I have lot of options, which should I choose? very long!..

Which should I do?

  • Leave the seats how they are now and let Elizabeth use the radian when she has school.

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Move Elizabeth to the center and the radian outboard leave the captain's chair.

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • My ride center and radian outboard, take out a captain's chair.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • My ride center put Benjamin in monterey and only put it in when you have him.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Put the radian in the back.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

emandbri

Well-known member
Here are my kids stats right now.

Elizabeth turns 3 on Sat, 36 lbs, 38 inches
Benjamin almost 6, 48 lbs, 48 inches
Daniel 10
Jacob 12

Right now Elizabeth is behind me in a my ride, Benjamin in the center seat in a radian, Daniel in the back in a backless monterey, and Jacob sits in the outboard center row because he fits better there than he does in the back, in the back he needs a booster. It kind of bugs me that Daniel is in the back all by himself though he seems fine with it.

I posted before that Elizabeth starts preschool next week and the school has a drop off and pick up where the teachers get the kids in. She is going tue/ thurs mornings. Benjamin is starting all day kindergarten and Daniel starts next week as well, Jacob starts in Aug.

I need to figure out what to do, I have lots of options and things to consider. My plan was to move Elizabeth to the center, keep her rear-facing, and hop out of the van to make sure the teachers get her in right. There are a couple of problems with this. First the my ride is very wide and it is very hard to flip center outboard seats to get to the back row. This actually isn't that big of a problem because I can slide the captain's chair up and Daniel is skinny enough to slip in between the captain's chair and the door.

I could move out a captain's chair so that Daniel can get to the back easily. I am afraid this might make it harder to get Elizabeth in her seat but I haven't tried it so I could be wrong. She will enter the van on the passenger side to and from school but it is faster for me to get her in on the driver's side. I will also have Jacob for the next month since he doesn't start school yet. My friends and I have been walking at a nearby lake and I have been flipping the back seats down to have room for the bikes. With the captain's chair out Jacob would have to sit in the front when we do this.

I'm also wondering if it will be hard to get her in her seat and buckled in the center with the radian in the way and again the teachers would do so from the passenger side and I would like to get her in from the driver's side. Like taking out the captain's chair I haven't tried it so I could be wrong.

I'm also a little uneasy about the lack of side protection on the radian. I was fine with Elizabeth being outboard in it since she was rear-facing but Benjamin will be forward facing. I do have side curtain air bags so maybe I shouldn't worry about this at all.

I'm wondering if I shouldn't go ahead and move Benjamin to the monterey and only put the seat in when he is in the van, since he will be in all day kindergarten he won't be in the van much, it will mostly be only Elizabeth and myself. This would leave Daniel in a booster without latch.

I could also move Benjamin to the back of the van. He can buckle himself in and is even good enough about getting the straps tight. The problem with this is I would want him and Daniel both outboard and my latch and tethers are outboard and center. To keep them both outboard I would have to install the radian without a tether or the monterey without latch.

I could also leave the seats where they are and let Elizabeth use the radian to and from school. The seat would be set up for Benjamin and wouldn't have the safe stop and the straps would be a little high but they are not too bad.

All my choices leave one child less protected than they are now.
 
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ADS

BW1426

Well-known member
Firstly, since you have side airbags, I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time worrying about using a seat without substantial SIP outboard.

Do you have to use the pick up line? Is there any reason why you cannot park and walk to get her?

I think I'd likely leave everything as is and give it a trial run the first week.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
Parking is very, very hard because you can't get out of a parking spot because of all the cars in the pick up line.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
The more I think about it moving Benjamin to the Monterey makes him and Daniel both less safe since Daniel would no longer have the latched booster, so scratch that as an option. Sometimes just posting helps organize thoughts! LOL
 

Rosey

New member
I would probably just inconvenience myself and put the MR outboard passenger side RFing. Teachers can get to it and I would just put her in and out from that side too. It's only an extra minute to walk around the car.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
hum, that is an idea. It would be harder to make sure she is in right at school. I'm sure the teachers are already going to be baffled by the fact that she is rear-facing.

Most of the time the parents don't get out of the cars at all unless they have two kids to get in. I'm already going to have parents staring at me when I get out and open the sliding door to make sure she is in okay.

The reason I don't trust the teachers is because Benjamin was usually in the center and I could buckle him from the driver's seat but I moved him to the side for a couple of weeks and his straps were twisted over half the time. This was in a MA, I don't even want to know what the straps on the cosco seats looked like! :eek:

I also thought about doing a short class of sorts and teach the teachers how to strap kids in.
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
Could you just park on the street? My kid's school has an impossible parking lot. It is easier and faster to just park down the street and tell myself that having to walk is much needed exercise.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
Could you just park on the street? My kid's school has an impossible parking lot. It is easier and faster to just park down the street and tell myself that having to walk is much needed exercise.

Not really the street is 40 mph and no sidewalks in the direction I would walk. There is a subdivision across the street but then I would have to cross it which wouldn't be fun. Our weather also isn't as nice as it is in California.
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
Can Elizabeth buckle herself into the My Ride? DD couldn't buckle her MA/FPSVD but was able to buckle the My Ride the first time she rode in it. :thumbsup: That might help some.
 

