Need Advice on Seating Three Children in Small Car

I asked the lady who does the carseat safety training here in town when I found I couldn't fit my oldest (5 years old) granddaughter's booster seat between the full back booster seat of the 4 year old and the 1 year old's car seat when I do have them all together. My 5 year old granddaughter is over 50 pounds so I don't know if that makes a difference. What she told me was that it is better to buckle her in the back middle position with the regular car seat buckle then to have her in the booster seat in front.

Totally illegal to have child in booster in front seat or convertible carseat in
front seat. Do not do it!!!!!!!

A couple options for your 6YO:
The RideSafer Travel Vest http://www.Ridesafer.net - I have one of these that fits between two high back booster seats in the back of a 1997 Honda Civic - it's barely wider than the child who wears it and safety-wise is what some child-passenger safety technicians liken to a "wearable 5 point harness", you can use it with a lap/shoulder belt *or* with just a lap belt if you use it with a top tether anchor (lifesaver for me b/c my Civic has only a lap belt in the center spot).

- If you have a lap/shoulder belt in the center, the new (don't laugh at the name) "BubbleBum" inflatable booster seat is super narrow and would probably fit between the two convertible seats - see one CPST's review here: http://carseatblog.com/10427/bubble-bum-review-booster-se...
and the folks at the forums on http://www.car-seat.org can be really helpful for questions like this - many are certified techs and are all over the US and Canada so someone there could probably help with explaining your state's laws as well as providing general car safety advice. The question of which child to put up front in the event that there are no other alternatives *does* come up on occasion so you could use the search feature to find out what some techs have said about that (IIRC the forward facing child in a harnessed seat, with the front seat pushed back far as possible, was what many would do in the event that one child had to be in front, because the 5-pt harness would reduce forward excursion in a sudden stop more than a lap/shoulder belt on a boostered child would)
edited to add: even though some might suggest moving a child from a harnessed seat to a booster to save space in tight situations, it's generally *easier* on a daily basis to have more children in 5-pt harnesses b/c once you've got the seats installed, you just buckle them at the harnesses. With boosters, you're constantly squishing your hands in between seats each time you buckle or unbuckle your child. In your situation, I think the travel vest or the BubbleBum for your 6YO could probably fit between your younger kids' existing seats and would be less expensive than switching everyone to Radians.

I would also suggest trading cars. Can you trade him cars at lunch?

For those saying it's illegal:

I just looked up MN seat laws here (We travel a lot, I have to look up seat laws all the time)
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/laws/Pages/child-passeng...

and also the actual statute (link on the bottom of the page)

In MN it's completely legal to have her up front AS LONG AS she's in her booster or carseat (which brings her up to a height that means the airbag will not blind her or break her neck).

Most statutes (in states that DO require back seat placement) also have a 'common sense' clause. Meaning if it's a car/truck with no back seat, it's legal. If the back seat is dangerous, it's legal. If the back seat is full, it's legal. The phrase in those (like mine) usually reads "whenever practical".

MN is VERY strict about requiring a car seat or booster up to 4'9" (or age 8), "regardless of seat position" but it has no requirements as to FF children needing to be in the back seat. The caveats (aka carseat restrictions lifted) are pretty standard: Ambulances, Busses, Taxi's, & Farm equipment. All others are required to be in seats "regardless of seat position" until they are over 4'9" or 8 years old.

As far as SAFETY goes, you want your tallest child in the front seat. The danger with airbags and short people/ children is that the blast of hot air blinds short people when it's deployed.

Its generally not against the law to put a child in the front seat as long as you are following the car seat laws of the state.

If you can't fit all three in the back, then put the oldest forward facing HARNESSED child in the front seat and push the seat all the way back, meaning your oldest would have to sit behind the passenger in the booster and lap/shoulder belt, and baby behind the driver. Disable the airbag if possible, but make sure the harnessed seat is installed right and the vehicle seat is all the way back.

This of course isn't ideal, no child SHOULD sit in the front ,but a harnessed child is much safer than a boostered child in the front seat, as long as that child is forward facing and older (ie not a 1yr old) and your 3.5yr old fits that bill.

