Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 18:01:57 -0800
Reply-To: Kathy and Jamie <jamnkats@SUPPORT.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Kathy and Jamie <jamnkats@SUPPORT.NET>
Subject: Re: Toddler seat ?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
We have four children - a 5mo, a 2yo, a 5yo (soon to be 6) and a 7yo (soon to be
8). We have a 1985 Westy and a 1985 Vanagon (GL). All of our children are in
carseats (yes! even the almost 8yo). We move the middle (2 passenger) middle
seat from the GL to the Westy as necessary (replace clutch on GL, replace engine
on Westy) and have retrofit two positions in the GL with shoulder belts
(passenger and drivers side back bench). When we needed to dock the GL for a
while (clutch) we moved one the retrofits from the GL to the Westy. After
you've done one, it is pretty simple.
The older two (boys) are both about 50lb and when in the Westy only one can use
a BPB (belt positioning booster) - so we needed a better solution. We decided
on the Britax SE for two reasons - head support (back benches in both vans are
low benches - no head support) and belting (the SE can be used with the harness
up to 80lb - so in seats that have no possiblity for retrofit (Westy driver's
side) you have "belts" (the harness) to safely restrain the child). We now have
2 SE's as the 2yo is moving up and out of her RA (Britax Roundabout) to make
room for her sister (5mo - who is moving out of her "bucket" - Britax Handle
With Care). We have one other BPB, but other than that we move the carseats
from car to car as needed. I would heartily recommend the SE - it doesn't
require tethering until your child hits 50lb - and we've tethered to floor bolts
(for the middle seat). I can take pictures if you'd like.
There was also a very helpful person on this list who gave info for tethering -
I saved the emails and will forward them to you if you'd like - but we decided
to simply tether to the floor bolts (for the middle seat) in both the Westy and
GL.
We paid about $180+ for 2 shoulder belt retrofit kits in the SF East Bay.
> >
> >My Son is approaching 40 pounds in weight, and I need to get him a new seat
> >for my Vanagon. Any suggestions on brands/models/mounting instructions
> >would be appreciated.
> >
> >John Lauterbach
> >Macon, GA
> >'84 7-passenger