Where do you put kids' seat

[Alpinewhite]

Hi All,

I am always worried when I have to put my kids seat near one of the rear doors instead of center. I dont want to put him in the center as the E34 has only the hip belt there.

What you guys do?

Thanks
Arun

[JD525IA]

and how much they weigh. How many do you have?

I've got three boys. The 15 month old goes in the center rear because it works best with the child seat.

I let the 5 year old sit in a booster seat on one side or the other using the shoulder belt, and the 7 year old can sit up front.

If we are on a long road trip, I'll put them all in child car seats/boosters, in the back.

I do love the fact that E34 rear seats have the latch on the outboard part of the rear seat. I makes a huge difference when getting them in and out.

JD

[Boom n Zoom]

in fact you can put one in the boot (trunk) and they can communicate through the Skiboot.............I'm joking ok.

What I do is put them in the booster/child seat on each side. With one put them, preferably, on the opposite side to you that way you can see them and talk to them at the lights, they do appreciate it. Like you said the center isn't a good place as it's only the lap sash, not safe for little ones. The sides are preferable as there is more support of the 'C' Pillar and the door frame. I can understand your concern, but if side impact is your worry I personally think they will still be better off well supported with a three point belt and in a child seat, than in the center.

This is just my opinion and I am not, nor do I pretend to be an authority on such matters, this is just what I feel is best for my children.

My eldest is now 7 and over 25kg which means that she can now legally sit in the front, I gave her a treat the other day as she was not well, of sitting up front on the way to the doctors. Her comment
"Dad, this car is sooooo much better to see out of than Mum's, it's more comfy to'.
Sure made me feel good :)

[leicesterboy15]

I put the baby seat behind the passenger seat so I can tend to my daughter when I'm driving. Use the child locks on the doors so they can only open from the outside and lock the windows with the button on the 4 way window switch that way they can't operate anything from inside the car or get their curious little fingers caught in anything.

[txp135]

Thanks for asking the question. I'm wondering the same since I have a 1 and a 3 yr old. Is there a booster seat you guys recommend?

[JMI]

I'm going to disagree with the previous posts. A lap and shoulder belt is probably best arrangement and the center rear seat of my 89 535 has only a lap belt. The childs seat has it's own restraint system of belts which should keep the boy in place and I believe the lap belt is more then adequate to hold the seat itself. Keeping my son in the center, further away from the dangers of a side impact outweighs the lack of a shoulder belt.
I have not seen any testing results to back up my reasoning, it is just my gut feelings.

IMHO

Jim

P.S. My boy is 21 months if that makes any difference.

[Elekta]

One kid, center. My Britax straps well with the center lap belt. Two kids, baby behind driver (doesn't know how to kick the seat yet) and 5 y/o behind passenger (kicks wife's seat or with in swatting range should he get out of line.

I think our +40lbs seats are greco? They have backs which can be removed to make a simple booster out of the seat.

[txp135]

I'm going to disagree with the previous posts. A lap and shoulder belt is probably best arrangement and the center rear seat of my 89 535 has only a lap belt. The childs seat has it's own restraint system of belts which should keep the boy in place and I believe the lap belt is more then adequate to hold the seat itself. Keeping my son in the center, further away from the dangers of a side impact outweighs the lack of a shoulder belt.
I have not seen any testing results to back up my reasoning, it is just my gut feelings.

IMHO

Jim

P.S. My boy is 21 months if that makes any difference.


I agree with you largely because of the fact that the child is secured inside child safety seat.

There's really no good scenario obviously, but front collision is a lot more common and head on collision is probably the worst. So I would vote for sitting on the sides without baby seat and sitting on center with properly secured baby seat. Then it's up to the awareness of the driver to choose the least of all evils before impact occurs.

Another thing to think about is that your car doesn't have any momentum sideways, so when it's being hit, it's easier to move in the direction of the hit and transfer a lot of the energy through the tires. So the severity of a side hit will probably hinge on the impact strength rather than positioning.

I've seen a video one time about accidents, most of the fatal impacts come from the whiplash effect. So it's probably up to the childseat rather than the positioning.

[leicesterboy15]

I think using a lap belt would depend on the type of seat you have. For both my seats they are too top heavy to be supported only from the bottom, the shoulder strap provides the diagonal support they need. One of the seats states specifically not to use a lap belt.

I guess it comes down to what seat you have and what you feel is best, everyone will have a different take, as long as you use your common sense I suppose theres no right or wrong answer.

[Alpinewhite]

Hi All,

Thanks for all your inputs. The car seat I have is evenflo; that does not have a belt in it. So I cant put it in the center. Which is the best seat that can be put in center in your opinion?

Thanks
Arun

[rickm]

Hi All,

Thanks for all your inputs. The car seat I have is evenflo; that does not have a belt in it. So I cant put it in the center. Which is the best seat that can be put in center in your opinion?

Thanks
Arun

My daughter (7yo, around 46#) has an Eddie Bauer car seat we picked up a few years ago. I keep it on the passenger side of the rear seat. Since this seat doesn't have built in belts I prefer the over the shoulder protection that the outer belts give.

If you google around there are a ton of sites that rate car seats. Some of the pricier ones aren't always the best, either.

If you want to put the car seat anchors into your car (some didn't have them already) it's easy enough to do. Took me all of an hour or so. I put all 3 anchors in so when the mrs is toting other kids they're there if needed.