Best Place to Install Convertible Car Seat

[dmctexas]

My son is nearing the point where we need to move him to a rear-facing convertible car seat (Britax Boulevard). I have a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder which has two tether connections on the floor behind each of the rear outboard seats. The car does not have LATCH. We currently have his infant seat installed in the rear center position. We remember hearing in our car seat class that is the safest position.

Also, from reading my car manual, I have determined we would need to get a modification done at the dealership (anchor bolt?) in order to use the tether.

Would you suggest we install our convertible seat in the center position rear facing with no tether or in one of the outboard positions with the tether? In other words, which one would provide us the most safety (assuming the car seat is installed correctly, of course ... we will be getting a car seat check with a certified technician at our police department)?

Thanks for your help! :)

Debra

[scatterbunny]

Welcome to the board, Debra! :) And sorry it took so long to reply. :o

For rear-facing, you don't need to worry quite yet about having a top tether anchor installed. Britax seats will come with something called a "D-ring". You use this to connect your rear-facing tether. The Boulevard manual should go into detail on this, and hopefully someone can post soon with more information on rear-facing tethering.

The safest place is where you get the best install, but ideally the center, so as long as you can get the BV installed there well, that's what I'd do. :)

Remember to have the BV in recline mode, and you can choose to lock the seatbelt OR the lockoff(s), but not both. You may want to use the lockoff(s) because I believe your belts lock at the shoulder retractor and that may cause your seat to tip over time.

The top tether anchor will need to be installed before your child goes forward-facing.