car seat questions/help

my LOs will be 2 years and 9 months when their new baby sister comes at the end of february.
we have two britax roundabout 50's in my X5 now and i am going to need to be able to fit the new baby's seat in as well. we have chicco keyfit 30's from when the boys were infants and i was hoping to use one of those.

is this going to work? i really dont think i am going to be able to fit 3 across.
at what age do they go in boosters?

 

I'm not sure but I think they go into boosters based on weight/height more so than age. Have you tried installing all 3 seats across to see if they'll fit?

 

The law is 4y/40lb I believe, but boosters are not recommended under 5/6 really... Copying what I've seen on another forum, that will explain things better than I would - A booster does not restrain the child the way the harness does, it simply "boosts" the child up in order to make the adult-sized belt safely fit a child-sized body. Children under age 4 do not possess the ability to sit perfectly at all times, and a child who leans forward to retrieve a cup or toy, or who twists around to see something or someone behind them, will not be protected in a crash and is at risk for serious injuries and possibly death. Also, children this age sometimes still fall asleep in the car. The slumping that occurs when this happens means they are not properly positioned and should be in a 5 point harness for that trip. Ideally all children should remain in an appropriate 5 point harness until age 5.

About the seats - the narrowest seats in the market, as far as I know, are the Sunshine kids radians, which are great seats, but they changed their name to Diono and I'm not sure how the new seats compare.

 

I think you should just try it and see if it works. I have 2 marathon 50s and a graco booster seat base in the back of my nissan altima. It is tight but everyone fits and everyone can be buckled in.

 

4 yrs old and 40 lbs is the minimum by law. I would try it and see, and if not you may have to get thinner seats than the Britax. Some of the ones that only front face but still have a 5 pt harness seem thinner but I don't know from experience. I also don't know how the Chicco compares, but from what I have seen the Graco infant seats seem to be the least bulky. In our case, it is my husband's car that is smaller and we are just going to have to switch when he is with all 3 kids. He gets to be the cool daddy with the minivan and 3 car seats and I get the Element bc it only seats 4.

 

You might check your state law. Ours has no restriction between carseats and booster seats. Only that children under 6 be in an appropriate seat. As long as they meet the weight requirements it isn't against the law, however as previously mentioned most young children do not sit correctly or stay in boosters well.

 

Check your state law, I agree. In MI, it's also "an appropriate seat", not a weight requirement. Also agree boosters aren't as safe as a 5 point, but if push comes to shove, it's at least an option, maybe.

 

I have three Britax Marathons across the back seat in a similar vehicle, so I think they'll all three fit. They're squeezed in there tight, and latching that third seat is a bear as it's hard to get your arm inbetween them, but it's doable!

 

i am in NY
i saw 5-point harnesses in the britax boosters. are these appropriate?

 

Are you talking about the Frontier? It's a convertible carseat/booster. When used as a carseat, it's got a five point harness and would be fine. It converts to a booster later.

 

Just want to say that the Radian Sunshine convertible carseats are very narrow (that's what we have) - you may have a better time fitting three seats in the back with these...

 

yes - its the frontier. it looks narrow???? im wondering if it really is narrower than my roundabouts.

 

There should be measurements online so you can compare.