What would you do? 5 kids, 2 months to 9 years

I was linked here from another board and would appreciate your opinions. This is our current set up, but I'm wondering if I should do something else? I drive a Suburban.

Trenton - almost 9 - 65ish lbs - Regular 3 pt belt. He fits it fine.
Michael - 7 - less than 50 lbs - backless Turbo booster
Gabriel - 5 - 37 lbs - Turbo booster w/back
Abigail - 2 - 27 lbs - Britax Marathon forward facing
Kaleigh Grace - 2 months - 14 lbs - Fisher Price infant seat or Britax Decathlon rear facing

Also, Trenton has to ride with only a lap belt to school with dh in the middle back row of a Pontiac Grand Prix. I HATE this. Would he be safer with the 3 pt in the front with the seat all the way back?

Thanks in advance!

I just have to say it's funny...we have a Suburban and Grand Prix as well! My ds who is 10 and large for his age (5' and 120lbs), never rides in front seat of the Grand Prix because of how low the seat sits...IMO, it puts the air bag at a different height and scares me. In the Suburban, I let him ride up front on occassion, but he sits up so much higher that I'm not nearly as worried.

Trenton - almost 9 - 65ish lbs - Regular 3 pt belt. He fits it fine.
Michael - 7 - less than 50 lbs - backless Turbo booster
Gabriel - 5 - 37 lbs - Turbo booster w/back
Abigail - 2 - 27 lbs - Britax Marathon forward facing
Kaleigh Grace - 2 months - 14 lbs - Fisher Price infant seat or Britax Decathlon rear facing

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Initial thoughts:
9 yr old, as long as he passes the 5 step test and does fit the seatbelt fine..he's ok, though could still be in a booster. Just be sure he has a high seat back or head rest if he's just using a 3pt seat belt.

7 yr old in a high back booster ... does your vehicle have high seatbacks/head rests? Is his head protected by the seatback now? High back booster is a better option.

5 yr old could still be harnessed Britax Marathon (and etc.), Regent, or even the Apex if he fits height-wise (and again, if you have high seatbacks as required for use with Apex)

2 yr old could still be rear facing in Marathon It's best to keep kids rear-facing for as long as their seat allows (child fits within all limits posted by manufacture)

baby sounds 'good to go' just whichever fits best...I'm not sure how well BLvds fit newbies I know my kids don't fit convertibles until about 6 months. Even though they *say* 6 lbs or whatever ... my kids just do *not* fit right

Thanks!

9 year old does fit ok.

7 year old does have good head support, but I caught him leaning over to sleep the other day so I may put the back on for that.

5 year old could still fit in a Marathon. I may put him in the Decathlon I got for the baby for now.

2 year old - I know she'd be safer rear facing, but she won't stand for it. I figure it's safer driving a happy 2 year old forward facing than a screaming 2 year old rear facing and have me distracted. She literally screamed in the car the whole trip the first 18 months of her life until I turned her. Sometimes to the point that she would vomit.

Baby fits great in either. Actually, she'll probably be out of the infant seat soon. She's 14 lbs at 2 months and my kidlets usually hit 20 by 6. I love the new cushion design and adjustable buckle on the Decathlon. It really has fit her from birth. One question though. In browsing the other threads, did I read you're not supposed to tether rear facing to the seat or below the seat the carseat is on? I've always done it that was as long as I part I was using was bolted to the seat or the floor. Why would that be bad?


My other problem is convincing dh about needing different seats. He's of the opinion that I can't shelter them forever and if it's their time to go, it's their time to go. He's ok with 5 pts up to about 5 years and boosters until 8. Nothing I've shown him has changed his mind.

I'm more of the opinion that if something happened to them in an accident I'd never forgive myself if I knew I hadn't done all I could do to protect them, kwim?

You shouldn't tether RFing to the seat the carseat is on. Something nonmoving toward the front of the car. Usually the leg of a front seat works well.

I don't know what to say about your DH's attitude. Rather a "throw them in and see if they sink" attitude. Who's to say it was their time to go if something as simple as a proper restraint would have saved them and they were really going to go on and cure cancer? This is not "sheltering" them, this is BASIC car safety. Cars kill. Cars kill more people than nearly everything else (number one leading cause of injury related deaths for 0-14 year olds, I think more than everything else combined). Sure it's ok to let them ride on a roller coaster, see an R rated movie, let them stay out at a friend's until 10, but would he say it's ok to ride standing up because otherwise you're "sheltering" them? Is it ok to let them touch the stove because otherwise you're "sheltering" them?

Tough to your DH. Buy whatever seats you need, and if he needs convincing point him here. And if he doesn't want to come here then he's probably not as sure of his ways as he thinks and can't stand to defend them. hehehehe

Wendy

What year is your Suburban? And do you have her outboard or center in the 2nd row? I can tell you where I tether to...and maybe your Sub isn't any different. Mine is a '97.

KaysKidz said:

What year is your Suburban? And do you have her outboard or center in the 2nd row? I can tell you where I tether to...and maybe your Sub isn't any different. Mine is a '97.

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'99 She's in the center of the 2nd row. I tether to the driver belt anchor in that. I was tethering to the floor under the seat in our van until we sold it, and our older daughter's was tethered to a bar attached to the seat. I figured if it all moved it was ok. Guess I know better now. I just put her seat in MIL's Envoy because I thought I might need to pick up dh in it, and I couldn't find a good spot to tether it in there.

wendytthomas said:

You shouldn't tether RFing to the seat the carseat is on. Something nonmoving toward the front of the car. Usually the leg of a front seat works well.

I don't know what to say about your DH's attitude. Rather a "throw them in and see if they sink" attitude. Who's to say it was their time to go if something as simple as a proper restraint would have saved them and they were really going to go on and cure cancer? This is not "sheltering" them, this is BASIC car safety. Cars kill. Cars kill more people than nearly everything else (number one leading cause of injury related deaths for 0-14 year olds, I think more than everything else combined). Sure it's ok to let them ride on a roller coaster, see an R rated movie, let them stay out at a friend's until 10, but would he say it's ok to ride standing up because otherwise you're "sheltering" them? Is it ok to let them touch the stove because otherwise you're "sheltering" them?

Tough to your DH. Buy whatever seats you need, and if he needs convincing point him here. And if he doesn't want to come here then he's probably not as sure of his ways as he thinks and can't stand to defend them. hehehehe

Wendy

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I've pointed out that we don't let them play in the street and he just tells me that's common sense and not over protective. I think it's because not many people keep their kids in 5 pts so he sees that as over protective. I think if everyone did it, he'd see it as normal. I even asked him if he could live with himself if one of our children were killed, and he was told they could have been saved had they been in more restrictive restraints. His response was that no one could possibly KNOW that a different seat would have saved them. He's being purposely obtuse on this one.

I saw the post with the video about the little boy. It really hit home for me. Not so much because of the story, but because of the location. The family is from the town we live in. The accident occurred at an intersection we travel regularly. There have been many people killed there and I always breathe a sigh of relief when we're past it safely. I linked it to dh so now he thinks I'm thinking emotionally instead of reasonably.

Thanks for the responses.