Question Multi carseat carpool issues

We carpool with two other families to a school that is about a one hour drive (each way; welcome to Southern California). There are 5 children going to the school right now but the other two families each have a toddler and both Mom's are pregnant and due in January/February. Our daughter is about to join the carpool (she is almost 3.5 years, 31lbs, and 37 inches tall) and in our cars she sits in Britax Marathons (we have 2, one for each of our cars). The problem is that in the other families' cars there is not a lot of space (because they already have a carseat for their toddler) and all of the children (but 1) are in boosters. In our van (we have a Nissan Quest) we don't have the problem and can leave her in her Marathon. However, we have to purchase 2 more carseats for the other 2 cars (a Toyota Sienna and a Ford SUV?) and there are definite space problems. Does anyone have any suggestions for a narrow seat that has a 5-point harness (if it can convert to a booster later on that would be ideal due to cost). Everything I've looked at is very wide and likely won't work (the marathon is definitely out of the question). The one thing that looks like it will work is a Graco Turbo Booster, but it doesn't have the 5-point harness. Any suggestions are appreciated!

The Radian is the narrowest 5-pt carseat on the market. There are two versions currently, the 65 and the 80. The 65 is really all you need, it harnesses to 65 pounds with 17 inch top slots, and runs about $150-180, depending on where you find it. The 80 just has a higher weight limit (80 pounds), and nicer cover options, but run about $100 MORE than the 65.

The Graco Cargo is also a narrow seat with a 5-pt harness, but it only harnesses to 40 pounds, and makes a crappy booster.

I'm sure someone else will chime in with more advice!

I would go with the radian 65 it will keep your child harnessed til you can use the turbo booster.
I have a 2006 sienna and my mom has a ford suv and they install in both cars
not an easy install but once it's done a solid intall.

I'm not sure how all those children are going to fit in one vehicle. If there are 5 children in the car pool (I'm assuming that is after you add you DD, unless you meant there is five already, and your DD is joining which will make six) plus a toddler and a newborn on the way, that is 7 kids. There's not 7 back seat spots in any vehicle except the 10-15 passenger vans.

What about a safeguard go? If there are top tethers in the positions where this would be placed, this would work and is quite narrow. Harnss to 60 and converts to backless booster.

safeinthecar said:

I'm not sure how all those children are going to fit in one vehicle. If there are 5 children in the car pool (I'm assuming that is after you add you DD, unless you meant there is five already, and your DD is joining which will make six) plus a toddler and a newborn on the way, that is 7 kids. There's not 7 back seat spots in any vehicle except the 10-15 passenger vans.

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Our car can only seat 5 kids in the back seat and thus the oldest child will be sitting in the front seat (air bag off). The other two vans have room right now for everyone in the back (they have 6 back seats) if they don't bring their toddler (which sometimes happens). If not, again, the oldest child goes in the front. The mother of this child lets her sit in the front seat of her car all the time (without a booster). She's 7 and in grade 2. I don't want my kids to do this, but it's the mother's choice. We have a 6 year/60lb law here and this child surpasses both of these. We are trying to get a larger van (as obviously we will be having more children join our carpool in the near future). But right now we're in a bind. We can't drive back and forth everyday and we have to rely on the carpool. I'm going to look into the radian 65 as I've never heard of this one before. I'm also looking at the sunshine kids models but they don't have them in any store here and I"m hesitant to buy online without having ever seen it.

Thanks for the advice to all on this post.

The Radian is from Sunshine Kids. They are the same thing.