Need help with car seats/booster for 3 kids in a Jeep Grand Cherokee

[heyrocco]

I currently drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee and have 2 children. They are both in Britax Wizards right now. We are expecting baby #3 in April and I know I won't be able to fit 3 Wizards in my back seat. My son will be 4 years 3 Months old and my daughter will be 18 months old when baby #3 is born. My son currently weighs 41 lbs and is approx 42 inches tall.

Any suggestions on how to drive safely with 3 kids in the back seat of a Jeep Grand Cherokee? I am considering moving my son to a booster seat.................I am hoping that 2 wizards and a booster fit in my back seat.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

Is your dd RF? What year is your car- do you have latch? I personally would try to find a good thin carseat for your baby to go into so that you can keep your son in his harnessed seat. Do you have a baby store in your area that you can try to find a good seat in.

If possible this is the arrangement that i would try in the car.

DS in the middle seat in his WZ. DD and baby on outer seats. this way your ds will be able to climb into the seat himself from the outer seats and you can teach him how to do the buckle, and then when you have gotten into your seat you can just reach back and tighten the harness. It will be easier to keep him in a harness seat rather than a bpb because when you have 3 carseats sbs there is usually very little room to reach down and buckle him in.

HTH

Ilana

[Joolsplus2]

Try to put off the booster as long as humanly possible... honestly, it's going to be much harder to fit one in and then buckling it is not fun or easy when you have three across. So yeah, a nice narrow infant seat would be great (the not-out-yet Combi Centre DX looks narrow...but hopefully your old infant seat will fit!), and the new Sunshine Kids Radian is (I think) on sale now, so you should be able to see one before April...it's a really really narrow harnessed seat to 65 pounds that might work better with one Wizard and one infant seat. Do you have a lap/shoulderbelt in the center position? Maybe a narrow booster like the Starriser Comfy wouldn't be too hard to buckle (no side impact protection there, but in the center it's not so important...).

Just keep reading for new seats... there could be at least one or two more good choices out by april (I'm due in February and trying already to figure out what will work in DH's Ford Escape, so I'm kind of in the same boat, but my older kids are 8 and 6, lol)


Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[heyrocco]

Hi. Thanks for the advice.

I have a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. My daughter is stil rear facing but I am planning on moving her forward facing within the next month. It is very uncomfortable sitting in the seat in front of her while she is rear facing because the seat has to be pushed up so far.

Yes, I believe I have a lap/shoulder belt in the center seat but I have to double check.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I appreciate all the advice.

[Joolsplus2]

You can install your dd's seat more upright and that'll give a lot more room to the front seat passenger, as well as keep her much, much safer...read this article before you decide to turn her http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868/ (think of turning her forward as saying, "well, the gate around the pool is a pain to deal with, so we'll just take it down"...only her risks of dying in a car are much higher than those of drowning in an ungated pool).

:)


Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx