mobile dvd player safety

[Unregistered]

I have a question. I have a 1 year old son who will be forward facing in the next few months and we take many long car trips a year. We are considering getting him a mobile dvd player that hooks with straps in between the front seats. Right now he is rear facing on the outside because my husband cannot get into his seat with the carseat rear facing in the middle. However, we would like to put him in the middle where he is safer once he is forward facing. Has anyone checked how safe these dvd players that hook on to the seats with straps are in an accident, especially if we put the dvd player in the middle and my son also in the middle? I just worry that if we got in an accident the dvd player could go flying and hit my son. Any ideas on the safety of these things??

[CPSDarren]

I don't think you will find any real data to support a decision. I suspect most systems attached in any manner would hold in a minor crash, but few would hold in a very severe crash. This depends on the weight of the DVD player, of course. I would want the smallest, lightest unit that has the most secure looking attachment system. There may still be some risk in any case, but you can reduce it as much as possible. We had a large backpack unit with a VCR player that was intended to mount between the front seats. Instead, I mounted it behind the driver seat (http://www.pbase.com/carseat/image/16936168 ), in front of my daughter's rear facing carseat. I had lightweight, detachable LCD monitors and attached those to the headrests. (http://www.pbase.com/carseat/image/16936109 ).

In any case, the safety of the DVD player is probably a much lower risk than turning your child front-facing. Also- http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html .

[mamamia]

We have a mobile DVD player with two detachable screens. I typically put only the screens near the girls. They are very light and seem fairly secure when I attach them to the head rests on the seats in from of them. I actually lift the head rests up, put the strap around the metal rods that the head rest is attached to, then slide the head rests back down. As for the DVD player itself I keep it between the two front seats in the van, and attach it to the legs of the two front seats with the 4 straps that came with the unit. I (or DH) can easily access the unit to change/stop/start DVDs when we are on the road.

[papooses]

Originally posted by mamamia
I keep it between the two front seats in the van, and attach it to the legs of the two front seats with the 4 straps that came with the unit.
This sounds like my cousin's.... I myself decided my kid gets too much TV as it is {since she comes to my job with me all day & TV is the most effective distractor when I need her to let me work} so instead I got a fun mom-n-me ASL book & learned to sign the words to her favorite songs with one hand {usually the Sesame Street CD} ~ she likes this because she's learning a lot: numbers, letters, tone/pitch, hand coordination. Now that she's almost 3 we play the "I spy" game & name {with voice & hands} the colorful road signs with letters, numbers, etc. Actually, this helps me pay attention to the road more instead of just going on autopilot with my mind wandering on other things! Plus, the more constant communication helps our relationship.... :rolleyes: