Carseat Positioning - Lexington,KY

If you have long legs put the baby on the passengers side if not you can put him behind you and the older one on the other side b/c they will kick the seats!! lol

I would put the infant in the middle, they have to be backwards and in the middle until they are one year old AND 20 lbs. Then the other child can face forward next to the baby. That is the law here in TN so KY may be different but that is the safest. It is easiest to get in the car sitting next to the infant seat so you can easily put the baby in the seat. Be careful not to bump the baby's head on the top of the car door opening. :O)

I would say to put the infant seat behind the driver's seat and the toddler behind the passenger seat... (unless there is room for the infant to be in the center...) First off, because that is supposed to be the second safest place (first being the center of the back seat). Also, getting in and out you will won't have to walk around the car. Another thing to consider is that it is easier to access the person sitting on the passenger side... so if the 2.5 year old is fussing you can just hand a toy back and let him entertain himself; whereas the baby would need you to pull over to take care of him wherever he is in the car. Not to mention, that since the car seat is rear-facing, you won't be able to see the baby anyway unless you use a mirror which is discouraged by professionals. (when I had my seat installed and inspected I was told NOT to use mirrors or hanging toys for infants, because they are NOT secure enough to stay in place in case of a wreck... if you do get in an accident, they become projectiles aimed at the baby's face... not good.)

As others said, the middle of the back seat is safest. However, if you have a small car and only have two places in your back seat for children, I would suggest having the younger child behind the passenger seat. It will be more convenient to have the car seat that you move in and out of the car be on the driver's side, but if it's on the passenger's side or even in the middle, it will be easier to see the baby by glancing over your shoulder. The older child will likely be tall enough to be seen in the rear-view mirror (by tipping it down a little). This way you can keep your eye on both of them if need be, while driving.

i have not read anyother posts but what i do ( i have a newborn, 2.5 and 4 yr old) i have a trailblazer with the 3rd row. i put my 4 year old (as hes in a booster seat) in the way back cause he can climb over seats when we get out. put the toddler seat behind the driver seat and the infant seat in the middle. it is actually more of a pain if you put the toddler behind the passenger seat as you have to walk around the car to get him/her out. esp if your in a hurry. Good luck at your new job. hope you do well. B.

I usually put the baby behind the passenger seat because I would put a mirror on the headrest and it was easier for me to see him since he is facing the back of the car.

It depends on the seats, the car, and whether the 2.5 yr old is forward or rear facing.

Everyone keeps saying safest to put the infant in the middle but I say take your car and the seats to a child safety seat tech and let them tell you what is the best and safest way to have the seats.

I have a 5 month old & almost 3 yr old. I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee & have the RF infant seat in the middle back seat & the FF toddler seat on the passenger side back seat. The safest place for the infant is in the middle. No matter where you place the seats, please make sure they are properly installed & used correctly 100% of the time. When properly installed, the seat should not move more than 1" at the belt path & the child is buckled in tight enough if you can not pinch a fold (horizontally) in the strap at the shoulder.

We have the baby seat behind the passenger seat and our 2 year old behind the driver seat, the infant seat just take up so much room and my husband and I are both tall and neither couldn't have the drivers seat back as far as we needed to while driving if it was behind us.

That's exactly the age of my kids. DS (2.5) is right behind me, and the infant seat is on the passenger side. That one takes up a lot of space, and I'm usually alone, so we put DS over there.

I personally think the infant seat is harder, just because it's so huge and awkward. But for getting out of the car, I can't see it would matter which side it's on unless you'd have to move a seat forward to do it.

I don't drive anymore because of blindness and the child who was in a car-seat when I was driving graduates college spring 2011 not to mention got married in October; however, back when she was an infant through the booster seat phase, I always put her in the back on the passenger side of the car that way I had access to her when I stopped the car. It also made it easier for me to see her in the rear-view mirror.

