Car seats! Help!! Urgent!

[Smilingthru]

Posting for traffic. Apologies.

DC2 due in two weeks so DH wants to put the baby car seat in today just in case. Currently DD1 is sat in the back on the passenger side. Does she stay there and baby goes behind driver or do we swop sides? I presumed baby would go behind driver but DH thinks the other way!

What’s the mumsnet vote on this? Also reasons why to help me!

Thanks!

It doesn't matter.

Behind driver is marginally safer, but only marginally.

I plan on keeping DD on the passenger side so that she can climb out herself and be on the pavement side if needs be. And then baby will be on the roadside.

We kept Ds1 in his place and put ds2 behind the driver. I didn't see any point in trying to grade the positions since you gave to have one in each anyway.

For us it depended on which seat had to have a specific gap between it and the seat in front as the driver’s seat has to be moved for the driver’s height but the passenger seat can be kept in one place.

We just added DC2's seat to behind driver as behind passenger was already taken by DC2. Don't think we gave it much more thought it considered there was a right or wrong way.

I’d put the baby behind the passenger so if you’re parked by the side of the road the baby is on the pavement side. Although now I think of it that relays on parking facing one way only

It really doesn't matter (there’s no “rule” as such), but to make life easier put new baby on passenger side - much easier not grappling with a baby on the road side, and your elder child can always clamber over for safety.

The baby needs to be looked at to ensure they aren't getting into serious difficulties in the car seat. What mirrors do you have? Usually the easiest way to see the car seat is for it to be diagonally across from the driver.

I’m really struggling to see the issue...

Just fasten it in on either side? Does it fit behind the drivers seat?

www.childcarseats.org.uk/choosing-using/positioning-child-car-seats-in-cars/

Middle is safest and beyond that, depends where you're likely to park.

(I did lol at your use of urgent btw)

we didn’t swop sides, so newborn is behind driver & DD is still behind passenger. That said, we are in an urban area so only use the car at the weekend & I don’t drive. I’m sure someone will be along in a minute to say that you need to swop! Best of luck with baby.

I would have baby on the passenger side purely because a rear facing seat doesn't fit behind the drivers side when it's pushed right back for OH to drive.

Urgent?

Thanks everyone!! Really helped! X

Yeah that's not urgent

You place the seat wherever is most practical for your at and driver/passengers situation.

Baby on passenger side here because it's more bulky than the toddler seat, so that works better for space

We put the infant carrier for ds2 behind the passanger seat as dh couldn't comfortably sit to drive as he couldn't fully move his seat back

I actually moved DD to behind the drivers seat and put new DS behind passenger seat so that he could be easily seen from driving position.

It also meant transfer from pushchair to car seat (and vice versa) could be done on pavement. DD still didn’t exit into road side as she could release her own seat harness and slip out in front of DS’s car seat onto the pavement.

We had exactly the same set up. We kept DD1 passenger side and put newborn DD2 behind driver. Three years and two cars later they’re still in the same positions! It is worth thinking about how much space each seat takes up and how far the drivers seat might need to be moved back (I’ve got short legs, so it makes no difference to me!).

@PeachesandPie then it's possible that your forward facing seat isn't a safe distance from DH/ the seat in front. There should be a minimum of 50cm between the seat back and the back of the seat in front. This to allow for movement in the event of a crash. With less than this there's the risk that the child will hit the seat in front, which could seriously injure both child and the person in front.