Mom Blog and Baby Blog | Baby Bunching

baby bunching Q/A: 3 across

Q: So, I just found out I'm pregnant with number 3 (completely unexpected) and my due date will be near my daughter's 3rd birthday and son will be 20 months. How in the world am I going to fit three car seats in my car!? I have a Saturn Vue. I saw people suggesting the Radian. We currently have 2 safety first air protects, would a third fit okay, or should we go ahead and get the Radians?

A: Fitting three car seats across can be tricky in any vehicle. The upside to having a van/SUV with a third row just means less struggle with this configuration since you have the third row option, but it's still a struggle. Since you're looking at probably two-forward facing and one rear facing, you might be OK. Usually it's the third forward-facing car seat that pushes over the end. The rear-facing car seats tend to fit nicely as if you're completing the puzzle, but it depends on your car so test it out before baby #3 arrives.

Here are a few thoughts:

1) You might look into a different rear-facing car seat. The new guidelines suggest stay rear-facing until age 2 so you could get one of the newfangled car seats that supports this and make your life easier by having that seat rear-facing longer. With two other kids in the back to entertain him or her, you'll probably be able to keep him/her facing backwards longer and avoid the dreaded three-car seat shuffle with all front-facing seats.

2) Do a test run with all your current car seats you plan to use within the next year. Make sure they all fit well and the infant seat is easy to get in and out without too much fuss. If for any reason it's not, I would look into changing something--whether it's the rear-facing seat (mentioned above) or giving the Radian a try. You could always buy the other seats and return them if they don't help out.

3) If you're planning to keep your car for a while, try the configuration with the booster thrown in there as well. You would think those are narrower, but often they are just as wide and can make the three-across difficult.  This just gives you an idea of how your family will grow in your car.

With all that said, we're optimistic you can make it work, and we're excited to hear the news of your new baby.

boostApak: ready for it here in the US

This past week we hauled our Bunch off to grandma and grandpa's house for spring break. We discovered something amazing! Traveling with our kids has become not just manageable, but almost (dare I say it) fun. Yes, I admit that my kids are older: 7 and almost 6. However, in the past two years things have become easier and one reason is needing a lot less gear and that this year everyone was finally able to kind of go with the vacation flow.

Right before we left, I did a quick scan of travel with kid websites and ran across this amazing piece of travel gear that I have not yet been able to track down in the US--the BoostApak by Trunki But since we have so many readers from the UK and Australia, where I think this is sold, I'm hoping some of you can chime in on what you think about it. Because we think this is a must-have item for those of us with an older Bunch.

Love this idea because it's a car booster seat and back pack in one. This would have made our trip through the airport easier. But now I'm thinking this would even make carpools after school even easier. Kids bring their carseats with them to school as a back pack. Now that kids have to be in booster seats until they are in college, practically, this might make being in one a little more cool. Maybe.

 

new car seat advice: waving from behind

This just in from yesterday--the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) now recommends that children should be rear-facing in their car seats until age 2. This puts a whole new spin for us Bunchers since it means our Bunch is now facing backwards, and we can just have to hope and pray that they are behaving themselves back there.  No more looking back in the rear view mirror to catch those toddler smiles; now it might just be some bobbing heads with a few toys flying back and forth. Good times.

This is not new for me since our early Bunching days were in spent in Sweden where their kids ride rear facing until age 3 or even 4! The car seats are made differently and stabilized in ways that look like they also might be drilling for oil while restraining your kids. (Now that's a fun concept.) I often wondered how my Baby Bunching neighbor did it with both kids facing that way. How do you know what trouble your toddler's up to. Well, they also can put their kids rear-facing in the front seat (air bag disabled) so that eliminates that issue. I couldn't go this route because my Britax car seat at the time wouldn't allow for a child over a certain height to be rear facing. Here is a good resource for what they do in other countries.

This is only guidance and not a law set in place, but here's the scoop on why:

One-year-olds are five times less likely to be injured in a crash if they are in a rear-facing car seat than a forward-facing seat, according to a 2007 analysis of five years of U.S. crash data. Toddlers have relatively large heads and small necks. In a front-facing car seat, the force of a crash can jerk the child's head causing spinal cord injuries. [We admit it's kind of hard to argue with that.]

Car seats have recommended weights printed on them. If a 1-year-old outweighs the recommendation of an infant seat, parents should switch to a different rear-facing car seat that accommodates the heavier weight until they turn 2, the pediatricians group says.

