Question KF30 & RF SFCA in '07 Civic

N

NJ Mom

Guest
I am mom to DD 2y5m/29lbs/36" and have a baby on the way in a few weeks. I went to my local car seat installation site today to have the infant seat (KeyFit 30) installed in my 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid, and the tech told me my daughter "looked uncomfortable" in her RF-ing Complete Air (center position) since her legs touched the back, and should be turned around FF. I defended my decision as best I could (as an amateur), and told him I wanted her to stay RF-ing. I am now skeptical of everything else that happened at the visit and don't really trust the tech, so I was hoping to recap and get feedback/corrections to what he said, if needed:

- he said I could not keep the CA RF-ing in the center position and the KF30 next to it, as the seats "would be touching"

- he said the CA would not fit behind the driver seat RF-ing because of the recline angle necessary. Furthermore he refused to put the infant seat on the driver side because it was unsafe to have an infant seat on the "street" side when parking. So my only solution was to turn my daughter FF on the driver side, with the infant seat RF on the passenger side

- I refused to turn the CA FF-ing, and he relented, eventually installing the KF30 on the driver side (LATCH), and the CA RF-ing on the passenger side (seatbelt)

- he also said the front passenger seat should not come in contact with the RF-ing CA and therefore needed to be moved up a great deal

My specific questions are:
- was he right that I can't fit the CA in the center position with the KF30 outboard? He didn't actually try it, just told me it wasn't possible.
- do I really need to leave room between the front passenger seat and the CA shell?
- is there anyone in the northern NJ area I should go to instead for help?

Also I just wanted to vent, as I found it very frustrating that a real CPST would give me such a hard time about keeping my daughter RFing at 2y5m. I should not be better informed about this than a licensed technician.

Thanks in advance!
 
ADS

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
- he said I could not keep the CA RF-ing in the center position and the KF30 next to it, as the seats "would be touching"

Wrong. As long as each is independently installed (not relying on the one next to it to be tight), then you're fine.

- he said the CA would not fit behind the driver seat RF-ing because of the recline angle necessary. Furthermore he refused to put the infant seat on the driver side because it was unsafe to have an infant seat on the "street" side when parking. So my only solution was to turn my daughter FF on the driver side, with the infant seat RF on the passenger side

Complete bull. He's making it up. What if you park on a one way street, or on the opposite side? Or in a garage? You can put the infant seat behind the passenger or driver, or in the middle. You can also put the Complete Air more upright than the lines for an older child. Call Safety 1st and ask for Brandon. He'll tell you that himself.

- I refused to turn the CA FF-ing, and he relented, eventually installing the KF30 on the driver side (LATCH), and the CA RF-ing on the passenger side (seatbelt)

Fine, though LATCH was also available to him on the passenger side.

- he also said the front passenger seat should not come in contact with the RF-ing CA and therefore needed to be moved up a great deal

That's actually true, though I'd bet he doesn't know why. You have advanced airbags, and having the seats touch may interfere with your passenger seat airbag sensor.

- is there anyone in the northern NJ area I should go to instead for help?

You can see if there are any board techs in your area. http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=59135&highlight=technician

Also I just wanted to vent, as I found it very frustrating that a real CPST would give me such a hard time about keeping my daughter RFing at 2y5m. I should not be better informed about this than a licensed technician.

Are you sure he's a real technician? Lots of techs learned the bare minimum (best practice still was not in the curriculum when I took my class nearly five years ago), and so IF he's a tech he may have learned something old, and he's not done anything appropriate for continuing education to teach him he's wrong. A lot of techs also don't care, sad as it is. Did he have you install your seats? How far along are you? Did he at least make sure you could do them yourself, even if you're too far along to do them right now?

Try your seats in the middle and on the side, see if they fit next to one another. If so, great. The ideal would be the baby in the middle, but if real life gets in the way, no biggie. If you can install them next to one another (use the seatbelt for both, and pull the outside seat toward the door an inch or two) and they're independently installed, it works. You can have the Complete Air as upright as 30 degrees. Neither seat can touch the passenger seat.

Wendy
 
N

NJ Mom

Guest
Fine, though LATCH was also available to him on the passenger side.

He said he thought he'd get a better install with the seatbelt. Seemed plausible?

That's actually true, though I'd bet he doesn't know why. You have advanced airbags, and having the seats touch may interfere with your passenger seat airbag sensor.

Interesting. I assume you're talking about the sensor that disables the passenger seat airbag if there is a small person in it?

Are you sure he's a real technician? Lots of techs learned the bare minimum (best practice still was not in the curriculum when I took my class nearly five years ago), and so IF he's a tech he may have learned something old, and he's not done anything appropriate for continuing education to teach him he's wrong. A lot of techs also don't care, sad as it is. Did he have you install your seats? How far along are you? Did he at least make sure you could do them yourself, even if you're too far along to do them right now?

Try your seats in the middle and on the side, see if they fit next to one another. If so, great. The ideal would be the baby in the middle, but if real life gets in the way, no biggie. If you can install them next to one another (use the seatbelt for both, and pull the outside seat toward the door an inch or two) and they're independently installed, it works. You can have the Complete Air as upright as 30 degrees. Neither seat can touch the passenger seat.

I'm about 36 weeks along. I'm not sure what the tech's qualifications are. He did not attempt to show me how to install them myself (though I asked a few questions along the way and did my best to watch).

The reason I prefer the CA in the middle, if possible, is because it seems I'd be able to move the front seats back a little more than if the CA were outboard. Though the edges of the front seats had previously been right up against the CA, so maybe that wasn't the best idea. Is the airbag sensor only an issue on the passenger side? I don't have an indicator light for the driver's airbag being disabled, so I assume it always deploys. Also, we never have anyone less than 100+ lbs in the front passenger seat, so maybe it would be ok to mess with the sensor? The only time I've noticed it go on (disabling the airbag) is when I have heavy packages in the passenger seat. Not sure...thoughts?
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
He said he thought he'd get a better install with the seatbelt. Seemed plausible?

Sure. That's possible.

Interesting. I assume you're talking about the sensor that disables the passenger seat airbag if there is a small person in it?

Yes. My passenger seat has a limit of 60 pounds to activate the airbag. If you put 40 pounds of carseat plus child against it, it's now at -40. So if a 100 pound person sits there, they may not weigh enough to activate the airbag. I don't know what your car is set to in terms of activation, nor how much the carseat and child weigh against them. But that's the reasoning against the restriction.

I'm about 36 weeks along. I'm not sure what the tech's qualifications are. He did not attempt to show me how to install them myself (though I asked a few questions along the way and did my best to watch).

I don't ask women in their last month to redo my installations, but I make sure they feel comfortable with how it's done, and very often if they're with their husbands they're talking them through it enough that I know they know how to do it.

The reason I prefer the CA in the middle, if possible, is because it seems I'd be able to move the front seats back a little more than if the CA were outboard. Though the edges of the front seats had previously been right up against the CA, so maybe that wasn't the best idea.

You can put the convertible more upright than the Keyfit, so you can probably get more room by reversing them. But try it out, see what works best.

Is the airbag sensor only an issue on the passenger side? I don't have an indicator light for the driver's airbag being disabled, so I assume it always deploys.

Right. Car manufacturers assume that an adult sized person will be in the driver's seat. So it's not a question of that airbag going off or not, just a question of how far back that seat is. So there are sensors in the tracks that know how close the seat is, and adjust the airbag accordingly. As long as there are no restrictions to touching the driver's seat, you can have the carseats touch. Just make sure you can slide your hand between them so that they're just gently touching, not braced. Neither carseat allows bracing.

Wendy
 

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