mi_sat

I would always put kid in middle seat for safety reasons. More distance between kid and any vehicle t-boning the back door in an accident.

Hawk09

Good point! Guess i'll just stretch myself out

Dasaint

also one of the reason I was not worried about getting the rear airbags

titoj19

After reading lots of conflicting information on rear side airbags and kids, I decided to get in touch with Audi of America - reached out on Twitter and they connected me with someone by phone the next day. Short answer is the airbags have been tested for everyone's safety, but if you have questions (as I did), I'd encourage you to reach out. They were super responsive and helpful - even sent some goodies for me and my kids!

Yarecki

Interesting. So did they say it's ok to get the side airbags with little kids in the back seats?

titoj19

They did - but I wasn't able to take notes at the time and I'd hate to steer anyone wrong, so I'd definitely recommend reaching out yourself if you're wondering. It was honestly a painless experience and they were super nice.

victoras

While I agree the middle seat is the safest, as children get heavier, it can be tough to lift them out from a middle seat. My wife has having problems removing our daughter from the middle seat in our current vehicle, so we moved the rear convertible to the passenger side.

I think the bigger issue can potentially appear if/when you have two kids in car seats, especially if one is an infant. Many friends I know keep the toddler separated by one seat space from the infant, as they tend to want to be too "helpful" by giving the infant cheerios, throwing toys when they're sleeping, etc. But in the Q7 if you place a car seat in each outboard seat, you essentially lose access/use of the 3rd row, since the old-school folding mechanism doesn't work even if there is just a car seat base or low-profile booster (unlike many other SUVs with the slide and recline function).

So you are committed to putting the kids next to each other (and hoping it goes well) or not using the third row if you don't want to constantly move car seats when have extra passengers. I could see that potentially as a bit of a problem. . .

Beeg

I just want to add to the car seat conversation and I'm sure this was mentioned before, but just incase it hasn't. For anyone that was curious..

You can still fold the 3rd row up/down even with a full size "forever" car seat (we have the Diono Rainier) permanently affixed to a fully reclined middle seat. Sliding the seat forward is just enough for the 3rd row to clear it.

Mdx

That giant box in the middle seat will be kicked with no mercy by all the kids in the back. Bad design.

Wisconsin Q7

I don't have children and no adult will sit in that middle seat. Extra storage and larger cup holders near the users hand will be a more comfortable experience.