Are my kids safe enough??

I admit, I have become a bit obsessive about car safety these past few months, since finding these boards. I really shudder to think of some of the dumb carseat decisions I've made in the past 12 years before I knew better, especially with my oldest child. Anyway, I just wanted to have some of you more experienced folk review my child/carseat situation, and let me know if there's anything I should do differently that would make a significant enough safety difference to justify it. My dh doesn't want to buy more carseats or go into debt for a new car, but if it is important I will push for it.

I drive a 2005 Honda Odyssey EX-L, which has 2 captain's chairs + an extra removable seat in the middle row, and a 3-seater bench seat in the rear. All seating positions have 3-point belts, and the car has ESC and side-curtain airbags. My dh drives a 1992 or '93 Dodge Dakota truck. It's a 2-door, single bench. 3 seatbelts, but the middle one is lap only. No tether anchors, and basically no safety features. I hate it, and tried to convince him to get a 5yo Honda Odyssey instead , but my dh really, really wanted a truck (because of the off-road ability and the cargo space). The 3 older kids very occasionally will ride with my husband (only 1 at a time), in the passenger seat, in the same seats they use in my car, but I really try to limit it as much as possible. No one is allowed to ride in the center with just a lap belt.
I have 4 kiddos: DD1 is almost 12yo, 55-1/2" tall, 20" torso height, 77 lbs. She rides in the middle row passenger side, with just the car's seat belt. She meets the 5-step test in the middle row, but not in the back row, due to the height of the shoulder belts back there. She rarely rides in friends' cars. DD2 is 9-1/2, 52-3/4" tall, 19" torso height, 58 lbs. She rides in the back row passenger side, in a Graco Turbo booster. DD3 is 6, 47-3/4" tall, 17" torso height, 52 lbs. She rides in the back row driver side, also in a Graco Turbo booster. Myself or oldest dd has to help her with her seatbelt. DD4 is 3-1/2, 40" tall, 15-1/4" torso height, 40 lbs. She rides in the middle row driver side, in a Britax Regent.

Any advice?
Thanks,
Helen

I think what you have sounds great. You could always spring for a Regent for the 6 yo if you have the $$, but a 6 yo in a booster is okay too. The Regent for her would eliminate the seatbelt trouble. I wish my 7 yo would fit in one for that reason, but he's too big. (he's huge for his age.)

I don't see anything wrong either? Maybe a Regent like Jenny said, but that's all I see

Are the tuborboosters high back or no back??? If no back, the 6yr old needs to be in a high back IMO...the older child should be fine in a no back (high back is fine too if that's what she's in) providing there is a head rest behind her at all times.

And be sure to buckle the boosters even while not in use. They become nasty projectiles otherwise!

Good advice Kay!

See Kay, you are already acting like a Tech!! tee hee

One thing that's a bugaboo about Hondas is poor ratings for head support in rear crashes, from www.iihs.org, so I'd personally use a highback booster as long as possible, and for the kids too big for one, always make sure the headrest is high/behind the midpoint of the head, and the seatback is fairly upright: you want the head as close to the headrest as possible, so it doesn't have far to fly backwards in a rear impact before hitting the headrest. (remember to observe proper headrest use up there in the front seats, too...nothing worse for a kid than a mama with a sore neck, lol)

Yep, I think you're doing good. Like previous posters, if the 6yo is having buckling trouble and you want to eliminate that a Regent would do it. That's one of the many reasons I want to keep Hayley harnessed as long as possible. We use a Parkway as a spare and she cannot get it buckled on her own.

KaysKidz said:

Are the tuborboosters high back or no back???

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The boosters are high-back. Thanks for the reminder about buckling them in when not in use. Do the head restraints of the car need to be raised when there's a HBB in use, or are they supposed to stay in the default (lowest) position?

You can have the headrests raised, lowered, or removed with the highback Turbo (and most highback boosters).

joolsplus3 said:

One thing that's a bugaboo about Hondas is poor ratings for head support in rear crashes, from www.iihs.org, so I'd personally use a highback booster as long as possible, and for the kids too big for one, always make sure the headrest is high/behind the midpoint of the head, and the seatback is fairly upright: you want the head as close to the headrest as possible, so it doesn't have far to fly backwards in a rear impact before hitting the headrest.

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Thanks, Jools. I think I remember that the top of the headrest should be even with or above the tops of the ears? I do have adjustable headrests in all of the seats (except maybe the 8th stowable seat, which I don't use). The captains' chairs in the middle are just like the front seats. Unfortunately, when I had the older two in the back without boosters (before I found the information here), I never paid attention to the headrests, so I haven't checked to be sure they go high enough. As long as the head rests go high enough, is it a problem to have someone not in a booster (or not in a HBB) sit in the back seat? I guess I don't understand the why of the poor head support ratings.

joolsplus3 said:

(remember to observe proper headrest use up there in the front seats, too...nothing worse for a kid than a mama with a sore neck, lol)

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I usually do pretty good in this car... sometimes I have a huge clip in my hair, though, and have my seat slightly more reclined than usual to accomodate still being able to sit up straight. Is that unsafe? (Either the slight recline, or the big clip?) What about for passengers sleeping in the car? How far, if at all, is it safe to recline a captain's chair seat back?

Melissa, you have an '05 model Odyssey too, right? Just in case my dh does go for a harnessed seat for the 6yo (he's at least thinking about it), could I actually tether it in the 3rd row seat, or would I have to move 6yo to the 2nd row, and 12yo to the 3rd row? As you know if you have an '05, the only 3rd row top tether location is behind the center seat, at the back of the cargo area. What I don't know is whether I can tether an outboard seat there. The manual only mentions being able to tether there from the center seating position. With 4 kids, I don't think I could fit them all if I had 6yo in a harnessed seat in the center of the back. If I move 12yo to the 3rd row, she would need some sort of booster so that the shoulder belt does not dig into her neck.

Thanks for all of your input, ladies! (people?)

-Helen

Honestly, I think you've got a great set up. If you should decide to move your 6yr old into a Regent and have to put her in the 2nd row, you could always take the back off the TB to use as a backless for the 12yr old.

If they were my kids, I'd probably leave them as you have them.

granolamama said:

Melissa, you have an '05 model Odyssey too, right? Just in case my dh does go for a harnessed seat for the 6yo (he's at least thinking about it), could I actually tether it in the 3rd row seat, or would I have to move 6yo to the 2nd row, and 12yo to the 3rd row? As you know if you have an '05, the only 3rd row top tether location is behind the center seat, at the back of the cargo area. What I don't know is whether I can tether an outboard seat there. The manual only mentions being able to tether there from the center seating position. With 4 kids, I don't think I could fit them all if I had 6yo in a harnessed seat in the center of the back. If I move 12yo to the 3rd row, she would need some sort of booster so that the shoulder belt does not dig into her neck.

Thanks for all of your input, ladies! (people?)

-Helen

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You know Helen I honestly don't know, but if the manual states to only use the center position then that is what I would do. Maybe a Tech or CPSDarren can tell you for sure if it is ok. Sorry I'm not much help....