is to put the booster rider in front.


I'm just asking out of curiosity. Why would tethering to an "unapproved" anchor point be any different than the fact that, as an example, Sunshine Kids allows RF tethering and provides a tether adapter for people who don't have a dedicated anchor point on the bottom of their front seats? I'm unfamiliar with whether or not my car has an anchor point, since I chose not to tether my RN in RF. I'm just legitimately asking, as now I'm curious.

ETA: Need to rephrase my original question. When you're using a tether with relation to your front seat..there's probably not going to be something labled "front seat tether" like there is with all the little latch and top tether anchors in the back. If you choose to use a tether with a child restraint in your front seat, or a tether RF like with the Radian..how do you make the determination of what's an acceptable anchor point? I've looked through my auto manual and it says nothing about anchors on my front seat. Sunshine Kids provides a piece of fabric with a clip on the end as a makeshift anchor and the manual says to use that if you don't have any tether points. What's to stop people front just attaching the tether to something they assume is a tether anchor on their front seat?
 

Pixels

New member
For forward facing, the only acceptable tether anchor points are those approved by the vehicle manufacturer.

You can't use the D-ring from the Radian to create your own tether location for forward facing partly because the forces are very different forward facing compared to rear facing. It even says right in the Radian's manual not to use the D-ring forward facing.

Very few vehicles have tether anchors for the front seat. Vehicle manuals (at least in the US) are required to show with a diagram the locations of all tether anchors.
 

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