Car Seats

[minniemom]

This is my first post...I've been following the message board on car seat comments and recommendations but I can't seem to make a choice that is right for my situation, I'm hoping you seasoned experts can give me some much needed advice :)

My oldest DD is nearly 5 yrs old, 34lbs and 38" tall. She is still in her Cosco Alpha Omega in both my car and my DH's. Our nanny will be driving her to kindergarten a couple days a week in her Saturn Vue. The AO has no latch so I'm not confident that our nanny belts the seat in securely every time. Another concern is that she has my 3 yr old twins in tow, both FF in MA's so 3 seats in a row are a tight fit in her backseat bench. I want to buy DD another seat (hopefully more narrow) for nanny's car that is primarily used for 2 mile commute to school and back. I prefer to keep her harnessed but will consider otherwise per your recommendations. I'm open to all suggestions, what do you recommend?

Thanks in advance!
Minniemom

Lindsay 10/10/01
Joey 7/2/03
Lauren 7/2/03

[o_mom]

What setting is the headrest on the AO on? That will give us an idea of her torso height.

[minniemom]

I measured DD sitting down from floor to top of her head is 22 1/2" (Also she is 41" tall I mixed her height up with DD2...oops). The harness belt is set to the 2nd to top notch on her AO which I measured to be 15" from the seat bottom.

[Joolsplus2]

Whatever you do, don't raise the headrest up on the AO, that's not safe for use with the harness (the back is embossed, 'for booster use only', and they really mean it).
Sounds like she's nice and petite... since the Vue has three LATCH positions, and I know it fits, the Sunshine Kids Radian is really narrow... We'll have to find our somewhat-regular poster Skipspin to chime in if the Radian fits next to her Wizard in her Vue (she has one of each, conveniently).
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

those are the top useable slots... the top most are for booster only use.

make sure the straps are coming from above the shoulder.

What I would do is put one of the twins in the AO and give that Marathon to the bigger child.
remember... no sharing latch connectors.

Kat

[o_mom]

So, she is about to outgrow the AO. You could swap he with one of the twins, but if those three seats won't work, or you want an easier to install, the Julie's suggestion of the Radian is good. A very narrow and less expensive option would be a Graco Cargo ($80-100). Just make sure to get one with a front adjuster. You also need to think about seats for the other cars as she will be done with the AO harness when she reaches the top of this setting.

[skipspin]

But Kat, then she wouldn't need a new seat! That's the best part! LOL

Yes, the Radian fits great with LATCH in the VUE. And, I haven't tried it, but I'm almost positive it would fit with two MAs. It does fit well next to a FF MA (mine is a WZ, actually.) I just don't have two Britax seats to try it with since I haven't been able to justify another one with only one child. But, another one is on the way, so it will only be a matter of time :-)

It seems that although I have tons of pics, I don't have any of the Radian and WZ FFing next to each other, but I am cleaning my car and playing musical car seats today anyway, so I can add that to my list of pictures to take.

BTW, for those who don't have a VUE, mine (03) has three separate sets of LATCH, so LATCH is never a problem even with three seats.

Hope that helps.

[minniemom]

Wow, I didn't realize that the top notches in AO were for booster only...good to know...Thanks! I will switch her to one of the MA's in our cars (I drive a Pontiac minivan, DH drives somthing different every 3 months but is either a SUV or minivan). As for nanny's car, I will look into the Radian and Graco Cargo to fit 3 across back seat. I really wanted to keep her harnessed as long as possible even on short trips. :)

Thanks!!!

[o_mom]

The Cargo is only good to 40 lbs, but that gives her 6 lbs to go and you could always put one of the twins in it after she is 40 lbs. The Radian will go to 65 lbs so will last longer, but it is more expensive.

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

in that case, since you're willing to get a new seat (gotta love you for that) anyway, I'd get the Radian, if it will fit (if you order it from target online and it doesn't work, you can return it to the store, so I'd buy it there) because the top slots are like 1-2" higher than the Marathon... so it will last you the longest.

Kat

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

well, I was trying to save her money if I could... I'm too nice, aren't I?

Kat

[jeanum]

Yes indeedy, the Vue's 3 full sets of LATCH anchors sure are handy, and every Vue has them. :) It was so easy to install a Marathon with LATCH in my former Vue that I never tried the seatbelts, lol. The same is true of a Graco Platinum CarGo I used temporarily in the center spot in the Vue's back seat.

Even though there are three separate sets of LATCH anchors, it may be more workable to use the outboard seatbelts to do 3 carseats across. This is because the outboard sets of LATCH anchors are positioned closer to the center of the backseat than the outboard seatbelt anchors, so an outboard carseat installed with LATCH would probably leave less room for another seat in the center. The outboard seatbelt anchors were a smidgen closer to the doors and this smidgen could be just enough extra room to fit three seats in there. For instance when I installed a friend's Snugride outboard next to my DD's FF Marathon in the center, I needed to use the seatbelt to install the Snugride to allow it to fit next to the Marathon. Your mileage may vary, especially if you try the narrower Radian in there, but I wanted to toss this out as a possible Vue installation tip. :)

[skipspin]

It will fit :-)
I have my Radian in the center of my VUE, and I plopped the WZ in FFing, and closed the door. It didn't move the RN over a bit, and there is just as much room on the other side for another MA.
Here are a few pics.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/skipspin/Car%20Seats/RNandWZffinginVUE.jpg

More photos here:
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/skipspin/Car%20Seats/


The RN and MA shells really mesh well together when they are both FF or both RFing. The WZ barely fits outboard RFing next to a FFing RN just because of the way the shells hit. Fortunately they DO fit, since it's likely that's a combination I will have in the forseeable future!

Hope that helps.

BTW, the pink infant seat is a baby doll seat- DDs favorite birthday present from Grandma. (I won't mention who suggested it.)

Oh, and I know the WZ is on a dangerously thick rug. I took the WZ right back out after those pictures. The rug keeps muddy footprints off my seats.

[skipspin]

Yes, you are right. Sometimes it's much easier to use seatbelts outboard.
I usually install my FFing seats (except the RN and Chase, which don't do well with the seatbelt in my VUE) with the seatbelt just because it's so easy and my LATCH connectors are usually in the pocket from using the WZ in the Jeep. When I installed it in the photos (well, actually after the photos) I used the seatbelt for the WZ, but I think the LATCH anchors might have worked. I just didn't try.

We are thinking about getting a different vehicle and it only has LATCH in two positions and I don't know if I can handle that! LOL.I suppose it depends on if the seatbelt works in the middle for my Radian.