Am I the only weirdo without spare car seats?

keri1292

Well-known member
We don't have spares. Not a one. That's the main reason that I got hooked on Britax. If it installs in 30 seconds, why buy 2? Obviously, this system only works if you're the main transporter of the child. I'm a stay-at-home mom and dh takes the van whenever he takes the kids (which is rare ~ we're an altogether kind of family) so, we've only owned...
1 Cosco Eddie Bauer infant seat (with a rear adjuster!!!:mad: )
1 Graco Snug Ride
1 Britax Roundabout
2 Britax Marathons
1 Britax Husky
For 3 kids! Not bad, eh? :cool:

ETA: Oops! Forgot the Roundabout. I love that seat!
 
Last edited:
ADS

TxMomma

New member
We don't have any spares right now, we (dh lol) have been thinking about getting Recaro's for his car but I'm pretty sure we can't get 3 across in there. If doubt we ever get seats for his car, like ya'll we go everywhere together. So for us it's not really a neccessity.
 

Suzibeck

Active member
I like to have spares for two reasons:

1. If we get in a crash, I want a different seat now, I don't want to wait for my replacement to bought by insurance. And,

2. We have a narrow driveway and a single car garage. Our van, primary kid vehicle, is parked in the garage with dh's car in the drive in front of the garage. When dh is home, we have to play musical cars to go anywhere if the kids are going or we have to transfer seats frequently which is not fun even if you do have Britax. Technically, we are not allowed to park in front of our house, so one of us has to pull dh's car out while the other pulls out the van, then the first person pulls dh's car into the garage and we can leave. Reverse the process when we get home, or on Sunday, if it happens to be the weekend and we want the van accessable for a few days. It gets old. I do like having a second set of seats so we can all just hop in dh's car and go without all the fanfare.
 

LuvBug

New member
we didnt have any spares until I decided to go back to school/work. Then I needed mom to have a seat in her car and one in mine. I got a laptop until I could figure out what else might work with her forward fo the bite seatbelts, and after saving up I got a regent for her. Then I had the laptop left as a spare lol! He is in both our cars an equal amount of time, so I consider both those seats main seats lol! but the laptop is just a spare.
 

natysr

New member
I have a seat in each of my cars. One a marathon, one a boulevard. I guess we are just too lazy to switch the seats out on the weekend. We car pool, so our SUV is only used on the weekends.

I think when we were first going to convertibles, I didn't realize that Britaxes were so easy to install, and it just made sense to have one in each car. I originally got the roundabout for my car...that was a baby shower gift. (I wasn't thinking about expiration back then...new mom mistake) Doesn't matter anyway, that one got crashed.

For a seat for our SUV, I picked out the Combi Victoria. At the time, that was the only seat that would recline FF independend of the belt path. I liked that idea, especially for long road trips. Well, that seat is pretty big and heavy. It sits on a really big base.

Anyway, about in the spring of this year it occurred to me that Jordan would probably outgrow the seat by height RF and by the time we would switch it to FF, he may be too tall for it FF and we may never get to use the recline on the fly feature. I also started to become uncomfortable with the seat because it has no EPS foam. So, we bought a boulevard for that car, and the Combi is sitting in the garage as a spare. So, I guess I'm saying that I didn't buy a spare on purpose.

On a plus side, the spare seat is pretty wide and can be used as a chair because it supports itself. I put it in the middle of the drive way for Jordan to sit in and eat a snack while we work on the yard etc. I can even fit in it, and it is pretty comfy.
 

southpawboston

New member
we don't have any spares. we have one car. however, we do have two carseats installed in MIL's car for when we're at the inlaws. so one might consider those to be "spares"... i don't.
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
No spares here, either. One Britax Marathon that goes in and out of a Jeep Wrangler and a Toyota Sienna. We have a Britax Monarch in the inlaws' car...
 
We have only one vehicle to transport children, so generally no spares. Right this moment though I have an extra convertible (AOE 3-in-1) sitting around since the 2nd Radian came...
 

twom

New member
We do have "spares" because our main seats are Huskies. Not only are they huge to move, but the other people they occasionally ride with (grandparents) don't have tether anchors. So we have a Laptop and a Turbo that stay in dh's car in case of emergency, and then can be pulled out to use in other vehicles on the rare occasions they ride with someone else.

By early next year we should have two Parkways to replace our current "spares" though. DD will be outgrowing her Husky by then, so we'll have a Husky in each car for DS and a Parkway in each car for DD, and then each kid can use one of the Parkways when they need to ride with someone else.
 

wondering1

New member
I don't have any spares but I may get the Graco Air Booster with the coupon I have for Amazon (from doing a baby shower wish list). That'll make a nice spare and I may use it for after a plane trip we are planning.

I have one child, swap cars for people taking care of my child and have only owned two car seats ever. My child will be 5 soon!
 

becca011906

Senior Community Member
well i have two spares sitting in the closet right now but i want to get rid of them... the uptown and the scenera ... I also have moved the turbo into grandma's car as her spare b/c all she had was a backless booster and Austin's ears were getting close to the hump head rests in her car so she needed a HB in there for austin and abby. She also has a cenerty seat that allie has about 1/2" left before it's out grown so i'm temped to keep the uptown for her to use but then again the FPSVD is so easy to put in i don't mind using it either..
We have two cars that we use about 70/30 ... i just move the seats, it's a radain wich installs in about 3 min with LATCH in both, and the FPSVD wich is about the same, then the parkway I can trust dh to move himself! LOL :)
 

sb518

New member
I have many spares becauses I have been a nanny of children ranging from 6 wks to 5 years, I also have 3 nieces that I drive around occasionally ranging from 20 months to 5 years. I keep them all because I can use them all as the younger ones get older.

