Need a 3-across recommendation for Toyota Corolla

[ShumNum]

Okay, here's the scenario:
-Need to fit 3 kids in the back of a 2000 Toyota Corolla.
-Budget is limited.

-7 year old, 65lbs. (I don't know if she passes the 5-step test, but I'm going to vote 'no' because the parents are short). I was thinking a Harmony LBB?

-4 year old, 40lbs. Currently rides in a 5-point harness, expired seat.

-4 month old, special needs, very low tone. 11lbs. Graco snugride that's 5 years old

Any suggestions?

 

[singingpond]

Do you know if the center has lap/shoulder belt, or lap belt only?

When you say budget is limited, how limited?

Any problems with how the baby fits in the Snugride at the moment (since that's apparently the only seat that isn't expired, it seems worthwhile to try to keep using it, if possible)?

My only Corolla experience is with a '96, and I'm not sure how much they changed to the 2000 model.

To make 3 across work in the '96, I always had a RF Radian center, and a variety of other seats (including Snugride, RF Wizard, FF Marathon, and old-style Parkway) in the outboard positions. RF Radian would not fit outboard (too long front-to-back).

The only narrow budget seat I tried briefly was a Scenera -- it didn't fit outboard RF because its base ran into a hard plastic area in the car that was immediately adjacent to the outboard end of the vehicle backrest (hard to explain, but the padded part of the vehicle backrest was wider at the top than at the bottom -- it sort of curved in at the bottom, and there was this hard plastic area that was poorly placed for the Scenera).

My son in a booster was always outboard, partly because of lap-only belt in the center. Outboard booster rider in a LBB would certainly not be ideal in this little car, where the kids are so close to the door already...

If a Radian is in the budget, maybe the 4 y.o. could ride in it (probably FF) until the baby outgrows the Snugride, by which time the 4 y.o. would be older and hopefully ready for a booster, and the baby could have the Radian RF (nice supportive seat, especially since it won't install very upright in a Corolla, no matter how hard you try ).

Not sure what to suggest if a Radian is just out of budget. Maybe Complete Air? Never tried one in our car, so can't say from personal experience, as far as fitting two other seats next to it.

Another point -- my 9 1/2 y.o. DS (pretty average size for age, a little on the tall side) didn't five-step yet in our Corolla when I last checked.

Katrin

 

[DaniChildcare]

I would also get a Harmony Literider for the 7yo
How about a Maestro for the 4yo?

I would try Maestro outboard, literider in the middle (as long as there is a lap/shoulder belt) and Snugride outboard.

I have a cobalt (about the same size as a corolla), and the snugride base makes it extremely difficult to buckle when put next to the booster, so i would try to keep it so that the Maestro and the booster are next to each other where the buckles are. I'd imagine that would make it easier to buckle (but haven't tried it myself)

 

[ShumNum]

Radian could be in the budget...
I think the center is a lap only belt, so the baby or the 4 y.o. will have to be in the middle. Probably the baby because I think the 4 y.o. might actually be close to booster time.

Good thinking about the buckling of the booster. I rarely deal with boosters so I often forget that!

 

[DaniChildcare]

If 4yo and 7yo are going to be boostered, then i'd suggest RF CA (maybe RF Radian) for the baby in the middle. Then turbo booster for 4yo and literider for 7yo

It took me an act of god to buckle 2 boosters on the sides of a snugride. I would never recommend it for everyday use.

ETA: not sure radian or CA would work for low tone baby? I remember seeing a post in the special needs section about a low tone little girl trying out different seats at BRU ... may want to check that thread. The snugride is going to HAVE to go to get the other 2 buckled in boosters ... i had to practically sit on top of the kids to buckle their seat belts.

 

[singingpond]

If baby is well supported in the Snugride, I'd try to keep that seat until outgrown (or until it expires, of course).

If budget does allow a Radian (25% off at Albees right now, at least for most of the models) plus a Literider, I'd go for that.

In my '96 Corolla I had Snugride, RF Radian, narrow booster (old Parkway) for a while. The Radian would install FF in the center, but I never tried it that way next to the outboard Snugride, so not positive about fit.

When the baby is bigger, he/she could go into RF Radian center, and hopefully that would give time to save up for a narrow HBB (Turbo?) for the middle child. Ideally, I'd be happier seeing the older child in a HBB also, just because of the size of the car, and lack of side airbags -- at least I assume the 2000 model didn't have airbags there.

Buckling a booster next to a RF Radian was quite manageable in our car, although it had to be done by an adult, required two hands, and some careful maneuvering. I remember thinking it was a royal PITA at first, but quickly learned a successful technique. DH would just scoot the booster out, buckle, and then lift/scoot the booster with DS back into place. DS could not buckle himself into the booster, but could usually unbuckle.

If/when you end up with two booster riders outboard, you have to be careful, of course, not to have anyone unbuckle the center installed seat by mistake when unbuckling the booster (In our vehicle, that hazard was on the driver's side, so I always had the booster outboard passenger side).

Any guess how much longer the baby has in the Snugride (height-wise)?

BTW, Radian install in our vehicle was challenging. The RF Radian required two twists of the buckle stalk (IIRC), and I also had to flip the latchplate 180 degrees to keep the lap belt from sliding through it. It took me a long time to get it tight enough the first time, and to figure out the necessary twisting and flipping of the seatbelt. Putting the Snugride base in next to it was a challenge also. Can't remember now which one had to be done first.

The Radian backrest came up between the front passenger seats, and those seats were definitely limited in how far back they could go on their tracks. We were reasonably comfortable in the front (not up against the dashboard by any means), and you did say that the parents in this family are fairly short, so the required front seat position would probably be acceptable for them.

ETA: FWIW, my experience was with the Snugride 22; I see on the spreadsheets that the newer bigger Snugrides are wider.

 

[ShumNum]

Very helpful info Singingpond! Thank you! I have yet to see the baby in the Snugride yet. He's still in the hospital. Just trying to plan in advance. I'm thinking that even if the oldest child is NOT in a booster, it would be really tight fit if one of the seats for the other 2 kids isn't a radian.