We're curious what you think about this new recommendation. Do your kids like to face backwards? Are their legs scrunched up? Is this something you'll do or will you address the issue on a child-by-child basis?

*photo credit: Carseat.se--Rear Facing for a Safer Future.

britax says 'b-ready for your bunch'

Cara and I both covet strollers. We know there are those out there happy with their easily collapsible umbrella strollers or the Graco travel systems, but we have this strange fascination with strollers even now that our kids are almost out of them completely.

Last year, we highlighted some new strollers for 2010. But since then a new one has come on the market from Britax. This one is ever so delish and could be our favorite yet. The Britax B-Ready (c'mon don't you just love that name?) has 14 different configurations for it's babe and buddy set up. It is an in-line stroller, well, actually it's sold as a single and you add the buddy seat or as we like to say the Bunching seat. So it falls into the Phil & Ted, UppaBaby, iCandy category.

Britax designed this stroller to try and solve all the problems of its predecessors. They are boasting:

• A large basket with easy access from all four sides
• Compatible an infant car seat
• Smaller, more maneuverable frame than a true tandem or even the City Select
• Second seat that reclines flat and offers sun protection, appropriate for newborn to 35 pounds
• Versatile configurations include two car seats, a car seat and a second seat, a bassinet, and options to face the parent or the world
• Easy to fold and folds with the second seat attached. (Yay!)
• Comes with cup holder, rain cover and Chaperone car seat adapter
• Nice suspension system in both the main seat and the second seat
• Larger and taller seat with lots of head room for, well, taller toddlers

 So now the two final questions we always like to answer are weight and price. It's 28 pounds with one seat on and after you add the second seat it's 36 pounds. It's more than a Bob Revolution and the Phil & Ted, but less than a Graco Quattro or Kolcraft Contour. You can compare that to other doubles out there with our Double Stroller Guide.

And the price tag is about $400 (from Amazon) for the stroller plus $136 for the buddy Bunching seat. Do we think it's worth it? Keep in mind everyone has different stroller needs so answer our 12 questions and consider a few things to determine if this stroller is worth taking for a test drive. (We love test driving strollers! Be sure to bring along some rowdy kids to test 'em out!)  

From BabyGizmo.com.

(We were not paid for this review or even asked to do it. We only review things on this site that we think are valuable for our readers. But if we're super lucky, perhaps Britax will send us a stroller as a thank you.)  

is your car booster recommended?

Think car booster seats are all the same? Think again. I just ran across some useful information this morning from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety with their list of those booster seats that are Best Bets for your kids (and those that are not).

Now, we understand you may not be to this point yet since some of you are deciding on a second car seat or trying to fit a third car seat in the car, but at some point you're all doing the infamous car seat shuffle so this bit of information is good to have on hand.

What I find interesting is by the time you're to the booster phase, the actual booster isn't doing the restraining, the belt is. The booster is merely helping position the belt and your child so that in the event of a crash, the seat belt actually does its job and won't strangle him or hurt her belly.

I will admit my youngest is in our oldest and apparently a not-recommended booster seat: The Safety First Alpha Omega, which was fine when my kids were little, but I HATE as a booster now. And I hate the booster for the exact reasons they state in the article. The belt fits too close to her neck. We have since moved it to the car we use the least.

Take a look over the list before you buy. Do consider, as they recommend, that it's about the fit in your car and for your kid. We know being in your car is already challeging what with sippy cups flying, kids crying and loading/unloading everyone, but please make sure it's always as safe as possible.

baby bunching Q/A: carseat logistics when traveling

In honor of kicking off summer vacation season this Memorial Day weekend, this question came from Buncher Jen as a follow-up to our post on traveling by air with your Bunch. 

Q:  We have a bunch of 3 (with 33 months between them). The oldest is 4.5 (in a booster) and the youngest are 2.5 & 1.5 (in convertibles). We are flying nonstop from Austin to Seattle & bought tickets for the 4 & 2.5 year olds and the youngest is a lap child. Do I really need to take all 3 carseats? For the longest part of our trip, we will be with family who can loan us all but one carseat so my temptation is to take only one convertible. However, what do I do for the last leg of our trip when we will be in San Francisco for the weekend without the family? I'm not exactly comfortable putting all 3 kids in the back of a cab without carseats, but is that a better alternative than spending an hour doing public transportation when it is a 15 minute cab ride? Also, are there legal requirements for children in the back of a cab? Maybe they're required to be in a carseat (in which case we can only take minivan cabs)? I'm really conflicted about how to handle the carseat situation and would appreciate any advice you might have. I hate to think about traveling with 3 little ones, 3 carseats, 2 strollers, luggage, etc. 

