NCDR: RV travel with a baby

DecafGrandeMocha

We are renting a RV to drive from CA to WA. We've never traveled in a RV before. Any hints for us, specifically for traveling with a 3 month old? FWIW
she usually enjoys being in her carseat, and we drive an hour to my parents' almost every weekend. TIA!

DecafGrandeMocha

Front seat with airbags turned off for her RF seat is the recommendation I see on the RV sites. There are seatbelts in the back, but they are lap only and sideways.

Uh-oh, hope I'm not coming off like smoosh the puffy jacket girl with my question.

DecafGrandeMocha

Thanks for asking about her safety off the bat. That was my biggest concern too when MH suggested this trip!

Robi1

I think RV travel is just not safe for anyone, period, much less infants. There are so many projectiles in there that could cause lots of issues in the event of an accident. None of the seats besides the front ones are actually attached to the frame of the vehicle, so they are useless for installing a carseat. 

How do you turn off the airbags in the RV? Is there a switch? Most vehicles don't have switches like that, and the automatic sensors that sense by weight are not reliable enough to be used with rear facing seats, since the air bag can be deadly to a rear facing infant. You can get more info on this in the Car Seats for the Littles group on Facebook if you're interested. 

PipSqueak0313

DecafGrandeMocha said:

Front seat with airbags turned off for her RF seat is the recommendation I see on the RV sites. There are seatbelts in the back, but they are lap only and sideways. Uh-oh, hope I'm not coming off like smoosh the puffy jacket girl with my question.

Not all seatbelts in the rear are sideways. We used to have a class A RV that had two forward facing and two rear facing seat belts. My kids were out of car seats when we had that one so IDK about using carseats in RVs.

DecafGrandeMocha

@Robi1‌, I'm not on FB but thecarseatlady said most everything you did too. MH's truck has an on/off switch, but I hadn't heard about the weight sensors not being reliable enough. Darn. ETA I'm realizing he has an older truck so maybe the switch is completely phased out now. Darn again.

@PipSqueak0313‌, my understanding is the front facing seats in the back usually aren't bolted to the chassis so it's not recommended for a carseat. ETA thanks for clarifying there can be FF seats.

Thanks. I was posting hoping for tips like awesome places to visit but baby safety trumps all and that's reason #52 I like this board.

PipSqueak0313

As much fun as RVs are, I definitely prefer travel trailers for on road safety for passengers. Besides it's great to just unhook the trailer and use the truck for site seeing. But back to the original topic...I would ask the place you're renting it from how to install the carseat and if they can't give a safe option then don't rent the RV until carseat isn't needed.

kmc84

So it seems like you are aware of the safety issues with RVs....that said, all but 2 states are proper use states, which makes it illegal in 48 states to install a car seat on a sideways or backwards seat.

(If you need more leverage to alter your plans )

DecafGrandeMocha

Thanks everyone. I'm going to talk to MH tonight. We were set on her carseat going in the RV passenger seat RF with airbag turned off but now that I've told my new imaginary friends, I'm reconsidering...

Critter015

I would just look into the specifics of the RV you would rent. I'm not sure about the switch for the passenger airbag, we have one pickup (1999) with the switch and then a newer one (2010) that just has a sensor. When I was younger we travelled in an older RV but it had a chair that was bolted down behind the passenger seat that had a seat belt and could lock in several positions, including FF. It also had FF and RF seatbelts in the dinette. Them being lap belts would be fine for an infant seat, but you'd have to stow the actual table somewhere else in order to fit the carseat. I don't know if they were attached to the chassis, but they were definitely bolted in to part of the frame of the motorhome.