How would you arrange two boys and an infant in a mid-size car?

[jrose_lee]

I'm just looking for opinions.  I know it's not going to be ideal no matter how we arrange it b/c it will be crowded, but I thought I could do my best :o)  We just purchased some radians and we're going to play around with the seats to see how we want it.  Little one is due in Jan and we've also got two boys (ages 6 and 2.5).

Would you put the infant in the middle to seperate the older boys and keep them from fighting?

Would you not feel comfortable putting a new baby by a 2.5 year old for fear of poking the baby or waking them up?

I had kind of thought about putting ds2 behind the driver's seat and ds1 in the middle by the baby since he's more responsible.  Then the baby would be behind the passenger seat where I could see him better if I needed to. 

Just wondering what others think about it......TIA

[DahliaRW]

I think you have to figure out what would work best.  For now I'd try the boys next to each other and see how it goes.  I personally would be worried about the younger child next to the baby, but you know your 2.5yo best and it may be ok for him.  I personally would do oldest in the middle or baby in the middle, depending.

[dejagerw]

IMO, do not put the 2.5 year old next to the infant. My DS1 was 27 months when DS2 was born. He's very verbal and gentle. However, he did not act rationally when the baby cried. He hated it and would try to get him to stop crying by sticking his hand in his face :(. Anyway I'm assuming your 6 year old is forward facing? I'd put him in the middle, the infant and the 2.5 year old on the outboard positions. I personally have my infant behind the drivers side because it's easier for me to get him in and out in that position. But whatever works best for you.

[flower97]

Before we got our mini van I had to do the same thing though with different ages... I put the baby in the middle to keep the other 2 (that were boys) separate, but it did not work.  The younger one was not the best being next to the baby as he is a bit rough.  So I switched and put baby behind me, as pp had said for me it was easier to get baby in/out of my side.  

But it can be done, and you just have to figure out what really works best for your family!! Good luck. 

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by dejagerw 

IMO, do not put the 2.5 year old next to the infant. My DS1 was 27 months when DS2 was born. He's very verbal and gentle. However, he did not act rationally when the baby cried. He hated it and would try to get him to stop crying by sticking his hand in his face :(. Anyway I'm assuming your 6 year old is forward facing? I'd put him in the middle, the infant and the 2.5 year old on the outboard positions. I personally have my infant behind the drivers side because it's easier for me to get him in and out in that position. But whatever works best for you.

This is also what I would do (baby, 6 yo, 2.5 year old).  If the baby and the 2.5 year old are both rear facing the seats should puzzle together well and then you have the least protected (forward facing) child in the middle.  I would base where I put the baby on where you generally park.  If you parallel park on busy roads you might want to put the infant on the passenger side so it is more protected while unloading.

[tincia]

I would also reccomend trying all of the seats in the car ahead of time as u may have to look at slimmer car seats than what you've already got. We were not able to get all of our seats into the back, we ended up getting a mini van, but if that is not an option, definately check that out!

I would definately put the infant behind u, then the 6 yr old, then the 2 yr old. Even if u parallel park, easy to safely pull out a baby on the busy street then walk around to the passenger side to get out the other 2.

[Maedze]

I think you may find that the best arrangement, once the baby gets here, is the six year old at home with his other parent, and your two year old possibly tied to the roof. 

That being said, rear facing, forward facing, rear facing tends to puzzle nicely.  What seat will you be using for the newborn?

[jillmamma]

I have 3 across in the back, and I have DS (8y10m) in his booster behind me, DD (21m) in the middle RF in a Radian XTSL, and older DD (6y2m) in her Britax Decathlon FF on the passenger side.  In our case, this is the only feasible way to do it, because the middle is only a lap belt, and the Radian XTSL fits better there for RF as it can go between the 2 front seats.  Plus, I anticipate my 6 year old going into a booster within a year or so, and that won't work with the lap belt.  Now that the baby is a toddler, we will have squabbles no matter who sits by who, but this way seems to work best.  Is your oldest in a booster, or moving to one soon?  Because if you have an older car like mine that is an issue too...only a lapbelt in the middle.

[devon]

We have a corolla (so small) and we ran into more issues of where we could have the RF seat and still have someone sit in the front seat :)  For awhile, we had 2 radians FF and then a Britax Decathalon RF behind the passenger seat (which worked okay although somewhat cramped for the passenger).  My boys are all 2 years apart so at the beginning, we had my 4 year old in the middle FF, 2 year old FF (outgrew his seat weight wise) behind the driver, and the baby behind the passenger.

Then, when my now 7 year old recently outgrew the radian, we have the 2 year old now RF in the radian, the 4 year old FF in a radian, and struggled to get a booster to fit because of the belt issue (buckling).  The only thing that worked was to have the Radian RF in the middle.  It works fine though because they are older.

[Monkey Keeper]

I have had 3 across in a Saab wagon for over a year now. My girls were 4y2m and 2y8m when DS was born. First, I had DD1 in the middle, DS behind the passenger in the bucket and DD2 behind the driver. However, the girls fought so bitterly over who got to sit next to the baby that I changed the seats so I wouldn't have to referee every darn time we got in the car!  The seats puzzled together nicely with the baby in both locations because the backseat is shifted ever so slightly off center. It was easy to fit two FF Radians next to each other with the bucket on the side AND to put the bucket in the middle. 

Now, we have FF Radian behind the passenger, RF Radian center position (the only place that it fits b/c DH is tall), and FF Maestro behind the driver. The Maestro has to be behind the driver because that seat is just slightly wider and fits the arms of the Maestro.

One thing to consider is that, at least in my car, it's nearly impossible to buckle a booster ANYWHERE with carseats installed. We tried DD1 in a booster just after her 5th birthday, mostly out of laziness because we had removed her seat for the ILs to use and hadn't reinstalled it in our car yet, and I had to move the seat to the side every time and mine for the buckle. She hated it and asked to be back in her 5pt. So I think access to the buckles may make your decision for you.