Where to Put the Baby's Car Seat

I put the baby in the middle and my older son (they are 18 mo apart) behind the passenger seat. Worked well for us.
They are now 9 & 8 and I also have a 3yo. The 3 yo is in the middle and the older boys are on either side.

Hi M., I have always put the youngest one behind me and the oldest one on the passenger side. I still do this today with the little ones I babysit!! Keep that empty space in the middle for the diaper bag, or a back pack for the older child. Good luck, best wishes and congrats on the new baby!!

When my second was born I contemplated for a split second putting him in the middle. It then helped that the car seats would not fit properly that way. In my car I have the older son behind the driver and younger behind the passenger. I thought I would have to worry about the older doing something to the younger. Now they are 5 and 1 and the 1 year old is always trying to reach his foot to get the 5 year old! lol
-Good-luck whichever way you decide-

I have my older girl behind the driver and the baby behind the passenger. If I need to see my older daughter then I will tilt my rearview mirror so I can see her. I don't have much of an issue with handing her stuff either. I would have put the baby behind the driver, but we only have a sliding door on the passenger side of our mini van and it's easier to get the carrier in and out if it's right next to the door. As for putting them next to each other, when I do that I have a bit of trouble buckling the seat belt so I guess it depends on the size of your seats.

My kids are 3 yrs, 7 months apart, so similar to your kids' age spread. I put my older one behind the passenger seat and the baby in the middle. When I had just the one baby, she was in the middle too, so I did it the same way. That allowed me to transport a 3rd child easily if I needed to as well. (I had a sedan back then.) It also allowed my older one to help me with the baby and to keep the baby occupied. Congrats and good luck!

When my second one came along we put him behind the driver seat and my oldest behind the passenger. Since the baby is rear facing we couldn't see him no matter where we put the seat and we wanted to keep an eye on the toddler. I didn't want to put either one in the middle because I was afraid of the older one putting food, toys, or blankets on the baby and accidentally hurting him.

Hi M. - It looks like you are getting lots of good advice - but here is my two cents worth... we put the new baby behind the passender initially and the older brother behind the driver. Eventually switching them at some point. And at one point they were next to each other with the older brother in the middle and this made the baby very happy.

Also, as far as seeing them in the back - my car came with a 'conversation' mirror and I purchased the mirror for the the baby that you can put on the back seat so you can see the baby in your rear veiw mirror when he is rear facing in the car seat. I also have another safety 1st mirror that hangs off my rear view that allows me a better view into the back seat. I love being able to see into the back of my minivan so I can see if they are happy, sleeping, etc.

Congratulations on the new baby!

Hi,
My boys are four years apart (now 7 and 3), and have always been seated next to each other. Other parents have commented that their older child would have hit the younger, but that didn't happen with ours. If the older can verbalize resentments and jealousy issues, and has good impulse control, and it seems that their relationship is developing well, I'd say that putting them together would make sense.
Good Luck,
C.

Look on the child passenger safety through the national highway traffic standard administration for certain guideline and tips. my son is behind me rear facing. put you son in the middle or behind the passenger seat. You can get one of those mirrors you attach on the back windshield and set is up to look through your rearview mirror. they sell those at target. hopes this helps,good luck.

I have two children 20 montsh apart. I put my oldest child on the drivers side because it is more convenient when we get to our location. I can get him out on my side and he can hold my hand and walk around the car and stand by my side while I get the baby carrier out. If I had the baby on the drivers side, I would be making more trips around the vehicle then necessary. That is why I do it. As far as the safety issue, I see no potential hazards either way.

This is totally up to you and what your needs are. You can try any combination and change it if need be. Having baby in the middle is actually the safest spot in the back seat. But back middle seats don't always have the same buckle system, so you may want to take that into consideration. You'll want to take into consideration the size of the car seats and how big your vehicle is. They may not fit well next to each other. Do some experimenting and see what works well for you. There's no bad set up, as long as each seat is safely attached to the back seat.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HarrisburgPAChat

I would recommend putting the baby in the middle and your toddler on either side. When I had my first 8 yrs ago (it goes by so quickly!), my husband took our cars to work (he's a state trooper) and the car seat inspection ezpert put the seats in the middle for us. He said it was safer for the newborn. Call your local police and ask if they have an inspector at the station or find out when the next car seat safety inspection is in your area. They can give better advice.

