Setup opinions: talk me into or out of new seats!

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
My current MomBoss has a friend who needs child care this summer, and suggested that I might be willing to watch the friend's kids in addition to her own. We are currently talking start dates, so of course I want to make sure I have all of my carseat ducks in a row!

The kids are same-initialied (M&M and Z, Z, and Z) so I'm just going to call them kids 1-5, lol.

Vehicle: Honda Pilot, three seats in both second and third row, l-s belts, non-interfering adjustable headrests and tethers in all positions. Lower anchors outboard second row only.

Kid 1: 9, thin and average-tall height, rides in a Monterey. See no reason to change that.
Kid 2: 5, tall (43") but skinny (37lb.) Height is in her legs and she has a couple of inches above her head in a Radian. Torso is appx 16" I think.
Kid 3: 4, petite. Not sure on exact height but I'd imagine he'd fit in a Radian or similar RF, or any seat I wanted FF.
Kids 4 & 5: 3yo twins, also petite. Sure they'll fit in MRs RF.

Seats: Monterey, Frontier (orig,) ProSport, Radian, MyRide. I also have backless boosters & Turbos, and a Maestro, Scenera, and RA50 (girly cover) that I picked up cheap as giveaway seats, but I could use them.

My initial plan was to put the twins outboard in the 3rd row, RF in the MR and Radian and load them through the hatch, and then put the 4 & 5yos outboard in the second row in my combo seats with the 9yo in the center. Putting the 3yos back there makes it easy to load them, too.

But as things get closer I'm getting more wiggy about FFing them (I am from the RF 'til college school,) since they are both so petite and I have concerns about 5yo's ossification (she has CF, which includes malabsorbtion of nutrients and lower bone density than her same-aged counterparts.) I don't think I want to RF the 5yo and FF the 4yo, I would rather do all of the littles RF or 2 & 2.

I am not opposed to getting a new seat or two, especially if it's a less-expensive one, but I'm wondering if I can manage to RF them without it. MA covers fit on the RAs, right? If I put the MR and RA (with new cover) RF in the 3rd row for the 3yos and then the RN and maybe Scenera - or a new seat? CA? -- RF in the second row for the 5 & 4yos. But it IS an excuse to buy new seats... ;)

(Urgh, I wish the CA didn't have the 40" height rule, I would totally get a Flutter CA for M! Just got excited about that possibility and then remembered the height limit. :( )

It would be easier to load the 9yo if someone is FF. Or, I could do three RFers across the third row, and leave one of the second row seats open. Hmm.

Three cookies for you if you read through this jumbled mess! I'm just looking for someone to bounce thoughts off of and nobody IRL cares. Any thoughts are appreciated!
 
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