Car seat placement

[amc80]

B will be 2.5 in February when T is born. I will primarily be driving a Ford F150. Currently, B is FF behind the driver's seat. Ideally, I'd keep him there and put T in the middle seat (obviously in a RF infant seat). The problem is I'm not sure if I will be able to get the infant seat in there with any ease, since I'd have to crawl inside to get him in the center. I suggested to DH that we put T behind the passenger's seat, but he's pretty set on having T in the middle (he says it's safer...which makes sense).

What do you all think? Surely I'm not the only one to have been in this situation.

BTW, I posted this on a car seat forum and pretty much just got flack for having B FFing at 2. They told me he needs to stay in the middle since he's much less safe being FFing. Kudos to all of you who can keep your kids RFing for so long, but there's just no way we could have done it with him.

 

[Puppmom]

AMC, we had the same dilemma and ended up putting our older one behind the passenger (easier to reach him and he hands stuff to the other one!) and our younger one behind the driver. Our car is small (a Corolla) but even in my MIL’s Pilot we could not fit a convertible with a carrier next to it. The bulk created by the handle was the problem. You’ll be able to the get the base in but you likely won’t be able to get the carrier safely snapped into the base. In the Pilot (still not the Corolla) we can fit two trim convertibles (now booster and convertible) next to each other.

 

[MuffDog]

If you can get the infant seat into the middle spot, that would be great. We had our infant seat in the centre and ya, it was a bit of a heave to pop the seat in the base but we made it work.

There is a woman online "the Car Seat Lady" who has a great FB page where you can post a question and tell her what types of seats you have and what car you drive. Maybe give that a try?

 

[amc80]

If you can get the infant seat into the middle spot, that would be great. We had our infant seat in the centre and ya, it was a bit of a heave to pop the seat in the base but we made it work.

There is a woman online "the Car Seat Lady" who has a great FB page where you can post a question and tell her what types of seats you have and what car you drive. Maybe give that a try?

Oh I will try that! Hopefully she's not as mean as the online car seat forum people...

I didn't even think about them not fitting with the infant seat in the middle. I guess we will need to set them up and see how it goes. IF this kid is like B, he will be moving to a convertible seat around 5/6 months.

 

[SMC]

I've either heard or read somewhere that you put the older child (in a car seat) in the middle seat because that's the safest place for a child. The seats for older children are a little less protective than the seats for infants. If you have 2 children, the infant seat should go behind the driver (since the driver side gets hit less than the passenger side in accidents) and the older child goes in the middle.

I don't know how this works in terms of convenience though.

 

[baby monster]

Does your car have side airbags in the back? If yes, then I wouldn't recommend putting an infant seat on the side. I used to drive a corolla when DS was baby and had the infant carrier on the side because it was just impossible to get it into the middle with the front seats pushed back. Corolla didn't have side airbags but DH's large sedan did so we had to place infant carrier in the middle. There was more room in the back but it was still a struggle to get the infant carrier in and out.

We also turned around DS at 2. I thought that was the new guideline.

 

[amc80]

Does your car have side airbags in the back? If yes, then I wouldn't recommend putting an infant seat on the side. I used to drive a corolla when DS was baby and had the infant carrier on the side because it was just impossible to get it into the middle with the front seats pushed back. Corolla didn't have side airbags but DH's large sedan did so we had to place infant carrier in the middle. There was more room in the back but it was still a struggle to get the infant carrier in and out.

We also turned around DS at 2. I thought that was the new guideline.

I actually have no idea and will have to check. Good question though.

Turning at two is the new recommendation. But I talked to our pediatrician and he said one was perfectly fine.

 

[mia1181]

Turning 2 is the new guideline, but as long as possible is ideal. We hope to have our kiddos rear facing as long as possible, it's technically the safest way to travel for everyone including adults. That said, I am so tired of those moms on those boards freaking out on people because of the decisions they make. Everyone has their own comfort level when it comes to safety. Guess what? the SAFEST thing would be to never ride in a car at all! Or never leave the house. Obviously that is not practical, just like sometimes it's not practical for parents to keep their kids rear facing forever. Those chicks need to get a life, and stop trying to "out-mom" each other!

All car seats (infant or convertible) are technically equally safe (they pass the same minimum safety requirements, so there is no proof that one with side protection is any safer than one without- even though common sense might suggest otherwise). Also side airbags shouldn't make a difference.

