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ntnylizard

lindyannelindyanne
in Pennsylvania Babies

I just reread your blog post and I bet this is what my problem is. I have an '04 Explorer and probably used the inside of each of the right and left sets. I didn't realize that it wasn't supposed to be like that. We definitely got it to clip onto both of them. I don't think the noodles would work bc there's literally no give in the back and that's the part that needs to come up.  I wonder why they wouldn't make it useable in the middle since that's the safest place. Seems REALLY dumb.  I'm going to go out and check out the manual again.

"Since the RAV4 is a new car, it has the LATCH system that makes installing child safety seats very easy. But what none of the instructions tell you is how and where the LATCH clips are affixed to the hidden metal support bars that make everything safe. So since I installed the car seat on the middle seat -- having read this is the safest place for baby, equidistant from both side-impact sources -- I ended up latching onto two two different LATCH systems, rather than one. So the friendly installation inspector moved my car seat base to the back passenger seat."

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Re: ntnylizard

  • ntnylizardntnylizard

    As soon as the girl saw what I did, she said it was the most common mistake people make.  If your middle seat isn't really a "seat" (if the back is attached to one of the side seats -- not both -- or has an armrest that folds down), then it doesn't have its own LATCH.

    Hooking to hooks on two different LATCH bars is not the way to go, since the tension during a crash would pull from two completely unrelated support systems.

    I wondered the same thing -- why wouldn't my car manual just SAY to pick one side or the other, but NOT the middle?

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  • lindyannelindyanne
    It's wierd bc I looked at the manual and it shows that it can be latched on the sides or in the middle (when it's showing where to latch) but then when it shows what position to put the seat in, it has it on the sides. blah  I am definitely going to call our local pd/fd and see where I can get it checked.
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  • ntnylizardntnylizard

    FWIW, the woman told me it was completely fine to put the seat in the middle if we wanted to screw with the seatbelts.  But the LATCH is soooo much easier, so we moved it to the side.

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  • lindyannelindyanne
    Ya, I definitely like the latch.  I can tell it's a lot tighter than using the belt. I'll see what they say when we get it checked.
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