Car seat installation

[SkaGoat]

My wife and I are expecting our first child mid March. I plan on installing our car seat (Britax B-Safe) this weekend. Our vehicle does support LATCH in the rear, onboth the passenger, and drivers side.

Which side should I install the seat on? Drivers, or passenger side?

 

[sam_gordon]

I always put the car seat behind the drivers side. No safety reason, just so the child is on the same side of the car as I am (I don't have to go around the car after putting the child in/taking them out).

 

[lizbaby007]

I'm expecting my first in a week and bought the Britax B-safe as well. Unless your car manual says otherwise, the safest place to install is actually the middle seat. We installed both bases in both cars using the seatbelts in the middle and they are super secure and tight. Can't believe how easy it was to install!

 

[HM]

We are the opposite. When we only had one child, we put in on the passenger side so the driver could see the child seat.

Now, if you always have a passenger with you, it might be better to place it on the driver's side so the passenger can deal with the child more easily.

 

[njmom47]

I had 3 kids so all the seats in the back seat were occupied (they're extremely close in age). But when I have DGD, I put her in the back seat on the passenger's side of my van.

 

[mrsv98]

My wife and I are expecting our first child mid March. I plan on installing our car seat (Britax B-Safe) this weekend. Our vehicle does support LATCH in the rear, onboth the passenger, and drivers side.

Which side should I install the seat on? Drivers, or passenger side?

I always had DD behind the driver's seat, easier to get her in and out and then if DH was driving then I could attend to her. Also, check with your local police dept, many of them have a certified seat installer who will install it correctly and show you how it is done. We did this when DD moved to a front facing seat and while I thought we had it in nice and tight, I was amazed at how much more secure they could make it.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I am a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (car seat tech). The safEST place in the back seat is the center. You would need to use the seat belt for install in that location. However, sometimes an outboard install is necessary either because the center seat belt install isn't good (some seats and some cars don't 'play nice' with each other) or because you need to put another seat or passenger on one side or the other and in some vehicles this is problematic. Rest assured that while center is safEST, outboard is still incredibly safe statistically for a child properly restrained in a rear-facing car seat that is properly installed.

If you choose outboard, there is no statistically difference in safety between driver and passenger side in terms of crashes. However, if you do street parking often, I'd recommend passenger side as the child is always being removed on the sidewalk side of the vehicle then...which would be safer. I think this becomes even more important when you're no longer using an infant carrier and have a toddler who can walk (read: bolt from the car).

I also strongly recommend you find a certified CPST who can check your install. If you need help locating one, please let me know! And a great place for parents to visit is car-seat.org, it's the 'Dis' for car seats!

Good luck with your new baby!

 

[Thing 1]

A child is safest in the middle as long as that seat supports the correct instillation of the seat. I however would take it to your local fire station or police department and have a certified tech install it correctly and share some child safety seat information with you. A huge percentage of seats are installed incorrectly and tons of parents make mistakes like leaving a child's coat on when placing them in the car seat. You have invested in a great seat, so take the time to be sure it is used in the very safest way. Congratulations on the new addition!

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[bcla]

The safest place is actually in the middle, however I could never get a car seat correctly installed there. My son is 7 and in a booster seat and I like to have him in the passenger seat. Yes before he was old enough to buckle himself it was kind of a pain to walk all the way around the car but I like to be able to see him and reach him if I need to.

Whenever I try to install in the middle it tends to be loose for me, unless the restraint or base has some sort of lockoff. Once I had a Safety 1st base (returned because my wife wanted something else) for their top of the line seat, and that base had these lockoffs that pinched the belt tight and made for a connection that was almost as tight as LATCH where the seat was pressed in and the retraint's belt was pulled as tight as possible. It literally didn't move more than a quarter inch. I can't get a seatbelt connection that tight with another seat.

 

[SkaGoat]

Whenever I try to install in the middle it tends to be loose for me, unless the restraint or base has some sort of lockoff. Once I had a Safety 1st base (returned because my wife wanted something else) for their top of the line seat, and that base had these lockoffs that pinched the belt tight and made for a connection that was almost as tight as LATCH where the seat was pressed in and the retraint's belt was pulled as tight as possible. It literally didn't move more than a quarter inch. I can't get a seatbelt connection that tight with another seat.

The Britax B-Safe has the lock off for the belt, but I think I'd feel better using the LATCH system.

 

[Lilliputian]

There's nothing actually safer about LATCH. It's just that back in the dark ages before LATCH, we had several different sets of instructions based on what type of seat belt you had. LATCH just simplifies the instructions. My experience with my last few cars is that seat belts are coming with fewer variations now, but that may just be a coincidence based on the cars that I've had. I haven't seen a seat belt that needed a locking clip in a long time, even for the middle seat. There might be some of the seat belts out there where you have to pull the seat belt all the way out before you use it to install the car seat, but that's not difficult.

If the middle seat isn't an option for whatever reason, make sure that the people who drive the car can put their seat back as far as necessary with the car seat behind the driver's seat. My husband is 6'2", and we can never put a rear-facing seat behind the driver's seat because it won't give him the room he needs.

 

[MickeySP]

I am a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (car seat tech). The safEST place in the back seat is the center. You would need to use the seat belt for install in that location. However, sometimes an outboard install is necessary either because the center seat belt install isn't good (some seats and some cars don't 'play nice' with each other) or because you need to put another seat or passenger on one side or the other and in some vehicles this is problematic. Rest assured that while center is safEST, outboard is still incredibly safe statistically for a child properly restrained in a rear-facing car seat that is properly installed.

If you choose outboard, there is no statistically difference in safety between driver and passenger side in terms of crashes. However, if you do street parking often, I'd recommend passenger side as the child is always being removed on the sidewalk side of the vehicle then...which would be safer. I think this becomes even more important when you're no longer using an infant carrier and have a toddler who can walk (read: bolt from the car).

I also strongly recommend you find a certified CPST who can check your install. If you need help locating one, please let me know! And a great place for parents to visit is car-seat.org, it's the 'Dis' for car seats!

Good luck with your new baby!

Does your local Pd have a certified installer? If so call they will happily do it. We would rather do that than remove your hurt child!

 

[bcla]

There's nothing actually safer about LATCH. It's just that back in the dark ages before LATCH, we had several different sets of instructions based on what type of seat belt you had. LATCH just simplifies the instructions. My experience with my last few cars is that seat belts are coming with fewer variations now, but that may just be a coincidence based on the cars that I've had. I haven't seen a seat belt that needed a locking clip in a long time, even for the middle seat. There might be some of the seat belts out there where you have to pull the seat belt all the way out before you use it to install the car seat, but that's not difficult.

If the middle seat isn't an option for whatever reason, make sure that the people who drive the car can put their seat back as far as necessary with the car seat behind the driver's seat. My husband is 6'2", and we can never put a rear-facing seat behind the driver's seat because it won't give him the room he needs.

I've heard that, but I've used a few seats that didn't have lockoffs, and the only means to secure was a seat belt around a central hole. I installed it on my parents' car that's pre-LATCH. No matter how tight I tried to take the slack off the belt (in locking mode), the seat would move a lot. LATCH creates an almost foolproof connection. However, there are very few cars that have a proper center position LATCH setup.

However, there are two major types of clips to secure to the anchors. They're both supposed to be as secure if installed correctly, but I like the ones with the quick-release buttons, although they're obviously adding to the cost compared to the hook type.