Question Need help with fitting 3 across, please!

[crankerton]

Hi,

I am expecting our third child in June and am trying to figure out how we can fit three car seats in the back of our Lexus RX300. Can you make some recommendations on seats and who should sit where?

Here's some info that might be helpful: The vehicle is a 1999 Lexus RX300 without LATCH. My oldest child just turned 6 years old, is 46 pounds and about 43 inches tall. My second child turned 3 in March, is 32 pounds and about 38 inches tall. Both of my kids are currently in convertible car seats with a 5-point harness. I am looking to move child #1 to a booster seat. As I understand it, child #2 is too young and does not meet the weight requirement.

The infant seat that we have is a Baby Trend with the base. I don't recall the model of my daughter's convertible seat, but let me know if you need to know it. We may need to get her another seat to accommodate three across.

Do you have any recommendations on what to do in the situation? Recommendations on a narrow booster seat? (FYI, child #1 is not a super slim child. He is on the shorter side and muscly.) I was looking at the Graco Highback Turbo Booster or the Britax Parkway. Your thoughts?

The next issue that we will run into is when the baby outgrows the infant seat. Both of my children were over 9 pounds at birth, so this one will probably follow suit and be out of that infant seat before I know it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! I'm not in the market for a new car!

 

[wendytthomas]

Knowing the convertibles they're both in would be great, as there is a huge variation in widths of seats, and if you already have two of the narrowest, then we're not going to suggest anything different.

Is your infant seat from your oldest child? If so, it may be expired. Check the date on it.

The infant seat will probably have to go in the middle to accommodate the handle having to be down. I'd put your six year old on the side that has the single buckle, rather than two buckles, so that way he's not accidentally unbuckling the baby's seat. A booster is a fine choice for him *if* it's easy enough to buckle and unbuckle. Often in a tight three across we recommend a harness so that way you're not dealing with scraping the back of your hand trying to shove the buckle between two seats. The Parkway and Turbo are both fine choices.

Wendy

 

[crankerton]

Gulp! I think I have a case of pregnant brain here. I just realized that the infant seat may have expired. It also makes me wonder about the date of my daughter's AND my son's seats. (They may be very close.) We may just be buying three new seats here. I appreciate the heads up on that. I will check the dates/models on all of the seats tonight and then proceed from there with asking for further advice.

I appreciate your thoughts about the harness. Last night, after I posted this, I was looking at the Radian because I see that that is also supposed to be narrow and we *should* be able to fit three of them across. I saw a picture on Amazon of three of these across and I showed my husband. He groaned because he is hoping to get away from the harness. We live in MN and we may be in jackets one day and shorts the next. He gets tired of the constant adjusting for the appropriate tightness, but he also hasn't done the research on car seats to realize just how tight three car seats can be. We may be trading one annoyance for another if he is unable to buckle the shoulder belt without scraping hands.

Is there anything that is a huge downside for the Radian? I know it has a high weight limit, but do you think it COMFORTABLY fits a child of my son's stature going forward? I believe we have an Alpha Omega for him and in the winter with a winter jacket, it gets tough to get him all packed in that seat. I guess I'm wondering if this seat is a little generous in this way.

I truly appreciate your help!

 

[wendytthomas]

It's not safe to wear winter coats in carseats. From a mama in Alaska: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=151522

The Radian can be big from to back for a newborn, so that's a big downside. It can be a bear to install, but the angle adjuster that came out recently has helped with about 90% of installation issues.

Kids need to be five to six to move to a booster. So your oldest is fine, provided you can find one that will fit and be buckle-able, but your three year old needs a harness for another couple of years at least.

Check the dates, and let us know what you have, and how many seats you actually need.

Wendy

 

[kam1011]

Buckling the booster is not that bad if you get one without LATCH and you can slide it out a little to buckle and then push it back into position once it's buckled.

 

[crankerton]

Thank you so much for the link regarding winter jackets and car seats! I can't believe I have been a mom for 6 years, have never heard this or never seen anyone not put their child in a car seat without a winter jacket on. Scary! I really appreciate you passing this on. I will have to pass it on to all my Minnesota, jacket-wearing friends.

Well, I checked my seats and it looks like all of the kids will be getting something different. The baby seat has indeed expired and the two convertibles are going to expire this summer. Thank you for helping my pregnant brain out and bringing this to my attention.

I was telling a couple of friends about my car seat situation and good friend of mine has offered me her almost brand new Snug Ride 30 that he infant quickly/recently outgrew. Obviously, I asked and the seat has never been in an accident. In fact, it was a backup car seat and not even used hardly at all. She said I could have it, since she only has one child and doesn't intend to have any more children. The seat was manufactured in November of 2011, so we should be good on dates for a good long while.