We had the same issue my 31/2 year old is behind the driver and my 3 month old is behind passenger. I will be curious to read responses.

good luck with it.

My son was always behind the passenger seat, and when we had baby number two she went behind the drivers seat. I really had no trouble that I can remember. On occasion I might have had to pull over to retrive a lost toy or pacifier, but I still do that now. There is no reason I could think of not to have the new baby behind you if your son is used to where his seat in the car is.

Hi M.,

My girls are 26 months apart and when #2 came along I moved #1 behind me and put #2 behind the passenger seat. This made it easier to reach the baby to give her a binky or even just be able to reach her to try and calm her down when she would get upset in the car (I have a maxima so my choices were limited). They are still this way now @ 2 & 4.

Good Luck.

S.

We had the same problem. If your carseat can fit the best place is in the middle. It is a little tough getting in and out but atleast you can reach both with no problem.

I put my 3 year old behind the drivers seat & the infant behind the passenger seat. At red lights I could reach back and give the baby his pacifer if needed. I've learned how to pass things to my daughter behind me. I still have it that way, even though the baby is now 3. He's still a bit more needy than my 6 year old and it's easier to have him diagonal from me than right behind me.

I would put the baby behind the passenger seat, toddler behind driver's seat. You can actually see your son from the rear view mirror! This way you can see the baby and your son. If you put the baby behind the drivers seat you can not see her, unless you are able to twist yourself around. My personal opinion only.

Good luck and I am sure whatever you decide will be safe.

I would put the baby either in the middle or behind the passenger seat and keep your toddler behind you. It's a matter of preference--it wouldn't be "safer" or more "unsafe" regarding which side. I've just always heard that a rear-facing infant seat should be in the middle of the back seat, so if the car's backseat is large enough, you could put the rear-facing infant seat in the middle and your son on whichever side you'd be more comfortable in. Consider the amount of parallel parking you do and if you do a lot--you'd probably want the toddler behind the passenger seat so you could be on the sidewalk (not the street) when getting him out and if the baby is in the middle--good too!
Congrats on your soon-to-be arrival!

Hi! My daughter turned 3 years old 10 days before I had my son. I moved my 3 year old from behind the passenger seat to behind the driver seat. But I did this about a month / month and a half or so before the baby came so she would already be used to her new "position" before the baby came. You can still reach back and hand things to the older child and be closer to the baby. Also, try one of those mirrors that you put facing the baby so that you can see their face when you want to by using your rear mirror. Don't worry. It will all work out fine. Also, maybe pack a little bag for your older child to hold and have their sippy cup already in the back where they can get it themselves. Good luck!

Toddler behind the passenger seat and baby in the middle works really well. Just be sure the toddler doesn't have small items to put in the baby's mouth. Or sticks to poke him with that she collected on a walk as I learned.

I put the baby behind me and the older child behind the passenger seat because my older son could buckle himself up at that point and all I had to do was put him in the car, and have him buckleup while I was putting his little brother in. Also I always figured he was safer behind me. That's where I had my first son when he was a baby too-right behind me. My car wasn't set up well for the middle seat and jus tfelt safer to me to have him behind me. I remember my parents doing the same thing with my little brother. They had his seat right behind the driver too. I have never had anyone tell me that what I did was unsafe, so I would do whatever you think will make your life easier when putting both kids in the car and dealing with them while you are driving.

They always recommend putting the new baby in the rear middle. When I only had 2, I found it most helpful put my toddler behind the passenger seat. Therefor he was helpful with the baby, I could hand things to him and I could use the space behind my seat for all diaper bags & such.

