foster kids = versitile seats

PHaley · May 9, 2009

So now that I am in the process of becoming a Foster parent I have to buy a new car ('03-'06ish 7pass MDX, 8pass Sienna and 9pass Suburban top the list right now) and make sure I have carseats for myself and my two emergency back-ups! I will need 5+ seats installed in my car and 3 for each backup car. Backup seats need to be SUPER easy to install & use, we'll practice but its for my aunt & mom

ok so my local buy buy baby has a Priori on clearance for $120! I'm looking for something small that will hold a newborn and fit in a 3-across. I need opinions on this vs a Cocorro vs Avenue.

Also Turbo vs Vivo? And MyRide65 vs ARB TrueFit? I don't have to buy all at once and I already have some seats to play with... what do you all think?

An Aurora · May 9, 2009

First, what ages would you be fostering? If it's newborn-5 or so, I'd get a RadianXT since you need something narrow. It adjusts easily so if you put it in RF'ing, you'd just have to adjust the harness if you get a kiddo under 35 pounds.

We bought an EFTA for foster babies since that adjusts so easily, but we didn't have space concerns.

TXAggieTech · May 9, 2009

Agreeing with Anna, I'd go with Radians for your car since space will be an issue and then EFTA for the back ups if you think they will need adjusting often.

If you don't think you will be swapping children often then depending on ages I would look at Sceneras for the back up seats. Adjusting isn't very difficult, you could fit them to the child initially then mom and aunt could reinstall as necessary.

Pixels · May 9, 2009

Radians, maybe a Scenera and Avenue for you. Just for the options with 3-across. Any kids over age 3? Codi (Blondi87) just got a 4 year old who is closer to the size of a 7-8 year old. He just barely fits in the Radian, and has only a tidge of growing room in the Nautilus. So if you'll be taking older kids, something like the Nautilus would be nice to have as an option for the trees, I mean big kids, that you get. As a bonus, it converts to a booster if you get a kid too big for the harness.

For grandma/aunt, Sceneras, Uptowns, maybe Nautis for them too, again depending on the ages of the kids. The Scenera and Uptown puzzle together well, so that should help with 3 acrosses. If they'll fit width-wise, the TrueFit and EFTA both fit newborns and bigger kids (TrueFit will fit bigger kids than EFTA) and have no-rethread harnesses.

Don't forget to stock up on pool noodles for the Sceneras and Avenues.

zeo2ski · May 9, 2009

radians and maybe turbobooster depending on your age range.

But you should have some seating spots that can take a wider seat, and a My Ride wouldn't be a bad idea, but personally I'd buy that if and when you had the need for it.

My foster baby "stash" will be the seats I currently have--1 snugride, 2 BLVDS, 1 RN XT and a My Ride will be here soon I'm sure. Those seats will accommodate my 2 plus 2 babies in our age range so I plan to assess the need to buy any thing more AFTER I get placements.

Blondie87 · May 9, 2009

I think the True Fit would be a great foster care seat. Fits newborn to 5/6 and you also don't have to rethread the harness. You can actually still have it installed and adjust the harness. That way you could easily make it work for all ages of kiddos.

skaterbabs · May 9, 2009

If I were in your position I'd get an EFTA and a Frontier. Both have infinite harness adjustment, so there's no rethreading. I will warn you though, the Frontier is a real pain when you go to put the harness back after removing it for booster mode.

Unless you end up with two children it's not really an issue though - the harness height of the EFTA is about the same as the Frontier.

dhardawa · May 10, 2009

When I was awaiting Max, I bought a Companion and a Boulevard. That covered any age child I might get. As it turned out, he was two days old when I got him and he went straight to the Companion. The Boulevard is now in Papaw's van (I kept bumping his head getting him in my car rear facing with it so he has a Marathon).

mylittlet · May 10, 2009

As far as cars go, we LOVE our 8 passenger suburban. We upgraded from a minivan b/c it didn't have enough storage for traveling with 4 kids. We have had 6 carseats in the back of the suburban many times. If you got a newer one (ours is a 1999) that had tethers in the 2nd row. You could easily do a frontier, bv and another frontier. We don't have tethers in the 2nd row, but tried my friends frontier there. Good luck with everything.

