This just in: Moving child car seats sucks

"mazda616" (mazda616)
05/22/2020 at 15:44 • Filed to: Dad Life

Moved my son’s car seat to the driver’s side and hooked it up with the seatbelts rather than the LATCH connectors as he is almost over the LATCH connector weight limit. He turned three in February and my daughter will be born on July 6 via scheduled c-section.

What a pain moving the seat was. Installing car seats is a nightmare! But, we are that much closer to my daughter being her e and the passenger sides of the 6 and the Highlander are now clear and ready for her infant seat and base.

I thought briefly about upgrading myself to a bigger vehicle than the 6, but I thankfully squashed that idea because the idea of another car payment makes me nauseous. The 6 is barely four-years-old and has 49,100 miles and no payment. That’s more valuable than something with more space. We have the Highlander for that, anyway.

And no, she won’t be riding in the Sunbird.

DISCUSSION (24)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 15:53

And even worse, those seats have absolutely nowhere to hold them comfortably while you are wrangling them into the car. It sucks, but not enough to give up the 6.

Shane Moore > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 15:56

Congrats on the upcoming addition! It is amazing how much a man can sweat re-installing a car seat. Those look like the “4-ever” style car seats. We have 2 of them and I really like them other than the bulkiness during install.

HammerheadFistpunch > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 15:57

Can confirm, do you have 2 sets of carseats then? We had to move between vehicles which got...old.

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 16:00

What hung you up? My last re-re was pretty painless, especially since he outgrew the latch system. Latch was a PITA on our car because it was built without the clunky seatbelt release mechanism styled latch connectors on our carseat in mind, so it was literally impossible to affix them while the cars seat bottom was properly installed. Believe me, blood sweat and tears (and lots of profanity) says I tried. I eventually gave up and left the back seat bottom unseated to give me the clearance I needed, which meant there was a gap, which meant an entire school of goldfish ended up under there... among other things.

Last time I pulled it apart to clean I ditched latch, just fed the seatbelt through, re-attached the top tether, and cinched it all down... and wondered why I didn’t do it sooner.

mazda616 > HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2020 at 16:04

Yep. Each car has its own seat and each car will have its own infant seat base as well. That way, it doesn’t matter which one of us picks up the kids.

mazda616 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/22/2020 at 16:05

Yeah. The convertible seat thankfully stays in the car and the infant seat will be on the passenger side.

mazda616 > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
05/22/2020 at 16:06

The convertible seat has to be on the driver’s side because the infant seat sticks out more and takes away more legroom. :(

PyroHoltz f@h Oppo 261120 > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 16:06

Uh, the LATCH max weight for most vehicles is 65 pounds.

https://saferide4kids.com/blog/latch-weight-limits/

Is your 3yo really approaching that limit or is the Toyota max significantly lower?

We ended up purchasing two sets of car seats for our kids to be able to go in each car without swapping, kids are only 15 months apart from each other.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 16:07

Just went through this myself recently. Even the best car seats are truly awful to install.

Good call on not replacing the vehicle. Bigger than that might be necessary when both kids are tuba champs, but not now.

My son just turned 4 months. It’s been amazing watching the two of them interact. My daughter, who’s almost 3 keeps telling us that he’s her best friend and loves hugging him. He smiles more for her than anyone else.

Just something nice to counteract all the horror stories you're probably hearing about how much harder 2 kids is than 1. The answer is 10x harder, but you can do it!

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 16:09

A s soon as I posted it I realized the seating had to switch anyway so ninja edited, lol . Can’t have a toddler toddling out into traffic after all.

mazda616 > PyroHoltz f@h Oppo 261120
05/22/2020 at 16:10

He’s 40 pounds and the seat is 20. The seat manual says no child weighing more than 45 pounds should be secured by LATCH.

mazda616 > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
05/22/2020 at 16:13

Praise the child safety locks. I have them on in both the Mazda and the Toyota. He hasn’t figured out how to open the door but it’s only a matter of time.

ttyymmnn > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 16:21

My oldest was born in 2002, and we were still driving our 96 Stratus. No LATCH. Installing a seat in that car was a nightmare. But with the twins later, we had two LATCH Britax seats and they were stupid easy to put in. I even carried them both on airplane trips so we could put them in their seats on the plane. It was a major hassle hauling those seats through the airport, but it was worth it.

mazda616 > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
05/22/2020 at 16:35

Thanks! I’m nervous AF about having a girl and also having a second as I’ve gotten so used to just having one.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 16:44

It’s certainly an adjustment, but it feels good to sort of know what you’re doing and what to expect.

I wouldn't worry about having a girl. Mine has been amazing. She's already getting a pretty sharp tongue, though... I hope my son has thick skin.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 17:04

Sure does.

The 4Ever seats are great, but much too deep to use for infants in a typical car and they do suck to install. Mine is still using latch and rear-facing, which is better than the way they’re attached when front-facing...

I miss infant seats for the simplicity; latch, then just pop them in/out. The downside is that they’re so long that you need a big car if both of the front seat passengers have legs.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/22/2020 at 17:06

Yes I was just shuffling mine recently. Would some carry handles be too much to ask??

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > MiniGTI - now with XJ6
05/22/2020 at 17:16

Even when you get to the smaller and lighter ones they are still perfectly engineered to be as cumber some as possible. So yes, handles are too much to ask.

shop-teacher > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 18:01

I don't miss that one bit. It is a total biatch. My oldest is about done with boosters, and I think my youngest is about ready to move to a backless booster. Even that will be freaking awesome.

thatsmr > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 19:04

When I was little, my sister and I would fight over who got to lay down on the floorboard (in pillows) and who got the back seat on any kind of road trip.. what are seatbelts in the back of a ‘72 Impala? We used to just climb around back there!

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > mazda616
05/22/2020 at 20:33

Britax’s easy-on/off LATCH connectors were a game changer for us. Totally worth the extra cost over more basic car seats if you can swing it.

mazda616 > thatsmr
05/23/2020 at 08:09

Good thing y’all never got into an accident!

mazda616 > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
05/23/2020 at 08:10

Exactly! And that’s why the infant seat in the 6 will be on the passenger side.

oldmxer > mazda616
05/24/2020 at 01:37

i have a soon to be 3yr old grandson and i am 65 with a bad back, if i make it to the point that he no longer needs the damn seat before my back gives out it will be a miracle [and/or lose my sanity] glad to know it’s not just me