Where should my children sit in my car if I am transporting more than one child?
Stephanie Tombrello, National Child Passenger Safety Instructor, SafetyBeltSafe USAWell if we all had just one child, we would put them in the center of the backseat because that's the safest location in the car. However, many times you're transporting more than one child, and unless you decide to choose one of them to be your favorite child, and I don't know many parents who are willing to do that, certainly no grandparents. You'd have to use another system. We suggest that you put the child who's riding most safely in the least safe location. So it's a little counter intuitive. For example, supposing I had three children, one of them was a child who's under two and in a rear-facing safety seat, another child was over two and in a safety seat that's forward facing with a full harness and a top tether strap attached; the third child is perhaps five or six and using a booster seat. The way I would arrange them in the car if I had the shoulder lap belt in each position, is to put the booster child in the center, because that child has the least protection of those three children.[text on screen:] FACT: The safest seat in the vehicle is the center rear seat. The safest child's car seat is a rear-facing safety seat. [Stephanie Tombrello] I would put the rear-facing child on the outside, and the forward-facing child with the top tether strap on the other outside position. If I had only the two younger children, I would put the rear-facing child on the outboard position next to the door, and the forward-facing child in the center.