Currently I have:

a graco snugride
An evenflo something that I just junked because it expires the end of this month
An evenflo chase booster
A cosco scenera
A cosco highback booster
A britax Marathon and A britax Boulevard (that is on the way) which I bought to replace the scenera and evenflo

Often times when my nieces are here my mom will take them places as well so I like to install seats in her car because it's a pain to remove and install them just because they want to go to the store a few blocks away and I don't want her driving my car :p I also have a new niece or nephew on the way and hope to be replacing the snugride with a SS1, also saving for a regent so I can junk the highback booster. Also none of the cars except mine have LATCH so it's a blood/sweat and tears install every time ;)

They definalty take up a lot of storage space but I don't mind as long as the kids can be safe when they are here (and they are here A LOT) besides the britax seats I've only spent $30-$50 on the first five seats which isn't a huge amount.

My sister is sick a lot and they only have one car, so when her husband is at work he has the car with the carseats so a lot of times I will have to drive my car out there to pick up the kids. I don't regret any of my carseat purchases!

-A Kidless, kid loving Auntie/Nanny
 

Mama2J

Member
We don't have any spares. Besides the Regent we are currently using, we've had one infant seat and one convertible seat. There is a Cosco harness booster installed in my husband's truck, but we hardly ever use it and not sure if he still fits the harness. I try not to let him ride in other cars, unless I can install the Regent in it.
 
Last edited:

skipspin

New member
Are the only spares if they aren't instllaed in a vehicle?
We have three vehicles, two kids, and therefore 6 seats. ((eek))
I would only have 5, but I have a second infnat seat that's about to expire that I can use if I need to.

The Britax are easy to move, but NOT in a lifted wrangler when the seat has to be in RFing and the top is on. I did it for a year for DD, and I'm glad I don't have to move it now.

DDs Radian isn't the easiest to move since it's installed with the seatbelt.

I'll have a true spare when DD hits 40 lbs. I'm not going to use her Chase as a booster, and DS won't be FFing for a while, so unless I get sick of it and give it away it will be relegated to the attic, or maybe aunt's car for emergencies.
 

hsjwmom

New member
I have a TB and Bodyguard for dds to use in dh's Explorer. Dd1's Regent is too big to be transferring back and forth and dh generally doesn't want to wait on me reinstalling the MA (even though it IS a snap, I usually don't feel like doing it either!). It has come in handy to have the boosters when dh had to take my van at the last minute...
 

twokidstwodogs

New member
I have spares because DD#1 outgrew the Roundabout right when she turned 3. So we bought Marathons, but kept the Roundabouts because I love them and they aren't yet expired. DD#2 will go back in the Roundabout once she's FF, though I expect her to grow out of it long before she's ready for a booster.

So here's what I have in the basement:
2 Roundabouts with 30 lb RF limits, lying in wait until DD is FF.
One extra B510, from when Compass sent me a new (!) one after we broke the EPS foam on ours
One Turbobooster, bought before I realized how much nicer the B510 is
One Safeguard GO, bought for travel, but not used very much as DD#1 outgrew it too quickly. Maybe it will get used again.
 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member
We have spares (a Touriva, Radian, and a Protek HBB) but I don't really think of them as spares because they're for my daycare kids. They're sort of like spares because they don't get used all that regularly, but when they do get used, it isn't usually for my own kids, which means that they're not actually spare seats. I do call them my 'spare seats' though!
 

MsFacetious

New member
I don't really have a spare right now. My Scenera is loaned out which just leaves the Two Way. So we have 1 spare I guess.
 

Peony

Member
I have 3 seats for 2 DD's right now, and will soon have 4, but I don't consider them spare. DD1 has two MA's, one in my Sienna and one is DH's Audi wagon, I often drop her off at swim, art, etc... and DH picks her up so a second seat is a must. I'm waiting on a Regent for DD1, and then DD2 will get one of DD1's MA's to use until her Signo arrives. I guess when DD2's Signo gets her then that MA will be a spare seat cause I don't "have" to have two for her.
 

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Forum statistics

Threads
219,656
Messages
2,196,896
Members
13,530
Latest member
onehitko860

You must read your carseat and vehicle owner’s manual and understand any relevant state laws. These are the rules you must follow to restrain your children safely. All opinions at Car-Seat.Org are those of the individual author for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect any policy or position of Carseat Media LLC. Car-Seat.Org makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. If you are unsure about information provided to you, please visit a local certified technician. Before posting or using our website you must read and agree to our TERMS.

Graco is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Britax is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Nuna Baby is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org!

Please  Support Car-Seat.Org  with your purchases of infant, convertible, combination and boosters seats from our premier sponsors above.
Shop travel systems, strollers and baby gear from Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Evenflo, First Years, Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Safety 1st, Diono & more! ©2001-2022 Carseat Media LLC

Top