how do you feel about cr w/cup holders?

teekadog · May 23, 2011

I just cleaned the projectiles out of my car. I was the biggest offender, with an over-stuffed purse that doesn't securely close, but my kids' cup holders were a close second. Stuff, stuff, and more junk. I admit one thing I prefer on our Regent over our Frontier is the lack of cup holders. My kids are dedicated rock hounds and having personal space to put the treasures they sneak into the car means they are doing so, even against my wishes. I'll have another talk with them today. A rock small enough to fit in a child's palm is, honestly, the size of a shotgun shell.

But, to get to the point, given the risk of things becoming projectiles, and the recent news regarding a water bottle, what do you think of the decision of some manufacturers to make child restraints with cup holders?

wendytthomas · May 23, 2011

I love cupholders.

I wouldn't worry about a rock equaling a bullet. I keep big ones out of my car, but a little one like you're talking about wouldn't concern me. A crash isn't happening with the same forces as a bullet being launched. I would try to keep rocks out, and I do, but I wouldn't freak about a little one.

I'd get a shoe box for each kid, have them decorate it with their name and anything else, and put their rocks in that, and put that under the seat in front of them. That way the rocks are contained safely. Everyone is happy.

Wendy

Jillybeans5 · May 23, 2011

I personally wish there were not cup holders on car seats, but for a different reason. They tend to make otherwise reasonably sized carseats too wide to fit next to other carseats. It drives me crazy to read product reviews about carseats, so many parents are like "this seat would be great if it only it had a cup holder". What difference does a cup holder really make?

Stelvis · May 23, 2011

I like cupholders as a goldfish/cheerio receptacle if nothing else. I like that TrueFit and Britax (and maybe some others) have removable ones.

Dorothy · May 23, 2011

My kids both love cup holders. The removable ones on the spare seats are always falling off, and DD complains she doesn't have a good place to put her cup like in her other seat (MR). Even DS already likes them at the ripe old age of 1. Since the TF and MR fit side-by-side, DS uses the one on the MR that's closestest to him, and DD uses the other. But I do have to check what they stash in there. If I feel its inappropriate for the vehicle, I put it in a zippered pouch under the seat until we get where we are going.

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teekadog · May 23, 2011

wendytthomas said:
I'd get a shoe box for each kid, have them decorate it with their name and anything else, and put their rocks in that, and put that under the seat in front of them. That way the rocks are contained safely. Everyone is happy.

Wendy

You can do that in your Mazda5? The only place I could stash things under the seat would be the 3rd row, and that's not accessible enough for a shoebox.

DH had to get stitches in his head when his bro innocently lobbed a pebble at him. He's not willing to take the risk. I let the kids bring small plastic beads in the car, but when it comes to rocks, I don't want to have to deal with the details.

And I'm just a clean car freak that limits food and drink in the car so I find the cup holders aggravating. I LOVE the pockets on the sides of Regent covers for storing tissues, etc, though.

wendytthomas · May 23, 2011

No, probably not a shoebox. A smaller box, yes.

Wendy

joolsplus3 · May 23, 2011

My car seems to accumulate more and more cupholders... the many that came in the car itself, some of the seats, the ones I buy extra (snack pod, wedge)--I put my phones and ipods in them, cups, whatever else....
Every time we get out of the car, I holler something about 'everyone grab your stuff' and we all bring an armload in, so that keeps things from rotting/melting/living there forever as projectiles. But we've had some stages where juice and crayons have somehow ended up sitting around for too long...maybe that's why I've learned to be in the routine of hauling stuff out now?

Oh, we also have various hooks hanging on headrest posts, good to semi-secure purses and bags and lunchboxes. (My purse hasn't hurt me yet, but it tends to fly into my footwell and lose pens and credit cards, so half hanging it keeps it from doing that).

