3 in the back or just 2 and one in the front?? HELP!!

[MummyTumble]

Some advice please....i have myself confused with potential car seat configurations and would like some opinions on best/safest combo! (We have a vw touran and lexus RX so have 3 proper seats/seatbelts although a little bit of a squeeze re:buckles.)

DD is 4 and in a highback booster (uses sealtbelt to strap her in), behind driver. DS is 2 and in a carseat with harness, behind passenger. I like this set up cos when i park against the pavement I can swing the door wideopen to get DS out, and DD just unbuckles herself and climbs over. No worries about other oncoming traffic or getting wedged in between cars etc.

I think DD is best where she is so we can get the seatbelt done really easily, and she can move round the car herself......

Baby due in a few weeks...where do i put him/her?

1. Baby rear facing seat obviously, in front passenger seat with airbag off?

1. DS in the middle? Is this seat safe for any of them??? and baby behind passenger.

1. DD or DS in the front passenger, with airbag on??????

It's not very often that all 5 of us will be out together so i will happily sit in the middle at the back.....and i doubt i'll use the baby seat as a carrier often as it doesn't clip onto the new pram...so baby will be lifted in and out more than the carseat ifykwim...

Basically - is the middle seat safe? Is the front passenger safest? For any of them...

Thanks in advance...i'm sure this has been done before so will look further too...

[LucindaCarlisle]

Once, we put our youngest, a two year old boy in the middle back position, in an appropriate child seat. At the start of the trip he was naughty and restless, wriggling about and taking the straps off his shoulders. I had to stop and put a safety pin on to the two straps over his shoulders to stop him wriggling out. Very fortuitous that I did that, because later on a two lane stretch of motorway we were stopped ( it was a bank holiday) and another car hit the back of us.

[shushpenfold]

No idea on where is the safest - the only bit of advice I would give though is don't sit yourself in the middle between two car seats. It gets really, really uncomfy and you feel like every family day out is torture as you get 'surrounded' by children....sounds awful, but you know what I mean.

[nicm]

i would keep the seats as you have them and the baby seat is safest in the front rf as long as the airbag is off with the seat pushed as far forward to the dash as possible afaik.

when using all 3 in the back i would put group 1 seat in the middle, and baby and booster on the outer seats.

if you need advice you can contact the essex road safet team-they will give advice no matter where you are in the country. their details are on www.rearfacing.co.uk under road safety officers.

[MummyTumble]

Brilliant - thank you!

[LucindaCarlisle]

If and when you change one of your cars you can consider buying a car with an extra row of seats, such as a land rover discovery.