Carpool questions

It's that time of year. This year we have a carpool situation with my co-worker. All of our kids are attending one of the schools that we work at and we will take turns dropping off/picking up based on our work days and around meeting schedules. I follow best practice, but have to constantly raise and lower my 3rd row for the extra kids because I lose cargo room with the seat up. She has a mini van but has to do 3 across both rows due to leaving seats in for her preschooler and her infant. She does not follow best practice. She is receptive, but, eh... I need to send my kids with their own seats that they can use by themselves. Most of the time they can stay in her car until it is my turn to drive unless she then has a meeting and I am taking them all home, in which case I would need one of the seats that the boys bring. We have both a bubble bum and an RSTV. A (8 years, 65 pounds, 54" tall) can use both independently. C (6 years, 54 pounds, 48" tall) needs help with both.

In my car I can throw A in the very back, and my co-workers daughter (11 years and would 5 step in my 3rd row). I'm not worried about that situation. I am willing to purchase 1 cheap seat (topside or literider) to leave in her car if needed. So, which of my children ride in what? I absolutely do NOT want them in the seats she offered for them to use and said they would bring their own. I know that C will make a fuss about needing help with the RSTV but I wonder if it is better just to put him in a backless to know that he is restrained properly? Trying to decide what to do and not buy extra seats if I don't have to.

Bubblebum for A, literider for C. I wouldn't mess with a RTSV in a carpool situation if I didn't have to, especially if my kid needed help. Will C be able to buckle a literider himself? Do you trust him to sit correctly? If so, that's what I would do.

I agree. I'd teach C to use a LiteRider (assuming that she has headrests and the belt fits without the shoulder belt adjuster OR he can leave it threaded on and learn to adjust it himself if needed) by himself because it's probably less prone to misuse with this woman than the RSTV.

Thanks all. I will just buy an extra lite rider for him to keep in her car. I am pretty sure he will be able to do it himself and if not will yell loud enough to get help buckling. She has headrests in all positions.

Now, for my car I think the 11 year old will need a booster in my back seat. I don't want to make ER ride in the Monterey since I'll be dropping her at middle school and she rides in nothing in her moms car but my seats are dumb. If she were a little bigger I'd let her ride up front but she isn't big enough for me to be comfortable with that and making her climb over everything when she is the only one in the car is silly and in the back I need seats that come in an out easy. Grrrrr. That means 2 more backless seats for use in my car. Use a backless for everyone during the week (except C) and just put in the monterey on weekends for A? Or just buy a new car. Lol. No, I can't think on my own today. Take the bak off tr Monterey? And I have a turbo I can use until Oct and then it disappears.

The Cruz is cheap and great for bigger booster riders...

ketchupqueen said:

The Cruz is cheap and great for bigger booster riders...

Click to expand...

Except I need narrow. I have the bottom to the Monterey and I can take it apart if I need to. None of the kids are big or wide. C is the widest of them all. Lol. I think the Cruz is too wide.

It does taper quite a bit. Worth a look if you don't want to detach and reattach the Monterey constantly, at least?

Thoughts on bubble bum as an almost everyday seat? I can do that and a backless turbo in the third row and use lite rider or that other one is second row if 11 year old doesn't 5 step. The turbo will get me to Oct and then it will live in WA until it expires in Dec.

As long as it's not too hard to buckle, why not?