Car Seats

[debsays]

Have two grandchildren now. One 11 mos. and the other 5. In August we'll have another. Question is. Does anyone know of any carseat that is narrower than others. Will be needing one for our 11 month old who will be
1 1/2 when the other little one comes along. Trying to fit the 3 in the backseat with a little wiggle room. (L) It's for a Honda CRV. Looking for suggestions.

 

[disneymarie]

If you go to babies R us they will take them out to the vehicle and try it. Also they know what sizes will not work off the bat.
The older 5 year old can move to a booster seat, I have a back and arm rest on the dgs, and his can go to the pre toddler, then that one goes to the baby,. so you would only need one for the older child.

 

[quentina]

We bought ours from elite car seat . com. Babies R us did not carry what we needed (skinny seat for a long torso child). So far, amazing results!

 

[blessedby3]

We have a Cosco Scenara in my DH's car - as a second seat- and it doesnt seem very big at all. It was not an expensive one. My mom has one in her van for my dd too. Great for travel, lightweight and great for the plane. We have a Britax Marathon she uses everyday in my van.

 

[carmiedog]

take a look at sunshine kids radian. One of the narrowest convertibles and great reviews. http://www.skjp.com/

 

[HappyGilmore]

We have two Sunshine Kids Radian 65 seats in a 2003 Honda CRV. We had them installed at our local fire station by a Certified car seat safety paramedic. I don't know if you will be able to fit three in the CRV but I guess it depends on what model year CRV you have. We were not able to put ours in the middle and rear right ( curb) which are deemed the two safest positions so we have them on the left and right rear. My 150lb sister (kids aunt) just barely fits in between the seats and it is not really a comfortable fit. I wanted to safest seats I could find that would have the most longevity so I didn't have to go to a belt positioning booster. I like the fact that my 6 yr old is still in a 5 point harness but she is only 53lbs and not very tall. My 3rd old will be in hers for quite some time yet. We paid right about $199.00 for each seat but sometimes you can find them on sale.

 

[debsays]

Actually only need the 2 car seats and one child not in a seat. Do you think that would work.

 

[bigmama67]

Second the recommendation for Sunshine Radian, but only on word of mouth. They look cool though. We have a 7 y.o. DS and a 1 y.o. DD. DS has had a Compass folding seat since he was 4 and we love it! It's slim and light but has fold-out cupholders and is height-adjustable. He'll be good in it for awhile longer (he's only 41 pounds!!)

DD is in a Britax Marathon - so we have one Marathon and one Compass in each of our cars. Just got DS a Graco backless booster that we will use only for plane trips (he can carry it himself and we'll gate-check it for use in rental cars because we have 3 trips planned this year.)

As far as discounts, the best one I've found is that Buy Buy Baby accepts Bed Bath & Beyond coupons so you can always get 20% off anything there. It needs to be not expired though. If you buy something without having a coupon you can go back later with the receipt and have the discount applied (I think within 90 days.) That rocks! Buy Buy Baby carries lots of items including all the seats mentioned above.

AlbeeBaby is very good too. Got one of DD's Marathons there for $179 instead of $279 because it was a discontinued print.

HTH.

 

[mom2val]

Actually only need the 2 car seats and one child not in a seat. Do you think that would work.

Why is one not in seat? Are any of these kids 4 ft 9 inches tall? The safest place for a child to be if under 4 ft 9 inches is in a booster.

Also it is the law : I heard about the new Massachusetts Child Passenger Safety Law that went into effect. Can you tell me more about it?
Beginning July 10, 2008 a child passenger restraint is required by law in Massachusetts for children 5-7 years of age or until they reach 4'9" in height. This means that for children who have grown out of their forward facing child safety seat, the next step is the booster seat.

No child under the age of eight and measuring less than fifty-seven inches shall ride as a passenger in a motor vehicle on any way unless such child is properly fastened and secured, according to the manufacturers' instructions, by a child passenger restraint".

A certified Child Passenger Safety technician can check your child safety seat or booster seat for safety and assure proper fit. These checkpoints are free but usually require an appointment. To find a technician near you call the Car Safe Line at 1-800-CAR-SAFE (1-800-227-7233) at the MA Department of Public Health or visit http://www.mass.gov/childsafetyseats.

The law applies to children riding in all types of privately owned vehicles and vehicles for hire, including taxi cabs and 7D vehicles; the child's parent or care giver must provide the car seat. This is a primary enforcement law. A police officer may stop a car if one or more children are riding unrestrained. No other reason is needed. For more information, call the Injury Prevention and Control Program at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health at (800) 227-SAFE, or write: 250 Washington Street, 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02108-4619.

 

[Swimalie]

And even at the age of 5, a child should be in either a 5-point harness seat or, at the minimum a booster seat with a back. Not a backless booster seat! I have a son who will be 4 in March and we just moved him to a Britax Frontier, 5 point harness. He will be in that until he outgrows it in height - probably after age 6. Then he'll go to the booster seat with a back on it mode. The Frontier is too wide for what you need, though (we have a CRV and it does take up a lot of back seat room). I would look in to the Radian for all 3 children since they are narrow and they are safe.

 

[mjkacmom]

I got my 2 oldest britax boosters when my twins were born (they were 4 and 6). Starrisers, I believe - I needed narrow, because I had to fit 5 seats in my minivan! Dd7, ds7, and dd8 still sit in them now, backless.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Ugh ~ yes a 5 year old needs a car safety seat ~ kids older than 5 do as well - seat belts are made for adults so until a child is the size of a small adult they need more than a seat belt to be safe in a vehicle ~ yes a booster would work but believe me, a installed harness seat is much easier to get a kid in and out of than a booster seat *when you have other seats around it, try getting your hand down there to buckle and unbuckle the kid each time ~ kids often unbuckle their sibling's seat thinking they're unbuckling themself! If you don't realize that's been done that could be a bad thing. I suggest you visit www.car-seat.org for more info.

 

[thebeesknees]

We have a Toyota Camry and have 2 Cosco Scenera seats and one rear-facing convertable seat back there. It is a tight squeeze, but we were able to do it with about 1/8 inch on either end between the seat and door handle, so the door isn't bumping the seats every time we shut it. The Scenera seats were the narrowest ones I could find that were in our price range - I think they are 17 1/2 inches wide at the base. I also like the fact that they have the 5-point harness, but can then be used with just a seatbelt when my kids are too tall for the harness.

 

[deerhart]

Actually only need the 2 car seats and one child not in a seat. Do you think that would work.

most state laws now require children to be in at least booster seats until age 8 or 80lbs so no that won't work

 

[RangerPooh]

Check out this website for suggestions, it is amazing what carseats people have found to work the best in their cars. http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=33226 I know that we referenced it when looking at carseats for my PT Cruiser.

As of right now we have a Graco booster seat, a Cosco Senena, and a Baby First (I think) infant carseat. What we did was measured the hip room of the backseat in my car and then measured the seats that we already had to determine if we were going to need to replace them or switch them to other cars (DHs and Grandma's). We then took our measurements with us to BRU and measured carseats to see what ones would fit the best with my car. I hope this helps.