Carseat Advice

We are in need of some new carseats. My 6.5 year old is harnessed in a (fairly new) Frontier (the seat we will keep), and my 3.5 year old is rear-facing in an old Evenflo Triumph Advance which is about to expire. He is also outgrowing the rear-facing weight limit. We are expecting a new baby in March, and baby needs a seat. Is our best option to:

1. Keep the 6.5 year old in the Frontier, buy a harnessed booster for the 3.5 year old, and an infant bucket for the baby. I'm not sure if the 3.5 year old is ready for a harnessed booster (he is small, about 30 pounds and short for his age), or if the risk of front facing is okay at this point.

2. Keep the 6.5 year old in the Frontier, buy a new larger convertible for the 3.5 year old, and an infant bucket for the baby. Pass the convertible to the baby in a year or so, and buy the 3.5 year old a harnessed booster next year.

3. Buy a regular high back booster for the 6.5 year old, give the Frontier to the 3.5 year old, and buy an infant bucket for the baby. I'm not sure if the 6 year old is ready for a booster, as he moves around alot in the car (mostly to tease his brother).

4. Any other option.

Thank you for your help!

I think you are most comfortable with option 2, but I think 3 is fine too. With option 3, you will have to buy a convertible anyway, once the baby outgrows the bucket.

I would go with 2 (front or rf'ing, up to you at 3.5) and next year get 6.5 a belt positioning booster and put 3.5 in frontier. At 7.5 should be fine in a belt positioning booster.

It sounds like the 6 yr old still needs a harness. So I would keep him in the Frontier and do either #1 or #2 depending on how much I wanted to keep the 3.5 yr old rear facing. He is totally safe forward facing and you have done a great job RF! But since you asked opinions...personally, I would buy another convertible and keep the 3.5 RF until the baby needs the seat (or even a few more months then switch FF, either way)and then buy a dedicated booster for your oldest, give the Frontier to your middle son, and the new convertible for the baby.

Will you ever need to do 3 seats across in a car? I'd consider a Radian for Ds2. He would likely fit RFing or FFing (my small 5yo fits both directions). They have a very long life span and are very narrow. It would likely fit your middle Ds until he is ready for a booster with enough years left to get your youngest to a booster, too. If your oldest still needs the harness, then don't hand-down the Frontier. The last thing you want to worry about with a newborn and when driving 3 kids around is whether your oldest is sitting safely in his booster!