When my parents have had the kids, they have had both of them and we switch cars. (And if they want to take just one kid, then we had the option of my moving our seat into their car for the outing.) But now they will be my older DD's in case of emergency contact for school, so they need to keep some sort of seat to use if they need to pick her up. They do not want to keep a seat installed in their car so it would be stored in their basement and installed if they needed to pick her up unexpectedly, like if she was sick and I could not be reached. (not an ideal situation in which for relatively inexperienced installers to be installing a seat )
My DD is 5 yo and approx. 39 pounds and 45 inches. The car is a newish model Forester ('09 or'10). And the grandparents have been good about putting them into their already installed seats properly (tightening harness, checking chest clip).
We have a newer model size small RSTV that she used on a trip about a year ago. It seems like that might be the way to go for this situation, especially given we already have it, but the lack of a shell and the way it works always felt strange to me and after the recent thread on it, I am feeling anxious about using it. If we used it, we would use both the shoulder belt and the tether and the crotch strap (assuming the grandparents remember it all after I train them on it .. I found it a lot to remember when we used it ). I have seen the mention of locking the belt with it, but I would prefer to avoid that. Finally, especially without a shell, I'd want her riding in the center position, but would that be okay in this car? (I think it may have one of those arm rests that folds down out of the seat back.)
So what do you think? Would you use the RSTV or a seat? If a seat, then I'm assuming, given her height, that a nautilus would be our least expensive option? I'm feeling really unsure about what to do and I'd really appreciate your advice! Thank you!
My DD is 5 yo and approx. 39 pounds and 45 inches. The car is a newish model Forester ('09 or'10). And the grandparents have been good about putting them into their already installed seats properly (tightening harness, checking chest clip).
We have a newer model size small RSTV that she used on a trip about a year ago. It seems like that might be the way to go for this situation, especially given we already have it, but the lack of a shell and the way it works always felt strange to me and after the recent thread on it, I am feeling anxious about using it. If we used it, we would use both the shoulder belt and the tether and the crotch strap (assuming the grandparents remember it all after I train them on it .. I found it a lot to remember when we used it ). I have seen the mention of locking the belt with it, but I would prefer to avoid that. Finally, especially without a shell, I'd want her riding in the center position, but would that be okay in this car? (I think it may have one of those arm rests that folds down out of the seat back.)
So what do you think? Would you use the RSTV or a seat? If a seat, then I'm assuming, given her height, that a nautilus would be our least expensive option? I'm feeling really unsure about what to do and I'd really appreciate your advice! Thank you!