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Using a car seat in a truck?

KiwiChampagneKiwiChampagne
in Nurseries and Baby Gear

DH has a truck with a basic cab for work. He is looking for a new truck with a back seat so that he will be able to drive around with our LO when she gets here.

Does anyone have experience with trucks and babies?  He was originally looking at the extended cabs with the 2 full and 2 half doors. Now he's concerned about having enough room on the back seat for the car seat and not having enough room to get into the back easily because the doors face each other. He is also looking at the 4 door club cabs with the full back seat.  Thoughts?

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Re: Using a car seat in a truck?

  • amstepamstep member

    Check with recent data, but when we were looking when I was pg with DS, there were NO car seats that passed safety tests in trucks.  NONE.  It was not advised to use a car seat in a truck, period. 

    I don't know if things have changed, though.  Good luck!  I know it's not very practical to think you can't take your kid in your 2nd vehicle.

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  • nln883nln883
    We just got a Chevy Silverado because of the same issue.  We got the 2 full/2 half doors, and there will be more than enough room.  There are even latch anchors in the backseat for carseats, so it should be just fine.  I know the F-150 with 2 full/2 half also has latch anchors.
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  • Kaytee1206Kaytee1206
    My husband has a 4 door dodge ram and we haven't had any trouble with carseats.  It has the latch anchors.  DD's seat is in the middle in the backseat.
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  • sabrina_nbsabrina_nb
    My husband drives an extended cab F250 and there is no way a car seat would fit back there.  I drive a crew cab F250 and there is more than enough room for a carseat.  The backseat in it is bigger than the backseat in most SUV's I've ever been in.
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  • harper14harper14
    We have a Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab SLT (4 doors), most 2 doors with 2 half doors back seats will be to small. They recommend to check the trucks manual and it will recommend if a car seat can be in it our not. One of the main concerns seem to also come from the front/side airbags in trucks and the small back seats ( car seat should cover no less than 80% of the seat), but our quad cab will work just fine.
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  • JAH12JAH12 member

    If you can afford it definitely go with the full 4 doors. My husband just got a F-150 crew (4 full doors) and we looked at both the extended and the crew cab. IMO, there is nowhere near enough room in a extended cab for a car seat. You probably have to pull the front seats so far forward and would have no leg room, in order to make the car seat fit. So if you can splurge, I would definitely go with the crew cab.

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  • funnibabyfunnibaby member
    imageamstep:

    Check with recent data, but when we were looking when I was pg with DS, there were NO car seats that passed safety tests in trucks.  NONE.  It was not advised to use a car seat in a truck, period. 

    I don't know if things have changed, though.  Good luck!  I know it's not very practical to think you can't take your kid in your 2nd vehicle.

    Baby Bargins quotes this recent safety data and said it is not recommended to put infant car seats in trucks.  Maybe check the Transportation Safety Administration to see if they have recommendations about when it is okay for young children to ride in trucks in convertible seats.

    Dh may have to consider a different type of car (SUV maybe) or if he needs a truck for work, you may have to wait for LO to ride in his car.

    Heather

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  • funnibabyfunnibaby member

    I found this info on Trucks & Car Seats:

    From Carseat.org

    Can I put my child in the front seat of a pickup truck?

    Many pickup trucks have back seats that are too small for child safety seats. Researchers at the Children?s Hospital of Philadelphia have found that the risk of injury to children riding in the back seat of a compact extended-cab pickup truck is five times higher than when riding in any other vehicle. Injuries appear to be caused by hitting the inside of the pickup.

    If you have a larger pickup with a back seat that faces the front of the truck, a safety seat may be installed there if the truck?s manual recommends it and at least 80% of the safety seat?s base sits on the truck seat cushion. You can reduce the risk of injury for forward-facing children by tethering the safety seat. Using a top tether can greatly reduce the chance of a child?s head striking the interior of the pickup.

    Installation of a safety seat on a side-facing jump seat is not allowed by any child restraint manufacturer.

    If you must install a safety seat in the front seat of a pickup truck, disable the air bag by using the air bag on-off switch. If an on-off switch is not available, you may ask NHTSA to let you have one installed. Until a switch can be installed, do not transport a rear-facing child in the front seat. Some passenger air bags will expand to cover the center seating position, so installing a safety seat in that location may be dangerous to your child. Check the vehicle owner?s manual to find out where child safety seats may be installed. Installing a safety seat in the front seat of any vehicle increases the risk of death to your child by more than 30%, so a pickup truck without a back seat is not the safest choice for transporting a child.


    So, maybe you will be okay if it is a larger king cab.

    Heather

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  • MarcyIamMarcyIam member
    DH has the F150 with the full back seat and the infant seat fits just fine.  Fits fully on the seat and still have plenty of room in the front in our seats.
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  • brooksidebridebrooksidebride member

    imageMarcyIam:
    DH has the F150 with the full back seat and the infant seat fits just fine.  Fits fully on the seat and still have plenty of room in the front in our seats.

    Where does your DH have the car seat... in the middle?

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  • Cheerio BCheerio B

    skip the 2 full/2 half doors if you can. DH has this and the logistics are a nightmare. we either take my car everywhere or park in the back of the parking lot so no one parks next to us.

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  • onerunneronerunner

    Late to the party, but I drive a 2002 Chevy Silverado extended cab. (It's the quad cab design with two doors and two half doors). We went to register this weekend and they let us take carseats outside to check the fit. We decided on the Graco SnugRide 35, and it fits very comfortably in the middle back seat. You do have to turn the infant seat longwise to get it out the door, but it should be a huge issue even with a baby in it.

    Also, my truck has a Latch system, so it is approved for any carrier that will fit.

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