PHaley · May 11, 2009

Thank you for all the advice and happy mothers day to everyone

I wanted to add some info incase it changes any suggestions:
1) My main goal in becoming a foster parent is to keep siblings together so I'm prepared to take 2-6 kids, and will probably rarely take an only. The ages I requested are newborn-age 6 (but will consider up to 9yrs old as an older sibling).

2) I already own some useable carseats: peg SIP, 2 MAs, frontier, SR/C booster, RN80

louisandheather · May 11, 2009

We have a Radian 80, Roundabout, and a snugride to use for our foster babies.

PHaley · May 11, 2009

Sorry I hit submit before I was done adding info...

3) My mom drives an 08 Jetta & hates the look of carseats in her car so they will be removed often. She did use to love the RA before it expired & loves the ff RN and the SR/C but the booster will expire this year. I was thinking to get her the Priori (on clearance b/c its small and cute but is it easy to use) and a RN and then after I get the 1st placement decide on a 3rd seat to replace the SR.

4) My aunt is actually DGS2 grandma and also has a SN 14yo who needs to keep riding in the backseat and she has diminished strength in one arm so she needs at least 1 seat that can be reinstalled SUPER easy. I was thinking a TF that can be used for DGS2 or fosters and the SS1 and a Turbo or Nauti for her.

5) Car I'm leaning towards the Suburban its an 05-06 but can anyone tell me about Latch and TT points in this vehicle? Will I be able to fit a MA-FR-3rd seat (infant-booster) in both rows?

I'm so excited to have finally reached a point where I can do this! If anyone has any other hints tips or pointers about Fostering and/or about transporting a bunch of small kids please do share... and I look forward to sharing my carseat obsession with the others getting licensed and the social workers lol

Pixels · May 11, 2009

Is your mom good at installing the Radian FFing seatbelt in her car? It's a tough install, but once you learn the right tricks for a particular vehicle, it becomes relatively easy. If she can do Radian FFing seatbelt, great! Radians all around LOL

If you're willing to take kids up to 9 years old, you'll need at least one booster. If you don't want to buy 72 seats all at once, you could buy one for yourself now, and buy two more if/when you get a kid that will be using it. If you find something fairly common, like the Turbo, that will fit in the 3-acrosses.

LATCH info for 04-07 Suburbans: second row, bench seat has LATCH passenger side and center. Second row, bucket seats have LATCH. Third row doesn't have lower anchors, but has one top tether anchor, located left of center on the lower back of the seat. On the regular model with 3rd row, that tether anchor can be used for either the center or passenger side seating position (but not both at once). On the extended model, that anchor is for the center seating position only.

Starlight · May 11, 2009

PHaley, as Mom and daycare provider to a bunch of kids, I have to tell you that you're crazy. 2-6 kids? Really?

That's a full time job right there.

But that doesn't mean I'm any less proud or excited for you!

It's very rewarding! (My carseat stash for my kids that I can rotate for foster - 3 MAs, 2 RN65's, Mtry, PW, Olli, and a Compass I400.) We're licensed for 2 under 4.

ookpix · Jul 18, 2009

Blondie87 said:
I think the True Fit would be a great foster care seat. Fits newborn to 5/6 and you also don't have to rethread the harness.

:yeahthat:

While the RN is my fav seat personally

My fav seats for my foster kiddos are the ones I can adjust without taking everything out! The Recaro Signo (big seat but puzzels well with several of my others), the Boulevard, and the Alpha Omega (Eddie Bauer 3n1, safety first 3n1 same thing) are always in my car and I can put different kids in them by just adjusting the handle. I have about 9 children that regularly ride in my 8 passenger van (alternating-ly ofc

) It takes just about 2 minutes to adjust my ride to accommodate my 8yo god daughter and 6yo god son in the same seats that yesterday accommodated my 3 and 2yo nephews (rather than the 30+ minutes required to uninstall all the seats and drag the seats from the back out to adjust the harnesses) My next seat I buy will be a true fit, I am excited to play with it!!
I have 2 RN for my permanent FK, but always keep the rest of the car stocked with versatile seats.

