Infant car seat on the passenger side in back seat?

vegetarian_chica

I saw this yesterday.  I thought the car seat had to be in the middle.

TrinaKay

NO. It does not have to be there. In some vehicles it is safest, in some it is not. 

DD is behind me in my car. I cannot reach her in the middle and the inspector that did our seat instalation said this was just as safe as the other.

Mjmksb04

Mine was on the passenger side in back. Its where the latches are. You can put it in the middle or in the sides.

Sniffer2.0

This isn't meant to be snarky, but have you actually read the carseat manual?  The safest place in MOST CARS is the middle, but for some cars the carseat doesn't fit safely in the middle.

For instance, I have a Subaru Outback which is a stationwagon and therefore you assume a family car...NOPE!  There is a small hump in the middle seat the prevents the infant base from safely being placed there, so I have to have my carseat on the passenger side.  Thanks Subaru.

Also, what do you think people with multiple kids do?  You can't put everyone in the middle...

hula_lula

I have 2 kids, thus can't fit her in the middle, so this is where she is in my car.

brideofscowboy

That's where mine is. We couldn't get it to fit properly in the middle b/c the handle cannot be in the down position and the back seat in my car has a hump that the base won't sit flat on.

We had our car inspected and they okay'ed it in the passenger rear position.

haleyw458

Ours is in the back passenger because that's where the latches are to secure the base. That, and there isn't a headrest on the middle seat so I wouldn't have anywhere to put the mirror so I could see him!

kellym243

also- i have 2 carseats to put back there, both were on a side with the middle empty. then i got a minivan with 2 seperate seats in the second row, so I put the carseats on those and the big kids sit in the 3rd row. sometimes you have to shift things around to see what works the best/is safest

NY-allie

The carseat won't fit in the middle on my car without completely blocking the seat belts of both of the other seats.  Therefore its on the passenger side. 

me&mymonkey

fredalina:

D's carseat is on the passenger side in the back, because i have a very tall husband and a small car.  He's over 6'3" and the driver seat has to be back as far as it goes or when he drives (and he always drives when we're together), his knees are in the steering wheel.  Not safe.  To put the seat in the middle, both the driver and passenger side seats would have to be forward several clicks.

Same here except my husband is not very tall.  But the seat can't be in the middle or behind the driver for the same reasons.  Even when I sit in the passenger seat I am a little uncomfortable with how close to the dashboard I am and I am 5'3". 

lzybeanie

Sniffer2.0:

Also, what do you think people with multiple kids do?  You can't put everyone in the middle...

Hee! This would be a funny visual!! Anyway, yes the middle is often the safest spot, but it's not required. I know plenty of people that - for their convenience and to save their backs - moved the seat to a side seat. I might do this eventually since the LATCH on my car is on the side. We'll see how heavy DD gets!

therin_acean

Honestly, I have been test driving a LOT of cars lately (looking for something that gets better gas mileage than my Buick Rendezvous, basically an additional car) and I have not seen ONE... NOT ONE with the latch system in the middle seat. I am less than a week away from induction with my 2nd child and I figure if there is a latch system on the sides but not the middle then you should use it. Latch was invented to be the safest way to have a car seat since seat belts can fail. The only way a latch can fail is A. if you install it incorrectly, B. your whole seat ejects from the car!  (and if that happens you can kiss the passenger of that seat bye bye anyways). I though at fist that the inner latches from the side seats would work in the middle, but they are too far apart in some vehicles and too close together in others. The tethers either cross over the seat belts or go behind the baby seat. Not Good! I have this theory, but it only works in countries where you drive on the right side of the street. (and not exceptionally well on one ways, but sometimes). I figure the safest place for baby is where you have a less likely chance of gettin hit by a vehicle while removing him/her from the car. Thus, the passenger side. It is the way you will paralell park in most cases (like I said, one way streets are different, but I have no one ways in my town). Also, you can easily glance over you shoulder to see the child. My son is old enough now that I moved his booster to the driver side. He still gets in and out on the passenger side, though. I just have to quickly buckle him in on the street side. We live on a busy street and I park parallell so that is the best way. And if we are in a parking lot, he just climbs up front and gets out my door... lol! It makes him feel special! Don't worry about the "carseat must go here or there". My mom owns a corvette convertable with only 2 front seats. She picks up my son in that, and the airbags don't go off unless there is a person weighing at least 85 pounds in the passenger seat. If you have one child and only a front cab of a vehicle, be it a coup, or a truck, you CAN put the child up there if you can control the airbag. If you can't control the air bag, time to get a different vehicle or walk.

lzybeanie

therin_acean:

Latch was invented to be the safest way to have a car seat since seat belts can fail.

The inspector that installed my car seat actually said the seatbelt is just as safe - if not safer - than LATCH because the LATCH tether is only an inch think whereas the seatbelt is 2" thick. Granted, I'm sure it's all really opinion at that point and you can hear one thing from one person and then completely different from another person. But I just thought I'd share...mine is installed in the center with the belt.

eminbmore

therin_acean:

Honestly, I have been test driving a LOT of cars lately (looking for something that gets better gas mileage than my Buick Rendezvous, basically an additional car) and I have not seen ONE... NOT ONE with the latch system in the middle seat. .

My car has Latch in the middle seat (Toyota Highlander) - and my old car did too (Toyota Rav4).