A: This is a complicated situation, and yet we experienced an almost identical one when we traveled last Christmas. I'm going to answer it the way I tackled it and perhaps others can chime in with alternatives. First of all, given the age of your middle child, I would consider bringing a car seat for that child on the plane because 2 1/2 is a difficult age to control and keep still on a long flight.  I always found with my kids at that age that it was easier just to to tell them they had to be buckled in just like in the car - that way it kept them from going crazy and wanting to squirm around like fools on the plane.  

The booster for your oldest child is actually quite lightweight and not that big of a deal to bring (maybe you don't need it on the plane, but you might as well bring it on the trip). And if your child is big enough--height wise--you might just bring the seat-only part of the booster. When we traveled with two boosters this past Christmas, we were able to fit both of them in one car seat travel bag and check them - it was way less hassle to carry them than I thought it would be.  Most airlines are not SUPPOSED to charge you for checked carseats - however, we experienced much confusion on the part of both gate agents and curb check both going both there and back.  One of them was going to charge us $25, but for my husband's frequent flier status, which allowed us to squeak through.  So check the charges with your airline first and get to the aiport WAY early both ways so that you can mess with the confusion that a checked car seat inevitably causes.  If you brought all 3 seats, you just have to check the baby's and you can bring the other 2 on the plane (we always just strapped a seat to each of our backs or tied to stroller somehow).  

In answer to your cab question, yes - California requires car seats in cabs.  Conversely, BART (subway) and MUNI (bus) do not - but as you pointed out, public transportation and your Bunch is a whole 'nother ball of wax.  I have heard that some cab companies DO furnish car seats, if you call in advance and request.  But I've never tested that out myself - maybe another reader has and would be willing to share?  

What it boiled down to for us was bringing all 3 car seats.  Between our 2 cars and 3 children, we have approximately 17 car seats of every type, so we always just select the lightest, narrowest, easiest to install ones for when we travel.  I'm not sure what your San Francisco plans are (are you visiting places where you can just take the car seats out of the cab and leave them at the front of the Children's Museum while you tour or are planning on hiking Fisherman's Wharf with 3 car seats strapped to your back), but my guess is that with 3 kids these ages, you're not going to "do" San Francisco at the breakneck pace that you would if you were just with hubby. So car seat logistics are just gonna have to be part of the plan. Sucks.  On the bright side, we lived in San Francisco for a summer when my kids were just the ages of yours and it is an FABULOUS place with so much to see and do (even for kids).  I'm willing to bet that even factoring in a few car seat snafus, you will have an amazing trip.  Good luck and have fun!

baby bunching Q/A: the perfect baby bunching ride

This question is from Baby Buncher Melissa.

Q:  We'll be in the market for a mini-van soon! I never thought I'd want one but have been using one overseas for the past 2 years and realize I can't live without all the room! We've got 2 toddlers and a dog. I'm a little out of touch with the new features on vans...have seen some commercials where you can store stuff ...in the floor, built-in DVD players behind the front headrests, etc. Which models do you like and why?

A: Minivans are popular with Baby Bunchers for many reasons and once you get inside you'll see why. Lots of options. Lots of room. Bonus is getting everyone inside and THEN getting everyone strapped in. Heck, isn't that what the original VW bus was for? Linda's parent's (back in the early 80s) even had a pop-up table. (Pre-car seats/booster, of course.)

Today there are many choices to make when choosing a minivan for your Bunch. It's no secret that the top two out there are the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna (note, the Sienna is not included in Toyota's recent recall related to faulty accelerators). Car & Driver Magazine continually rates the Odyssey, especially, as one of the top ones each year because it outperforms the competition and is fun to drive, which is a big bonus for dads. Cara and Linda have both owned (or currently own) some kind of Honda vehicle and can vouch for all things Honda!

While Linda refuses to ever own a minivan (though she secretly covets the extra room her friends have over her RAV-4), Cara reluctantly delved into the world of minivans  a few years ago by purchasing a Hyundai Entourage. Once the ugly stepchild of Asian automakers, Hyundai has significantly increased in both safety ratings and reliability in recent years. It was the price tag (a full 10K lower than a comparable, fully loaded Sienna) and extended warranty that lured Cara to the Entourage in the first place and she has never looked back.

So what to consider when buying a van?

Naturally, safety-related features (air bags, tire pressure warning systems, rear/sensors and backup cameras, etc.) are of concern, so do your Consumer Reports homework.

