Car seat conundrum

[Reluctantadult]

How can we all fit in the car... Dd and ds have high backed boosters, the maxi cosi one with isofix. Dd is just about over the weight and height to be able to have a plain booster. We need to fit 3 adults in the car to go on holiday. We have an estate. The issue is the lack of space in the middle. It feels like tetras
Am I missing something. How do people do things!

As the thinnest adult and as a non-driver I've spent a lot of time wedged between two booster seats in the back of cars (usually taxis on the way to airport etc. So not long journeys.)

It's not much fun. I wouldn't subject your MIL to it if it's avoidable.

I have the same problem but DS 10 is literally right on the limit for not needing a car seat so pondering putting him in the middle without one and the adult on the end.

Neither my 8 year old nor my 11 year old use any car seats any more (we don't own a car so it's just occasional lifts/taxis). He (my 8yo) is very tall for his age though. I really wouldn't worry about a 10-year-old.

Why? A ten year old's body is hardly the same as an adult's.

Children don't need to use car seats if they are either 12 years old or 135 cm, whichever comes first. My 8 year old is quite a bit taller than that and using a booster seat was uncomfortable and unnecessary.

I'm super safety conscious, bought extended rear facing seats, and have carried car seats with me on long journeys, even on Indian trains, when they were younger. But a 135+ cm tall 10 yr old doesn't need a car seat.

In Ireland it is 150cm as the minimum to do without a car seat, I believe some other countries in Europe have the same restriction. I don't imagine Irish children are made any differently than English ones when it comes to accidents! My 10 year old is nowhere near 150cm, and isn't quite 135 either. There are issues to do with the positioning of the seatbelt over their pelvis that a booster helps with. And the side impact protection can only be a good thing - as long as they still actually fit in the seat of course.

Yes most of mainland Europe is 150cm. So 135cm in uk seems a bit short

The thinking behind the two limits is that between 135 and 150cm is the point where children will fit well in a seatbelt, but this depends on the car and the child. I found this when we came to the UK and DS1 was 8 and exactly 135cm, so I didn't bring him a seat. He fitted fine in some cars but his belt fit wasn't right in most and I ended up getting a booster cushion off marketplace for him to use. So some countries like Ireland require you to use one all the way up to 150cm just in case since it doesn't hurt to use one a bit longer. The UK went for the lower limit so that parents can make their own judgement based on car and child individually. However what actually tends to happen in practice is the majority of people just stop using it at 135cm without necessarily even knowing how to assess whether the child's belt fit is good.