# I love my husband but sometimes...



## allisonrose (Oct 22, 2004)

That man can drive me crazy. We're expecting our second child and were chatting today about upcoming expenses. I mentioned a carseat for the new baby. Hubby mentioned that we have the bucket seat from our first. I said yeah we'll start with that but then will need something to move up to. He tells me DS1 will be like 4 so he can go in a booster!









First off, I'm hoping to keep DS1 rf to the extent of our TF and he knows that. Second, our second child will be around 1.5 yrs when DS1 is 4 and I doubt the bucket will make it that long since DS1 was outgrowing it around 8 or so months.

It's also a tad ridiculous because we are replacing his single cab truck with something more family friendly. I'm leaning towards a Mazda5: extra space/seating but still gas efficient. Hubby keeps mentioning minivans because he thinks it'll be safer in the event of an accident. Ironic.

I honestly haven't given much thought tp boostering because it seems so far away but what is a good age to begin considering a booster? Also what is the Cali law regarding ff/boosters?


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## Tjej (Jan 22, 2009)

Where I live boosters have a lower weight limit of 40lbs which my 4 1/2yo does not reach. I don't want to use a booster for her anyway, but my ILs have wanted to have an easier time installing a couple of seats for a short drive with the kids, so that is how I know.

I guess for me this issue would be a bridge to cross when we came to it. If you're totally cash strapped and need to save up for it, then fine, but with you planning to buy a new car I'd venture to guess that you can shell out $100-200 someday whenever you may need the extra seat.

Tjej


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## OkiMom (Nov 21, 2007)

Heres from the CHP website: Children MUST be secured in an appropriate child passenger restraint (safety seat or booster seat) IN THE BACK SEAT OF A VEHICLE until they are at least 6 years old or weigh at least 60 pounds. (http://www.chp.ca.gov/community/safeseat.html), it doesn't say what the booster law is. I know it use to be 4 and 40 but I was told its changed but I don't know to what.

Personally I wouldn't consider a booster until the child grows out of the 5 point harness you have for him.. Since it goes by weight and height it varys by child, I know 5-6 year olds that still are in their 5 point harnesses and Ive known some that have outgrown their seats by height by that time.


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## TheGirls (Jan 8, 2007)

If the child fits properly and can behave properly in a booster (no wiggling around, reaching for stuff, unbuckling themselves, etc.), then I think 5 or 6 is a good age for a booster, I probably wouldn't booster a just-turned-4 year old on a daily basis, if at all. We're also going to have a 2.5 year spacing (2.5yo DD then twins DD2 and DS) and I fully expect to need 3 convertible seats because I really want DD to remain RF when the twins outgrow their buckets - DD was only 4 months old when she outgrew hers by height. If it is a 22lb limit infant seat there's no way on earth I'd expect it to last until 1.5years old. And I wouldn't consider a booster for an under-4 at all.

DD1 is now in a TrueFit, RF, and weighs 30lbs even. The twins will go in infant seats at birth. Next spring-ish I'm debating between a couple of Complete Airs or Radians. That way I can put one of the twins in the TrueFit and DD1 in a 40lb weight limit RF seat. When she outgrows that, I'll put the twins in the new seats and DD1 back in the TrueFit forward facing until she's ready for a booster. That way everyone can max out RF time and I don't have to buy any extra seats.


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## Marissamom (Dec 17, 2009)

there's no way a bucket seat would last until 1.5. we stopped using ours at 6 months (though we could have technically stayed in it for another 6 months before she outgrew it, and did use it in grandma's car). depending on how things are fitting you could also do a ff that converts to a hbb for DS1 if he's ready to ff at that point, they seem to be a little less expensive then buying another convertible and then having to buy a booster later anyway.


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## Aliy (Jun 1, 2010)

a bucket seat till one a half......i don't see that.....

i would keep your oldest in whatever seat they have and get a new one for the baby.

I have a 4 year old and no way would I but him in a booster


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## shanniesue2 (Jul 4, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Marissamom* 
there's no way a bucket seat would last until 1.5. we stopped using ours at 6 months (though we could have technically stayed in it for another 6 months before she outgrew it, and did use it in grandma's car). depending on how things are fitting you could also do a ff that converts to a hbb for DS1 if he's ready to ff at that point, they seem to be a little less expensive then buying another convertible and then having to buy a booster later anyway.

My son fit in a bucket until he was 1.5... he had a medical condition though... but I have heard of MANY kiddos who didn't have medical conditions that lasted 1.5 in a bucket. It isn't something to count on, but some people have small babies


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## Eresh (Jul 17, 2007)

Well, a petite child might fit in one of the new 35lb bucket seats to 1.5 yrs, but if it is one that you bought for your now 2.5yo, you'll probably be lucky to get 1 yr in it. You might take a look at a Complete Air -- they're reasonably priced and will RF to 40 lbs so you could RF your oldest a little longer in the CA and pass the TF to the baby.

If you're okay with DS1 going FF when the baby outgrows the bucket seat you could pick up a combo seat like the Nautilus. It's reasonably priced and will keep your son in a 5 pt harness for several years before converting to a hbb when he's ready.

