4 kids in a car

honeybee

New member
For budget reasons, I need to get an inexpensive used car/suv for commuting 2+ hours daily round trip, that is fuel efficient. I also need to be able to drop off my 4 children at school each morning, which is just a couple miles away. My priority is safety, not comfort (the kids just need to fit... I need to be comfortable driving 2 hours). Most of the time, there will not be all 4 children in the car, but I do need to fit them for a short drive. We have a van for the whole family.

Question 1: My oldest will be 13 in November. He's about average for height, and around 25th percentile for weight. He no longer needs a booster, as the belts fit him. But, what about the passenger air bag? Will I need to request installation of an ON/OFF switch for whatever vehicle we get? (Which will be used... probably no later than 2009, more likely a 2005-2007).

Question 2: The other three kids currently all need boosters. 10 year old is still in a low back booster (he's too tall for a high-back). He is probably close to meeting requirements for no booster, as he's taller for his age. But not yet in all vehicles. My younger two are small and need high-back boosters (ages 7 and 5). How difficult is it to fit three across with booster seats only? Do those ride safer vests work well? I'd be willing to pay for one or two vests if it meant I could fit them in a hybrid car that gets great gas mileage. Also, it seems like if I could find a low back booster without arm rests (do they exist?), it might be easier to fit three boosters together. Or would it be safe for the 7 year old to just have a low back booster also (no chance he'd be sleeping/slumping over)?
 
ADS

Keeanh

Well-known member
1. Yes, at 13 he's fine in the front. Move the seat back as far as it will go. And since he's a lightweight, he might not even trigger the airbag yet anyhow.

2. I would get an Incognito for the 10yo. And possibly the 7yo depending on weight (has a 60lb minimum). You could also maybe check out the Bubblebum. Harmony Juvenile is a narrow backless and Harmony Dreamtime is a narrow highback. As long as 5 & 7yos know how to sit properly and the shoulder belt is correctly positioned, a backless is fine for short trips.

Make sure the vehicle has 3 headrests in the back seat, and that it does not have overlapping belts. You want a fairly flat seat to maximize space and you want the 3 belts to be fairly equally spaced.
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
You might consider harnessing the 5 year old. A Harmony Defender or Graco Tranzitions or Evenflo Sureride in the canter would make booster buckling a lot easier.

Good call! A Sureride with Incognitos or maybe a Harmony backless on either side should be easy to buckle. The Sureride is good because it's up on a narrowish base.
 

aeormsby

New member
Definitely make sure you have a lap/shoulder belt in the center. I'm not sure when that became standard, our '04 Dodge has a lap belt and our '07 has all shoulder belts.

Many sedans still don't have headrests in the center. Some sedans have tall enough seat backs that a shorted booster rider will be OK without the headrest.

For a tight squeeze in a short drive I'd put the 13 yo up front and the other 3 in back with bubble bums or 2 bubble bums and a narrow HBB in the center. The bubble bum is much narrower than the Incognito.

For reference, I have a 2014 Mazda3, and can fit a Bubble bum between 2 harmony youth boosters.
 

honeybee

New member
Thanks everyone. Those suggestions were very helpful for car shopping. We found a 2008 Toyota Prius that has three shoulder belts with three adjustable head-rests, and a much roomier back seat than I expected. My 10 year old fits the belt without a booster, and the other two fit in with our current bulky boosters. We will need to buy at least one more booster so we don't have to keep switching out between vehicles, so I appreciate all the narrow seat suggestions, which will help give my kid in the middle spot a bit more room.
 

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