Quick question...

tailanis

Hello Ladies,

God willing I will be joining you ladies soon... Yay! I have an SUV and I wanted to know if you place one car seat on each door or New born in the center and toddler on the door? (might be a dumb questions but I need to be sure )

TIA

celiabwatson

This is not SUV specific and technically my car is such a tight fit that I didn't have a lot of choice. But one thing to consider is whether or not you actually want your toddler right next to the baby. I know that mine would not hesitate to feed her something or hit her or whatever, and when driving I can't do anything about it. Ok, he might hesitate, but I'm still afraid that something would happen, she's safer with a little space between them.

NavyPilotWife

Both my kids are by the door for reasons the PP mentioned.  Now that DD1 is forward facing, I've thought about putting her in the middle because it's safer, but I'm worried they might irritate each other too much.

morgs8384

#2 isn't here yet, but since we have a SUV I figured I would share what we will be doing. I plan on having DS #1 and DS #2 on each door side, at least until #1 is FF. Then I may move one of them to the middle. That way, I figure if one needs something, I can go back and sit in between them and take care of their needs.

kagl08

We have an Acadia with captains chairs in the 2nd row so there's no middle seat. Even if there was I would still put them by the doors. My toddler likes to throw toys over the side of her seat and I couldn't guarantee she wouldn't feed my infant something. Both are RFing still so I'm comfortable with this decision.

RA1109

If you're looking for the official "safe" answer...

If both kids are rear facing then the oldest child should be behind the drivers seat and the baby should be in the middle.

If your toddler is forward facing, then the toddler should be in the middle forward facing and the baby should be rear facing behind the drivers side.

The reason is that rear facing is the #1 safest option, and a distant 2nd is being in the middle.  The 3rd safest place is behind the drivers side, because the driver instinctively protects his/her side of the car in an accident. (self preservation and also just the way the driver views the other car)

So if both kids are rear facing, then the more vulnerable baby should be in the safest spot, the middle, and the toddler should be behind the driver.

If the toddler is forward facing, then the baby has a huge advantage safety wise because he/she is rear facing, so the toddler should be in the safest spot- the middle, and the baby should be in the next safest spot, behind the driver.

If you don't want your kids hitting each other (mine don't, in fact my oldest one soothes and sings to the baby when he is upset) and they are both rear facing, then the oldest child should be behind the passenger side and the baby should be behind the driver side. (because the baby is smaller and needs more protection).  If the toddler is forward facing then the toddler should be behind the driver side and the baby should be behind the passenger side. (because the toddler is facing forward and therefore at a huge disadvantage in a crash).

That's the safety answer.  Of course, you have to do what's best for you.  I drive a small car so no one fits behind the drivers side.  I have my toddler in the middle since he is forward facing and my baby is rear facing behind the passenger seat. 

memali26

We have had the infant seat behind the passenger in our car since DD1 was born. It did not fit in the middle or behind the driver while still allowing DH to drive (he's 6' and we have a VW Jetta). When DD1 switched a convertible seat, we put it behind the driver (she's still RFing at 2 yo) because we were already expecting #2 and knew we'd need the infant seat behind the passenger again. And I would not have wanted to put them next to each other for all the reasons PP mentioned.

So the short version of that answer :P - DD1 is in a convertible seat RFing behind the driver. DD2 is in the infant bucket obviously RFing behind the passenger. It's how they fit best in our car.