Which FF seat for overnight road trip?

My nanny family is going on a 16-hour road trip in about two weeks. They are planning on leaving on a Friday afterschool and driving straight through to Sat morning.

I hope to talk the older two boys into borrowing my boosters with good sleep support (they are in backless/nothing,) so they are set, but I was talking with the youngest today and he might like something other than his EFTA. (Mom had mentioned it a while back and the middle child often borrows my Monterey for long trips, so I know she's receptive to the idea.)

He wanted the MR, which I thought would be good due to the recline. Then he talked about the Radian (I have the toddler body support strung up as a pillow,) because he has this obsession with pillows in his carseats.

My vote is for the ProSport, because he can buckle it himself, and sleeps well in it. (This will ensure he gets buckled for the ride, otherwise he might not. :thumbsdown However apparently the "pillows" (read: headwings) are hard. Do you think the RN toddler pillow could be put on there somehow? We also have a Nautilus available to him. But I think the RN & GN will both have head slump issues in deep sleep?

So -- options: EFTA, MR, Nautilus, ProSport, Radian

Criteria:
*No head slump/comfy for overnight sleeping
*"Pillows"
*Easy for a 4yo (46lbs) to buckle on his own

I never have the kids for more than 45mins to an hour so I was hoping someone might have some input on what works well for longer rides. (If he was 2lb lighter I might try to persuade them to RF him in the RN, lol!)

I would go with the MR. It has a pillow doesnt it? but if its overnight id guess he could bring his own pillow and kind of lay his head on it.

The pillow is only for use RF -- or under 40lbs, maybe? In either case, he can't use the one that comes with the seat. But yeah, he can take his own pillow... he seemed more open to the ProSport once I told him that. He really has this thing about pillows ON the seat though. He's a nut. LOL!

My son was not comfortable traveling 12+hrs in the RadianXT FF. We bought the ProSport because it looked like it would be comfortable for all the road trips we go on. So far we have only gone on short trips (1 1/2 hr drives), but my son looked very comfortable in the ProSport and fell asleep easily with no head slump.

I vote for the ProSport, but I don't know how to add pillows to it lol.

I think pro-sport with his own pillow.

Thanks for posting this. I'm going to be keeping an eye on it as I'm trying to decide what seat to take or buy for our 18 hours of flight time in the fall. I currently have a PS and a FR85, but am contemplating buying an XTSL just because I like the way it fits on a plane.

I have to put in my vote for the MyRide because that's what got us through two cross-country drives with our 4yo boy, including overnights. The recline is awesome, and it's wide enough at the bottom that they can cross their legs up if they want to.

You could make a big deal about getting him one of those super-cozy little travel pillows, and show him how it's easy to lay it against the deep sidewings of the MR so he can sleep on either side.

I vote for whatever this kid can buckle himself since you said he may not get buckled at all. Yikes!

canadiangie said:

I vote for whatever this kid can buckle himself since you said he may not get buckled at all. Yikes!

Click to expand...

:yeahthat:
why would he possibly not be buckled?

I wish I had an answer for that question. Dad is a lost cause on CPS, but I thought Mom was in decent shape... recently J has been telling me that he's been riding with only his chest clip buckled or one side of the harness buckled. :crying: I have talked myself blue in the face with this family and am at the point where I cannot have another conversation about it with them. They just don't feel it's important. (Apparently Mom has also recently told the 7yo he's too tall for his booster, as well.) I feel like I've failed these kids, I spend 50hr/wk at their house and I cannot even achieve the basics of safety for them. It really eats at me. But that's neither here nor there...

I'm at the point where the only things I can do is 1) secure the kids properly whenever I put them in a vehicle, and 2) teach the 4yo to advocate for himself. Which is a horrible, sad thing to have to do.

What I *can* do is offer to let the family borrow different seats for their "big trip," which they have history of doing, since it's overnight and kids will be more comfy sleeping in what I own. And in doing that, I am able to achieve the side effect of keeping them safer, by boostering the older two (7 & 9) and providing J with something he can buckle himself into. BUT, I can only do that if I can convince Mom that it's comfier for sleeping. It's terrible, I know... but it's one of those rare instances when I CAN do something, so I'm absolutely willing to take advantage of it.

ProSport with a pillow sounds like the winning option. I will try a few pillow combinations with him this week and see which he prefers before broaching the subject with mom. Otherwise I'll work with him on learning to buckle the MR. (Does anyone know how it installs FF in a new-ish ('09?) Ody?) I'm also getting Z's "new" booster this weekend, so hopefully it will open the dialogue.

Thanks everybody for the help. I want to make sure I'm legitimately offering a head slump option for his comfort, and not just BSing my way through and losing any credibility I might have left.

My vote is for the MR because of the comfy FF recline!