Secondary Seats

amy919 · Jul 16, 2007

I feel like I'm in a perpetual car seat quandry these days. I'm happy with my primary seats, but I've always had "less than" seats for my back ups.

There are several factors I used to consider:
- Price - I had a hard time justifying spending the money for seats that weren't being used on a regular basis
- Ease of installation - the seats are routinely used in 3-4 different cars
- Ease of use - especially with my in-laws. If the harness isn't super easy to adjust, I'm afraid the girls won't be strapped in tight enough. OK, Teagan won't be strapped in tight enough. Kaylie won't let them move the car until hers is (in their opinion) painfully too tight.

Now, the last 2 remain on my list, for obvious reasons. But I've decided that the first one has to go. Since DH was in an accident and the major point of impact was on the driver's side rear door, seeing Kaylie's seat right there at the point of impact scared the crap out of me. Granted, the kids weren't in the car with them, but they COULD have been. And now I'm rethinking my original thought process. The reality is, I have no idea when or where or with who my kids will be with if an accident occurs. It is just as likely that it could occur when they're with someone else.

So I've decided to bite the bullet, scrounge the money up and find a way to put my kids in seats that I feel are equally safe. Swapping out my seats is not an option. If I need someone else to transport the kids, they'll need the seats that are in my car.

So I'm anxious to see what everyone else does with secondary seats.

Amy

arly1983 · Jul 16, 2007

I move my seats SOOO much that they have to be easy to install which means Britax.....(Please be good, RECARO)

Victorious4 · Jul 16, 2007

Leila has ... um ... 5 seats :duck: Husky, RSTV, Parkway, Compass B510, Apex

The Husky stays in my car as her primary seat, but the others are moved around depending on the vehicle + adult + trip & other friends/family sized to fit them.

Ali · Jul 16, 2007

DD has 3 seats. Two RF MAs and an Evenflo Titan. One MA is in my car and one in DHs. The Titan was originally in DHs old car, but we couldn't get an install to my satisfaction, so we got another MA. Now that DH has a new car, we primarily use his car as a family. DD is with me more, but when we are together we use DHs, so I am glad we got the 2nd MA.

The Titan usually sits in the closet or is installed in my car for when I pick up a friends DD.

mominabigtruck · Jul 16, 2007

Well, the majority of my seats are britax so I said equal or greater value but I am buying a new evenflo advance and I have a compass booster but I consider those to be equal. I suppose if I couldn't afford it I would buy a scenera or something like that but since I can I don't see any reason not to spend on nice carseats.

natysr · Jul 16, 2007

I have a marathon in my main car (center position RF) and a Boulevard in my weekend car (outboard RF). Even though the BLVD is in the car used less, I still put it there because of the extra wings and that I get a tighter install outboard than I do center in that car.

I do have a "less than" seat in my garage. It was my son's prequil to the bouldevard. I paid about $170 for it. It wasn't cheap. It is a Combi Victoria. But, I became uncomfortable with having a seat outboard that has no impact foam, so we bought the BLVD.

I have kept the victoria, but I do not ever intend to use it for my son again. I am keeping as a spare for other kids in case I need it.

I do know that all seats have to meet the same standards, but really, my #1 thing that I want is the protective foam.

My other thing with other people driving my son around, is that if someone other than me or my husband ever drives him, he will be in the seat that:
1. has the most protection
2. is the easiest to install
3. is the easiest to harness.

So basically, I would take the Blvd out and put it in their car. Since I would likely not be there to feel like I was controlling the environment, he would be in the best seat I own.

Niea · Jul 16, 2007

My DD has 3 primary seats: a Decathlon, a Boulevard, and a Roundabout. Her backup seat is a Scenara. I just didn't feel like spending $250 on a seat that she'd use maybe a few times a year.

Connor's Mom · Jul 16, 2007

We have a Regent in my car and a MA in my husbands. The grandparents both have Scenaras that have been used less than a handful of times as my parents are 6 hours away and I either drive and therefor have my seat or fly and take the MA. We always drive to DH's parents because there is no commercial airport within 2 hours drive so we always have out seat there as well.

Namegirl · Jul 16, 2007

We have a Marathon and a Scenera, so our backup seat is "less than." I think we use the Scenera about once every 4 months or so, so it's a pretty rarely-used seat. I actually like some things about my Scenera quite a bit, though.

BudgieStew · Jul 16, 2007

Well it depends on the child. I'm afraid DD has got DS leftover's for her secondary seats

DD secondary seat is a E/B 3-1. Her primary is a Marathon and her back up seat we keep in the house is a Touriva. So both are less then her primary. I will be replacing her E/B with a Radian at some point and then her E/B would be used as the back up.

DS secondary seat is the same as his primary a Radian..so equal to each other..

If Recaro and some of the other Britax's came to Canada I would use their current primary's as secondary and replace them with awesome new seats..but that is a big dream. Maybe for my grandkid's

Gypsy · Jul 16, 2007

I never really understood getting less than seats for travel or other people to use for your kids, I understand getting less expensive if you can't afford "same" but wouldn't you want a safer/more featured seat for travel and cars that might not have the safety features of the primary vehicle?

I want a Signo for ds, I'll use it in my van for the extra time rear facing, but then it's going in dh's car because his car has ZERO safety features & my van is loaded with safety features -- then when ds outgrows the Marathon forward facing he will be back in the Signo for the extra growth room, or maybe there will be something newer/better available at that time for my car or dh's car.

SPJ&E · Jul 16, 2007

I don't really know how to answer this one!

