When do boys fill out in the hips (young teen between two car seats)

[BertieBotts]

We are looking at leasing a car for the next 3 years. Currently we have DS1 nearly 12 and DS2 nearly 2. So by the end of the 3 years we'll have a nearly 5 & 15 year old, and possibly a DC3. DS2 is currently in a rear facing isofix car seat which he could use for another couple of years and will then be in a forward facing seat, which might be slightly wider. DS1 is tall and stopped using a booster seat earlier this year.

The car seems comfortable enough if DS1 is on the side seat, and has a totally flat back floor which we thought was good in case he does end up in the middle but the middle seat is not quite a full sized seat. I sat in it to try it out and it was comfortable, I wasn't sitting on the seatbelt buckle, but I wouldn't want to sit there for long journeys.

DS1 is a bean pole, he struggles to find trousers which will actually stay up. I was similarly skinny as a teenager and I used to be comfortable in between my half brother and sister's car seats, until I got to about 17 and my hips filled out more.

I'm wondering how boys go and if they fill out in the hip area, if by 13/14/15 he's likely to be comfortable in the middle seat especially if DS2 moves into a forward facing car seat at some point.

Any thoughts? We are test driving it tomorrow so will see how he finds it, but it's the only one we've found in our price range with the flat floor so far, so I'm not sure about finding one which has the full seat in the middle, especially if we don't end up having a DC3. Another thought is that if it does get uncomfortable during the last year of use we could just not do any long drives that year and fly instead and only do short trips locally with everyone in the car. We use public transport a lot so it's not like we all need to be in the car that often.

I think he is likely to be a beanpole until his late teens and of course may never fill out!! Also how often is he going to want to go anywhere with you with a baby and 4 year old...

I wouldn't worry about it too much tbh. It may mean you are better off with a car seat in the front (air bag off) and people in the back... I would get a car seat that fits in the middle because there is more space in the side seats.

Boys often don't get much wider in the hips, shoulders are more likely to cause issues.

I did a couple of journeys between 2 RF seats where my hips just fit. Now we have a HBB and a RF seat I am quite twisted over towards the RF seat.

Can you check if the car's middle seat will take a RF child seat? Baby in middle gives your older DC more shoulder Room!

Shoulders. It is the shoulders. Age about 14 for mine.

it was the shoulders for my brother from about 13. He wouldn't fit in the middle seat

Echoing others, it's the shoulders! Particularly with the HBB.
As a size 14 woman, I could squeeze between the bases of the hbb (one on each side). It was a pain getting in, but oh, my, the shoulders. This was in my parents golf.
I dont remember it being as much of an issue with a baby barrier and 5-point harness. But that was possibly in a wider car too. It was probably in DHs qashqai.

Ha ha yes he did express terror at the idea of being trapped between a 4yo and baby! I doubt we would be doing loads of trips out - it's quite rare we go in the car all four of us as it is. When we do it's never very far away, unless we're driving on holiday.

We could potentially replace DS2's seat with a bigger RF seat when he outgrows it so then we'd have 2x RF seats and DS1 to fit in. That would take us to the end of the lease period so then we could get a bigger one at that point (or not if we don't have DC3).

It does have isofix in the front as well as an airbag switch so DS2's current seat or the baby seat could potentially even go in the front. The RF toddler seat we have won't go in the middle as no isofix there. But I'm about to buy a Britax Eclipse for plane journeys so that could go in the middle if we get pushed for space.

Thank you for the thoughts. We will see tomorrow how comfy it is for him now, and I will bear in mind shoulders for future plans.