shaunam ROCKS!

happyfrog · Jun 7, 2008

Let me tell you about my awesome friend! she posts here a lot as she's a car seat tech.

well this past week i was in a car accident. when i get home from er at 9pm, i call her and she COMES OVER to help me swap out car seats.

THEN today, first thing in the am, I call her for more help - I'm trying to get 3 car seats to fit in our 2 door toyota echo. no easy feat.

she figured out a scenario that will work! so i came home to get the add'l 'parts' for one of my radians so that we can make it rear facing for the newborn.

isn't she just the most incredible, wonderful friend?

I just had to share how generous she is with her time and she doesn't have any 'free' to give - she has a special needs kid and a 3 yr old. . .but she drops what she's doing to rescue me in my time of need!

So, this is kind of a public THANKS to my most awesome car seat fanatic friend!

BettyAnn

Stretchy Glue · Jun 7, 2008

Betty Ann, that is really sweet to post this. She is wonderful, but there is nothing like hearing it from someone in real life. I'm glad you're all doing okay after your crash.

Shaunam · Jun 7, 2008

I'm blushing.

Holy cow that was one hell of a tricky configuration. But we did it. That is a TINY car. 2 radians and a scenera. I wanted to do 2 radians and a baseless safeseat but the one friend we have who has one and isn't using it we haven't been able to reach. Initially we thought the two older ones would be ff'ing in the radians outboard and the baby in the scenera, center, but it just wasn't going to happen. We put one radian ff'ing outboard, one rf'ing center, and the scenera outboard ff'ing for the 2 1/2 year old 36 lb kiddo who is just uner the top slots. All tethered. No LATCH so all seatbelt installs. Twisted belt stalks to get tight installs. My hands are red and scraped up.

But they are all solid.

Bettyann, there was no way you could just not go anywhere for 3 weeks, so I wouldn't dream of not helping!!!

happyfrog · Jun 7, 2008

Shauna is AMAZING!

Here are pics of the installs -

It's a 2 door manual transmission 2000 toyota echo. really a SMALL car!!! perfect for dh commuting, but not intended for a family of 5. So this is even bigger deal that my amazing, beloved friend Shauna did this! and she did hurt her hands doing it, too!

I don't have pics of the kids right now in them as one is sleeping and the other two are covered in spaghetti sauce - lunch! lol

Later, when we do the grocery shopping, I'll snap a pic!

snowbird25ca · Jun 7, 2008

How nice of you to share this and how wonderful of you to help the OP Shaunum.

I moved this to carseat chat for you. :thumbsup:

An Aurora · Jun 7, 2008

Awww

OT, but that is a CUTE Scenera! Where did you get it?

Shaunam · Jun 7, 2008

She got it from the health department for FREE! How cool, huh? She wasn't sure she wanted to bother going there and taking their class to get it, but I'm sure she's glad now or otherwise she wouldn't have had a back-up seat for the baby (or, rather her 2 year old now). And I can't loan her my scenera.

Moldy pumpkin juice...doesn't go well in the summer heat.

tjham · Jun 7, 2008

An Aurora said:
Awww

OT, but that is a CUTE Scenera! Where did you get it?

I wondered that too! Cute cover!

Shaunam · Jun 7, 2008

It's so much cuter than my ugly brown one. Too bad it's not PINK for her little girl!

happyfrog · Jun 7, 2008

Shaunam said:
She got it from the health department for FREE! How cool, huh? She wasn't sure she wanted to bother going there and taking their class to get it, but I'm sure she's glad now or otherwise she wouldn't have had a back-up seat for the baby (or, rather her 2 year old now). And I can't loan her my scenera. Moldy pumpkin juice...doesn't go well in the summer heat.

yup - got it from car seat class offered at health dept. did the class more as a lark to see what they were telling folks. never had any intention of actually USING the seat. it was just a backup plan. . .and boy am i glad i have it!

if ya'll are curious, here are pics of the van:

the claim adjuster took a putty knife and some other tool to my front door to make it openable - he said it was not drivable if the door didn't work, so he didn't want me stranded, so he worked on it for a good long while til he got it to open. that man was very kind, too, to us.

it's going in the shop sunday night - they'll be keeping it for 2 1/2 to 3 weeks the adjuster said.

that damage you see - that's just a hair under $5K in repairs. thankfully, we '
only' have a $500 deductible, but we have to figure out how to get that money as we don't exactly have a money tree in our backyard. LOL

BettyAnn

Shaunam · Jun 7, 2008

I just want to say, I think the ONLY way this worked is because this is a 2 door. If they had back doors to open and close, the seats would have been right up against them and being slammed into them every time they shut them. And the scenera especially is VERY close to the side of the car, but not wedged against it or anything. I did check for independent installs (that took a while) and they moved a *little* more than I like, but definitely less than the 1". Maybe a 1/2" on the radians and a 1/4" on the scenera.