Why don't you buy new carseats for the younger two. Sunshine Radians are really narrow and almost always can fit 3 in a row in the back of cars.

Is there anyway he can get your car during the day before he does pick up. That way the kids would be the safest.

My inclination would be to put the forward facing harnessed seat in the front too and just push the vehicle seat as far back as possible. There aren't many booster seats that are safety tested to go in the front seat. Most say to never place the booster in front of an airbag. It has to do with how they are designed to work in a crash - there is a lot more forward movement of the seat and child together, I believe. And obviously you can't put the rear facing seat in the front. There is a harness that can connect to a seat belt that perhaps your oldest could use that would allow her to stay in the back safely. I cannot remember what it is called though. I would check out this group for answers to your question. I have received lots of good information from them over the years. http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a7645/car_seat_que...

trade cars?? so he can have the one that fits them on the days he has to pick them up?
if he cant switch to dropping them off too...i agree maybe if you work not too far apart..make an extra set of keys for each and he can trade out cars at your work

Like Riley J said, it is not against the law in Minnesota to have a child in the front seat. (also true in Illinois). We have had to do this many times, but we either owned a vehicle that did not have an airbag (yes, it was old) or had the ability to turn off the airbag.

I've never heard of it being against the law to disable an airbag (though I'm not saying it isn't true somewhere), but many vehicles have a switch or keyturn or some what to turn off the airbag.

While I am not advising anyone to ignore the guidelines set forth be the AAP, it is important to know that they do not make the law. They have recommended that children sit rear-facing until 2 years old, but in Illinois there is nothing in the law about rear-facing and in Minnesota it states that the child must be 1 year old and 20 pounds (the older AAP recommendation).

It's always best to look up the laws in your state.

Sunshine Radian car seats and boosters tend to fit 3 in a row in most cars. This is what we use. They are also so much safer than what I call "phone book boosters". They have side impact protection & attach using the LATCH system. They are a little pricy but you can find deals on them. When we bought ours we bought them from Target online. If you are a AAA member you can shop through the link off the AAA page to get a deiscount. I found some coupons online as well that brought the price down some more. They will sometimes have certain colors on sale. We got all 3 red as that was on sale and the kids liked it, it matches our red car ;) We bought all of them just before my third was born and they are wonderful! The carseat is a convertable so it can be used rear facing as well as front, then converst to a booster and the weight limit is a lot higher than most car seats so we'll be using it for ages for our youngest, maybe even until she no longer needs a seat at all.
They are easy to get in and out of cars, we've had to move them between cars a few times. We have a Toyota Sienna minivan and a Honda Civic and they fit in both.

Eek, that is scary! Is the infants base in the car? Try just using the cars seat belt to secure the infant seat, that should free up a little more room. How big is your 3yo? Read your owners manual on their seat to see if you can convert it to a booster yet, removing the base from that seat should free up some space too.

You will get a Ticket, with your kid sitting up front.

Disabling an air bag, is also against the law????
You should check on this.
It is also dangerous.

You need to get a new car.

Or, get different car seats for the other younger kids.

There is a five point harness seat (rear & forward facing) made by sunshine kids (I think - bought it at buy buy baby) that is narrower than usual.

Can't you just quickly look in your manual to disable the passenger side airbag? If you don't have it still...look it up on the manufacturers website, or call a dealer. It should be a quick to figure out one way or another.

I see this is a post from 2011, but I wanted to weigh in on the conversation. We had the same trouble with fitting 3 across the backseat and we were advised by a CPST, child passenger safety technician, to try BubbleBum. Someone else has commented on this seat as well with an awesome link to car-seat.org about it's review. We LOVE our BubbleBum and have had it for almost 2 years now. It's great and the belt fit is fantastic. It's also actually available in some Target stores now too. Go to BubbleBum's website to see if there is a Target store that carries it near you. Not all Target's have it. The website for the US is www.bubblebum.us Hope this helps!

Isn't the whole point of the booster to keep the shoulder belt in the correct position? In that case, the middle seat in the back doesn't usually have a shoulder belt, right? So would the booster seat still be needed?

Car seat regulations elude me! My oldest is almost nine and sits in the middle without a booster. . .we couldn't fit one if we wanted to between the car seats.