Seats at daycare... How do you handle it?

Just wondering what everyone does for their own kids in the daycare situation

The daycare provider is an older lady who runs a home daycare. Seats are taken in/out of her van all the time. She will be picking my kids up from school twice a week if I end up getting the job I interviewed for.

The older to kids are very very good at always buckling and do very well in their Literiders so I plan on keeping two there for them (extras we have here). My concern is dd2, 4 yrs old, 36lbs. In our cars she is harnessed 100% of the time and can buckle herself correctly 90% of the time (I check everything over before leaving)... She does get easily frustrated though if the straps twist on her.


I have no idea how many top tethers the DC ladies van has or how good she is at installing convertibles, attaching tt's, or even checking dd's buckle work :/

Would it be wrong to get dd a HBB with a 30lb min. to use so I'm not worrying about the installation being done right?

I would teach dd to buckle in the booster, plus my older two would be there to assist correct booster buckling. She is a very shy child so I don't see any moving out of position especially not with another adult.


What would you do? What do you do? Any suggestions?

Between Halloween/birthdays/possibly needing work clothes/shoes/extra gas until I get my first check I really don't have a lot to spend on a seat either :/

I wonder if she would consider leaving DD4's seat installed - maybe in the way back - since your older two can pull their Literiders in & out in an instant?

Option 2 - F90 w ClickTight... but gosh that's expensive for a daycare seat.

Is your DD a young 4 or an older 4? That would affect my opinion on the booster. (If you do get one, I would probably look first at the Turbo... just fits littles so well.)

ETA: I didn't answer what I do since "Have dc lady become a nerd & get certified" seems like an unlikely possibility

I'd get one of the cheap Turbos from Wal Mart, or a Harmony HBB, because I wouldn't trust her to install it correctly especially if it's being taken out all the time.

I know everyone is always aghast at 4 year olds being boostered but it's really not the end of the world IMO. Especially if the kid can sit correctly.

Are you sure that DCP will be removing/installing the seat every time? Is there any way that you could install the harnessed seat the night before the first pickup and have her leave it in until after the second pickup?

Any chance that your DD and one of the other kids that she presumably transports could use the same seat without it needing to be removed/installed?

Carrie_R said:

Is your DD a young 4 or an older 4? That would affect my opinion on the booster. (If you do get one, I would probably look first at the Turbo... just fits littles so well.)

Click to expand...

Her DD is just turning 4. (Easy for me to remember because she was born within days of my DD2. )

Do your older kids and your little DD go to the same school? If the big kids get picked up first, could you teach one of them to install her seat? (But really, I'm confused about where your little DD gets picked up from. Does she go to a separate preschool that DCP would need to pick her up from or something?)

Guessing little DD rides along while DCP picks up the bigs?

JUST 4 and under 40lbs... No, I wouldn't do it, until/unless DCP proves herself to be incompetent with seats. I would give her a chance first, and then if you find she is incapable of installing/using correctly, switch it out. I agree better a properly used booster than improperly used seat, BUT the seat may have proper use. And remember HE numbers are the same for boosters & untethered harnesses, so I would scratch tether concerns off of your comparison list. If she has them, use them, of course, but if not - she is not going to have better HE numbers in a booster than an untethered convertible. FWIW.

Ask you DP to show you she knows how to install the seat. If she needs to be showed then show her. Then undo it and have her redo it a couple times. Just let her know that car seat safety is a #1 priority for you and it will put your mind at ease seeing her do the install.

At a home daycare here ( I see into the van) one toddler (2) is in a shield seat. And backless boosters are used for ages 4+, it looks like.

So, not ideal.

But the one daycare with a big van uses NO seats for the little kids. It's not required but still...yikes!

I'm going to bring the kids over there before hand so they can meet if I do end of getting the job. I'm going to bring our Maestro out of DHs truck and ask her to install it and just see how that goes

I'm mostly concerned it will get taken out then quickly reinstalled incorrectly, dd2 is picked up after school with ds2 who can check her buckle work but neither one can untwist or fix the straps if the buckle tongs get flipped around... Which happens to us almost daily with Evenflos twisty straps... Or she might end up only partially buckled in. DD2 would NOT speak up and let someone know she isn't buckled. DS2 would not be there at all on the Wednesday pickup because he has an after school program.

The DC lady is taking seats out daily because she does a school drop off, pickup kids of all different ages and has children of her own in/out of the vehicle. The seats get taken out then sat inside her mud room until it's needed next.


In my head I'm not at all even close to being ready for her to be in a booster full time, but that's because she's my baby... Not because she would not sit correctly. Out of all of my children she is the most able to be in a booster at this age.

I would just feel a lot better knowing the booster could be taken in/out super easily and my older two are very good at routing and placing the seatbelt in the correct spots. My DD1 is 8 and DS2 is 7 so them installing a harnessed seat isn't something I feel they could be held responsible for.

If the seat belt gets routed wrong (like the top portion behind her body or out of the belt guides) I feel much more confident in my older two to spot and fix that... They can't do anything to fix a loose install or twisted straps on a harness seat. There's just a lot less to mess up on a booster.


Another HUGE point to bring up is I have very very very limited funds right now to get another seat. I could take DHs Maestro but then he is left with NOTHING if the kids need to be picked up from school or in any kind of an emergency. I've been looking online for the cheapest HWH seats and around $80 is what I'm coming up with. I found the Amp HBB for $30, the TB for $50 and the TBSS for $60. I'm leaning towards the AMP if I go the booster route just because it stays together when moved. I don't want have to worry they couldn't get the HB portion back on and DD2 was put into a LBB.

Also going to her house to install a seat isn't really an option... She's a good 25 minutes away. I don't have the gas money to drive back and forth to install a seat every day. If she wasn't taking the bus into school in the mornings I could reinstall a seat then, but I drop them off at the bus in a different city than the DC every morning.

DD2 is indeed newly 4 like the PP said, I haven't weighed her fully clothed with shoes in a while but she may be pretty close to the 39/40lb mark, specially with winter coming

I think a HBB is the way to go in this situation. It's not ideal but you gotta do what you gotta do.