With this in mind, any thoughts on two new seats for my 6 and 3 year olds? I measured the back seat of the RX300 and it is so hard to tell the true width. I also realize that seats can be wider on the top than bottom, too, or vise versa. I wouldn't hold you to it if it doesn't work, but if you were me, what would you do? I am leaning toward just getting two Radian R100s for my 6 and 3 year olds and then something else that would fit when this baby outgrows her infant seat. I ran by my husband the possibility of scraping knuckles trying to get a booster buckled and he thought that was a great point. Thank you, kam1011, for your thoughts also ... The only issue is will we have to be the ones to get him buckled into his booster until he grows out of it or we get a new vehicle? Right now, he buckles himself in by himself and then I check his work to make sure that the harness is tight and the black chest plate (I don't know what that part of the harness is actually called) is in the correct place.

Finally, one last question ... This may sound silly, but how do you dispose of car seats when you are done with them? Just put them out with your trash or is there anywhere they can be brought where they recycle what they can. I'm someone who has a hard time throwing things away if some else can use it, it can be repaired or donated or recycled.

Thank you again for all of your help!

 

[wendytthomas]

Thank you so much for the link regarding winter jackets and car seats! I can't believe I have been a mom for 6 years, have never heard this or never seen anyone not put their child in a car seat without a winter jacket on. Scary! I really appreciate you passing this on. I will have to pass it on to all my Minnesota, jacket-wearing friends.

Please do! It's a very common problem.

I was telling a couple of friends about my car seat situation and good friend of mine has offered me her almost brand new Snug Ride 30 that he infant quickly/recently outgrew. Obviously, I asked and the seat has never been in an accident. In fact, it was a backup car seat and not even used hardly at all. She said I could have it, since she only has one child and doesn't intend to have any more children. The seat was manufactured in November of 2011, so we should be good on dates for a good long while.

That's awesome of her. It doesn't sound like it has, but double check that they never used it for travel and checked it as baggage (something else you're never supposed to do), and that the harness has never been washed. It's not been recalled, so no worries there.

With this in mind, any thoughts on two new seats for my 6 and 3 year olds? I measured the back seat of the RX300 and it is so hard to tell the true width. I also realize that seats can be wider on the top than bottom, too, or vise versa. I wouldn't hold you to it if it doesn't work, but if you were me, what would you do? I am leaning toward just getting two Radian R100s for my 6 and 3 year olds and then something else that would fit when this baby outgrows her infant seat. I ran by my husband the possibility of scraping knuckles trying to get a booster buckled and he thought that was a great point. Thank you, kam1011, for your thoughts also ... The only issue is will we have to be the ones to get him buckled into his booster until he grows out of it or we get a new vehicle? Right now, he buckles himself in by himself and then I check his work to make sure that the harness is tight and the black chest plate (I don't know what that part of the harness is actually called) is in the correct place.

It's called the chest clip. Radians for the other two sound good. Then when the baby is out of the infant seat you can turn a Radian around (so they'll be narrower than the two forward facing Radians by a good three inches). At that point you might be able to fit a booster in for your then about seven year old. That may work better than next to an infant seat or a forward facing Radian.

Finally, one last question ... This may sound silly, but how do you dispose of car seats when you are done with them? Just put them out with your trash or is there anywhere they can be brought where they recycle what they can. I'm someone who has a hard time throwing things away if some else can use it, it can be repaired or donated or recycled.

No one else can use the seats safely, but recycling may work. You can see if there's a center near you (http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=156221), or you can call around to the recycling centers in your area and see if they'll take carseats. Or hold onto them and turn them into BRU when they have a trade in event, which they do a couple of times a year.

Otherwise, cut the straps, remove the covers, and destroy the shells as much as you can. Put the shells in black plastic trash bags, and put the components out separately. Ideally the shell in the plastic bag in the trash can (to prevent dumpster diving).

Wendy

 

[aept]

When you dispose of or recycle your expire carseats, you could keep/donate the fabric cover. If the seat is still made (like a classic britax marathon, for example) it might still be useful to someone as a spare cover to switch out.

Like Wendy said, everything else from the seat has to be made unusable and undesirable!

 

[crankerton]

Thank you for all of your great advice! You saved me from the fog that was going on in my head! All of this carseat stuff can be so confusing if you don't look at it very often. (And then car seats change so much from one child to the next.)

I will verify that information about the infant seat. Those are things I never thought about and didn't know to check on. Great!

I just ordered 2 Radian r100s for my 6 and 3 year olds. I think your advice about moving the baby to a Radian when she is big enough and then my son to a booster will work out well.

Now for fitting all three seats in the car and getting them checked on my by a tech to make sure we've done everything right ... Baby steps!

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

[Brianna]

I'm glad you found seats that should work for you. Most police officer/ firefighter techs are familiar with big box store seats and aren't familiar with Radians and their special rules. For example, you must use the rear facing boot to install a Radian rear facing, and a tech who doesn't know this may try to use a pool noodle to recline it instead- which is not allowed.

Are you near a tech from car-seat.org who would likely be familiar with a Radian? http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=59135

 

[crankerton]

Brianna ... Thanks for the link on finding a tech. Unfortunately, we are in MN and there is not anyone on that list in MN. I did go to Babies R Us several months ago and had a couple of employees stumped on what to do in my situation and they gave me a card of someone who is a tech and runs a non-profit promoting car seat safety. I may need to call her if the fire/police department is not familiar with the Radian. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!