The baby’s father isn’t in the picture and money is tight, I’m only 6 weeks along

My child is 4 1/2 years old, 30lbs and approx 42-44 inches tall. She is tall and very skinny. She is starting to become too tall for her current seat and we need to buy a new one. I want to keep her in a 5 point harness for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. She is way too tiny to be in a booster with a seat belt. So my question is: what is the best car seat for keeping her in a 5 point for as long as possible? I want this to be the last seat we have to buy and I intend to pass it on to our youngest when my oldest grows out of it. (depending on growth) Money is an issue so cheaper is definitely better. We don’t have 0 for a car seat, but feel free to include the expensive ones in the list of car seats. There are just so many out there it’s overwhelming and confusing. Thank you for you for your help!

There has been a string of issues in my neighborhood lately. Last week there was a big drug bust across the street and 3 of the people on our street have been robbed. My husband and I have two small children, our sons are 27 months old and 15 months old. We’re both mortified that something could happen to them. If there is a fire or something my husband and I are getting the kids and getting them out first (duh, that should be obvious), and we have drills every month or so. We’ve told our 27 month old that if he hears the "beeper" (that’s what he calls it) and daddy or I don’t hear it to find us and tell us and go hug Mr. Tree (we’ve got a big oak tree in the backyard). We would like to start drills for other things, too. We are going to start tornado drills too (head to the basement and play "Fort" (get under the table), do you have any ideas about what we should do to prepare in case something else happens? Are we doing enough? What if a burglar comes, any drills that you recommend?
pooj, the neighborhood used to be nice. But I live in Michigan–we have the worst unemployment in the nation. The housing market here sucks, nobody is buying houses. A lot of people started moving out and the thugs started moving in because the property values are plummeting.

We were planning to move after the neighborhood started to go downhill. But then my husband lost his job. He JUST found another one about a month ago. Money is way too tight to balance another mortgage right now. If we could afford to move we would.

I’d like it to be worth the money. I need to be good enough for her to be able to lean all the way back when she takes her naps.

Is it worth the money? Do you use it for things other than jogging? It is too big to maneuver? Thanks for the help before I decide to buy one!

Ok we are goinf to disney in 3 weeks and I have a 2 and 4 year old child, i am looking for a comfortable stroller for both kids, when we wnt a few months ago I tool my single stroller and had my four year old walk, however had to rent a double one from disney the next day because my son was complaining his legs were tired, which cost about , I want to purchase one not instead of giving MORE money to disney than I have to. I have two double strollers here but one my son is a little too big for and the other is a side by side jeep umbrella type and the canopys on this thing SUCK, the dont really protect from anything.
is it a side by side? because my son has long legs and thats where i am having trouble with my eddie bauer one.

We are wanting to buy a spare seat for my 4 year old daughter for my husbands car. She rarely rides in his car since we usually always use our SUV when we have the kids but she does on occasion and it’s such a hassle to move it back and forth. I don’t want to spend a ton of money for another nice 3-in-1 seat since she’ll barely use it, but still want her to be safe. My question is which one do you think is safer: a cheaper toddler seat with a 5 point harness or a nicer booster (each would be under 0)?
I don’t want to sound like I’m skimping on my child’s safety- she currently uses a Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 (still using the 5 point harness on that) on a regular basis in my vehicle. She meets the age/height/weight requirements for the seats, as well as the law, but just want her to be as safe as possible. I know generally a 5 point harness is safer, but even if I get a cheaper one? Will it still be as safe??
Thanks

We are wanting to buy a spare seat for my 4 year old daughter for my husbands car. She rarely rides in his car since we usually always use our SUV when we have the kids but she does on occasion and it’s such a hassle to move it back and forth. I don’t want to spend a ton of money for another nice 3-in-1 seat since she’ll barely use it, but still want her to be safe. My question is which one do you think is safer: a cheaper toddler seat with a 5 point harness or a nicer booster (each would be under 0)?
I don’t want to sound like I’m skimping on my child’s safety- she currently uses a Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 (still using the 5 point harness on that) on a regular basis in my vehicle. She meets the age/height/weight requirements for the seats, as well as the law, but just want her to be as safe as possible. I know generally a 5 point harness is safer, but even if I get a cheaper one? Will it still be as safe??
Thanks

I have a 2 seater stroller and I was considering buying a double jogging stroller but I don’t really want to spend the money especially because I am just starting the jogging thing. My normal stroller has the lock for the front wheels. Do you think it would be fine to use it with the wheels locked??