Practical features we consider pretty important:

-Seating. Middle and rear seating come in various bench/captain configurations, but only the Odyssey and Sienna have eight-passenger seating options last time we checked.  So if you're locked in on that extra seat, your options are a little more limited off the bat.  Also, some models feature reconfigurable 2nd row seats, so if you're wanting to maximize seating, ask about that.

-Fold-flat third row seat. Even though most Bunchers max out their minivans with car seats, it's still handy to have the third row for cargo space for when you've got Dad at home to watch your Bunch so you can remove a car seat and run out and buy that second crib.

-Automatic doors/rear lift gate - So, so handy to be able to open/close all doors with a click of your remote. Careful, though - Cara's Entourage is not as sensitive to sensing tiny bodies obstructing the door as she wishes it was, so watch your kids around the doors at all times.

-In floor storage - Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, and the Odyssey have it.  Who among us isn't constantly searching for more ways to contain our crap?

And the fluff:

-Cup holders.  Cara has 3 drinks going at all times (water, coffee, and usually a Diet Coke) plus drinks for all of her Bunch. Excessive number of cup holders = Cara's dream vehicle.

-DVD/Entertainment System - Cara (and Linda) opted expressly AGAINST this so she didn't have to fight that battle every morning on the way to school, but some moms consider it a plus.

-Built-in sunshades - We hear they've been in luxury cars for years (not that we would know anything about that) and they're migrating over to minivans.  Big improvement over our cheapy BabiesRUs ones that break all the time!

-Navigation system - Yeah, many of us have it on our cell phones now.  But it's just easier to have it on a screen right in front of you. 

We thought we'd pass along this ConsumerSearch site with a few things to consider as well. Share any other tips/features you love that we missed!

Stay tuned next Wednesday for a question on moving kids in with each other.

baby buncher Q/A: life after the infant seat

Q: Currently, I have 1 toddler who is 19 months and another child who is 4 months. We've all just mastered our little dance our loading the kids in the car. One goes in the big boy car seat while the other... one goes via infant car seat into a base. We've also figured out how to maneuver the grocery store with one sitting up in front and the other one in the cart in the car seat.

What happens to my life when littlest one gets too big to fit into the car seat and I have to carry both. Right now my toddler books it every time his sneaks hit the floor. What happens when that both get to walking. How to you get the older one to stay right next to you?

A: When my first child started to near the weight limit on his infant bucket seat, I immediately felt the need to bump him up to a more comfortable ride. Enter the convertible car seat. But my poor second child was literally busting out of her infant seat before I was ready to give in and move her out. Why? Because infant seat meant she was transferable from car to home, home to car, car to shopping cart, etc. Once she was out the seat, I would be left with two kids to contend with in parking lots or even in my own foyer.

My youngest was just about nine months old when I realized the infant seat was just WAY too small for her physique. Of course, she outgrew that bucket seat right about the time that Alex started a preschool where I had to walk him in (up a snowy hill) everyday. Super convenient. Moving her up to the convertible car seat meant I had to look into buying another one since my oldest was only two at the time. 

It can be very difficult to deal with two toddlers who are loose and on the prowl and possibly darting into traffic.

The answer to your question is you become creative and quick on your feet. A few things to note and then I hope other Baby Bunchers will chime in:

--Drive thrus can be your best friend. I didn't have anything I could drive through, but you'd be amazed how far I would drive just for that convenience.

--Parking close to the store or a cart corral is critical. I would often drive around and wait so I could be right next to all the carts so I could literally lift one from point A to point B without having to go very far.

--Invest in a carrier. Ergo holds kids up to a decent weight. Have your littlest one get adjusted to life in this sooner rather than later. This will ensure at least one is strapped to you past the infant stage.

--Make sure you have a double stroller. Pull it out of the car and load them both up one at a time. If your oldest is a darter into traffic then load him in first and strap him in. Then put the little one in once you know he's safely in his seat.

--Grocery store visits will change. You will have one up front still and the second may have to ride in the Ergo on your back or sit in the cart part...not ideal, but you do what you have to. I have seen moms pushing two carts around with both kids. If you are coordinated enough for that, go for it!

--You may be able to play games with them as they get older. One mom I knew put a sticker on her car and when she was messing with the youngest told her oldest to touch his hand to the sticker. This may work for some kids so try it. (I could hear mine laughing at my hysterically....hold the sticker? Are you crazy?!) Another mom calls the parking medians "islands" and if you walk in the parking lot/street it's considered shark infested water. So they run from place to place. This worked well when my kids were 3.

