My wife has been asking me for input on dilemmas she first had to inform me we had. So I figured I would turn to the (hopefully better) informed masses.<br><br>First. We have 8 month old twin boys rapidly approaching the time we will move them out of their pumpkin seats and into car seats. But we have no idea what to buy. The difficulty comes in the fact we want nice seats that will last as long as possible, but we need to buy 4 of them. I take the boys to daycare and my wife picks them up. I drop them off in a Extended cab Chevy P/U and she picks them up in a minivan. We would like 4 of the same seat for ease of use, but I don;t know if the large disparity in the vehicle types will play a role in that.Also we are in St. Louis so I am not sure if summer humidity plays a role int he type of seat so the kids don't overheat from the seat's padding.<br><br>Secondly, The boys have out-grown their plastic mini-tub but are too small for the big tub. We are afraid without support they will fall over and hit their heads on the hard molded plastic of the tub. I saw the tub net Daddy Troy reviewed, but this will only keep them in the shallow end, not help them stay upright.<br><br>Help! My wife is turning to me for guidance and all I can muster is a blank stare. Any guidance will be appreciated.

Regarding the car seats, the first thing you need to do is figure out if both of your vehicles are new enough to have the LATCH system (check your cars' manuals). If your cars both have LATCH, installation is really a piece of cake.<br><br>Regarding the bathtub, our daughter hit her head on the tub all the time, and she still seems pretty smart. I'd just pop 'em in the regular adult tub and not worry about it.

Thanks Sean. I appreciate your input. One of our boys is high energy and will fall over because he can't sit still, the other is low coordination so he will fall over because that's just what he does.<br><br>As far as the age of the cars, the minivan is an 07 and has the latch, my truck though has the latch in the middle of the extended cab, which is no big deal...unless you have twins. So I have to use the 'ol seatbelt fastening approach. I just don't know which make and model to buy.

Oh man, that sux about the center mount LATCH.<br><br>We're pretty happy with the Britax Roundabout. We use LATCH in my wife's car, and traditional shoulder belt in my car. We've used these seats from 1 mos to now (19 mos). They've worked out well for us.<br><br>In particular, I appreciate the fact that they have the rear tether as an additional mounting point. My understanding is that the rear tether is a safety feature Britax has pioneered.

Ironic. One of our delayed videos is specifically on this topic. What you are on the market for is a convertible carseat. One that can be both rear and forward facing. Britax is one of the safest, but also really expensive -- four would be astronomical. There are plenty of good Graco convertibles out there.<br><br>Everybody from the AAP on down says do not turn the kids around to front facing until the kids are BOTH one year old AND 20lbs. Most new convertibles are good in rear facing config until the kids are 30 lbs or so. Keep them looking backward for as long as the maximum rating of the carseat will allow. Rear facing is safest.<br><br>Once you turn them around, some convertibles are good to up to 65lbs. These seats can last a good, long time, so it's good to buy quality if you can manage it.<br><br>As far as the tub goes, we used a spongy insert that we put down on the bottom of the tub, but I wonder if they even make those anymore.

Convertible, right, that's the key word to look for.<br><br>The top mount or rear tether is really key when the seat is in the rear facing position, especially for rear-end collisions (e.g. at a stoplight).

I'll only offer some shopping advice... once you find the car seat(s) you want... find some stores that have them all, and talk to the manager. Tell him you'll pay cash if he makes you a good deal, since you are buying FOUR! You oughta be able to get at least 10% or so... at least cover the taxes. Don't be afraid to walk away if he/she won't discount 'em. So go shopping before you MUST have them.<br><br>As for the tub issue... keep 'em from slamming into the sides or fixtures, and they should be fine... kids bounce.

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be kosher to tell you where in NYC we found Britax Marathons for $60 off the regular price AND free shipping. I think that made them $220 each, but they'll go from 5 to 65 pounds (front and rear facing). Both the LATCH and the shoulder restraints work great. We just got a second one delivered on Friday and the MiL also ordered one for my SiL.<br><br>I wonder if you can find some summer sales around and find a way to use pool toys as padding for your tub. I'm thinking that those inflatable lounges might be able to combine with duct tape to become a workable bubble wrap wall.

We have the Evenflo seat for our son. (Now 21 months.) I competely agree with Daddy Clay in getting the convertible car seat since they work for rear facing & you can use it now & for several years to come. We actually put our son ito his at about 10 months because he outgrew (in length) his rear facing carseat. He's skinny though, so he had just passed the 20lb requirement when he hit 1 year so I was able to turn it forward facing then. I really love the knobs the Evenflo has on the side to tighten the straps. I hated the other kind with the little button you have to squeeze your finger into to adjust.<br>The problem for you is that these car seats are huge. So, say goodbye to most of your passenger room with 2 of them. Here is the one we have: www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?produc...t;br><br>As for the bath, I had researched the same kind of issue when my son was around the same age. You can look into these bathtub protector things, however we decided to just hold him up in the big tub until he was ready to sit up on his own. Honestly, even with twins, it can't be more than a month or 2 off before they're ready to sit up by themselves. You may want to do what we had to do, we got in the tub with him & let him lean into us. Of course, once again with twins, not sure if that would work. See if this might be an answer for you: www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3190428 ---OR--- www.dealtime.com/xPC-Tub-Time-Bumpers-De...br><br>Good luck!

For the bathub we got a seat from Safety First that clamps onto the side of the tub. We use this for our 4 mo old daughter. The seat swivels and can be locked into place.<br>Like any of these things though, you have to watch your kids like a hawk when in the tub.<br>We used this for our son when he was old enough to sit up too.<br>I think we got it at Toys r Us.<br><br>As for the car seats, check out the video library from dadlabs, they have some great stuff on seats.<br>Stay away from used seats, you can't be sure that they haven't been in an accident or if they are outdated.

hmmm<br>never realised my tub looked so dirty.<br>Time for some chore play as the dadlabs crew call it.

I don't own a car, so I have no idea on that one. As for the tub..<br><br>The number of times he has slipped in a head hitting way are small. He doesn't like hitting his head, so he usually tries to stop that from happening. There was a small learning curve, but those arms and legs deploy pretty good now Don't worry about him bumping his head.

Not sure about using a car seat on a tub, how do you clean the car seat after it's gotten wet?

You'll just have to wedge your arms between their arms and chest so they don't slip when they bath. That's what we do with our one year old.

If they're strong enough to stand the chances of them slipping are small just keep them at arms length.