Poll: RSTV, Monterey, or Big Kid?

Stats: 5.5 year old girl, 48" tall, roughly 50-52 lbs. I babysit her almost every day. This is a long term situation; my guess is that I'll be babysitting her for at least the next year, maybe longer. She needs to ride in my Suburban (no problem) and squeeze into my Honda Civic next to my center-installed RF Radian. I have another Radian on the way, so she can use that for now, but she'll be too tall for it with the next growth spurt.

I have already determined that I can't squeeze a Turbobooster into the Honda. It fits, but I can't buckle it. I have been toying with getting an Evenflo booster that has a swivel arm rest in the hopes that I'll be able to buckle that. I also have a Harmony Youth Booster (LBB) which might work but I haven't tried it yet. It's my emergency seat but I'd rather have her in a HBB, if not a harness.

I also have a pink Monterey OTW which I assume won't fit in the Honda any better than the Turbobooster (possibly worse). It will work fine in the Suburban, I'm sure.

I could just sell the Monterey and buy the Big Kid booster, but I'm a little concerned that she'll outgrow the Evenflo seat by height before I'm ready for her to move to a LBB.

And now, I just saw RSTVs for $66. Plus $9 shipping, so $75. That's not bad. I'm having a hard time deciding what to do.

I think I can sell the Monterey on CL for better than the $60 I paid for it. I bet I can get $80 out of it. I could use the $20 profit to help fund a RSTV. I could use the RSTV in all our vehicles, and I don't have to store a big booster when she's not with us. That is attractive. I'm concerned though that it might be hot, and might be more awkward to use than a booster. I'm also concerned about the lack of SIP, which a HBB (especially the Monterey) would provide.

What option would you choose if it were your kid?

:happy-wavehello:
Bump!

Any thoughts from the only person who has voted (RSTV) so far?

I can't vote on my phone. But I think the vest would work in every car situation so would be the beat choice if you only want 1 seat for her. If you could do a hbb for everything but the car that would work too.

Thank you. Have you ever used the vest? How much of a pain is it to use? I've never seen one in person which is why I'm nervous about it.

Oh, great. The price has gone up to $110 today

That prices it way past what I wanted to spend.

try the monterey...it might actually work. in a 3 across situation i needed, the monterey fit when the turbo didn't.

that's a bummer the RSTV went way up on price.

Good to know. If the Monterey will fit, that's what I'll use. I would feel better with having some SIP outboard in a Civic! I sometimes feel guilty even having my teens sit there to (in my imagination) be crushed between a Radian and an oncoming car. Yeah, I'm a little car-phobic sometimes.

Well, the Monterey does NOT squeeze into the Civic next to the Radian.
The Harmony Youth Booster barely squeezes in, but only if I shove the Radian over with all my might to buy me another half inch. Even then, I am not sure I'd be able to buckle it once the child was actually sitting in it.

But... I really like the Monterey. I can definitely use it in the Suburban. So I need to decide now whether to keep it or sell it. Hmm. I have two more Montereys on the way; one I want to sell on CL for profit, the other I'll either sell to a friend at cost or sell for a profit also if she decides she wants something else.

sorry the monterey didn't work for the 3 across.

i'd keep an eye on the RSTV.....i hear elitecarseats is going out of business so they will want to sell them for sure.

RSTV... you have to have something that can fit easily in your tiny honda... the RSTV will do that...

I'd keep the Monterey for the Suburban

Are the radians installed with latch or seat belts?