please help me decide which 2 carseats to buy, for which to children and where to put them :)

[mommy22boys]

Hi, 

I am having a really hard time deciding what carseats to buy, I was wondering if someone could please help me. So here is all my information:

My children (all RF) are: 

4yo, 34 lbs, 38 inches tall, 20inches sitting down from bum to head

2yo, 27 lbs, 33 inches tall, 17.5inches sitting down from bum to head 

7 months old, about 17 lbs

baby #4 due in March/2012

And I drive a 2010 Honda Odyssey.  I'd also love arrangement suggestions. 

Right now I have 2 Radian carseats. I need a new carseat for the 7 month old right away (his infant one is about to expire) and I will need one in March when the new baby is born - I will probably buy this one in late February though, but I'd still like to already know what I'm going to buy. So I need to buy 2 more carseats. I'd like to keep my oldest RF since he is small, but he will be 5 in April so not sure if it still matters. 

Hope that's enough info! Thank you!!

(I would post on car-seat.org but I seem to get more responses here..)

[DahliaRW]

So great you have them all rfing!

At 4yo I wouldn't worry if you wanted to turn ffing.  At that age it is perfectly safe.  I'll leave it up to you.  If you do decide to flip I would  pass down the radian to the baby and buy a nautilus or frontier for the 4yo.  You might find it more convenient to have one ffing when arranging seats.

If you want to keep the 4yo rfing, then I would keep the radians for the older two.  At this point you could buy whatever convertible you like for the 7mo.  Or, if you like the convenience of an infant seat, you could buy another one and use it for your 7mo now, and then buy a convertible later and pass on the infant seat to the newbie.  Infant seat wise, I would look at the GracoSafeseat35, SafetyFirst Onboard or Onboards Air, or Chicco Keyfit.  Good high weight convertibles I'd look at another radian, complete air, graco myride, or first years true fit.  All rf to 40lbs, except the tf that rfs to 35 (and some radians go up to 45lbs now).

As for where to put everyone, I'm not sure. I'd probably put the older 2 in the back and the babies in the middle row.  Or, you could try to put 3 across the back and the baby in the middle row and remove the other captain's chair for ease of access.  I'm assuming you have a 7 seater?  But in an 8 seater things might change.

HTH!

[mommy22boys]

Originally Posted by DahliaRW 

So great you have them all rfing!

At 4yo I wouldn't worry if you wanted to turn ffing.  At that age it is perfectly safe.  I'll leave it up to you.  If you do decide to flip I would  pass down the radian to the baby and buy a nautilus or frontier for the 4yo.  You might find it more convenient to have one ffing when arranging seats.

If you want to keep the 4yo rfing, then I would keep the radians for the older two.  At this point you could buy whatever convertible you like for the 7mo.  Or, if you like the convenience of an infant seat, you could buy another one and use it for your 7mo now, and then buy a convertible later and pass on the infant seat to the newbie.  Infant seat wise, I would look at the GracoSafeseat35, SafetyFirst Onboard or Onboards Air, or Chicco Keyfit.  Good high weight convertibles I'd look at another radian, complete air, graco myride, or first years true fit.  All rf to 40lbs, except the tf that rfs to 35 (and some radians go up to 45lbs now).

As for where to put everyone, I'm not sure. I'd probably put the older 2 in the back and the babies in the middle row.  Or, you could try to put 3 across the back and the baby in the middle row and remove the other captain's chair for ease of access.  I'm assuming you have a 7 seater?  But in an 8 seater things might change.

HTH!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and reply. You gave me some really helpful advice. :)

So right now I'm thinking that I will just get an infant seat for my 7 month old and then I will move him to the 4yo's Radian when the new baby comes and get a Nautilus of Frontier for the 4yo. 

I'm gonna go look up the infant seats you suggested now. Thanks again! 

[SynEpona]

In considering a seat for your new baby, something I didnt' realize till our 8day old DD arrived -- her Radian XT fits her better than the Graco Snugride! The straps on the Graco do not tighten enough (she was 6lb9oz at birth, and 7lb11oz now). We have the Radian in my vehicle and the Graco seat was for DH's truck, so we're just making sure to only take her out in my car till she grows a bit!

[mommy22boys]

Originally Posted by SynEpona 

In considering a seat for your new baby, something I didnt' realize till our 8day old DD arrived -- her Radian XT fits her better than the Graco Snugride! The straps on the Graco do not tighten enough (she was 6lb9oz at birth, and 7lb11oz now). We have the Radian in my vehicle and the Graco seat was for DH's truck, so we're just making sure to only take her out in my car till she grows a bit!

