Question 1994 Civic 2-door 3 kids, help?

Hi there, my ex has a 1994 Civic hatchback. We have a:

-9 year old, 62-ish pounds (passes the 5-step test in the backseat of ex's Civic but not my Oydessy, where he still uses a backless booster).

-6 year old, 45-ish pounds, uses a Britax (Freeway?) booster with back in my van, but is capable of using a backless booster and sitting behind the seatbelt in certain positions, if necessary.

-2 year old, 30 pounds, still rear faces in my van in a Marathon, but forward faces (still in 5-point harness) when with ex.

He has tried to fit all 3 children in the back of his 1994 Civic (there are two places to tether, two shoulder/lap combos, and a middle lap-only, no LATCH, no headrests) using nothing but car's belt for 9yo, Freeway booster (which adjusts to super-skinny footprint) for 6yo, and a 5-point forward facing harnessed seat of some sort installed in the middle lap only for 2yo, and he says the problem isn't the footprint of the seats, it's that across the shoulders there is no room for the 9yo to even have his body - the amount of space for his chest and shoulders is about 1/2 as wide as his actual chest and shouulders. So no go.

He has emailed me and asked me if it's OK to put 9yo in the front seat, in the car's lap/shoulder seatbelt, with the seat as far back away from the airbag as possible. The airbag can't be disabled and I'm not comfortable (airbag or not) with a kid of his size riding in the front passenger seat. Ex needs to be able to transport his children. Should I just get comfortable with 9yo in front seat or is there an option we're missing to get all three of them safely in back?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

What seat is your 2YO in in his car right now? If it's one of the wider seats available, is anyone willing to buy a new 5 point harnessed seat for the 2YO?

The Sunshine Kids Radian is the narrowest on the market, and especially if used rear facing, will offer a lot more room for both the older kids in the back.

The Safety 1st Avenue is also fairly narrow and may allow more room also.

I wouldn't put a 9YO up front, especially since there are other options.

Gypsy said:

What seat is your 2YO in in his car right now? If it's one of the wider seats available, is anyone willing to buy a new 5 point harnessed seat for the 2YO?

The Sunshine Kids Radian is the narrowest on the market, and especially if used rear facing, will offer a lot more room for both the older kids in the back.

The Safety 1st Avenue is also fairly narrow and may allow more room also.

I wouldn't put a 9YO up front, especially since there are other options.

Click to expand...

I don't know - I'll need to ask him what he's got the 2yo in. It's probably something he bought at WalMart, honestly. And I think he would be willing to buy another seat for 2yo (or maybe I'll try to spring for it) but he would probably want to be pretty sure it would work/fit all 3 kids back there before spending any kind of $$$ on a new seat. I'll recommend the Radian and the Avenue for him to try and cross my fingers.

Also, wanted to add I said my 6yo rode in a Freeway in my van and we tried it in his car, but I meant a Parkway Booster, not a Freeway.

Do you think he could harness the 2yo in the center in a Radian or Avenue, and still use the Parkway for the 6yo behind the driver, and have room for the 9yo in a seatbelt back there?

Unregistered said:

I don't know - I'll need to ask him what he's got the 2yo in. It's probably something he bought at WalMart, honestly. And I think he would be willing to buy another seat for 2yo (or maybe I'll try to spring for it) but he would probably want to be pretty sure it would work/fit all 3 kids back there before spending any kind of $$$ on a new seat. I'll recommend the Radian and the Avenue for him to try and cross my fingers.

Also, wanted to add I said my 6yo rode in a Freeway in my van and we tried it in his car, but I meant a Parkway Booster, not a Freeway.

Do you think he could harness the 2yo in the center in a Radian or Avenue, and still use the Parkway for the 6yo behind the driver, and have room for the 9yo in a seatbelt back there?

Click to expand...

I'd really push him towards the Radian - it's got nice tall top slots and will last a very long time. You have 3 kids and one lap belt, and none of them can ride in the lap belt, alone. I'd try really hard to get at least another 3-4 years of harnessing for the 2YO, so when moved to a booster your two youngest will each have a shoulderbelt and your oldest can move to the front at 12-13 years old.

Yes the Parkway is one of the better seats for 3 across because it doesn't have armrests.

Also, if you use the Radian rear facing to it's limits, it will give more room for the booster and belted child. I know it's hard to rear face in a 2 door car, but the 9 year old could help buckle the 2 year old.

Gypsy said:

I'd really push him towards the Radian - it's got nice tall top slots and will last a very long time. You have 3 kids and one lap belt, and none of them can ride in the lap belt, alone. I'd try really hard to get at least another 3-4 years of harnessing for the 2YO, so when moved to a booster your two youngest will each have a shoulderbelt and your oldest can move to the front at 12-13 years old.

Yes the Parkway is one of the better seats for 3 across because it doesn't have armrests.

Also, if you use the Radian rear facing to it's limits, it will give more room for the booster and belted child. I know it's hard to rear face in a 2 door car, but the 9 year old could help buckle the 2 year old.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much. I will suggest to him that he try the Radian.

I don't see why he would have a problem rear facing him again - the baby climbs into his seat himself and even in my van, where there's plenty of room for me to get back there and strap the baby, if the kids are with me, I ususally have the 9yo or 6yo strap the baby and then I just reach back from the drivers' seat and give the straps a good yank before we take off to make sure they're secure and snug. I don't know why ex couldn't do the same thing.

The only problem he might have RF is how far it sticks up into the passenger/driver area - this is a REALLY tiny car and when we had the Marathon in there RF it had to be passenger-side outboard and the front passenger seat then had to be all the way up with the passenger's knees in the dashboard - there would be no way, if the Radian takes up that much space RF, that it could be in a middle position RF as it would interfere with both the driver and passenger seat and ex would not be able to drive safely with his knees in his chest and the steering wheel in his gut. But I will definitely suggest he try Radian RF first, and if not that see if it will fit FF. I wish there were a way to get one in there and try it out before he drops the bucks on it.

Thanks again for your suggestion - we're very interested in ex being able to transport the children as safely as possible.