Car Seat Woes

Today I went to the car seat inspection place, and was able to get Ohene’s new carseat installed, and Kojo’s new car seat installed. Could NOT for the life of it get Kwabena’s booster installed. I had ordered him the Britax Parkway high-back booster, but with the other 2 installed, the booster couldn’t get close enough to the back of the seat while in a straight position, so they suggested I get him a slimmer booster.

SIGH……

First of all, I really wanted to NOT put him in a booster right now, but it appears to be my only option at this point. And because of the tight fit, I may only be able to get him a slim booster BASE ONLY. Yes, you read right– just the seat part of the booster, not the whole high back. They fireman said that the only need for the high back part is to protect the head, but if the kid has a headrest, then you really don’t need the high back part.

SOOO……imagine Kwabena sitting only on the booster seat part. SCARY! I’m going to research it today and see which ones are out there. My only other option is to get him a Sunshine Kids Radian (just like what I bought Ohene), which is suuuuuper slim. However, it only goes up to 53″ and Kwabena is already about 50″. Can I really justify spending $220 on a carseat that he will only get another 3″ out of??

The plus side of that is that when he would outgrow that seat, Kojo would just be growing out if his infant seat and Kojo could take over Kwabena’s Radian. At that point (in about another year, give or take), Kwabena would move into a slim booster base, while Ohene and Kojo are in the slim Radians.

Someone suggested another option, too– using the Ride Safe Travel Vest that I have bought for him when he was going to Ghana. It’s a harness that secures the kid with a regular seat belt, good for traveling when you can’t, or don’t want, to take car seats. I don’t know if I could use this as an “everyday” seat for Kwabena, but I guess I could try it out. He will be in my car primarily during the weekends.

I still haven’t even worked out what will be the set-up in Kwasi’s car. Right now I need to do something quick, because Ohene’s poor seat is lop-sided because it’s in the middle, next to Kwabena’s seat because the other seatbelt behind the driver side is broken, so he HAS to use the middle, but the seats aren’t fitting well.

Today I even “broke down” and did some car searches for used new and used mini-vans. Depressing. Even the good used ones are at least $20,000, and the new ones, forget about it. They were a cool $32,000 an up. Who the hell can afford THAT??

At most, I wouldn’t spend any more than $25,000 for a minivan, and that would be a nice used 2008, if you want leather and all the upgrades. The payment would be around $386 per month, with $5,000 down. SIGH again…..

With my job uncertainly, and with maternity leave coming up, I can’t imagine getting a car right now. So I think I will get a booster, or use the Safe Rider vest, and we can work out Kwasi’s car, and then call it a day.

SIGGGGGHHHH…….

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