carseat positioning

J

jgsgardneryahoocom

Guest
carseat positioning

I have a 10 month old and a 3 year old. I have never felt confident about the information I received regarding positioning. I was told that because I have a fold down armrest in the middle position that I should not put a rear facing seat there, so my 10 month old has been behind the passenger seat. Also I was wondering how long I should leave my 10 month old rear facing - lately I have been reading that they should remain that way for as long as possible. Does this mean until she reaches the 30 pound limit with no regard to her length? I have her in the Britax Roundabout.
 
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U

UlrikeDG

Guest
Similar aged kids...

Mine are 3.5 and 16 mo. My 16 month old daughter is 25ish pounds and rear facing in a Roundabout. My son is 32ish pounds and front facing in a Britax Freeway (if you are unfamiliar with the freeway, it is *identical* to the Roundabout, except that it does not have locking clips for rear facing).

1) Regarding putting a rear facing seat in front of an armrest, Evenflo is the only carseat manufacturer who states not to do this. However, you should check your car's owners' manual to see what they recommend. If they don't tell you not to do it, it's ok to do.

2) Babies *must* rear face until they are at *least* one year old (and 20 lbs). Here's why. www.parentsplace.com/babi...76,00.html After that, rear facing is still safer. Keep her rear facing as long as possible, and turn her around when she outgrows it (30 lbs or the top of her head is 1" or less from the top of the seat).

3) Middle... I put my FF son in the middle for a couple of reasons. First, RF seats provide more protection from a side impact, so I feel better having him farther from the sides. Second, it gets him out of the street faster (he can quickly climb into the car, then get into his seat from the safety of the back seat). Third, if the rear facing seat were in the middle, it would keep both the driver and the passenger from putting their seats all the way back (which is safer). This way, it only interferes with the passenger seat.
 
C

Caviller

Guest
Exactly what I would do...

Unless your carseat or vehicle manual specifically warns against installing in front of an armrest, I'd put the RF child in the outboard position and the FF child in the center, for the same reasons Ulrike mentioned. Obviously, the carseats need to fit properly in those locations. While the center is considered the safest spot, using two outboard locations is certainly not unsafe. In fact, I have our children in the two outboard locations in our minivan to keep them separated. Ours are almost 33 months and 11 months, by the way.

Rear-facing is safest. I plan to keep our youngest rear-facing to the limits of the carseat. We also have a Roundabout. So, it would be 30 pounds, OR if her head is within an inch of the top of the plastic shell (As Ulrike said).

Also see the new FAQ:
www.car-safety.org/faq.html
 

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