I put my toddler behind the drivers seat and the infant in the passenger seat. I wanted to be able to check the baby if needed. My two are much closer in age and at the time the older wasn't old enough to be much help in comforting an infant.
Plus we have a four door car and it was easier for me to put the baby in first while the toddler waited and then buckle the toddler up right before i got in my seat and the same for getting out of the car, i would get the toddler out and walk him around the car to get the baby since i couldn't manage holding the infant carrier and unbuckling the other.
that's just what worked for us, sounds like your situation is much different. How do you think your son would handle his role as big brother??

From a safety standpoint rear center is the best place for a newborn. However, that's not always possible depending on what type of vehicle you have. My mini-van has two seats in the middle row & we removed the back row. For us, we put my daughter (now 1 yr) behind the driver's seat & my son beside her. His seat actually is partially in the center & partially behind the passenger's seat so that there's access to the 3rd row seats when they're in. One of the biggest reasons we did this was safety. He was able to get in/out of the van on his own, so I wanted him by the curb. I don't have to worry about him trying to get out on the driver's side without being able to see vehicles coming, etc. Also, he now gets himself out when we get home & unlocks the door for me, so that I can get my daughter out & in the house w/o having to fumble with the keys while holding her. However, that's probably not very likely since your older one is only 3 1/2. Good luck with the decision-making process. There will be plenty more to come. !) God bless you & your family.

The only reason we have our toddler seat behind the driver seat is we don't have room to put the infant carrier seat behind the driver seat. Check the manual to your car to make sure it's safe to put a seat in the middle.

My son was 3 1/2 when the baby was born. We put the 3 1/2 year old behind the driver's seat and baby behind the passenger seat. It just wasn't safe with my older son in reach of the baby! He is now 4 and still can't keep his hands to himself.

Hi M....we just had our second child 2 months ago...we also have a 5 yr old. We initially had the 5 yr old behind the passenger seat...he tends to require more things handed to him..and the infant carrier behind the drivers seat. This worked out well...but my 2 month old likes to scream while we are in the car...so we have since moved the 5 yr old to the middle and kept the infant put...so we can move the booster seat back and forth as needed depending on the trip. My 2 month old enjoyed seeing his brother while in the car...so he didn't scream (as much :) I have heard that the safest place for a infant carrier is in the middle rear...but we have a SUV and I am under 5 foot tall and it was awfully hard for me to get the carrier in the middle...so try it all and best of luck :)

My 2 kids are 14 months apart. When my daughter was born, we moved my son from the middle to the driver side and put my daughter on the passenger side. It seemed to be easier to get things to her if I was the only adult in the car. I experimented with different ways to reach both of them which many times involved putting the car in park at a stop sign or stop light. I used a mirror attachement under my rear view mirror and the passenger vanity mirror to see my son and a mirror attached to the back passenger head rest to see my daughter.

Two thoughts regarding putting your baby in the middle and your son on the passenger side... 1) will the car seats actually fit in that arrangement? My van doesn't have that kind of room. 2) Will you be able to reach both of them? It seems that it might be difficult to reach around the baby car seat to get to either of the children. You might need to test it to see if it works for you. Good luck and congratulations!

i definitely wouldn't put the baby in the middle, you don't need to worry about whether or not your son is bugging the baby while you are driving. It doesn't really matter where you put who its up to you. When its only my first I had her on the passenger side, but when i had my second, I too, put my oldest on the passenger side so I could hand her things, she was only 2 at the time so i needed to keep an eye on her too. It was definitley nice having another set of eyes in the back with the second one though, my daughter would give me a play by play all the time. Mommy he's sleeping, he dropped his pacifier, his mouth is open, he's awake, he's smiling, it was cute. I'd say you make the call, and you can always switch them later if you want. Good luck, it's so much nicer the second time around, more peaceful. J.

M.,

Go get a car seat check and ask your questions. They may be able to help out and give other suggestions as well. Your local police station or motor vehicle should be trained.

M.

When we added a second I put the baby behind the driver's seat and my older son behind the passenger's seat. That way they were seperated, he could give or take things from her. I worried that he would drop his cup or snacks into her seat which could hurt her, or pose a choking hazard when she could put things into her mouth.

Now, I can't figure out how to make all 3 car seats fit into out back seat- LOL.