Convertible seat for 04 Nissan Quest

AmyKat · May 21, 2007

I have ordered a Recaro Signo for my 11 month old DD. She's currently in her Chicco Keyfit and fitting nicely. But, she's not going to make it until August in that seat. I need to find a convertible car seat to use in my car as a "filler" seat. The filler seat will then be moved to either my DH's Saab 9.5 or my MIL's Lincoln Aviator.

The problem is I can't find a convertible car seat that fits tightly in my 2004 Nissan Quest minivan. I even took one of them up (Cosco Scenera) to the fire station and the guy couldn't get it in tight.

I have only tried installing the seats with LATCH because I honestly didn't think about the seat belt option until this morning. :doh:

Seriously though, I drive a Mommy-van. There have got to be convertible car seats that fit snugly.

Any advice/suggestions? Would changing to a seatbelt installation help? Can I tether the seat even if it's not really supposed to be tethered rear-facing?

Thanks!

Amy

wendytthomas · May 21, 2007

It's very possible a seatbelt installation will do the trick. No idea. Can you go out and try it and post pictures for us if you have problems? Why didn't the guy at the fire station try a seatbelt? Was he certified?

You cannot tether it RFing. It's not meant to be used that way, and you have no idea how it may react. It may put too much stress on the seat in a collision. It may crack the seat in half, holding your baby's hips in one part and the shoulders in another. It's meant to rebound, not be tied down. I wouldn't try it with my kid acting as the crash test dummy.

Wendy

AmyKat · May 29, 2007

Wendi - Thanks for your reply. I don't know if the fireman was certified or not. I called and asked for an appt with the car seat installer and I got Bubba (seriously) when I got there. I don't know why he didn't try the seat belt and I didn't think to ask him to do it. I will try it with the seat belt next time I have a chance. I can try to take a picture - what exactly do you want a picture of? The belt path?

Amy

henrietta · May 29, 2007

Seat belt install should help. Also, pull the belt tight while your knee and all of your weight is in the seat. I pull the shoulder belt portion by the buckle and keep wrenching down by rocking the seat while my knee is in it. Once I think it's pretty tight, I keep a hold of the shoulder belt with one hand, grab it on the other side of the carseat with the other hand, and pull as much as I can and feed it back into the retractor before I climb out of the seat. I keep a hold of the side by the buckle until the very last second when I climb down and give a few good jerks on it from the other side. By then, I can usually get it tighter just by using by foot and pulling from the top of the shoulder belt.

good luck!

henrietta

Auntie2Avi · May 29, 2007

My sister has an 04 Nissan Quest and it is a pain to install carseats in. The seat belt is in a bad spot and makes it hard to get a tight install on carseats. What i had to do was use latch for Avi's RF MA and DC, with the seatbelt i could not get the seat tight enough. There has only been a MA and DC in that spot, she got the car after Avi was out of his snugride.

I know that there are videos with tips on the Scerena installation, maybe someone could pop in and show you.

Ilana

Auntie to Avi- 38.5 lbs, 39 inches, FF in a Marathon and Decathlon

Convertible seat for 04 Nissan Quest

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