Where do you put two child car seats?

[acheslow]

What is the best place to put your car seats if you have two of them?

[tracy]

The best place is where they both fit best! What kind of seats do you have?

[74PILOTMOM]

2nd row behind front seats, for many reasons.
1. LATCH anchors are in this position (no latch anchor in center)
2. Easy access to seatbelts unobstructed latch plates
3. Child next to door is easier to belt in and get out
4. No hanging seatbelt to block your rear view

Trade offs to this are:
1. Having to open both doors to get kids out
2. No 2nd row access to rear, but seat belted boosters are easy to move if rear access is needed. Even then, I've found it easier to open the rear hatch and let the kids climb into the back seat They think it's pretty cool to jump out the back anyway.

[rtresco]

We have our infant carseat mounted in the center. Although LATCH isn't available in that position, I prefer having the extra space between the seat and the doors.

When using the center shoulder belt, the side of the seat where the shoulder belt goes up to the roof sits higher. There doesn't seem any way to get the seat secured really tight without getting this "lean". My four week old isn't complaining of neck problems yet, but...

Am I doing anything wrong, or is this simply by design?

[2GREENCARS]

We put our 2 boosters (5yo and 8yo) in the 2nd row. If they are having a VERY TRYING DAY - I put one in back of the other on the passenger side. That way there's no punching, pinching, etc. The down side of this is invariably the one in the 3rd row can't do his/her seatbelt. It's a tight fit - especially with a booster in place - even I am challenged. Anyone else have this problem?

[74PILOTMOM]

Rtresco & 2greencars...yes to both of you! Me too!

The middle seat using the seat belt never seemed to fit securely with that connection point from the ceiling, so I wanted to use the LATCH. Then I found out that I couldn't use it in the center, so my infant seat has been moved to the drivers side.

The 3rd row is definitely harder to get seats into on the passenger side, my boosters cover half of the seatbelt receptacle. I tried to connect the belt at an angle and it doesn't work. You'll scream and swear until you realize that you have to lift the whole seat up, do the seatbelt, THEN put the seat down. Or just use the other seats if possible.
I yelled at my poor 7 y.o. who had trouble doing his own belt...thought he was just being slow on purpose when I was in a hurry...it was actually impossible for him to do by himself.
Now I know.
You're not alone 2GREENCARS! I'm not used to all of these seat choices

[2GREENCARS]

Originally posted by 74PILOTMOM
Rtresco & 2greencars...yes to both of you! Me too!
The 3rd row is definitely harder to get seats into on the passenger side, my boosters cover half of the seatbelt receptacle. I tried to connect the belt at an angle and it doesn't work. You'll scream and swear until you realize that you have to lift the whole seat up, do the seatbelt, THEN put the seat down. Or just use the other seats if possible.
I yelled at my poor 7 y.o. who had trouble doing his own belt...thought he was just being slow on purpose when I was in a hurry...it was actually impossible for him to do by himself.
Now I know.
You're not alone 2GREENCARS! I'm not used to all of these seat choices

Me, too, 74PILOTMOM! I, too, have yelled at both the 5 and 8 yo -when they whined they couldn't do up their belts. This has occured when they've already been messing about in the morning and we're already late for school..They couldn't find 2 of the same shoes, they've argued about who gets which lunch box, they have toothpaste all over their faces, they can't find the hairbrush, they forgot to feed the dog, they cried because they HATE that type of cereal, etc., etc. I've gotten so frustrated I either tell the poor child in the 3rd row to push the booster to the side or lift it up and then do the belt (very difficult to manage!) or I stomp around to the tailgate and belt the child up myself or I tell the 8yo to put the booster on the floor and do up the belt!! I keep making this mistake in my pre-school stressed state...poor children...Luckily we generally seat them both in the 2nd row...

Is it easier to do up the 3rd row side belt on driver's side???

[acheslow]

Originally posted by tracy
The best place is where they both fit best! What kind of seats do you have?

Thanks for everybody's responses. We have two Britax seats but will be replacing one with a booster seat soon. My concerns were

1) Preferred to have our youngest in the middle away from the doors in case of a side impact

2) Didn't want to lose the cup holders/snack tray in the middle seat if possible (can kids reach this though?)

3) Wanted to keep a way to get to the 3rd row of seats

I'm still torn between 2nd row driver/passenger side and 2nd row center & side. I guess I'll wait until I actually take delivery and see how they fit.

Thanks,
Alan

[tracy]

Originally posted by acheslow


Thanks for everybody's responses. We have two Britax seats but will be replacing one with a booster seat soon. My concerns were

1) Preferred to have our youngest in the middle away from the doors in case of a side impact

Alan, while our parental instincts tell us to put the youngest child in the safest spot, the laws of physics tell us otherwise. If possible, the child in the least protective seat (i.e., the booster) should go in the center. If that doesn't work, Britax has recently come out with a new booster that provides enhanced side-impact protection.

[gilberttribe]

The car seat is in the middle row driver's side, booster seat in the back row driver's side. We have 4 children and have been successfully using the "Proximity Rule" for travel. The rule is that if two children are next to each other in age, they can't be next to each other in the car. That means the 10-year-old can help the 5-year-old buckle her booster, and the 8-year-old can help the 2-year-old retrieve her toys. And the pairs occupying each seat don't fight over toys because they're not close enough in age to care about the same things.