Really? Thanks for letting me know that, that's exactly how much my 3rd baby weighed when he was born!

I have also been considering just buying another Radian so this makes me think maybe I should do that. Also because then besides the Nautilus, I won't have to buy another carseat for years. But the thing is that I don't know how I would fit 3 RF Radians in my van, it's really hard for me to get them upright.

[TheGirls]

I wonder, could you get two radians (the ones you own) and a cocorro (or 3 radians) in the 3rd row?  I have an '07 odyssey, but no super-narrow seats to try it with.  If you can, I'd consider an infant seat (not the snugride, if your babies are small, almost any infant seat, and some convertibles, fit small babies better).  Then put your three big ones in the 3rd row and take out one of the 2nd row captain's chairs for easier access.  You could do all 3 RF if you want or put the oldest FF.   Or you could get a Nautilus and put that in the 2nd row with the three little ones in the rear.   I've hatch loaded in the Odyssey and it's not bad, especially if you're tall or the kids can climb.  

Another plan would be the oldest two in the 3rd row in a Nautilus and a RF Radian, and the smaller two in the 2nd row in the other Radian and a smaller convertible, with the 2nd row captain's chairs scooted together so you can access the 3rd row for loading.  

Assuming the 2010 and 2007 are set up the same way, keep in mind that the 3rd row center seat has a tether anchor that is in the floor near where the rear hatch closes.  That means that if you put a FF seat in that position, you'll have a tether strap running right across your storage area, which for me is a pain.   The other four positions in my van don't have this issue.   We may add a 4th babe at some point so I've been thinking about where they'd  fit.  We'll have at least 1 FF child first though since my 3yo is going to hit 40lbs soon, I think. 

[DahliaRW]

Originally Posted by SynEpona 

In considering a seat for your new baby, something I didnt' realize till our 8day old DD arrived -- her Radian XT fits her better than the Graco Snugride! The straps on the Graco do not tighten enough (she was 6lb9oz at birth, and 7lb11oz now). We have the Radian in my vehicle and the Graco seat was for DH's truck, so we're just making sure to only take her out in my car till she grows a bit!

There are various models of snugride.  With the bigger one (like the SR35) there are loops on the back to adjust the harness so that it goes tighter when baby is smaller and looser when bigger.  You adjust these on the shoulder straps and the hip straps.  DD was 7 lbs and fit in her safeseat1, which is pretty much the same as the SR35.

[mommy22boys]

Originally Posted by TheGirls 

I wonder, could you get two radians (the ones you own) and a cocorro (or 3 radians) in the 3rd row?  I have an '07 odyssey, but no super-narrow seats to try it with.  If you can, I'd consider an infant seat (not the snugride, if your babies are small, almost any infant seat, and some convertibles, fit small babies better).  Then put your three big ones in the 3rd row and take out one of the 2nd row captain's chairs for easier access.  You could do all 3 RF if you want or put the oldest FF.   Or you could get a Nautilus and put that in the 2nd row with the three little ones in the rear.   I've hatch loaded in the Odyssey and it's not bad, especially if you're tall or the kids can climb.  

Another plan would be the oldest two in the 3rd row in a Nautilus and a RF Radian, and the smaller two in the 2nd row in the other Radian and a smaller convertible, with the 2nd row captain's chairs scooted together so you can access the 3rd row for loading.  

Assuming the 2010 and 2007 are set up the same way, keep in mind that the 3rd row center seat has a tether anchor that is in the floor near where the rear hatch closes.  That means that if you put a FF seat in that position, you'll have a tether strap running right across your storage area, which for me is a pain.   The other four positions in my van don't have this issue.   We may add a 4th babe at some point so I've been thinking about where they'd  fit.  We'll have at least 1 FF child first though since my 3yo is going to hit 40lbs soon, I think. 

Hi, 

Thank you for all the suggestions!!

I actually tried to put 3 Radian's back there RF, but I couldn't get it to fit right... I was thinking of putting a Nautilus in the 3rd row middle FF, with the 2 Radians on each side RF and then the baby in an infant seat in one a 2nd captains chair moved to the middle. But now that you said that about how a FF seat in the 3rd row middle gets in the way of storage, I'm not sure! Maybe I will put the infant seat and theFF seat in a 2nd row captains chairs and leave the to RF radians in the back. I can't get the Radians at a high enough angle to be RF in the 2nd row. Thanks again for the tips!