Since you will be working as a nanny, make sure the parents have an exclusive no-holes-barred and unquestioned discipline plan in P.. If they are not working as a unit in disciplining the children, your job will be a nightmare. Trust me when I say it does not serve the children, the parents, and certainly not the nanny well when the parents can't settle on discipline rules that are followed to the letter without allowing one or both of the children to play the parents off each other or in this case, playing the parents and you off each other since you will be the caregiver for these kids. Sure, they are four months old and 2.5 years old now but they won't stay that way long.

Some of the greatest advice as a parent I ever received was from a very wise woman who was my surrogate mom and favorite aunt. She believed parents should always be on the same page with discipline. Her greatest advice she ever gave me was, "you are not here to be your child's friend; they will have plenty of friends in their life. You are here to be their parents and it's hard work, they will get angry, and they will push the limits but you need to remain in control because if you allow your child to run out of control at 5 years old without straightening him or her out, imagine what it will be like than that 5-year-old is 15 years old down the road. What will you do then? Nothing because by then it will be too late so start discipline early, stick to your guns, don't waver, and no compromising. You are the ruler of your roost and the kids need to be made aware of that fact."

This woman loved children like fish love the water. She was not only my surrogate mother but also was a foster mother for many girls over the years too. Her views on child-rearing do seem harsh at first light but she believed in giving many hugs when a child did a great job like saying please and thank you to cleaning their room without being asked and even helping out in the kitchen by putting their dishes in the sink. Playtime was as important as work time/chore time. She didn't believe in allowances for doing jobs expected of them such as cleaning their room or picking up behind themselves. She didn't believe in giving money for report card grades even for straight As but that didn't mean everyone couldn't go out for a pizza or to a child's favorite restaurant to celebrate the child's hard work.

I used these rules to raise my children and it has served well. My oldest child did get married earlier than I wanted or her father wanted but it is her life and she is so close to graduation that we couldn't really argue with her. She works full-time and is a full-time student. She moved away from home a couple of years ago to be closer to campus and did so on her own. She knew what we expected and told her if she couldn't live by the rules we set then she needed to find a P. for herself because staying out late or going clubbing and coming home late were not things we wanted to expose her little sister to because her sister sees her as a role model. She chose to move out and it was a good thing in the end because now she has some idea as to what we tried telling her throughout her life. It isn't easy nor cheap to live on little income and she works as a CNA so it isn't as if she's making minimum wage. She earns a descent living but there's always going to be bills and now there are even more of them and it's on her and her new husband to figure everything out.

It wasn't easy to cut those apron strings. Even now I still find myself feeling sort of melancholy due to partial empty nest syndrome. She was our first born and now she's grown. Our youngest is in her last year of middle school. It won't be long before she will be heading off to college too, and if we're lucky, very lucky, her straight A's and extra-curricular activities and volunteering will be enough to warrant a scholarship to Georgetown even though her dad wants her to attend one of the state colleges. I want her to know there is life outside of our little bubble. She's free-spirited like me & I don't see her as happy at a state university as she would be at someplace like Georgetown with all the historical areas and great cafes so close.

Best of luck in your new job.

The middle is the safest place for an infant. I would put the 2.5 year old where it's easiest to get her out depending on parking, etc BUT please, please make sure you have the seats installed correctly each and every time. You can find a local, FREE inspection site at www.seatcheck.org

Infant should be in the center seat, rear-facing.

Child should be behind the driver. They can be forward or rear facing (rear being safest).

It isn't about what is easier, it is what is safest. The infant should be rear-facing in the middle of the back seat. The toddler should be forward facing in the back seat behind the driver.

I did the baby behind the passenger seat and my toddler behind the driver's seat. That's the only way our seats would fit. My husband is really tall and couldn't drive with the infant seat behind him.

Infant seat in the middle or behind the passenger seat, toddler behind the driver. When my kids were infants I often had to hold a bottle in the mouth while driving, so it was imperative to have the infant within an arms length away.