Pacey has a Marathon in my car and a Decathlon in my partners' car. Joshua has a Marathon in each car. We ride both cars about equally, so I wanted Britax's for both because of the ease of install & use, comfort, RF tether, tall back, tall top slots, and high weight limits.

Pacey has a Scenera as a spare seat the rare occasion he rides with anyone else. I don't like that it does not tether rear-facing, but overall, it's a good seat and I know he's safe in it because it is installed and used correctly.

Joshua has a Triumph (bought 3 years ago for babies I babysat) as a spare seat (and we have a 2nd Scenera for when Joshua outgrows the Triumph rear-facing), again, for the VERY rare occasion we ride with someone else. Again, I don't like that it doesn't tether rear-facing, but am completely comfortable with him riding in it because I know it's installed and used correctly.

Momto1bigkiddo · Jul 16, 2007

We don't have any secondary seats, we just swap out our Regent when needed (luckily not often!! maybe 4 times in the last 12 months). I am sure we will eventually get a secondary-seat though, we just haven't needed one yet.

amy919 · Jul 17, 2007

Gypsy said:
I never really understood getting less than seats for travel or other people to use for your kids, I understand getting less expensive if you can't afford "same" but wouldn't you want a safer/more featured seat for travel and cars that might not have the safety features of the primary vehicle?

I agree with this completely. In my situation though, the other cars the girls would be in are equally as safe as mine. In fact, 2 of them score higher than mine, probably because they're newer sedans?

In any event, I guess the real question is does the seat really matter? Assuming it's installed correctly, is my child more protected in a MA than a Scenera, for example? Maybe that's a separate thread, but I see the potential for major differences of opinion

, so I think I'll leave it buried here.

Amy

arly1983 · Jul 17, 2007

amy919 said:
In any event, I guess the real question is does the seat really matter? Assuming it's installed correctly, is my child more protected in a MA than a Scenera, for example? Maybe that's a separate thread, but I see the potential for major differences of opinion, so I think I'll leave it buried here.

Ahhhh, the million dollar question! Now that is the ultimate carseat quest! Were all carseats created equal? (no) But which one is better when all other factors are the same? (No idea, wish I knew)

waterbaby · Jul 17, 2007

Our secondary seats are identical but older seats. Our primary seats in use now all have 2007 DOM. The secondary seats are '03, '04, and '05.

Morganthe · Jul 17, 2007

arly1983 said:
Ahhhh, the million dollar question! Now that is the ultimate carseat quest! Were all carseats created equal? (no) But which one is better when all other factors are the same? (No idea, wish I knew)

ITA!!!
DD only had a second carseat beginning around 18 months when she switched to the MaxiCosi. It was a Triumph, originally her primary seat. I used it as a spare for travelling with friend's kids. I considered it a very safe seat rfing, but we had to turn it around for dd and (according to instructions) put the shoulder straps up at the highest position - Above her ears!!
I think she went for an entire 10 months without riding in it, then it was used in dh's car very occasionally afterwards. It didn't matter, until we moved and he worked swing shift, she just wasn't riding around with him.

Eventually, I felt uncomfortable with the Triumph base & how it perched in his Jetta. I knew she was slowly outgrowing the MC and the Radian 65 had an excellent buy through Target, so I decided to test it out last Fall. I just liked the overall fit for dd and how it fit so firmly into the car, I went ahead and sold the Triumph. It still looked new

So yes, now I have what I believe are comparible quality seats in both vehicles, (MaxiCosi+ Radian: Now Regent + Radian), but I still have to take it on faith that they'll keep my daughter as safe as manufacturely possible, especially if the cars are involved in a side accident. Honestly, I do not rely on 'bigger is better' natural creed... look at what happened to the Titanic. Sunk by small holes in relation to its overall size

mommyto4kiddos · Jul 17, 2007

Since people that drive the kids every once in a while don't want carseats in their car all the time, we just switch them out as needed. We do have a extra cargo booster, and 2 turbo booster, but usually if its my 9 or 7 year old, I'll just send the parkway and teach the person how to lock the shoulder belts. With my 4 or 2 year old, I'll usually pick either the ma or the ra and put it in the persons car. The kids have the same seats in their dads and in my car so with each kid already having 2 seats, I can't take the depreciation on any more than that. lol

mommycat · Jul 18, 2007

I had all the same seat for DS, 4 AOE in total, while he still fit in them. Now I also have 2 Radians and a MA, I consider them equal seats, I guess. I bought some of each because I am indecisive, plus I wanted to try both out and assumed we may get a bad fit in at least one car/seat combination (esp with the Radian). But I think I would always get fairly equal seats because once I decide on which ones are the "best" seat I don't think I could go buy something that seemed lesser in any way, even if it was only used occasionally. Once I commit to a certain price being acceptable for the features... :shrug: But all the carseats get used rather a lot, so it's not THAT much of a spare in our case.

Suzibeck · Jul 18, 2007

Our primary seats are a Parkway and a MA in my van, well actually in my garage at the moment since the nice tow truck man just carried the van away, for the second time this month.

In dh's car we have a HBTB and a Scenera. Dh's car has lots more safety features than my van and did very well in crash tests, I wish I could say that about my van.

In the garage we have 3 backless boosters (Evenflo Right Fit, Ambassador, TB) for friends or whatever. Two were in our vehicles until dd1 got too big for them. I'll sell two of them at our garage sale this weekend, keeping the Evenflo for friends, since most of my kids' friends don't ride in seats of any sort.

The Evenflo seat is great for tight spaces but has decent leg support for leggy kids and it doesn't expire!

Secondary Seats

What are your back up seats?

don't have them - swap out the primary seats

have "less than" seats & are OK with sacrificing comfort/safety

use identical or equal seats

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