Booster seat shake-up

I'd love some input on what seats might be good to consider...I don't even dare bring it up with dh until I have a good idea of what I want to do

Currently:

DS1 is in a Frontier 85, booster mode (49"/52 lbs)
DS2 is in a Nautilus, harness mode (43"/42 lbs)
DD1 is in a Monterey (45"/45 lbs)
DD2 is in a Coccoro (stats don't matter for this...she's staying put)

I drive a Durango and in the past we've had all seats outboard, two in each row. Once we moved the baby to the CCO, I had enough room (barely, and I might be pushing it) to put the Monterey right next to it, in the center of the 2nd row, so that we could flip one of the outboard seats up to facilitate easier loading into the 3rd row. I really like having DD1 next to DD2...she really helps a lot when the baby is fussy. But, I wish there was a bit more room for her seat...it's a bit of a struggle for her to get in a buckle, though she manages on her own most of the time.

I'm nearing being ready to move DS2 into a booster. He still sleeps in the car, but that has tapered off quite a bit in the last few months. We had major head slump issues with DS1 when he was in the Nauti, and DS2 has the same thing. I don't see it being a great fit for him as a booster, especially for those longer rides when he'll be more prone to falling asleep.

I don't plan to keep the Nauti once I booster DS2, but I'm not sure what to replace it with. Ideally, I'd get something slimmer than the Monterey to put in that center position next to the CCO and then move the Monterey to the third row (in which case, I'd want to replace the cover to something neutral so that any kid could use it....right now, it's pink). I'm also toying with the idea of selling the Monterey. We've had the belt guide issues in every seating position in the car...hasn't been a huge issue because the belt still sits properly without it, but still, it bugs me a bit.

At what point can I explore putting DS2 in a backless? He'll be 9 this summer, so socially he's in that age group where the lower the profile, the better. But he's also on the small side...about 49" and 52 lbs.

Really, I'm open to any ideas on what to keep/get rid of and what to consider for other seats. We've been doing boosters for a couple of years now and I still feel like I don't really know that much about what's out there.

I'm not a tech, but is be ok with a backless if he is. My 7.5 year old still likes the support of her high back unless of course we are giving friends a ride who are in lbb. She is fitting well in our captain's chairs in a lbb (only tried once) and has good head support obviously so I'm going to start giving her the option in that spot soon on short drives. If you think he will want to lean to rest his head on the window, I'd wait. For your dd I'd try the Parkway. DD likes hers and its fairly narrow.

If you are okay with spending the money, the Kiddy CruiserFix Pro is pretty narrow. It fits 3 across in the back of dh's car where I was beginning to think 3 across was impossible. It is also the easiest to buckle (that we tried and we tried a lot of seats) because the base is narrow at the bottom.

We did have a Monterey for ds2 in there and that was the easiest to buckle next to another seat out of the boosters we had at the time (PWSG, Vivo, Monterey) that ds2 fit in.
The HB Turbo also fit well but ds2 had outgrown it. Since your dd1 is smaller I would consider a Turbo with Safety Surround. It is definitely more narrow than the Monterey. It would be a good choice for your ds2 too.

The Vivo is awesome for all sizes but lacks leg support for leggy kids. Ds2 is not bothered by it but I know some kids are.

The PWSG is also pretty narrow but the belt fit is not always good on smaller kids. Ds2 didn't fit well until he was about 50 pounds.

I have to say that out of all the ones I mentioned the CruiserFix is my favorite but also the most expensive. If it was me deciding for my kids at your twins' sizes I would be deciding between the CruiserFix, TB with SS and Vivo.

And I would be okay with a 9 yr old going backless. Ds2 is 7.5 and is backless in one out of three of our vehicles and when he rides with friends. He will be in a high back for a while on longer trips though because he still sleeps. If you have your ds1 go backless you could pass the FR85 to ds2 and have the opton to harness or booster. If he still sleeps you may want to keep a hbb for him though.

MommyShannon said:

If you think he will want to lean to rest his head on the window, I'd wait. For your dd I'd try the Parkway. DD likes hers and its fairly narrow.

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That, I'm not sure about. He rides in a backless in dh's car for short trips, so I'll have to ask if he's noticed that at all. He's the kind of kid that it wouldn't surprise me to see him be prone to doing that.

momtoo3 said:

If you are okay with spending the money, the Kiddy CruiserFix Pro is pretty narrow. It fits 3 across in the back of dh's car where I was beginning to think 3 across was impossible. It is also the easiest to buckle (that we tried and we tried a lot of seats) because the base is narrow at the bottom.

We did have a Monterey for ds2 in there and that was the easiest to buckle next to another seat out of the boosters we had at the time (PWSG, Vivo, Monterey) that ds2 fit in.
The HB Turbo also fit well but ds2 had outgrown it. Since your dd1 is smaller I would consider a Turbo with Safety Surround. It is definitely more narrow than the Monterey. It would be a good choice for your ds2 too.

The Vivo is awesome for all sizes but lacks leg support for leggy kids. Ds2 is not bothered by it but I know some kids are.

The PWSG is also pretty narrow but the belt fit is not always good on smaller kids. Ds2 didn't fit well until he was about 50 pounds.

I have to say that out of all the ones I mentioned the CruiserFix is my favorite but also the most expensive. If it was me deciding for my kids at your twins' sizes I would be deciding between the CruiserFix, TB with SS and Vivo.

And I would be okay with a 9 yr old going backless. Ds2 is 7.5 and is backless in one out of three of our vehicles and when he rides with friends. He will be in a high back for a while on longer trips though because he still sleeps. If you have your ds1 go backless you could pass the FR85 to ds2 and have the opton to harness or booster. If he still sleeps you may want to keep a hbb for him though.

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Passing down the FR85 to DS2 is a definite possibility...of all my seats, that's the one I'd like to keep. It's a beast size-wise, but I've been really happy with it. He rides in it whenever DS1 isn't with us and seems pretty comfortable in it. DS1 rarely sleeps in the car anymore, so that's not an issue with moving him to a backless.

The CruiserFix sounds really appealing, but it's definitely outside of the range I want to pay. Dh is already going to have a fit when he hears that I'm considering making any changes at all, and I value my life enough to not even be tempted by it! We've got a TB as a spare and it's fine, but I don't like the way the back flops so easily when you move it...unless they've made a design change that fixes that. The Vivo is a possibility I'll look into. None of my kids are especially leggy, but it's good to know to take that into consideration. DD sat in a PWSG a year or so ago (when I was scouting out boosters for her). I remember thinking it was a decent fit. I'll have to have her try it again. DS2 has a pretty slim build, so it probably won't be the best option for him if it fits bigger kids better.