Middle seat - bolting a child in.

The granddaughter, aged 5, wants the middle seat, which currently doesn't have a seat belt. I'm thinking of getting a kiddie seat semi-permanently installed there.

Any thoughts from the team - any experience?

Just make sure it meets regs.

I assume a booster seat? She'll need a three point belt whatever kind of seat you use. Personally I would never put a child that still requires some kind of booster/child seat in the middle. She's 5 and you're her dad, you can just say no.

if theirs no forwards facing seats in the back. Then by law you have to put the child in the front seat & the missus will have to travel in the back.

So long as a 3 point belt is fitted how is the middle seat any worse than the passenger seat?

Most middle seats don't have a head restraint (newer Exmoor Trim ones do though) and how would a 3 point belt be fitted securely and legally?

this is a car with little upper strength that squashes itself when rolled and no impact absorption

leave her at home

Well the mounting holes for a lap belt should already be there! I'm fairly sure that that you can fit those seat belt bars designed for soft top models, even if you have a roof (I hope someone know abit more than me here !) also could but the litte one in the normal Seat and your lady in the middle ?

the_wolf said:

Most middle seats don't have a head restraint (newer Exmoor Trim ones do though) and how would a 3 point belt be fitted securely and legally?

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I don't see any reason a 3 point belt can't be fitted. You can get kits that fit to the bulkhead.

A head restraint isn't going to help a 5 year old even on a booster.

I'm all for keeping kids safe but I survived rolling around in the back unrestrained. It's a Landy, you do what you can or buy a volvo

I have a 12 and 9 year old.

Sometimes they are both in the back on bench seats with lap belts and otherwise the youngest is in the front passenger seat on a booster and eldest daughter and wife in the back.

Yes, there are safer methods of travelling but this is only an occasional use vehicle used for Sunday jaunts. There are risks with everything in life but memories are made through having fun. Kids are probably far more likely to have a serious accident on their push bikes than in the Landy but you don't stop them learning to ride them.

I've been looking at this this evening.
It seems that I can use a child seat designed to be held in place with just the lap strap - and to be honest, that's probably a pretty robust solution. The strongest and safest method would be to fabricate an Isofix fastening. Getting a retrofit Isofix approved is a practical impossibility I suspect, so lap strap its got to be I guess.

Granddaughter's only going to be in the Landy occasionally, and I don't think we'll be doing any major offroading with risk of rollover!

Yeh you're right your hobby is more important and rollovers only happen off road..



..the newer Defenders are bound to be much stronger anyway so no point worrying..



..best rule of thumb is that if you got away with doing dangerous stuff as a kid then it fine, your family are bound to understand.

I think your more likely to roll in a serious way on the road than some green laning off road to be honest.

I cart a 5 year old around in mine now and again. (He like being picked up from school in it?!?!?)

He goes front passenger with a booster and 3 point.

Also isn't a 5 year old going to constantly be kicking your gearstick into neutral?

Blackstrat - I'll bet the only reason you get out of bed in a morning is because such a high proportion of people die in bed.

blackstrat said:

this is a car with little upper strength that squashes itself when rolled and no impact absorption

leave her at home

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Now thats REALLY depressed me!

seen plenty of 4x4's on their roofs in road accidents, when I had my 110 I fitted a cage for that very reason.

imho having a child in the middle front in a child seat held by a lap belt is fine.

when my kids were young the middle back seat in most cars was a lap strap, with 3 kids one had to be in the middle, as long as it's a good seat - iirc ours were britax whatever they were we got them in halfords - and the lap belt is properly tightened, the child seat is secure

the other thing with the s1 although the kids are older, its never going that fast, round town it doesn't even get to 30so its not that bad imho.

high speed collisions are different but then if I remember the fifth gear 70mph offset front end collision test with a bmw 5 tourer and Volvo estate - both believed highly safe cars - the front axles were where the driver and passenger sat and from the look of both cars I doubt anyone would have got out alive irrespective of what belts they had on.

Had a Britax seat in the front middle in my 86 series one and some old bus bench seats in rear, youngest child in front other two in side ways bench seats with seat belts to keep them sitting.
They all loved it now 38 36 & 34 years old.

As a small child my travelling position was *standing* in the back, between the two front seats.
Long before seat belts......

Castor said:

As a small child my travelling position was *standing* in the back, between the two front seats.
Long before seat belts......

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quite right too

iirc most people just stuck the carrycot on the back seat then, I can remember front belts being made compulsory, don't recall there being rear belts in cars in those days.