I have spent an insanely large amount of time the past few weeks installing car seats. I installed three seats in two different cars while in Colorado, then had to reinstall in our car when we got home. Last weekend we went to Orlando and rented a car since my Sister went with us so I installed three seats in there. Then there’s the HOURS (I’m totally not exaggerating) I’ve spent in our burning hot garage (again, not exaggerating…I have never sweated so much in my life!) trying to rearrange the seats in our cars after Sugarplum unexpectedly outgrew the car seat she was using in my car just before we went to Colorado.
It has become quickly apparent that we lucked out with our original car seat configurations we had when Doodle first joined the family. I had the girls’ seats installed in each of our cars and Doodle’s baby bucket seat fit in without too much trouble (I had to readjust Honeybun’s seat in hubby’s car but did not have to move either seat in my car!)
I still have Sugarplum rearfacing and plan to keep her that way until she reaches 30 lbs (4 lbs to go!) so when she reached the rearfacing height limit in the car seat she was using I decided to put her in Honeybun’s seat which has a higher rear facing limit. I also have Honeybun still in a harnessed seat as most booster seats have a 40 lb weight minimum (3 lbs to go!) and I don’t think she’s ready for a booster so I had hubby run to Walmart and buy a new combination harnessed/booster seat for Honeybun that was on clearance (yay for saving money!) and I never expected to have so much trouble getting the new configuration to work!
It took me five tries to get three car seats safely installed in both cars. The new seat would not install tightly in hubby’s car due to the leather and I can’t put Sugarplum’s new (Honeybun’s old) rearfacing seat next to Doodle’s bucket and Doodle’s bucket base is the only seat of the options I have that will fit properly in the middle of hubby’s car so ultimately his car ended up right back with the seats it started with.
I was able to get the new seat installed safely in the middle of my car (it didn’t work on the side) which means Sugarplum’s new seat has to go behind the passenger but because it is so tall and an extra part I need for it to take less room is unavailable until September (I have checked EVERYWHERE), I unfortunately can’t safely have an adult passenger in the front as I had to push the seat up.
Luckily we have a configuration that works for now. We will see how it goes in a few months when Doodle outgrows his bucket and I need to bump him up to Sugarplum’s seats and Sugarplum into Honeybun’s and will need a new one for Honeybun! Phew, it would be a lot easier if I didn’t love my children and worry about their safety so much!
