FF RN plus 2 boosters or 3 boosters in 07 CRV?

[Alison's Mom]

Hi all,

I have been researching boosters on and off for a while now. I am now ready to try 8.5yr old DD in a few again and actually buy one once we figure out which will work best for us. I thought she was 43 pounds so wasn't in too much of a hurry, but turns out our scale is off and according to the dr scale, she's more like 46, and that DS is also potentially booster ready at 41 pounds, although he's a bit fidget-y and I think I will keep him in his RN for another year or so until he's well over the 40lb mark.

So what I'm looking for is the best high back booster to get for DD that would enable puzzling well with the RN for when we need to transport another kid, and I'm looking to buy a NBB as a spare for said other child when needed. From my initial research, the Cosco pronto looks like the armrests are high enough that it would puzzle well with other seats. The apramo, which I had thought was super narrow, has low/wide armrests and doesn't fit between my two RNs.

The complicating factor is not all the ones I want to try (good for petite kids) are in one store. Cdn tire has the Cosco, TB and Amp. Walmart has the dreamtime, TB, AMP (high and no back). Target has the TB Safety Surround, and only boutique-y stores have the Parkway - they'll also have the TB, but not the evenflo/cosco etc.

DD is really tiny for her age, at around 46.5 inches and 46 pounds. Torso is 17 inches, and bum to bend in knee (for seat depth is around 13 inches).

In addition, it would be great if I could possibly get three boosters (2 high back, one NBB) a year from now in a 3 across my 07 (3rd generation) CRV. Any seats that have armrests that puzzle well with each other? Thanks so much.

 

[bbartlettnfld]

Have you considered the Clek booster? The no back version (olli- I think) is available in Canadian Tire, Its probably the most expensive option, but it seems fairly narrow and has tall armrests that stick straight up from the sides as opposed to the others you mentioned that have armrests that angle out to the sides. Also clicks in using rigid LATCH.

I thought I would put it out there as something to try. Not sure on puzzling as I have never had to do a 3 across! Both my kids sit in HBB outboard.

 

[Alison's Mom]

Thanks! I posted about boosters before and someone suggested the Clek. I looked at it, but it's more than I want to spend for a spare that my kids might never even use. . . From the looks of it, the Evenflo amp nbb also has armrests that go straight up, so I was thinking the shape would be similar. I really like the idea of the TB Safety Surround, but the closest Target is 40 min away, and they don't have the PW or Dreamtime. . .

 

[Alison's Mom]

OK, as an update, brought DS to check out boosters at Walmart today while DD was at circus class. I had to talk to three employees before they agreed to let me take the seats out to my car to try while leaving my credit card and license. I took at HBTB, Harmony high back, and Cosco NBB. Leaving a radian in one side, putting the Cosco NBB in the middle, both the HBTB and Harmony HB just barely fit outboard, so I think it's hard to buckle but do-able.

However, for people who know the 3rd Gen CRV, the middle seatbelt is weird, as in the shoulder portion comes in from the ceiling, and the space between female and male end is about half the width of the outboard seatbelts. Is it a problem to a LBB there, but where the booster is sort of sitting on top of the female end, and the male end has to sort of come around to meet it? Does this make sense at all? And is it acceptable? It seems whatever seat you put there, the seat would be wider than the space between the seatbelt. I have put a RF RN there, but can't remember what I did besides twisting the female end. . .

As an aside, I left the trunk open for air while I was wrangling with uninstalling my two RNs, heaving them into the passenger seat and trunk, playing with various installs of booster booster RN, or 3 boosters, and managed to drain my battery. . . we had to be at DD's end of week circus performance in 20 min when I realized this, and BCAA was going to take 45 min. Luckily I got a cab to bring us there, wait (to avoid uninstalling and then reinstalling seats into another cab), and bring us back to jump start my car. It was a $68 adventure.

 

[Alison's Mom]

Oh, and I want to try out installing a PW and TB safety surround, and have her sit in them in the car for fit before buying. . . But I'm glad that the overall width of three boosters actually fits in the car.