Question Advice about convertible car seat in 2010 Dodge Caravan

Hi! I am wondering if anyone has advice about what type of convertible car seat is SAFE and will fit in my 2010 Dodge Caravan. My husband and I have a 10 month old son and we are shopping for a convertible car seat for him. So far, we have purchased and returned the Safety 1st Complete Air seat as well as the Safety 1st Alpha Omega seat because even with the use of pool noodles, neither seat fits well in our van. (Rear-facing) Our son's head flops forward when he falls asleep, which is so dangerous...not to mention uncomfortable! I'm not sure if Dodge Caravans from previous years are the same as ours, but our seats (2nd row captain seats) are slanted at almost a 45 degree angle, making it impossible to get the car seats to sit level. A pool noodle just won't help enough...We would almost have to use a 6-8 inch wedge of some kind! Are there any convertible seats out there that sit on their own adjustable base? Does anyone out there have a 2010 Dodge Caravan with rear facing convertible car seats? I would really appreciate any and all advice!! We are in a bit of hurry, as we are expecting a daughter in less than 6 weeks, and we plan to have her ride in our son's old car seat (Chicco KeyFit 30, which we love!) so we really need to get our son a new seat ASAP. A great big thanks to everyone in advance!! (By the way, our son weighs around 25 lbs and is in the 95th percentile for height, so he's outgrowing his car seat even though he hasn't reached the weight limit.)

Hi there. Congrats on both of your new kids!

At 10 months old you don't need a 45º angle anymore. Head slump is neither unsafe at his age (provided he's got normal muscle strength) nor uncomfortable. You and I think it's horribly uncomfortable, but babies are far more flexible than we are (part of why we need to keep them rear facing so much longer) and it doesn't bother them as much as it does us. If he's complaining that's one thing. If he's not then it's just an adult's projection of discomfort (I do the same even though I know better).

It's also not unsafe since he can pull his head upright. The unsafe head flop is for newborns who cannot pull their heads up on their own and could suffocate. If he has decent head control (and most kids do by four months) then he's fine.

Seats that sit up on a base may or may not recline more just by the basis of the base. It raises the pivot point, so while it may be more reclined, it's more upright? Make sense? LOL You need a seat with a lot of recline, or you can make a pyramid of noodles. You aren't limit to one. In my car for my newborn I had five noodles under her seat initially. I also have very sloped seats. Most cars don't take more than three, but some for a newborn require more. So if you liked the CA or the AOE, then go for it, just use more noodles (make sure the AOE is the 50 pound version, not the 40 pound. The 40 pound is a lousy seat in all aspects other than rear facing).

Though for a tall and heavier child, I'd look at the Complete Air again and the Radians. They're the only seats that rear face to 40+ pounds and have a tall shell. Though the CA only forward faces to 50 pounds.

Wendy

Are you saying it was too upright? It doesn't have to be at a 45 degree angle for a 10 month old, but you don't want his head slumping too much. That being said, lots of kids have head slump when sleeping and they don't complain (it just LOOKS uncomfortable), but usually that is forward facing, not rear facing.

I wonder if a Sunshine Kids Radian would work. (I haven't tried one RF in an 2010 but I'm just thinking aloud here). Usually with rear facing Radians the problem we have is that they are TOO reclined, and I'm wondering with very sloped seats if you might just just get a nice rear facing angle with one of those.

Do you have any baby boutique stores nearby that carry Radians? If so, it might be worthwhile to go try one out in your vehicle.

Hopefully someone who's had a RF seat in that vehicle will be by soon to help you.

Hi there! I have a 2009 Grand Caravan, so I am assuming the seats are the same. You're absolutely right about the ridiculous slant on these seats! I also bought and returned the Complete Air. Even with an appropriate recline I didn't like the installation in this vehicle. I'm sure it was okay, but I personally didn't care for it.

Right now I have a True Fit installed rear-facing in the van with one pool noodle. It's a bigger noodle than the typical small, squishy noodle, maybe 4" in diameter (that's just a guess). There's nothing wrong with using a pyramid of 3 noodles taped together or a tightly rolled towel to achieve proper recline. Like the others have said, you don't need a full 45 degree recline, but I can understand wanting to get rid of the head slump. My 15 month old rides more reclined than necessary (probably about 40-43 degrees) because it drives me crazy when I see his little head slumping, even though I know it's not necessarily unsafe.

Anyway, yes, the Radian does install pretty well rear-facing in my captains chairs if you wanted to try that out. If it's possible to try it before buying, I'd highly recommend that because it can sometimes be a little tricky to install, and most people either love it or hate it. How about the MyRide? That one is pretty naturally reclined, so maybe with a noodle it would be okay.

It's perfectly acceptable to have to use noodles. It's a safe and approved way to achieve an appropriate recline angle. :thumbsup:

Congrats on the little ones!

Like others have said, it is not unsafe and not uncomfortable to have their heads slump...just looks uncomfortable for us. They wouldn't fall asleep and stay asleep like that if it was so uncomfortable. At 10 months old, they no longer need the 45 degree angle. This is just required for newborns and young babies. I just traded in my 08 Grand Caravan and our seats were crazy slanted so I dont' think there was much of a difference with that. We have had a Recaro Como, compass True Fit, Graco MyRide, and a Britax Marathon rear facing in the second row capt chair and never had a problem getting the correct recline. My son has been in a convertible seat since he was 6 months old and we have always been able to achieve the proper recline. When he was younger, we did need 3 pool noodles stacked like a pyramid in order to achieve the proper recline but, as he got older, we were able to take them out one by one. We just recently traded it in, about 2 months ago, and Caleb is now 2 yrs old so we had the seat rear facing without any pool noodles. Even with the crazy recline, you should be having any problems achieving a good recline.
When my niece was 4 months old, I had her in my Caravan using my son's True Fit. I was able to get it at nearly the full 45 degree angle using a tightly rolled towel.

Thanks, everyone! I wasn't sure about the head slumping and the noodles...I thought both were terribly dangerous! You have helped me to feel alot more relaxed!

I do have another question, though. When we installed both of the seats I mentioned before, there was no way to tether the back of the car seat down... Or, at least, we couldn't figure it out. So if we were involved in a head-on collision, the entire car seat would tip up towards the back bumper. Is this normal?? Or were we missing something? I have heard that if a car seat in installed properly, it shouldn't move more than an inch in any direction. But does that include not coming up off the seat??

Thanks again!!

In a collision it'll rebound. No seats besides Britax and Sunshine Kids can be tethered rear facing. It's fine if it rebounds, that's what it's going to do and it passes tests that way. The no more than one inch rule is for the belt path. It shouldn't move in any direction when given a shove at the belt path. The head of an untethered seat will move all about. That's fine.

Wendy

Thanks so much for your help!!

I had a '10 GC as a rental about a month ago and I had the TF RFing in it with a stack of 3 of the flat nooldes.

I also have the very sloped seats in my T&C. I just love how the Radians fit there (I have one RF on each captain's chair). I love our Radians (XT and 80), but some people don't like them. It would be nice if you could try one out somewhere.

Thanks, everyone! We ended up getting the Safety 1st Air Complete...we bought a special noodle that's made for car seats...shaped more like an "L". It works really well! I really appreciate everyone's advice!