Where is your car seat installed?

BernieRae · September 2016

Or where WILL it be installed. I just reviewed the car seat safety thread from last month. Super helpful, but for some reason it left me curious about the stats regarding what works for different people.

BernieRae · September 2016

We are still deciding what to with the infant seat in our Jeep Cherokee. Factors we're considering are safety, ease of viewing baby and getting her in/out, and also a dog who is used to also being in the back seat.

Kimmy717 · September 2016

We have ours installed in the middle seat. She will more then likely be the only person back there most of the time, accept when my step son is over. I also use the floor for groceries sometimes so that was another factor for placing her seat in the middle. Also, i really have no vision in my right eye so neither R or L side would work too well either.

KimmySchmidt · September 2016

I said "other" because we will have two in each car. Toddler is behind the passenger, newborn behind the driver.

My thought was that the toddler is getting in the seat herself, but she's slow. So making sure she gets in curbside will minimize the amount of time we spend with the driver's side door open in traffic. Once this LO is big enough to be at the same stage, I'll probably put the bigger one on the driver's side.

KimmySchmidt · September 2016

BernieRae said:

We are still deciding what to with the infant seat in our Jeep Cherokee. Factors we're considering are safety, ease of viewing baby and getting her in/out, and also a dog who is used to also being in the back seat.

Center seat is the safest, but it's also the biggest pain to get in/out and also a lot of cars don't have a latch system in the center. In a crash, driver and passenger sides are equally safe. Though I personally prefer the passenger side because you can load the car from the sidewalk, and minimize the amount of time you spend traffic-side. I'm sure your dog will adjust to wherever the car seat ends up, provided that the dog is small enough to take up one seat. I don't know how often you drive with your dog, but you can always move the seat out of the way to make room for your dog. It's not like once you put the car seat base in the car, it's in there forever.

Themaritimemama · September 2016

2 big kids can clip themselves in, so DD1 is on the passenger very back, DS1 is on the driver very back. DD2 is on the passenger side bucket seat, DS2 will be on the drivers side bucket seat.

mrsvoorhees-2 · September 2016

I chose other too. DD1 was in the middle, and I never had issues with loading her. Once she got into a convertible seat, I moved her to
the passenger side because that new seat leaned really bad in the center. This baby will be on the driver side with DD1 on the passenger. I thought about putting her in the middle, but I know DD1 will throw shoes and socks into little sisters seat haha

BernieRae · September 2016

Thanks for all the votes. I'm leaning towards passenger side so it's nice to see that works for others. @KimmySchmidt - you are absolutely right, we can always move it if it's not working. Classic case of me overthinking things!

MNturnsVA · September 2016

We currently have our bases in the center and it is going to be a huge pain in the butt to get baby in and of car....HUGE.....but we have a neighbor who used to work for AAA and took some certification course on car seat placement and he happened to come over while we were installing bases. He said center is safest.....I did not read the thread from last month.....

PSUBecky23 · September 2016

Baby behind passenger. Three year old in forward facing convertible behind driver.

crispy11 · September 2016

Middle. My first was in the middle too back when we only had one car seat. My third will also be in the middle. She or he will be flanked by her/his big sisters in their convertible seats.

yellowrose314 · September 2016

We put the base on the passenger side, mostly because I'm tall and it wouldn't fit with the carseat in behind the drivers seat.

KimmySchmidt · September 2016

crispy11 said:

Middle. My first was in the middle too back when we only had one car seat. My third will also be in the middle. She or he will be flanked by her/his big sisters in their convertible seats.

That sounds like it will be hard to get to! What kind of car do you drive?

crispy11 · September 2016

KimmySchmidt said:

crispy11 said:

Middle. My first was in the middle too back when we only had one car seat. My third will also be in the middle. She or he will be flanked by her/his big sisters in their convertible seats.

That sounds like it will be hard to get to! What kind of car do you drive?

Yes! You must have missed my overwhelmed post in FB group about this 2 weeks ago. I have a Honda CRV and we were hoping to put my oldest in the middle but there isn't a top tether which both of the forward facing convertibles need. I will have to shove the baby into the middle and the baby's seat will only be able to pass through if one of my older girls isn't in her seat yet because otherwise it won't fit last their bodies. I did some frantic searching to see if we can afford a minivan / bigger car but we're not quite there. One day!!

camichael84 · September 2016

I picked other since I have two carseats now. We kept DD1 in the middle until sometime this past spring. When I was pregnant for her and we did our carseat install check, they moved it from behind the passenger side to the middle and told us it was the safest spot. So that's where it stayed.

We moved her behind the driver's seat while I was out with my SIL and nephew, and we needed the room for two carseats. The side was easier to get her in and out with my pregnant belly, and given she was going to have to move once the baby came, we left her there. The baby's carseat is now behind the passenger's side.

rock1cherry · September 2016

Just installed ours today! (Finally) And its on the passenger side so DH can still have the seat back to drive.

guitarra1614 · September 2016

@BernieRae We ended up getting a back seat gate for our golden/border collie mix. We have an SUV and so it has worked out very well for her to be in the back without jumping forwards and backwards in the seats!

@crispy11 Good for you for making it work with the car you have. Good luck! :-)

jensou · September 2016

crispy11

Yes! You must have missed my overwhelmed post in FB group about this 2 weeks ago. I have a Honda CRV and we were hoping to put my oldest in the middle but there isn't a top tether which both of the forward facing convertibles need. I will have to shove the baby into the middle and the baby's seat will only be able to pass through if one of my older girls isn't in her seat yet because otherwise it won't fit last their bodies. I did some frantic searching to see if we can afford a minivan / bigger car but we're not quite there. One day!!

My husband installed tethers on his older model Honda with a kit from their auto parts shop. He put them in for each of the 3 back seats. Not needed for our infant car seat but planning ahead for the convertible one. I wonder if there is an adaptation for your model?

noelani42 · September 2016

When we only had one, it was in the middle...now it's behind the passenger

CindyR29 · September 2016

We have my son behind me (passenger) and baby girl behind daddy (driver) since DH has to carry the car seat until I get better. He finds it easier to get her in while I get DS buckled in.

pizzaandwine · September 2016

I've had my LO behind the driver, because it quicker to get him in and out without having to go around to the other side. With the new baby, I'm going to try moving toddler to the middle and putting baby behind driver. That way we can still slide the "behind passenger" seat when the older two are with us and need to get to the back row.

CoffeeBeanFiend91 · September 2016

Baby is behind the driver and toddler behind the passenger. My 3 year old like to "do it by self" so I prefer her to be curbside.

jjgypsy · September 2016

I have a minivan, no middle seat in the second row. I put the youngest behind me because it's most convenient for me when getting in & out. I use a mirror so I can see them.

TNgoldengirl · September 2016

I voted behind passenger, because I just moved the 2 and 4yo to the third row of my explorer, folded down middle seats, and the one left was behind passenger. However, it's not working so well so far, so I may end up trying to squeeze them all on the middle row like originally planned. Baby will be behind driver for convenience's sake.

mamadomino · September 2016

@TNgoldengirl what kind of seat is your 4 yo in? If your explorer is relatively new you likely won't be able to fit 3 in the second row safely because there is so little room (11") in between the outboard seat belt buckles. I loved my explorer and was super bummed that it's so unfriendly for 3 kids!

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