Please let us know what suggestions you have for life after the infant seat.

snack & play tray giveaway: making your car trips just a little bit more fun

As we wrap up car week, we have noted that the car and car seats seem to be a necessary evil for many people. While it's so important to be safe when getting to and from point A and point B, it's also important for everyone to stay sane. There are tons of great car accessories on the market to keep babies, toddlers and preschoolers occupied. Between the two of us, we've run through them all at one point or another--snack traps, dangle toys, books, mirrors, etc. But when we saw this accessory--the Snack & Play Travel Tray--featured at Daily Candy a few months back, we were sure this was a winning Baby Bunching product.

So what is so fabulous about this product?

1) We love the whole concept of a collapsible tray which you can pack for an airplane journey, car ride or shove in the basket of your stroller. It's made of foam so it's light to take and store.

2) We love the idea of a tray. Linda used to profess that a tray attached to the stroller would have kept her kid so much happier (since her stroller didn't have one). This would have been a perfect add-on. The Snack & Play is perfect for toddlers who want to keep snacks in front of them, arrange them in fun lines and circles and eventually drop them on the ground. Hey, we're no fools. As kids get older, it's great for coloring, reading, mini games (as kids get older) or keeping sippy cups/lovies from rolling onto the floor.

3) It's adjustable. This is awesome because it will fit most car seats or strollers in some way. We love this for the airplane because if you've traveled with a kid and a carseat you know that no tray table is coming down with most of the car seats nowadays. It's a tight squeeze any way you look at it.

4) You can hose it down. Every product Baby Bunching endorses must be easy to wash and/or hose down. This one says to wipe down with damp cloth, but I'm guessing hosing it down would work, too, since glued on Goldfish were pretty much standard during the first two years.

So you love this product now, too? Really, how can you not?

We have one to giveaway to a lucky winner. Please go check out their website, and 1) leave a message here about why you need this wonderful car accessory for your Bunch. If you really super love it, we will add your name in an extra time if you 2) either go tweet this giveaway or post to your wall on Facebook (please come back and tell us if you posted to Facebook as we have no way of tracking that!). So you have double the chances to win. Please, please, please make sure you leave a way for us to contact you here (email address). You can't win if we can't contact you.

Congratulations to Marla for being our winner!

driving under the influence (of my bunch)

A recently released study found that drivers who are texting are 23 more times more likely to crash than the undistracted driver.  It is also common knowledge that in addition to driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, activities such as talking on a cell phone, eating, reading, putting on makeup,etc. while driving can also all increase our chances of having an accident. 

As an addled mother of three children age five and under, I can honestly say that more than any of the aforementioned activities, my driving is poorly influenced by the following:

• Thinking While Driving
• Parenting While Driving

Today on the way to a pool play date, I was preoccupied with thoughts of the start of school next week, the neighborhood playgroup I am trying to start for my youngest, the violin lessons I wanted to look into for my oldest, the birthday present I need to mail for my sister, and the blog post I needed to come up with to wrap up Car Week on Baby Bunching.  Damned if I didn't shoot right past the turn for the pool and not even realize it until I was several miles down the road.  As I made the U-Turn and cursed the fact that we were already 45 minutes late to the play date, I wondered what else I had missed as I was rocketing down the road dreaming of my to-do list.  My eyes were glued to the road ahead of me, but my mind was definitely wandering down a different one. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do to stop myself from thinking hard.  But my kids can.

If I'm not deep in thought in the car, it's because I'm playing deejay and fielding music requests, turning the A/C up or down to maximize the comfort of my complaining passengers, rolling windows down, doling out snacks, tossing water bottles to the back of the van, dangling toys in front of a crying baby, or refereeing fights between two fighting preschoolers.  To make it worse, due to my significant hearing loss I can't hear any child in the third row of my van so I can frequently be found lip-reading in the rear view mirror while driving, trying to decipher whatever Urgent Need is at hand.  I often feel that it would be safer to drive around guzzling a beer.

Before I had kids, I used to think that those people driving around with "Baby on Board" signs were absolute lame-ass dorks.  Now I realize that those signs are an SOS of sorts - as in, "Do yourself a favor and please stay the hell out of my way because there's a time bomb on board that that could detonate at any second and I have no control over any aspect of my life, least of all my driving."

As a Baby Buncher, I'm thinking there is an opportunity for us to lobby our state legislatures to designate us as emergency vehicles so we can be authorized to sport sirens.  We owe it to the rest of the world to let them know we're coming so they can clear a wide berth.