I also second the comment about Sceneras for the extras, they are pretty easy to adjust and install if you trust your backups to know how and when to move harnesses. I personally use my AO as my backups since there is no rethreading necessary.

PHaley · Jul 22, 2009

Ok so thanks again for all the help & suggestions! I was surprised to see this thread revived but thought since it was I'd give an update:

Car- still shopping for the "perfect" one in terms of color, miles, features and price. Have settled on Toyota Sequoia 01-04ish. As I understand I will have 3 full LATCH sets and 2 positions w/ top tether only! That means of the 6 back seats only 1 has neither

Child Safety Carseats- I've decided my stash will include 6 primary seats and 6 secondary/back up seats. When I get the kids and know better how long they'll be staying and how often the backups will get used I'll consider a 3rd set! I will keep one set installed in my vehicle and the secondaries will stay home (mom & aunt have a key if they need to pick up a seat and then a child).

Primary-Secondary
PrimoViaggioSIP*-SS1*
Marathon*-EFTA*
RNXT-TrueFit
Frontier*-Nautilus*
PWSG-Vivo
OOBR-Graco Air Booster

*indicates I already have it at home should I be called w/ a placement. The others I'm planning to buy in the next 6-8 weeks as money allows!

Any feedback, experience, comments welcome. Thanks

emandbri · Jul 22, 2009

You can fit anything together in the middle row of a sienna. That said I'm not sure I'd recommend one of the new radians because it was really hard to install rear-facing. The one with the old base fit fine. I also wasn't happy with the my ride rear-facing. Honestly though other than the radian with the new base and the my ride I've never actually heard of a seat not fitting well in a sienna.

KaysKidz · Jul 23, 2009

I am a foster mama too, and have an assortment of seats.

I take infants...but sometimes, they stay awhile and turn into toddlers/preschoolers.

Currently we have:

2000 Suburban with 2 rf DCs. I can easily get 3 across in the middle row...and depending on the seats, can do 3 across FF in the 3rd row. I do not like RF seats in the 3rd row. It's just not something you will want to deal with on a daily basis. Also, Radians are not compatible with my year Sub from what I've heard.

2000 Pontiac Grand Prix w/rf MA and rf DC.

1996 Dodge 3/4 ton w/Graco CarGo and RA (both FF) (want to replace these, just not sure with what)

For infant seats, I have a Keyfit 30 and Companion.

I don't have any boosters since I don't take booster aged kids. I thought about the Frontier and the Nauti since they would work for any kiddo who is not RF'ing but so far, haven't had the need. All my seats, except the infant seats, are kept installed at all times. I've had my current kids since they were itty bitties...and now are over 2. I haven't had a problem with having to adjust the harnesses...in the almost 3yrs we've been doing this, this is only our 4th & 5th placement...and we've never gone longer then 3 weeks without kids.

If you are going to be doing emergency foster care, the need for easily adjustable seats might come into play. But if you are doing traditional, the kids are typically with you for a while...so I don't find it necessary.

ookpix · Jul 23, 2009

KaysKidz said:
I do not like RF seats in the 3rd row. It's just not something you will want to deal with on a daily basis.

If you do, try loading through the tailgate. I have 5 of my 6 RF and that's what I do.

Yes it is a PITA but so is having to bend and stretch over the middle seats to get to the FF kids in the back. AND to me, IME the inconvenience is usually not so much that it would make me turn a kid FF that could still by weight and height be RF. (and with FP'ing you hafta balance convenience in there a little bit too, as long as it isn't bumping safety totally out the window)

KaysKidz · Jul 23, 2009

In a Suburban...you have to climb INTO the cargo area...it's too high and too deep to be able to reach the back seat. Not to mention, I usually have my big ole double stroller back there that prevents accessing the 3rd row as well.

foster kids = versitile seats

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