And on a side note, how the heck do those of you do it who have 3 kids sitting next to one another all the time? We went to PetsMart and to pick up my van and in less than 30 minutes, my 3 were ready to kill one another. I think there would be sibling homicide if they had to sit next to one another like that every day, ugh!! :fencing::dizzy:
Congrats on fitting the seats! Yeah, the Radian is great for this kind of situation.
As far as having the kids so close to each other, that is a challenge, LOL. When DD was born, I had her infant seat outboard, which meant DS#1 and DS#2 were sitting next to each other. It was sometimes OK, but sometimes a royal PITA, with them encroaching on each other's space, screaming, pushing each other, etc. It's amazing how much one child can annoy the other by quietly putting an elbow or a foot an inch over the perceived 'property line'
. And, my almost 6 y.o. seemed to decline to the immaturity level of his almost 3 y.o. brother, rather than the other way around.
As soon as DD outgrew her Snugride at 5 m.o., I put her in the middle, and peace has pretty much reigned since then. Both her brothers are peaceful toward her, and they can't really reach each other. As she gets older (and more annoying
), things may change, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
As for 'installing' the kids, that is a bit of a pain, when I stop to think about it. To put DD in, I have to climb in and sit in DS#1's booster while putting her into the center seat. As she gets heavier, I have to be more careful about how I lift her in and out of the car, so that I don't put too much weight on my back at a funny angle. To buckle DS#1's booster, I have to have him hold the extended shoulder belt (so it doesn't try to retract), while I snake one hand in from above to get a few fingers on the buckle and hold it at the proper angle. My arm/shoulder ends up pretty much in his face, but he puts up with that, sometimes with a little grumbling. Then I bring the other hand, holding the seatbelt latch, in through the small space down near the front/side of the booster. Usually I have to tilt the booster out a bit too while buckling. DS cannot possibly buckle himself in. I realized again that this booster buckling technique is really a learned skill, when my mom tried to help DS get into his seat after Christmas dinner. She was pretty puzzled, since she knew the seatbelt had to buckled, but that looked like an impossible task at first glance
.
All in all, I find I've gotten used to the inconveniences, since there isn't an alternative, given the cars we own at the moment...
Oh, and DS#2, whom I've forgotten to mention, is moderately easy to get in, since he is in the other outboard seat. He does have to get in first, though, since I don't trust him (3 y.o.) to stand and wait while I help his sibs into their seats. That, in turn, means I usually keep a stroller handy, to keep DD captive while getting the 3 y.o. into the car (can't lift him in while holding her in a sling). That's not a three-across problem, though, just a typical multiple child problem, LOL. Getting him in/out does usually involve taking shoes on/off also, since he is still RF, and the winter weather leads to messy shoes. I should check sometime how long it actually takes to get all three children in and buckled up. It varies a lot, depending on how cooperative they are, I guess.
Katrin