AMC- The safest spot is wherever you can get a good installation. Then you worry about having the "most vulnerable kid" in the middle. But honestly we are talking about only slightly safer. It's not that really a big deal as long as the seats are installed well. I just try and consider safety in the context of what is more convenient and practical for me. We all know what is ideal, but you have to live your life too.

We put our infant seat in the middle with DD on the passenger side. Ideally DD would be on the driver's side but DH needs as much leg room as possible. DS will be in the middle, but if DD messes with him too much (another safety concern) we will just move him to the drivers side (or the passenger side depending on which car seat will allow the driver the most room).

Anyway, we got to test it out with our friend's 9 month old and it wasn't too hard getting the seat in the base in the center (I have a Hyundai Tuscon, which doesn't have the biggest back seat). It's not the easiest to get the handle up and down on the infant carrier, but it's doable. I prefer to have it down so I can reach the baby if necessary, but I think you can leave them up for most car seats.

Another concern for me was having room for someone else to sit in the back seat. With our current setup, there is lots of room for someone to sit behind the driver, if we had both seat outboard, that person would have to climb in between the car seat and base.

I think you should just try and see if you can even get a good installation with both seats next to each other, it's definitely not always easy. And remember that you have to make sure each seat is actually installed tightly on it's own, not because it's being held down by the other seat. That means you install them together and then you take out the first one and check that the second one is still tight. Just play around with the seats and see.

 

[amc80]

Thanks, Mia. That was really helpful. I cannot stand the "I am better than you because I RF my 5 year old" attitude. A friend of mine was picking up her 3 year old from day care, and some random mom came up to her and said the daughter really should be RFing because it's so much safer. At well over 3 years old. I'm all for safety, but, as you said, real life has to come into play as well. We turned B on his 1st bday and were confident with that decision. I'm just imagining him being RFing right now at 38" tall and it seems ridiculous.

Anyway, I think that's good advice. I will talk to DH about it and see what he says. It would be much easier to have them both on the outboard position, but I'd really like to keep one seat empty for guests/groceries/etc. I guess we will just have to play around with it and see what works. Installation on an F150 is super easy because it's almost a bench seat back there. I'm trying to remember if we can keep the handle on the infant carrier up or not...I want to say no, but I'll have to reread the manual.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I've either heard or read somewhere that you put the older child (in a car seat) in the middle seat because that's the safest place for a child. The seats for older children are a little less protective than the seats for infants. If you have 2 children, the infant seat should go behind the driver (since the driver side gets hit less than the passenger side in accidents) and the older child goes in the middle.

I don't know how this works in terms of convenience though.

This is what we heard.

We have a 2005 Prius.

B has an older Sunshine Kids Radian and E RF in a Britax (Pavillion?)

E is on the driver side, and we can put B's seat in the middle but it is crazy tight, so he sits behind the passenger side.

We are hoping to have a third child in the next few years at which point DH wants a new car and I want to put B in a narrow booster in the middle, E on the passenger side, and the hypothetical third child on the driver side. We'll see how/if it works

 

[mia1181]

Thanks, Mia. That was really helpful. I cannot stand the "I am better than you because I RF my 5 year old" attitude. A friend of mine was picking up her 3 year old from day care, and some random mom came up to her and said the daughter really should be RFing because it's so much safer. At well over 3 years old. I'm all for safety, but, as you said, real life has to come into play as well. We turned B on his 1st bday and were confident with that decision. I'm just imagining him being RFing right now at 38" tall and it seems ridiculous.

A 3 year old? Please! My favorite is whenever a video goes viral of a kid doing something cute in the car, the car seat police come out and critique every little thing, like "he should be rear facing" or "his straps are too loose." It's tough because a lot of parents really don't know that they aren't using their car seats properly, and I get wanting to educate each other, but sometimes I think these women get off on pointing out each others flaws.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

We have a Jeep Liberty and I couldn't get a good fit with one in the middle. Toddler is in a Diono Radian and infant is in a Chicco Keyfit. So we actually have the toddler behind the driver and the infant behind the passenger because the Keyfit forces us to move the driver's seat up pretty far and my 6'3" husband can't drive in that condition.

I like that they aren't right next to each other because K is very "generous" and I can see her trying to give our infant a pacifier or some of her cereal or something if the infant was within our toddler's reach.

We turned K when she was 15 months (around 32") because she was fussy/uncomfortable rear-facing. We'll see how long our infant makes it. Given how tall B is, I can see how that would be an issue.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

No one rides in the middle seat in our cars. Everyone is right by a door. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Btw, my son RFd for a long time (at least until he was 43"), which may or may not have looked ridiculous but he fit and could've kept going size-wise.