I have an evenflo convertible carseat that has that "swinging arm" that goes in front of my daughter. It has the clip to go across her chest and the "buckle" is attached to th bottom of the "swinging arm" and clicks between her legs. I don’t like this swinging arm anymore beacuse the poor child can’t get ANY air flow and burns up in this carseat. I wonder does anyone know if I could buy a 5 point harness to replace this swinging arm with. It shouldn’t bother the safety of the seat whereas it’s MOVES. Does anyone know if this is possible? I really don’t have the money for a new seat.
Brax, as I first stated, I cannot afford to buy a new carseat. But thanks for you answer anyway

My car was in a crash before i bought it, so air bags with the car were out of the question for how much i paid for it. But now that i look at the car where the air bags were in front of the driver and passangers seats and it looks nasty. what can i do to make it look decent? I don’t have the money to fix the air bags so I want something that sort of covers it. I don’t know help?

Looking for an infant car seat (the kind with a base that will stay in the car and a removable infant carrier) that will work in our 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse. We have done a lot of research with absolutely no legitimate answers, only people stating "this should work" and "try this seat it’s small," so please do not bother answering this question unless you have an answer based on actual experience such as owning this car and having a car seat that works in it. We do NOT want a convertible car seat, I need a seat that I can lift out of the car and carry around with my baby sleeping in it being that I have a 2 year old’s car seat (The Britax Marathon) already installed on one side of the Eclipse so I need to be able to have the carrier I can remove as needed. Anyone that has this car knows that the back seats dip down in the center which so far has made it impossible to find a base that will work back there without sliding all over the place. Every seat we have tried so far will not work. Also there is no latch so it has to be a seat that will work using belts only. We do not have the time or money to keep buying seats that don’t work and the new baby will be here in a few short months. Again, please only answer this question if you have a definite answer of what WILL work (not what might work or what could possibly work but only what WILL work) based on your own personal use or if you have a friend or family member with this car who has an infant seat installed rear facing.

Thank you in advance for your help
Once again- size is not the main issue- the main problem is that the seats DIP IN in the center therefore a care seat base that is straight on the bottom does not fit flat on the seat which causes it to slide around. If you have this car please let us know which seat you use- not an answer based on size of a seat. Thank you

I need to buy a double stroller that is worth buying. I don’t want to spend a lot, but I also don’t want to waste my money on one that’s impossible to maneuver. Any suggestions?
Thanks for your answers!

I have the Graco SnugRide and I think the max weight is 25 lbs. I am trying to figure out how many more months before I need to buy the next size car seat, so I can save my money for that. Also what type of car seat do I need to get? and when can they no longer stay rear facing in the Snug Ride?? Thanks so much for any info… i know it seams like common sense but my mind is blank right now for some reason (maybe due to exhaustion!)

Would you put your small children and a newborn in a car that sufferef minor frame damage as a result of a rear end collision? The body shop said they could straighten it out, but would other parents trust the frame to protect their children if it happens again? I need some advice because I’m not happy with the idea of straightening out a bent frame, doesn’t that implicate that it wont be as strong as before and therefore not act as efficiently in the event of another accident?
I did ask in the car section and I got mainly reports that it shouldn’t be trusted, but a few that said it’s possible. I guess I’m asking from one parent to another on the basis of protecting my kids. I’m debating on whether or not to call the insurance company and raise hell I don’t want money out of this, I want to be guaranteed that the work that’s being done will protect my children just as well as it did before.
2003 Chevy Malibu