My first 3 across...I'm so proud. :thumbsup:

happyfrog · Jun 7, 2008

I got pics of my kids in the seats.

We've decided to rename our little car the 'clown car', lol. it sure is interesting watching us get everyone in and out of that little car. . .

Thanks again, Shauna! Because of you, we now have groceries! *grin*

Love,
BettyAnn

Shaunam · Jun 7, 2008

Can B's harness go a little tighter? I know you probably did tighten it before you took off, but I'm just checking! How did W like the scenera?

Stretchy Glue · Jun 7, 2008

I'm telling you, I love that Scenera cover. I've seen some AO's with that cover, but never a Scenera. I really like that. I like clown cars too. Proof that the right combo can fit almost anywhere!

happyfrog · Jun 8, 2008

Shaunam said:
Can B's harness go a little tighter? I know you probably did tighten it before you took off, but I'm just checking! How did W like the scenera?

that really is quite snug around her - she's rather squished down in the seat when i fasten her in. . .the little 'loop' on the bottom where it snaps into the bottom red buckle is as tight as i could make it. her legs have red marks from the seat belts, so i think? she's in pretty secure. ..

i've called the credit card and had them bump up the credit limit to $5K so that we can use the card again (it was maxed) to buy more car seats. . . i'll try calling allstate in the morning (monday) and see if i can get a safeseat instead of another snugride - i'll also call graco and see if they can tell me the msrp of the original seat i had - i think the value is gonna be right around the same as the current price of the safeseat1 . .. and that would be a real practical decision. i'll even tell the allstate folks i don't need the roundabout replaced as i have another that i wasn't using, so i only need TWO seats replaced, not three, so maybe they'll be accomodating to my request.

bettyann

ps as for william in the plaid like car seat - he seems fine with it.

oh, and i have an email into the company i buy my radians/roundabouts from so hopefully she can tell me proper procedure for buying a replacement seat and submitting the info to insurance maybe . . i want that radian replaced asap i worry about david in it because it's the only seat not replaced/swapped out yet. . . g-d forbid we end up in another accident. . . *cringe*

JerseyGirl'sMama · Jun 8, 2008

That is so great!

How the heck do you get your kids in there?

happyfrog · Jun 8, 2008

JerseyGirl'sMama said:
That is so great!

How the heck do you get your kids in there?

one at a time.

really, though, it's not too bad. just tight. the 2 yr old gets in behind the driver's seat and is buckled in. then i sit in the radian and buckle in the newborn.

then the 4yr old gets in the radian and pulls the straps on and i buckle him in. (he's mr. independent and wants to do it himself).

it's definitely not as easy as with my van, though. i miss my van. shopping is an adventure, because there's not that much room in the trunk for a lot of groceries. . .(dh has a lot of 'his' stuff in there already.)

bettyann

happyfrog · Jun 8, 2008

because i have a newborn in a radian 65 RF at the moment, i thought it interesting to share that she's about 11-12lbs at the moment (she was 10lbs at birth and is 2 weeks old now) and the car seat straps are as tight as they'll go all the way tight. Shauna checked them out today and she had an interesting observation - most kids are not as large as mine are at birth, so really, there might be concerns that the car seat straps may not be tight enough for a smaller than 10 lb child rear facing. ..

just something i thought i'd share that we've now noticed about the radian carseat. which also, truly is a pita to install rear facing, as shauna's skinned up hands will testify. . .

bettyann
riding around in a clown car. ..

featherhead · Jun 8, 2008

I put my dd in the Radian at about 7 months (I think she was maybe 14ish lbs and very skinny). I too noticed that I could barely tighten it enough. I think they should make the harness removable, and it could come with two harness straps, a short one for babies, and a long one for bigger kids, so you would just switch it out when you need to.

JerseyGirl'sMama · Jun 8, 2008

happyfrog said:
bettyann
riding around in a clown car. ..

LMAO! That is what I pictured when I asked earlier 'how did you get your kids in there?'

shaunam ROCKS!

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