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I am looking for advice on the purchase of two or three new car seats/high back boosters. Here's my basic info:
My car: 2007 Lexus RX350
DS1: 4.5 years old, 41.5", 35 lbs.
DS2: 12 months old, 30", 19.5 lbs.
DS1: currently rides forward facing in a Britax Boulevard CS70, manufactured in 10/2010, he has plenty of room to grow in this seat
DS2: currently rides rear facing in a Peg Perego 30/30 infant seat. The expiration is up and he's at the max height.
DH's car is a 4-door Toyota Tacoma and DS1 uses a Safety 1st Onside Air. I know it's not the best seat, but we bought it when DS1 was 2 years old so that he could use it on airplanes and during trips. It is light enough for me to carry through an airport while traveling alone with him. 95% of the time, DS1 is riding in my car in the Boulevard. DH's truck is used for occasional preschool drop-off/pick-up and weekend errands with DS1. If we go anywhere all together, we always use my car.
The dilemma/requirements for the 2-3 new carseats needed:
New carseat 1: DS2 needs to move to a rear-facing convertible.
New carseat 2: I would like to carpool to preschool with another 4 year old, approximately 40", 38lbs. His mom wants him in a harnessed seat (either a HBB or FF carseat) and I'd like DS1 to stay harnessed, also. This would require two forward facing harnessed seats and one rear facing seat in my RX350. For preschool drop off, the two FF seats must be on the passenger side and middle. I would possibly like to be able to use this extra "carpool" seat for travel for one of the kids. (If used for DS1, it would be carried through the airport, probably in our JL Childress backpack and gate checked.)
New carseat 3: Since DS1 is almost at the max height of 43" in the Safety 1st seat in DH's truck, we need another seat for this vehicle. This carseat could also be used for travel instead of the above "carpool" seat, as we can use the Safety 1st seat for DS2's travel and use either the carpool seat or DH's seat for travel for DS1.
I've considered the following options:
1. Keep DS1 in the Boulevard in my RX350. I'd like a Britax Pavilion or Peg Perego Convertible to rear-face for DS2, but I won't be able to fit any seat (that I know of) in the middle for the carpool. I tried to put a Diono Radian RXT between the Boulevard and the Pavilion and also between the Boulevard and Peg convertible, but neither combination fit across my car. Any suggestions on how to keep DS1 in the Boulevard that he is very comfortable in and put DS2 in the Pavilion or Peg convertible, plus a 5-point harness HBB or seat in the middle?
2. I could move DS2 to the currently owned Boulevard and rear-face it, then buy a new seat, possibly a Radian RXT for DS1 and either another Radian RXT or a Diono Monterey, Britax Frontier or Parkway or other harnessed HBB for the carpool. I'm not sure if any of these combinations will fit in my car due to the width.
3. I could move DS2 to the currently owned Boulevard and rear-face it, and buy two HBBs for DS1 and the carpool. This is similar to option 2., but I'm not sure which option is safer for DS1 (Radian or harnessed HBB) and which will be able to be used for the longest amount of time.
In options 1., 2., and 3., I can also buy another seat or HBB for DH's truck, or wait until DS1 actually reaches 43" and outgrows that Safety 1st seat. If it takes a long time, I can move him to a HBB instead of buying a convertible. He went through a big growth spurt a few months ago, so he could possibly stall for a while or maybe go through another growth spurt. Who knows?
Option 4.: Move the Boulevard to DH's truck and buy three new seats for my car. Again, I like the Pavillion or Peg convertible for DS2, but don't know if one of this seats, plus two more (Radians or harnessed HBBs) will fit in my car. If not, will I have to put DS2 in a rf Radian and then put two more Radians or HBBs next to it for DS1 and the carpool?
Any suggestions on how to fit the safest three seats that can be used for the longest amount of time in the back of my RX350 would be greatly appreciated! TIA!
My car: 2007 Lexus RX350
DS1: 4.5 years old, 41.5", 35 lbs.
DS2: 12 months old, 30", 19.5 lbs.
DS1: currently rides forward facing in a Britax Boulevard CS70, manufactured in 10/2010, he has plenty of room to grow in this seat
DS2: currently rides rear facing in a Peg Perego 30/30 infant seat. The expiration is up and he's at the max height.
DH's car is a 4-door Toyota Tacoma and DS1 uses a Safety 1st Onside Air. I know it's not the best seat, but we bought it when DS1 was 2 years old so that he could use it on airplanes and during trips. It is light enough for me to carry through an airport while traveling alone with him. 95% of the time, DS1 is riding in my car in the Boulevard. DH's truck is used for occasional preschool drop-off/pick-up and weekend errands with DS1. If we go anywhere all together, we always use my car.
The dilemma/requirements for the 2-3 new carseats needed:
New carseat 1: DS2 needs to move to a rear-facing convertible.
New carseat 2: I would like to carpool to preschool with another 4 year old, approximately 40", 38lbs. His mom wants him in a harnessed seat (either a HBB or FF carseat) and I'd like DS1 to stay harnessed, also. This would require two forward facing harnessed seats and one rear facing seat in my RX350. For preschool drop off, the two FF seats must be on the passenger side and middle. I would possibly like to be able to use this extra "carpool" seat for travel for one of the kids. (If used for DS1, it would be carried through the airport, probably in our JL Childress backpack and gate checked.)
New carseat 3: Since DS1 is almost at the max height of 43" in the Safety 1st seat in DH's truck, we need another seat for this vehicle. This carseat could also be used for travel instead of the above "carpool" seat, as we can use the Safety 1st seat for DS2's travel and use either the carpool seat or DH's seat for travel for DS1.
I've considered the following options:
1. Keep DS1 in the Boulevard in my RX350. I'd like a Britax Pavilion or Peg Perego Convertible to rear-face for DS2, but I won't be able to fit any seat (that I know of) in the middle for the carpool. I tried to put a Diono Radian RXT between the Boulevard and the Pavilion and also between the Boulevard and Peg convertible, but neither combination fit across my car. Any suggestions on how to keep DS1 in the Boulevard that he is very comfortable in and put DS2 in the Pavilion or Peg convertible, plus a 5-point harness HBB or seat in the middle?
2. I could move DS2 to the currently owned Boulevard and rear-face it, then buy a new seat, possibly a Radian RXT for DS1 and either another Radian RXT or a Diono Monterey, Britax Frontier or Parkway or other harnessed HBB for the carpool. I'm not sure if any of these combinations will fit in my car due to the width.
3. I could move DS2 to the currently owned Boulevard and rear-face it, and buy two HBBs for DS1 and the carpool. This is similar to option 2., but I'm not sure which option is safer for DS1 (Radian or harnessed HBB) and which will be able to be used for the longest amount of time.
In options 1., 2., and 3., I can also buy another seat or HBB for DH's truck, or wait until DS1 actually reaches 43" and outgrows that Safety 1st seat. If it takes a long time, I can move him to a HBB instead of buying a convertible. He went through a big growth spurt a few months ago, so he could possibly stall for a while or maybe go through another growth spurt. Who knows?
Option 4.: Move the Boulevard to DH's truck and buy three new seats for my car. Again, I like the Pavillion or Peg convertible for DS2, but don't know if one of this seats, plus two more (Radians or harnessed HBBs) will fit in my car. If not, will I have to put DS2 in a rf Radian and then put two more Radians or HBBs next to it for DS1 and the carpool?
Any suggestions on how to fit the safest three seats that can be used for the longest amount of time in the back of my RX350 would be greatly appreciated! TIA!