If you went with getting another convertible like the CA, you'd be buying 1 more car seat than you would otherwise while keeping both kids RF and in 5 pt harnesses for as long as possible. Considering you're talking 6 yrs of use for a seat you can buy for $160 without hunting too hard (and I nearly picked one up for $120 at the BRU trade-in), that's $26.67/yr of use. Ask him to cut back 7-8 lattes a year.


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## allisonrose (Oct 22, 2004)

Tjej - The cost of a carseat certainly isn't going to break us financially. Hubby is just paranoid about money. The new (well, probably used) vehicle is at my insistance: he takes my Civic every couple of days for his carpool since only two passengers can fit in his truck. With just one little one, I can manage (although I do have issues because it's stick shift). Once I have two little ones, I'd be housebound everytime he drives carpool.

OkiMom - I did find that info as well. It doesn't seem too clear on harnessing vs boostering huh?

TheGirls - Having a TrueFit as well, I've considered doing musical carseats and might yet.

RE: a year and half old in a bucket seat. Oh _I know_ it's not going to happen. My son was peanut at birth (7 lb 2 oz) but plumped up quite quickly. Our bucket goes to 22 lbs I think. DS1 was closer to outgrowing it in height than weight.

Eresh - I don't want to put my son ffing much sooner than he has to. I know the Nautilus is a great option for a ffing child though and would certainly consider in the right circumstance.

I'm leaning towards a Complete Air or perhaps a Graco MyRide65 for the new bub. Also keeping another TrueFit as a possibility: I do like that seat. (I'm not insisting on a Britax Boulevard.) I know that the cost of a seat is a tiny price to pay to keep my child safe, hence why I think hubby has his priorities a tad mixed up.

My hubby is just really uptight about money. He was fired from a job 1.5 years ago and his head is still a bit messed up from it. The fact that we're a one income family makes him very nervous. Add in that his job isn't the most secure in the world....


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## OkiMom (Nov 21, 2007)

Unfortunately they aren't as clear anymore which sucks! When I was studying traffic laws in college it was more lenient but a LOT clear when it came to harness vs. booster. That gives a lot of room for interpretation because what right be an "appropriate seat" to you might not be to me or the officer pulling you over.
I say to tell him you rather err on the side of caution and not risk getting a hefty ticket because the officer deemed the booster "not appropriate". Not to mention the CPS hassle if they decide that it was "gross negligence" Just saying I did a portion of the police academy (left to join the Marine Corps because I decided I wanted to serve my country before beginning police work and just never went back) and I heard stories like that when I was there.

If your hubby is worried about money Id look into the baby sales they have at BRU, they have some good deals at times. Also, stalk places online and a lot of the time you can find some really good deals. I got my oldest daughters radian for 150 with shipping by stalking multiple websites until I found a deal with could afford. Wish I could find a deal like that again so I could replace my youngest daughter's carseat.


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## Eresh (Jul 17, 2007)

I look for deals by using Google Products and retailmenot.com ... I find different online sellers for the product I want and then look for coupons. There are a couple of places running specials on car seats right now and you can almost always find at least 5%-10% off the "lowest" price on Google Products. If nothing else, BRU seems to run their trade-in program a couple of times a year. Their base prices are higher than you'd find online but 25% off can be pretty low, especially if you find a sale seat you like.

Btw, I wasn't trying to be snide about the lattes, I was projecting .. My DH's priorities sometimes seem to get screwed up.









ETA: Also btw, it sounds like we're in somewhat similar situations. DS is 2y8m with Baby due any time now. We have DS RF in a Blvd 65 in my car (primary) and an AOE in DH's car. We also have a TF stored. We have a Snugride 22 for the baby but if Baby is anything like DS, s/he will outgrow the seat by height around 8 mo. At that point we're planning on getting a Frontier85 or Nautilus for DH's car and then using the 3 convertibles to RF DS & Baby both in my car and Baby in DH's car. I'm comfortable FFing DS starting at 3.5yo in DH's car and RFing to 35lbs in my car. If we did end up getting another convertible I'd look at getting a Radian or a CA to RF DS longer in my car, but that doesn't look likely right now. Besides, DS is 29lbs now and will probably be a little while til he hits 35lbs.


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## allisonrose (Oct 22, 2004)

OkiMom - It's nice to know that I didn't just totally miss something about the law. My preference is to keep both kids as safe as possible as long as possible.

Eresh - I don't know exactly where hubby's spending money goes. I think it's fast food for lunch rather than lattes. I do offer to pick him up whatever for lunch at the market but he tells me no thanks.








I'm going to put aside $20 each month so I'll have plenty to buy a seat once I'm getting sick of the bucket.


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## Marissamom (Dec 17, 2009)

yeah, looking at my state's laws there is absolutely nothing about when a child can switch to a booster other then the seat must be used according to manufacturer's instructions. and my state has probably the most stringent booster seat laws, a kid has to be 8 or over 4'9" to ride without a booster. unless they are in lap-only best, which they can use at 40 lbs.


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