How can I find my old pictures?

[PurpleTree]

As most of you probably know, we're expecting our third child in July. We assumed we'd have to buy a new car, one with three full seats in the back so we can fit three child seats. Then I looked up the rules and found this

 

Children aged 3 and above, until they reach EITHER their 12th birthday OR 135cm in height

 

Children over 3 and up to 135 cms in height or the age of 12 MUST use a child restraint,with very few exceptions.In the Front Seat

 

The child MUST use the correct child restraint.

 

In the Rear Seat

 

The child MUST use the correct restraint, where seat belts are fitted.

 

There are three exceptions where there is not a child seat available. In each case the child MUST use the adult belt instead. They are -

 

1) in a licensed taxi or private hire vehicle;

 

2) if the child is travelling on a short distance for reason of unexpected necessity;

3) if there are two occupied child restraints in the rear which prevent the fitment of a third.

 

In addition, a child 3 and over may travel unrestrained in the rear seat of a vehicle if seat belts are not available.

 

The bit I'm interested in is point 3. Am I right in reading it as, if we have Oliver and new baby in child seats, Daniel being the oldest would be able to sit in the middle without a child seat - this seat does have a proper seat belt.

 

Does anyone have any experience of this? We don't really want to change our car, as we love the one we've got and it's never let us down. We could do without the added expense as well.

 

Any help gratefully received

[Chickvic]

That sounds right, Daniel could sit in the middle without a seat because there is no room for a third seat. I would go to Mothercare or somewhere that can give you advice on seats and ask them for their opinion too. They may have something that will make you feel a bit more comfortable about having Daniel in the back with no seat. Like a narrow booster cushion perhaps. My children are 9 and 12 so I haven't used car seats for a while (my DS is tall enough!) but I would go and see what is about

[chickencam]

We were lucky that all of our children were over the height limit by the time the new legislation came in. I think that you are reading this correctly.

 

How old is your oldest son? We stopped using booster seats and cushions when or children were about 6-7 years old when they seemed too big for them, this was before the new laws. We then used the seatbelt adjusters which are traingular and pull the neck part of the belt over and down a little so that the belt doesn't cut accross the child's neck and they have a restraining pad which protects the child's stomach srea. I don't know if these are still available and legal, but we found that the children were much more comfortable and looked more secure than in booster seats. We called them elephants because they had a picture of an elephant on them.

 

Would there be enough room between the seats for an adult to sit and then you could use a child seat in the front of the car? remembering of course to turn off any airbags in the front first.

[PurpleTree]

Daniel will be 6 in November, so 5 and a half when baby is born. It's only really on the weekend we all go out together as my husband uses the car for work during the week. We did consider putting Dan in the front with a booster seat, and me squeezing in the middle, which is ok for short journeys but don't want to go any distance like it. Also we can't turn our front passanger airbag off. I was looking at booster seats in Argos and the cheapest one they sell, a few reviews said it was quite narrow and they were able to get 3 across the back of a small car.

[Busybird]

I think that you are reading this correctly.

 

We had the same problem with our smaller car as my 3 kids were born within 3 1/2 years of each other. My eldest was put in the middle with a triangular seatbelt adjuster.

 

The only issues we had were when she fell asleep in the car. As she wasn't in a seat with shoulder support (as she would have been in our people carrier) she would slump sideways. When DS2 was in his baby rear facing seat this meant that she was not safe if she slumped to his side. I would have to stop the car and adjust her to lean against DS1's forward facing seat (which invariably woke her ). When DS2 moved to his forward facing seat she would have their seats either side of her to lean against. She also had to sit straight whereas the boys could be tilted in their child seats (I hope this makes sense).

 

From my experience I felt that they were safe for short journeys in the smaller car but I worried about longer ones. When the kids got tired and fidgety I liked to have them well buckled in and supported

 

With the people carrier we were able to remove the middle seat and have them out of reach of each other which made longer journeys much less stressful.

 

I guess it depends on the ages of your other kids and how they behave on car journeys. Complying with the letter of the law may be the easy bit

[BarbaraJ]

this one was recommeneded on another forum for your problem:

 

 

http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_36_10751_-1_14568_76535_10001_14568?source=aw&cm_mmc=Blue%20Barracuda-_-Affiliates-_-Affiliate%20Network-_-Affiliate%20Window&awc=2553_1263484330_fa7d19fc3eb73cb6efd80bf8ff8676c9#service_comments_tab

[iandjsmum]

Hi We have three too, now aged 1 and a half, 3 and a half and 6. To be honest I squeezed everyone across back seat for short journeys (all we did in the first year.... you don't get out much with three to start with!) Eldest sat in middle with only a lap belt and no car seat. Best I could do but abviously not ideal... and children only get bigger. Had a suzuki jeep then. Now have a zafira and we all fit in easily. Also can separate everyone as fighting gets really bad sometimes.

 

I fought need to change car for a year but in the end it was worth it for all the extra space. Was beginning to dread going out in car as a family of five up til then. Another tip.... buy the very best double buggy you can afford. I still find it easier to walk than get everyone into the car. Car seats such a pain. Good luck!

[iandjsmum]

Hi Me again. Daniel will be fine in your car as you have a proper seat belt. I didn't like putting my daughter in only a lap belt. Would have kept car otherwise. Your'e definitely not breaking the law. I felt the same way! Found it was a clause not many people knew about. Anyway hope it all goes well. Three exhausting but fun!

[majorbloodnock]

Yes, you're reading it correctly. If you have two adults and three children in a car and the rear seat isn't big enough to fit three child seats, it's perfectly legal for the child in the middle to just use the adult seat belt.

 

If there's only one adult and the third child is given the front seat, (s)he'll need to have a child seat. What's unclear is whether it's legal to have a third child in the middle of the back seat (with adult seat belt) whilst leaving the front seat unoccupied.

 

This assumes, of course, that we're talking about at least one child over 3 and both under 12 and under 135cm. If one had 3 babes, they have to have correct child seats irrespective and the non-driving adult would have to squeeze in whereever there's room left.

 

My wife and I had to look into exactly this scenario last year when our son's birthday treat required us ferrying him and a couple of his friends to Legoland, and whether or not we took 2 cars hung on the answer.

[Alis girls]

The community police officer came to YS's school and measured them - some she could see without meassuring as they are huge these were 7 and 8 yr olds then.

[whoopsie]

HI According to RoSPA, it is not necessary to have the airbags tuned off except in the case of a rear facing seat. You just need to have the seat as far back as possible.

[PurpleTree]

Thanks for all your replies, you've put my mind at rest. I'm sure we will change the car at some point in the future, but we'd like an estate so we can have a big boot for all our camping equipment. We're quite lucky that the 2 boys are generally well behaved in the car, as they are used to long journeys to Yorkshire to visit the in-laws, although I can't see us doing that journey for quite a few months after baby is born, especially as we can only do school holidays.