Rosey

New member
Yeah, don't adjust the straps unless you HAVE to so you know the tightness is correct. Maybe a RFing mirror tied to the headrest? (Hope I don't get flamed for that but we did make the decision to use one).

A class would be a great idea if they would be receptive to it.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
Can Elizabeth buckle herself into the My Ride? DD couldn't buckle her MA/FPSVD but was able to buckle the My Ride the first time she rode in it. :thumbsup: That might help some.

Afraid not, I can't even get her to try to put the straps on.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
Yeah, don't adjust the straps unless you HAVE to so you know the tightness is correct. Maybe a RFing mirror tied to the headrest? (Hope I don't get flamed for that but we did make the decision to use one).

A class would be a great idea if they would be receptive to it.

Hum, I've never had a mirror before and I have seen some at checks that are very secure. I admit I was kind of bummed that I would actually have to get real clothes on this year, last two years I often had lounging clothes on and *gasp* no bra.
 

bree

Car-Seat.Org Ambassador
Here's my crazy suggestion: Could you drop her off in the My Ride, then have the teachers put her in the Radian at pick up? Maybe you could stop at the subdivision across the street and swap to the My Ride, if that would make you more comfortable so that she could RF the rest of the ride home. :)
 

Rosey

New member
I would put her in the Radian before I would drastically move seats. She is over 35# and 3 yrs old. Then you could just turn around and look at her without having to get out. Especially if it a short trip, I would do that.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
Have you ever talked to the school about it? DO they know you're a tech? I know when I mentioned it to Sofi's school, they were all very excited. Even before that, I'd asked about me getting out to buckle her and they had no problems. Maybe they'd love a little class for the teachers on proper buckling. Especially if they knew what they are doing puts them at liability.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
I talked to Benjamin's teacher last year, she happened to come to a check, and she thought it was a great idea! This was before I took the re-certification class. I was going to look into it after I got certified again but I never got around to it.
 

munchkin

Active member
My Frontier is available and has a Red Rock cover if you are interested :whistle:, great SIP and booster LATChability. Just saying!
 
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aunt83me02

Senior Community Member
Hmm... You have a Sienna right?
3rd row:
Passenger outboard: Benjamin (RN), middle: Daniel (Monterey)--if that fits, it should (shouldn't it?)
2nd row:
Passenger outboard: Elizabeth (MyRide) and Jacob gets to ride middle (8 pass?) or driver outboard.

However, since you know you're going to get out anyway to check, maybe you should just leave Elizabeth where she's at behind you have the teacher open the door, help her take her bag off and shut the door, she climbs into the seat and you open the door, quickly buckle her in and be on your merry way. You could also REALLY work on buckling up in the next few days/weeks!
 

emandbri

Well-known member
I don't want the radian in the middle back because I want to be able to flip down the 60 of the 40/ 60 so I can fit Jacob's bike and the stroller in the van for when we go walking. It is also hard to buckle a booster with a seat in the center, it can be done but I would most likely have to do it. I also don't know if the Monterey would fit, might have to use the right fit or star riser. Jacob starts school in Aug so that might be as option after I don't need room fir his bike.

I really want Elizabeth in the middle. The passenger side would be ideal for drop off and pick up but harder for me to check that she is in right. The outboard drivers side would be very annoying because she would either have to climb over all the seats to get to it or walk around the car which would slow the whole drop off and pick up process.

I also figure since 90% of the time it will just be Elizabeth and me it makes the most sense to have her in the most protected spot.

I'm going to first try my ride middle and radian outboard and see how that goes, see if the radian is in the way when getting her in from both sides.

I hardly ever adjust the straps on the my ride because the adjuster is slightly buried. I might have to adjust it more after it gets cooler though.

I'm tempted to go play with it this morning but I hurt my foot and need to rest it.

I also sent an e-mail to the director of the preschool asking about teaching a class to the teachers and my idea of a quick check of all the cars telling parents if they need to get to a check!

My Frontier is available and has a Red Rock cover if you are interested :whistle:, great SIP and booster LATChability. Just saying!


Sorry, still don't like the frontier. ;)

Oh and I don't see taking the radian in and out as an option because it is REALLY hard to install. I do however have two marathons that I can install in my van in about 2 minutes but obviously she would have to be forward facing. Still it might be an option and I would be less worried about her in the MA than I would be a radian without the safe stop and the harness slots too high.

I do kind of like the idea of having her rear-facing though and even though she has been forward facing a few times I am a bit worried if she were to ride forward facing twice a week she might start asking to be forward facing.
 
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emandbri

Well-known member
I'm moving seats around in the morning because I noticed today that the radian is no longer tight, very odd. I figured if I need to tighten the radian I might as well move seats around.

The more I think about it the more I think having the radian in the middle row is going to bug me. If I put it passenger's side I run the risk of the teachers trying to put Elizabeth in it and on the driver's side I won't be able to sit on the seat to buckle her in.

I thought of another option. My ride middle row center, radian back row passenger side, Jacob back row drivers side, and Daniel middle row and only put the Monterey in when he is in the van so he is still in a latched booster. It is kind of a pain to move the Monterey but I'll try it a bit and see. I am now kicking myself for not getting an ollie when they were on sale a few months ago!
 

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