Meg · May 23, 2011

I don't care for cupholders at all. I have 7 seats and none of them have the cup holders built in, and we toss the ones that are removeable. My kids don't care (and don't know they're missing out).

christineka · May 23, 2011

I don't like cupholders on seats due to how wide they make the seats! I do appreciate the retractable ones like on the turbobooster. They also come out forward of the seat, rather than taking up side space. I have a few rock-collecting kids, but they love them enough to bring them in the house.

vonfirmath · May 23, 2011

Jillybeans5 said:
I personally wish there were not cup holders on car seats, but for a different reason. They tend to make otherwise reasonably sized carseats too wide to fit next to other carseats. It drives me crazy to read product reviews about carseats, so many parents are like "this seat would be great if it only it had a cup holder". What difference does a cup holder really make?

Do you use your cupholders in the front of your car? (if you have them? I do know really old cars don't have them)

I do, and found the cupholder a necessity for my son once we turned him around. It is why the Maestro is his main seat and not the Roundabout50.

bnsnyde · May 23, 2011

I freaked out after reading some posts and took all the cups out of the car. And all our newer seats come with cup holders, and I was really annoyed at that. But...I don't know. It's summer and I don't want the kids dehydrating. I truly took every single thing out of the car except the carseats to avoid projectiles. (And my kids hoard stuff and always try to put stuff in there, yes).

In winter I took out the window wiper thing (before I determined where to put it; it's super long) and then ended up without one in the snow. Dumb me. We have no trunk b/c it's a van. I just wish our van had a way to secure stuff like a regular trunk.

My giant metal stroller is back there. But what am I supposed to do? How would I secure it and with what? How would I secure groceries? I don't know, and it bothers me. I am sure a can of peaches is not a good thing to have flying at one in a crash!

msg221 · May 23, 2011

I only have one seat that has a cupholder, the TFP, and none of the kids use it. If I put their sippy in there, they immediately take it out and put it in their lap. And when they are done with their sippy, I usually hear it drop to the floor!

Jillybeans5 · May 23, 2011

vonfirmath said:
Do you use your cupholders in the front of your car? (if you have them? I do know really old cars don't have them)

I do, and found the cupholder a necessity for my son once we turned him around. It is why the Maestro is his main seat and not the Roundabout50.

I do have and use my cup holders up front, I take a large plastic cup of water everywhere I go. I used to have a car without them and I always put my drink between my legs. My youngest DS has a removable(also out of reach) cup holder that he doesn't use, when he has a cup he just sets it beside him in his seat. Although he is admittedly still RFing. All of my other kids can reach a cup holder of some sort currently but that hasn't always been the case. When my older 2 were little and both FFing they never had cup holders and I don't ever remember thinking "I wish the car seats had cup holders".

I don't know, I guess it is just personal preference. We also rarely let the kids eat or drink in the car.

teekadog · May 24, 2011

We use Klean Kanteens. When we're moving, they're stowed in our completely closed storage compartment under the passenger seat. When we're at our destination, everyone's offered a drink during buckling/unbuckling. No one dehydrates. Obviously this is during normal business hours, long trips are different.

mylittlet · May 24, 2011

We use our cupholders, mostly for a water bottle. We are on the road a lot. My kids would be very thristy without their water. I recently bought DS a Monterey and DD a frontier. They both love their cupholders. I have 2 in the front row of my van. 2 unuseful ones in the 2nd row. And 4 great ones in the 3rd row. We used 7 last night on the way to a ball game. The big stuff - bat bags, chairs - are behind the 3rd row.

Stefanie - CPStech in Iowa

sparkyd · May 24, 2011

My kids have never had seats with cup holders (I never attached them to our True Fits) and I like it that way. They get their water passed to them when they ask for it and they give it back when they are done and I put their bottles under my seat. I use Foogo stainless steel bottles (the straw ones) and I do worry about something happening in the short time they have them in their hands. I'll be thinking about that next time we're getting ready for a road trip. Even if I switch to something safER, I still wouldn't want them to keep it at their seat because I think it could still be potentially dangerous and I'm sure there would be spillage eventually.

Plus no cup holders means one less thing to clean.

how do you feel about cr w/cup holders?

teekadog

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Dorothy

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