morlando27
New member
I've posted a few times regarding which HHW seat to buy for my 4 yo's spare seat. He's around the 50th percentile for both height & weight and just over the limits of most traditional harnessed seats. Currently, his main seat is a FPSVD and he has growth room in it but I plan to hand it down to the baby (due early Nov.) as soon as DS2 will fit into it. We also have a GN for DS1, which is in MIL's car most of the time because she watches him 1x/wk and isn't comfortable installing car seats. However, he'll be starting pre-K in Sept so she won't be watching him on a regular basis any more. I was considering taking the GN from her car to use as his main seat and moving it between vehicles as needed. However, I don't fully trust anyone else to install it and I suspect juggling between vehicles will prove to be a pain so I think I want to have at least two seats for him.
The dilemma is that I can’t find a HHW seat that will fit in the back of DH’s 1997 Chevy extended cab pickup. I can use the FPSVD in the truck now but I think DS will outgrow it by height before I'm ready to put him in a booster and I was planning to use it for the baby anyway so that's only a temporary solution. I tried a Nautilus but it overhangs the seat by several inches and a Frontier but the outboard passenger side l/s belt isn’t long enough for LBP and SBP is way too loose. It has to be in this seating position because there would be no room for his legs in the center position as DH has to have the split front bench seat back too far. The truck has a very upright, shallow bench seat with relatively low headrests in outboard positions. The Apex won’t work because the headrests aren’t high enough. I don't think a Regent will fit because the FPSVD barely does. The only other seat I can think of to try is a Radian but I’m afraid if I couldn’t get a good install with the Frontier, the Radian won’t work either and of course no local stores have them to try out. Am I missing any other HWH seats, preferably that convert to a booster, that might work? At this point, we are considering buying a crew cab truck with full back seats. Can I safely assume that I will be able to get an acceptable install with the Nautilus and/or Frontier in a 2003-2005 Chevy crew cab?
To further complicate things, carpooling is starting to become an issue. Right now, DS1 and a good friend’s son the same age are in a summer program 2x/week for a couple of hours/day. She is off on maternity leave (being induced today) and will be transporting the boys back and forth to this program. I’ve seen her son in a backless booster as well as harnessed into a 40 lb seat when I’m sure he’s over the limit. I think I’ve made some progress in educating her as she’s considering buying a GN but in the past she’s been pretty blasé about car safety (yet she’s very overprotective on other issues, so I don’t get it). Anyway, I want something that is easy to install correctly every time. She will probably leave the baby with her mom (who lives next door to her) while she takes the boys to this program so I don’t think we have to worry about a 3-across install but my son’s seat will probably be taken in and out of the car even if I buy a seat to leave with her. So far I’ve taken the FPSVD from my car and installed it in hers, which has worked fine but with a new baby I don't know if I'll just be able to pop it into her car in the morning and I don't want to mess with her car seats so I may need to have her do the installation. She may also be taking the boys to pre-K in the fall so they don’t have to ride the bus so buying a seat to leave with her rather than switching back & forth from my car is probably worthwhile but again it has to be easy to install correctly.
To get to my actual question(s)…Will a Nautilus install outboard acceptably in a Chevy Equinox? A full-size Chevy Crew Cab pickup? Should I keep the Frontier I bought online even thought it won't work in DH's truck, isn't a good seat to be moved between vehicles and I don't really care for it? The problem is that return shipping is going to be rather costly. I’ve listed it for sale on craigslist and a local mommies group with no luck. It will install acceptably in my car and might work if we buy a bigger truck but, honestly I think I prefer the GN. What would you do?
The dilemma is that I can’t find a HHW seat that will fit in the back of DH’s 1997 Chevy extended cab pickup. I can use the FPSVD in the truck now but I think DS will outgrow it by height before I'm ready to put him in a booster and I was planning to use it for the baby anyway so that's only a temporary solution. I tried a Nautilus but it overhangs the seat by several inches and a Frontier but the outboard passenger side l/s belt isn’t long enough for LBP and SBP is way too loose. It has to be in this seating position because there would be no room for his legs in the center position as DH has to have the split front bench seat back too far. The truck has a very upright, shallow bench seat with relatively low headrests in outboard positions. The Apex won’t work because the headrests aren’t high enough. I don't think a Regent will fit because the FPSVD barely does. The only other seat I can think of to try is a Radian but I’m afraid if I couldn’t get a good install with the Frontier, the Radian won’t work either and of course no local stores have them to try out. Am I missing any other HWH seats, preferably that convert to a booster, that might work? At this point, we are considering buying a crew cab truck with full back seats. Can I safely assume that I will be able to get an acceptable install with the Nautilus and/or Frontier in a 2003-2005 Chevy crew cab?
To further complicate things, carpooling is starting to become an issue. Right now, DS1 and a good friend’s son the same age are in a summer program 2x/week for a couple of hours/day. She is off on maternity leave (being induced today) and will be transporting the boys back and forth to this program. I’ve seen her son in a backless booster as well as harnessed into a 40 lb seat when I’m sure he’s over the limit. I think I’ve made some progress in educating her as she’s considering buying a GN but in the past she’s been pretty blasé about car safety (yet she’s very overprotective on other issues, so I don’t get it). Anyway, I want something that is easy to install correctly every time. She will probably leave the baby with her mom (who lives next door to her) while she takes the boys to this program so I don’t think we have to worry about a 3-across install but my son’s seat will probably be taken in and out of the car even if I buy a seat to leave with her. So far I’ve taken the FPSVD from my car and installed it in hers, which has worked fine but with a new baby I don't know if I'll just be able to pop it into her car in the morning and I don't want to mess with her car seats so I may need to have her do the installation. She may also be taking the boys to pre-K in the fall so they don’t have to ride the bus so buying a seat to leave with her rather than switching back & forth from my car is probably worthwhile but again it has to be easy to install correctly.
To get to my actual question(s)…Will a Nautilus install outboard acceptably in a Chevy Equinox? A full-size Chevy Crew Cab pickup? Should I keep the Frontier I bought online even thought it won't work in DH's truck, isn't a good seat to be moved between vehicles and I don't really care for it? The problem is that return shipping is going to be rather costly. I’ve listed it for sale on craigslist and a local mommies group with no luck. It will install acceptably in my car and might work if we buy a bigger truck but, honestly I think I prefer the GN. What would you do?