Question Need Advice - Prius and Two Car Seats

Hello,
I have a 4 year (31 lbs, 38 inches tall) and a 9 month old (20 lbs, 27 inches). I have them in a Boulevard (center FF) and Roundabout (outboard RF) in my Sienna right now and this is the primary car they ride in.

My husband drives a 2008 Prius. The 4 year old rides in the car maybe 3 times a week, and we do not yet have a second seat in there for the baby. We currently have an Evenflo Express 5-point booster in the Prius in the center seat. The Evenflo expires in December 2008. My husband is not keen on having two seats in his car but it needs to happen so he can occasionally drive with both kids. Or at the very least we need to have an extra car seat available for when he does drive both kids. In the end, having at least one open passenger seat in the backseat will help appease things.

Any suggestions on one or two car seats for the back of the Prius? I need to try to spend as little as possible to keep family harmony, but of course safety trumps all, so we'll spend whatever we need to, to keep the kiddos safe. It would help to only have to buy one seat for now, and then we'll replace the second seat in December, but I'm open to buying two seats now if that makes the most sense.

(Too bad I wasted $75 on car seat mats at the beginning of the year before reading one here how unsafe they are - thanks to you all I promptly removed them and now they sit idle in my garage.)

Thanks in advance for the help!

I'm confident that you can get two car seats--probably just about any two--in the Prius. What I'm not sure about is having a spare seating position (at least a usable one) when you're done.

I can fit a Regent (which is very wide) and a SafeSeat 1 (infant seat) side-by-side in the Prius, with the outboard passenger side open. Unfortunately, I don't think any human would be able to fit in that spot.

That said, the Regent is very big, so if you had a narrower seat, you might be able to puzzle something in the center and passenger outboard, and have the driver outboard open (that seating position is a little wider).

It's not cheap, but I'd probably try two Radians. They're very narrow, and also sit low, which, IMO, is a plus in the Prius. They would likely fit both children very well. The baby might need to go in the center since it takes up a lot of room RF.

If you don't care about having an extra seating position (or if you get something that can be installed/uninstalled easily--the Nautilus for the older child, for example), then just about anything will work.

A couple of quick ideas - how about a Cosco Scenera for the baby? It costs about $45 at Walmart or Target so it's a reasonably priced seat. It has a 35lb rf limit and a 40lb rf limit, so your child would need another harness seat after this one.

I was also going to suggest the Radian for the older child. Since the Radian folds, it would be easy to uninstall, fold and place in the trunk if a rear seat was needed for a passenger.

The Scenera will last most children to about 3 years old. At that point, you could pass the Radian to the baby and get a high back booster for your oldest child.

Does hubby need to have an extra seat available at the same time as the car seats are in the car, or does he want to take them out for extra passengers?

I think the Radian and the Scenera or Uptown are the way to go, but the Radian install can be tricky. If it is difficult to get in, there is no way I would let my husband uninstall it. You could try Radian in an outboard spot with LATCH - easier than seatbelt - and then Scenera in the center with seatbelt. Someone could fit beside the Scenera, but it will be squishy, especially for a broad-shouldered person. You could uninstall the Scenera and put in the cargo area, and then reinstall when needed. But then you could run into the situation where the car seat isn't installed when you need it.

Your other option, is to do what I did with my DH. He grumbled about DS's seat in his 2004 Prius. I told him if he took the car seat out for the guys to drive to lunch, he would regret it. The seat being in safely for DS was more important. Now it's 3 years on and I can reinstall the car seat in about 2 mins, so it's not an issue, but it's a huge seat and won't fit in the trunk space. He only drives DS in his car on weekends, but I still like that he has a seat for an emergency dash to preschool if I can't get there. If DH had to drive clients etc, then yes it would be more of an issue. But it's not, so I told DH to get over the fact that he has a car seat in his car, he's a Dad, so deal.

Will the Scenera fit outboard with my current seat (Evenflo Express) in the center position? Will a Scenera and Radian fit together in center and outboard of a Prius?

My husband wants the extra back seat open for his lunch friends and he just doesn't want the backseat cluttered up with two seats. Best case scenario is if I can get another seat back there (so one seat in the center, and one outboard). I'd like to leave two seats in there installed to avoid taking a seat out. The FF seat has the tether strap under the Pruis trunk cover, so it's a hassle to remove that seat. I suppose he could remove whatever RF seat we get, though I seem to have problems getting RF seats in tightly and the tether is hard to attach (at least in my Sienna it is).

Why do people choose the Radian 65 or the 80 or vice versa? I checked the measurements and they have the same dimensions. Is it just the cost?

Realistically, how long are you all able to keep your little ones RF and older ones in a 5 point? My 4 year old is small for his age, so I'm tempted to get the Radian 65 but I wonder if I'll later regret it and wish I had gotten the Radian 80.

Jan06twinmom said:

A couple of quick ideas - how about a Cosco Scenera for the baby? It costs about $45 at Walmart or Target so it's a reasonably priced seat. It has a 35lb rf limit and a 40lb rf limit.

Click to expand...

I think you meant FF on the 40lb limit. (for any future lurkers who might see this)

tmlr said:

Will the Scenera fit outboard with my current seat (Evenflo Express) in the center position? Will a Scenera and Radian fit together in center and outboard of a Prius?

My husband wants the extra back seat open for his lunch friends and he just doesn't want the backseat cluttered up with two seats. Best case scenario is if I can get another seat back there (so one seat in the center, and one outboard). I'd like to leave two seats in there installed to avoid taking a seat out. The FF seat has the tether strap under the Pruis trunk cover, so it's a hassle to remove that seat. I suppose he could remove whatever RF seat we get, though I seem to have problems getting RF seats in tightly and the tether is hard to attach (at least in my Sienna it is).

Why do people choose the Radian 65 or the 80 or vice versa? I checked the measurements and they have the same dimensions. Is it just the cost?

Realistically, how long are you all able to keep your little ones RF and older ones in a 5 point? My 4 year old is small for his age, so I'm tempted to get the Radian 65 but I wonder if I'll later regret it and wish I had gotten the Radian 80.

Click to expand...

Does anyone know the answers to those questions? Thanks!