Where should #2 Carseat go?

Our two DD are on either passenger side in car seats of our ford sedan......DD#2 is still rear facing. Should one of them be in the middle? We've had the seats properly fitted by a RTA fitter, and they didnt comment on the positioning.....BUT i have noticed other cars have the two seats side by side - with one child in the middle and the other on the passenger side ........

Safety is my major concern, but i do find it easier putting the children in the car this way (one on either side of the car). Am i putting them at risk???

I wanted Lachlan on the side, but our anchor points on the sides are to the side and not dead in line with the centre of the seat as someone who had the car prior to us put in speakers and moved the Anchor holes next to them :rolleyes: So I was never happy they it wasn't lined up properly. Therefore Lachlan sat in the middle as Kameron was in a booster seat by then anyway.

For 2 children I prefer them on each side with the oldest being behind driver so you can get youngest out at the kerb.

Love

i know what you mean about putting them side by side. My mother lives 45 mins away, so Sophie (8mth old) often sleeps in the car on the way there. DD#1 often tries to lean over and give her a tickle or one of her pizza shape biscuits - and thats when they are the furthest apart they could possibly be !!!! I would hate to think what they would get up to side by side......

I have Sophie (8 months) rear facing and behind the driver. When parking on a main road, it can be quite dangerous getting her out. Ive even had someone "BEEP" at me for having my door open. What else can i do? So rude.

I would prefer to have the older child on the passenger side personally as they are more likely to get out of the car standing up, if that makes sense. As in I would have the one more likely to wonder out towards traffic getting out on the footpath.

We have child locks on the car so the kids can't get out of their own accord anyway. Before having Ashton and Lachaln was sitting behind passenger side in booster Kameron used to just climb across to get out on the same side.

Love

I always have my youngest in the middle and then my 2nd child is in a booster on the drivers side, due to ease of getting into back seats mainly ( we own a 4wd and need back back seats sometimes) my eldest is on the passenger side... Even when my 2nd was in a car seat I still had both car seats side by side

We have Matilda in the middle & the capsule behind the passenger seat. The QLD ambulance suggested the seating & told me to always make sure that you get the toddler in the car first and then strap in the baby & always get the baby out first because the toddlers are the ones ready to run. When you have 2 mobile ones he said it doesn't matter who goes first. Matilda loves playing with the capsule now, so we are thinking of moving her behind the drivers because we can always unlock her & have her climb over the seats to get to us.

We have been discussing this too, and I'm really tempted to leave jenna behind the passenger and the baby behind the driver. I figure I would rather get bubs out first, then move around, put the capsule on the ground and get Jenna out.
I just know there is no way I'm going to be able to keep my eye on Jenna while getting bubs out, and she is the one more likely to run.
I guess we will just have to be super careful where we park??

Thats what we do.. Just careful about parking.. Isaac is behind the driver and he just waits in the car while we fix Jacob up. Same goes for Ethan even though he is 7. Waits in the car till we are ready

yep, i get older child out LAST,she on passenger side.. So there is not set rule then (in NSW)where best to put the 2nd carseat? Its personal pref?I just saw two carseats side by side the other day and i thought to myself 'oh... have we done this right?'

Nup no rule mbear.

Yep that's what I was meaning Christy & Tanya - that you get bub out first which is easier from behind the driver's seat as you walk past, then get the bigger one out last.

I worked in the road safety division at Transport for quite a while. We always recommended putting kids seats on passenger side and middle before behind the driver's seat. Crash statistics show those two places are statistically safer than behind the driver's seat (and heaps safer than the front passenger seat for when they don't need the booster).

hope that helps.

Thanks Christine, just what i needed to know !

Just a little tip about which is safest side of the car..... Did you realise that if you are at fault in a give way accident, you will get hit on the drivers side??
So if its the other person at fault, they will hit your passenger side.
(obviously depends on the type of accident)