Albagail
New member
I am car seat crazy. My SIL is not. I have offered to buy her a new seat for her daughter, but now I am stuck. She has only the one child, Sophie, who turned three in December and is 38" and 33lbs, but she is also a social worker and frequently transports a wide age range of other kids in her car. The seats that the county she works for provides for her use are old and seem unsafe even to her, which is really saying something, lol. So she often misuses Sophie's seat, figuring it's 'better than nothing' to have a child in an illfitting seat, or has kids riding otherwise inappropriately restrained. So here's my dilemma:
I would ideally like to buy a seat that will allow Sophie to rear face. I think I only have a few options here, because Sophie is fairly big and their car (a Suzuki Reno) is fairly small. I'm thinking a Radian or a CA are the only two that will work. My SIL is very unconcerned about RFing, (she's had Sophie FF since she turned one) although she says she will turn her if the seat I buy allows it. What she would rather have is the new Graco Smart Seat. Sophie is too tall to RF in it, so it's not my first choice, BUT, it is more likely to provide a safe place for any child she needs to transport to ride, since she can easily have it RFing, FFing, or as a booster with no reinstallation. So I feel like I'm stuck between choosing the safest seat for my niece, or what will be safer for all the other kids she has to move around. So...do you think that it's more important for Sophie to be RF? Or more important for a social worker to have a seat that's appropriate and easy to use with a wide range of children? WWYD?
I would ideally like to buy a seat that will allow Sophie to rear face. I think I only have a few options here, because Sophie is fairly big and their car (a Suzuki Reno) is fairly small. I'm thinking a Radian or a CA are the only two that will work. My SIL is very unconcerned about RFing, (she's had Sophie FF since she turned one) although she says she will turn her if the seat I buy allows it. What she would rather have is the new Graco Smart Seat. Sophie is too tall to RF in it, so it's not my first choice, BUT, it is more likely to provide a safe place for any child she needs to transport to ride, since she can easily have it RFing, FFing, or as a booster with no reinstallation. So I feel like I'm stuck between choosing the safest seat for my niece, or what will be safer for all the other kids she has to move around. So...do you think that it's more important for Sophie to be RF? Or more important for a social worker to have a seat that's appropriate and easy to use with a wide range of children? WWYD?