Would you keep a second set of seats?

I'm trying desperately to de-stash my seat collection...but I'm having trouble deciding if I should keep a full set of second seats.

Currently we have two full sets of seats for the 3 kids (plus some extra seats...thus the de-stashing), one for my van, and one for DH's car -- he picks the kids up probably once/week right now, and its super easy with seats in his car for me to call him and say I'm running late, please pick up the kids, etc on days when we originally planned for me to pick them up. We also sometimes take the car to town, etc as a family.

With #4 on the way...I'm doubting we'll use the car as a family at all. And realistically if we HAD to for some reason, I could pull seats out of my van and re-install seats quickly. So...I was all set to sell off the second set of seats, but then I realized, if I keep them, I could leave 3 installed in the back for the younger kids, and leave DS1's booster in the trunk...so DH could still pick up the kids on short notice.

I just don't know if its worth it...because a minimum of 2 of those 3 seats that I would be keeping JUST for the car would be Radians. At the same time, I don't want to sell them all off and regret it, since I got pretty good deals on most of them to begin with.

Families with 4 children and a car (and another vehicle that is your main transportation)...do you keep a second set of seats for the car? Or do you have just one set of seats with a few extras? If you have two sets of seats...how often do the children ride in the car?

I keep two sets because at least two of the seats I use in the van don't work well in a 3 across situation. And even if they did I wouldn't have to continually move seats around because one of the seats I use a locking clip and one is a fr85, which is a beast. I've always had a set for each set of vehicles, even if my kids rarely ride with my dh because he rarely goes anywhere and when he does he chain smokes. But in case of me getting stuck somewhere or an emergency I don't want to have to worry about who has what seats and where.
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I don't have 4 kids, but I think the ability for the other vehicle to be able to pick up kids on a whim is very valuable, and I would try to keep seats in it that can be used for any combination of kids. For you, I think Coccoro (noob/DD1), RF Radian (DD1/DS2), and FF Radian (DS1/DS2) would cover any possible combination of three kids without having to mess with seats. If there was a booster in the trunk, in a pinch one of the kids could ride in the front.

I would definitely keep a set of seats that would work well in your car. What happens if your van ends up in the mechanic's shop or something?

We have a full second set installed in the car (Prosports) and another set in the basement for a third imaginary car or travel (Sceneras).

We have 4 small children in seats, and we take the van when transporting them all.

In our Civic, we have two FF seats back there (that's all that will fit). 2 Prosports in harnessed mode. So, we can only take 2 kids in the Civic. It's great on weekends with their activities!

(The newborn could not ride in the Civic unless I took a Prosport out and stuck his seat in, of course).

But the 2 seats there will fit any combo of the 2, 3 and 5-year-old. (Though the 2-year-old has never been in it and it's more of an emergency thing, as he's still RF in the van. So is the almost 4-year-old, for that matter. But in the Civic, she is FF.)

Brigala said:

I would definitely keep a set of seats that would work well in your car. What happens if your van ends up in the mechanic's shop or something?

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If I keep only one full set (probably plus one so I can still transport neices/nephews) for the van, and don't keep two full sets, the set I keep for the van will definitely be a combo of seats that will fit in the car.

I know that I'll keep at least 5 seats, so that I will have one for each of my kids in the van plus an extra...realistically, I'll probably keep 6 minimum. The question is should I keep just 5 or 6 minimum, knowing that DH couldn't ever pick up all the kids on short notice -- or should I keep 8, so that there are still two full sets of seats in each vehicle?

Right now I have 10 seats...so some have to go, question is how many?

I don't have 4 kids or a second vehicle. But I keep a second set of seats for emergencies/just in case kinda situations.

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I think unless you need the money or need the space, your plan to keep three seats installed and a booster in the trunk of DH's car is a good idea. But you are asking a bunch of enablers here.

irishmama3 said:

I think unless you need the money or need the space, your plan to keep three seats installed and a booster in the trunk of DH's car is a good idea. But you are asking a bunch of enablers here.

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LOL, this is very true.

irishmama3 said:

I think unless you need the money or need the space, your plan to keep three seats installed and a booster in the trunk of DH's car is a good idea. But you are asking a bunch of enablers here.

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This is what I would do too.

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