Question 4 kids and a 5 seater car...who goes where?

brelza · Jul 22, 2012

Question regarding child placement.

k-almost 13yr 60" 82lb seat belt
b-11yr 58" 80lb seat belt
r-almost 10 yrs 57" 62lb seat belt
e-7.5yrs 50" 50 FPSV HBB
s-22mo 35" 24lb cosco scenera

car is 2008 mazda speed3

These are the kids who will occasionally ride in my husbands car.
Typically it's the 4 older and he has our almost 13 y/o in the front seat..the air bags sensor shut off.

IF he were to take our youngest with him(and leave one of the others home) where should they be placed? I have not yet tried to install the scenera40RF in the car RFing, but I *might* have to use it FF...but again..this might be a once in a blue moon occurrence.

ketchupqueen · Jul 22, 2012

The oldest should be in the front. So with the four oldest, K. If the four youngest, B.

I wouldn't want a child under 10 in the front seat unless it was unavoidable. Really, I'd try to avoid it until at least 13, if 15 (recommended) isn't doable.

The Scenera should fit rear-facing, I'd think. So I'd put it wherever it fits best, center or passenger. The booster probably outboard to give a little more room...

careynj · Jul 22, 2012

Does R pass the 5 step test?

brelza · Jul 22, 2012

careynj said:
Does R pass the 5 step test?

Yes he does in the back seat. The seats are more shallow and he actually fits in the seat belt MUCH better without a NBB than with a NBB. Unfortunately it's true of his belt fit in my van too.

I tried both ways with a couple different boosters we had before I finally allowed him to go without a booster. I was hoping to keep him in, but he is 4' 9" and he does 5 step and most importantly the seat belts didn't fit well with the boosters.

careynj · Jul 22, 2012

Excellent

he's about the same size as my nephew who does not pass (he's short torso'd though) so just thought I'd check.

brelza · Jul 22, 2012

careynj said:
Excellent he's about the same size as my nephew who does not pass (he's short torso'd though) so just thought I'd check.

Yeah I'd guess he has a long torso? He outgrew his regent by height almost 2 yrs ago so he was not quite 8 yrs old at the time. I was CRUSHED when I happened to notice his shoulders were over the top slots because he was only about 45lb at the time. I moved him to a britax monarch in our old van because he did NOT 5 step in that---but when we bought our 2011 Sienna in November he did 5 step in that and I couldn't get any of our 3 boosters to work in the back for him to get the nice fit of no booster. In my mind, he should still be in SOMETHING, but nothing we tried has proven to work as well as just a seat belt. He even 5 steps in my MILs Vue that she recently got. I was bummed because I really wanted him in something with her accident history

mdsvc89 · Jul 22, 2012

I;m guessing that if the 2 youngest are in the car you'd want to set them each outboard, and let the next skinniest kid sit between, but really, wherever everyone fits is great!

I'm curious why you're bummed the the seatbelt fit is better w/o the NBB than with -- since the whole purpose of boostering it to give a good seatbelt fit, as long as he 5 steps he's very safe.

DD 5 stepped in our center back seat (1998 subaru forrester at the time!) better than she fit with boosters outboard, so we moved her there younger than we might otherwise have -- but she was our only, so it worked!

Michelle

MaKoski · Jul 22, 2012

Does the car have a shoulder belt in the middle back?

brelza · Jul 23, 2012

mdsvc89 said:
I;m guessing that if the 2 youngest are in the car you'd want to set them each outboard, and let the next skinniest kid sit between, but really, wherever everyone fits is great!

I'm curious why you're bummed the the seatbelt fit is better w/o the NBB than with -- since the whole purpose of boostering it to give a good seatbelt fit, as long as he 5 steps he's very safe.

DD 5 stepped in our center back seat (1998 subaru forrester at the time!) better than she fit with boosters outboard, so we moved her there younger than we might otherwise have -- but she was our only, so it worked!

Michelle

The move from booster to car belt was much easier for me to take but the move out of the regent to booster was harder. I had my other 2 in boosters until we got the new van and they were almost 11 and 12. It just feels like he should be in something because he is younger and he is slightest in build of our children. It's actually a major reason why I got a regent because he is long/lean but lightweight. I put him in it when he was about 35lb but had outgrown all the other seats and he outgrew it when he hit 50lb.

Rationally, I know car seats/booster seats don't guarantee more safety than a properly positioned seat belt and a child who 5 steps; however, the thought keeps creeping in that he's only 9. I know..sounds a little crazy

but it just seems like he is doing EVERYTHING earlier than his older siblings and growing up too fast for me!

brelza · Jul 23, 2012

MaKoski said:
Does the car have a shoulder belt in the middle back?

yes...3pt seat belts in all 5 positions...You made me think of something though...currently we've had our daughter boostered in the middle back..I'm not sure if it has an adjustable headrest back there....but I do know all other positions do.

Question 4 kids and a 5 seater car...who goes where?

brelza

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ketchupqueen

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