Question 3 across, FF a 3YO, and more questions...

[SillyLily]

I am due in January with my third child. We have 2 cars, a Subaru STI and an Audi A6 that we will be keeping. We plan on getting a larger vehicle in about a year. In the meantime, I need to get 3 across in both cars. I have read the 3 across thread, and still have some questions. My oldest is 5, weighs about 38 lbs, and rides FF in both of our cars in Radian 80s. My younger DD turned 3 in early Sept. She weighs about 30 lbs and currently rides RF in a Marathon and a Maxi Cosi Priori. She is getting ready to be too tall to RF in the Priori (she’s 2” from the top of the shell). She has plenty of room to RF in the Marathon, but it has a 33 lbs RF limit.

I have a Britax Chaperone to use in both cars for the new baby.
In both cars, I can get the Chaperone installed in the center, and a Radian installed FF outboard on each side. This works well, but I worry about having my 3 year old FF. The Radians would all be top-tethered. I would need to buy two more radians.

So my questions are:

Should I feel guilty for FF my 3 year old? We cannot get a new vehicle right now, as much as we would like to. I do feel guilty. I feel like I’m letting her down. If I get in a bad accident, is she going to suffer more serious injuries or death because I turned her FF too soon?

Which Radian should I get? The new XTSL (or whatever it is)? Or just the XT?

Which brings me to my next “guilt point”. If I get the XT/XTSL for my younger DD, my older DD will still be riding in the 80s without the added SIP.

And finally, what do I do with the Marathon and the Priori? I was thinking of keeping one of them as a seat for my parents’ car. I had planned on keeping the Marathon, since it is larger and I would be able to use it longer. But my DD only has 3 pounds until she outgrows it RF, and I just stumbled on the new issue with the TC videos of it FF. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable using it FF. She’s about to be too tall to RF in the Priori, so it would be used FF at my parents. My mom would greatly prefer for her to be FF in their vehicles, since we would be buckling in 4 kiddos each time we get in and out of the Suburban. So should I keep the Priori and sell the Marathon, or vice-versa? Or should I just sell both of them. She currently rides in a Scenera RF there, but I hate how flimsy it feels and it is a pain to get her in and out of in the third row of their Suburban.

Really, I’m pretty sure I’ve made up my mind to buy two Radian XTSLs, sell the Marathon, keep the Priori, and just come to terms with my baby being FF. But I don’t like it. Are there any alternatives I’m not thinking of? What would you do in this situation?

 

[ketchupqueen]

You could get a thinner infant seat, or one that puzzles better, or use a Radian from birth for the baby, and turn the 3 YO RF, possibly. You could even use the MA if she still fits RF in that-- it puzzles well with the Radian. Or if you can fit a RF Radian for your 3 year old in either position, I've found that in some cars the Chicco Keyfit can puzzle with it.

 

[zeo2ski]

Did you try putting the infant seat outboard? Try that with 2 radians, one FF and one RF.

As for any guilt about one DD having headwings and the other not, just give the wing-ed seat to the otherwise less protected child. If one is outboard and one center, I'd give wings to the outboard. If both are outboard then if DD2 is RF, DD1 gets the wings (FF), but if DD2 is FF, then she gets the wings.

The XTSL is the same as the regular XT except it has "super LATCH" and it RF to 45 lbs. Regular XTs RF to 40 lbs. If *I* were buying one I'd get an XTSL for the increased RF weight, because my guys are bigger, but it looks like your girls are small enough it's not an issue, so you may just want to save a few bucks and get the regular XT.

Not sure if you need to sell either the MA or Priori--I was going to say: when you buy that larger vehicle next year, baby will be about ready for a convertible and it should be cheapest just to use what you already have. But I realized you may be ready to move your DD1 to a booster at that age, so then her convertibles could be used for baby.

And lastly...
Try everything you can with the seats you have (or will need to buy anyway) and if you can't get DD2 RF, turn her and just know you tried your best to keep her RF. Heck you DID keep her RF for so long! But don't feel guilty about turning her. At her age, she's fine to FF.

 

[Pixels]

Word for word what Zeo2ski said, except the part about having bigger guys, I've got a little girl.

 

[SillyLily]

Okay, thank you. I'm going to buy the two new Radians, since I know for sure that the Marathon and the Priori will not work 3 across RF. There is a small chance I may be able to get a Radian with the newer boot in RF, so I'll hope for that. The Radian will not install in the center seat in the Audi, either FF or RF, but I may be able to get a Radian RF, Radian FF, and Chaperone RF in the Subaru.

I tried a Keyfit in both cars, and it took the same amount of room (side to side, not front to back) as the Chaperone, and I'll get a lot more use out of the Chaperone.

Thank you for your suggestions! I have a feeling I will have to turn her FF in the Audi, but I am still holding out hope that I can get her RF in the Subaru.

 

[safeinthecar]

The RN with the new boot will install rfing in the Audi. It isn't easy, and you will need a locking clip, but it can be done.

 

[SillyLily]

Does anyone know if the fabrics on the XTSL nicer or higher quality than on the XT? I will be getting one with a pink cover (either the Flora/XTSL or Malibu/XT). Thanks!

 

[mommyof3tx]

Just want to say that you might be able to get that MA RF in there, we have an A6 too...no radians so our seats are all bigger. We have it Graco HBB behind passenger, Nautilus in middle and RF MA behind driver. But we have to start the installs from the middle to be able to get them all in tight but it actually works great with a tiny bit more room if one of the seats were wider. Just an idea, I'd play with them a bit if you really like your MA see how it works out