Question Baby Car seats for VW camper..... Help!!

Unregistered · Apr 30, 2012

Hi there, hope someone can help!! My other half has a camper and we are planning on a trip in a few months. Only problem is is that he only has lap belts and i have a young baby who will be 10 months when we go. What do i do about a car seat? He doesn't want to install a 3 point belt. What are my options or where do i go to find out or buy/hire a seat that we could use??? Please help!! It would totally defeat the object if i had to follow in my car. Thanks in advance.

wendytthomas · Apr 30, 2012

I moved this to the international forum for you. This is a primarily US/Canadian board, and all of our seats can be installed with a lap belt only. So it wouldn't be an issue here. That could be an option for you, though, to buy a US seat and have it shipped, but I believe it's technically illegal. It may be cheaper than new belts. Also, our seats rear face to 35-45 pounds (15.8-20.4 kg), far more than the 9-13 kg UK seats offer, so your ten month old can hopefully make it to four years rear facing, as is the recommendation. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8094829.stm

Wendy

Adventuredad · May 1, 2012

Where are you located? There are quite a few options available. Using a camper van can be a little tricky since the vehicle seats are normally higher than in a regular car.

Britax Hi-Way or Britax Max-Way are the rear facing seats with tallest support leg. They will both handle a vehicle cushion seat height of 50 cm (which is very high).

These seats have a rear facing max weight of 25 and relatively tall seat shell which means easy rear facing use to around age 4-5 years or 110-120 cm.

Both Hi-Way, Max-Way and all other Swedish rear facing seats can be installed with a lap belt. If seat in front is relatively close car seat can lean on it and there are then more options available. If vehicle seats are of normal height there are even more options available.

Boot · May 1, 2012

I'm in Canada but from the UK. Until recently, we drove a '83 Westfalia camper van with lap belts. I successfully installed the Radian rear facing. The angle was a bit too reclined and I had to fiddle a lot to get it tight but is was doable. We had 3 different lap belt: a retracting one, a 'plane style' one with 2 long straps and one with a shortish stalk and a tail to tighten. The later was the best for install. Wherever you are, I presume that there are cars with lap belt only still so just do what you would do in that situation. I'm probably being dense but I don't understand why the height of the seats would matter. I was nervous about using car seats in our van at first too but it was actually fine. Have a great trip. I miss ours.

QuassEE · May 1, 2012

Lapbelts are perfectly fine for carseat installations--but not much use for anything else in this world. The warnings against lapbelts have to do with children in boosters and who must be in the seatbelt alone. So at 10 months old, your "problems" won't begin for at least a few years. Install away. With the Westy comment above, I do have to warn that the newer VW camper vans (eg. Weekender) with the rear-facing vehicle seats in the middle row are not considered compatible with child restraint installation, even though they do have 3-point belts.

-N.

m2h · May 1, 2012

I would love to buy a camper/rv and use it with our toddler, but my understanding (I think from other threads on this site), is that barring the two front seats, camper seats tend not to be bolted to the frame of the vehicle, but rather to the plywood interior, making them unsafe in the event of an accident. Is this correct? I guess you could restrain babe in the front seat (don't know if campers have airbags to disable), but then one adult is potentially a human-with-seat-attached projectile in an accident. Are the VW's the exception (if so, I'm off to craigslist to hunt for our new camper)?

QuassEE · May 1, 2012

There's a Volkswagen motorhome and a Sprinter-platform motorhome, both of which have seating for more than two. Most techs recommend 5th wheels and trailers as the best alternative to motorhomes, however.

-N.

Boot · May 1, 2012

Our seatbelts were bolted to the frame of the car. We had to have top tethers fitted for when we turned forward facing though.

TechnoGranola · May 2, 2012

QuassEE said:
Lapbelts are perfectly fine for carseat installations--but not much use for anything else in this world. The warnings against lapbelts have to do with children in boosters and who must be in the seatbelt alone. So at 10 months old, your "problems" won't begin for at least a few years. Install away.

I thought some European seats required a shoulder belt due to Euro routing? and that the seat could not be installed with a lap only belt? or is that just for some Euro infant seats?

bubbaray · May 2, 2012

There are class C motorhomes (Winnebago style) sold in Canada that have top tether anchors. I've never seen them on class A motor homes (bus style). Campers affix to the bed of a trucks and it is illegal to ride in the camper. Trailers attach to a bumper hitch and 5th wheels attach to a large bed-mounted hitch. Van conversions, like the VW, usually have swivel seats (ditto the class A) and you can't install on them. You also can't install on a sideways facing seat like a couch, those are very common In Class As

Trailers, 5th wheels and campers are safer because the only legal place to install restraints is inside the truck.

ketchupqueen · May 2, 2012

TechnoGranola said:
I thought some European seats required a shoulder belt due to Euro routing? and that the seat could not be installed with a lap only belt? or is that just for some Euro infant seats?

I own a Swedish seat that cannot be used with a lap-only belt, only a three-point. Many infant seats also cannot. And due to the lack of tether issues most European seats have a serpentine belt path forward-facing where the shoulder belt acts as restraint, so most forward-facing seats cannot.

However there are several Swedish seats that allow a rear-facing install with a lap-only belt.

QuassEE · May 2, 2012

TechnoGranola said:
I thought some European seats required a shoulder belt due to Euro routing? and that the seat could not be installed with a lap only belt? or is that just for some Euro infant seats?

Some..and some require the shoulderbelt after a certain weight...eg. 22lbs lap only, 29lbs rear routing. But not all require it. I believe the difference is that we still cannot require it here? And the old sled has only a lapbelt, correct?

-N.

TechnoGranola · May 2, 2012

QuassEE said:
Some..and some require the shoulderbelt after a certain weight...eg. 22lbs lap only, 29lbs rear routing. But not all require it. I believe the difference is that we still cannot require it here? And the old sled has only a lapbelt, correct?

-N.

But Wendy said the OP was in the UK so their seat may not be able to be installed with a lap belt. Which is what I was trying to get at when I replied to you earlier, but didn't do a good job of making my point. LOL

QuassEE · May 2, 2012

TechnoGranola said:
But Wendy said the OP was in the UK so their seat may not be able to be installed with a lap belt. Which is what I was trying to get at when I replied to you earlier, but didn't do a good job of making my point. LOL

Oh yes! Definitely a consideration--but it's a whole lot easier to buy a new seat versus a replacing their RV

-N.

wendytthomas · May 2, 2012

OP, is the camper van in Canada or the UK? Your IPs are confusing.

Wendy

TechnoGranola · May 2, 2012

wendytthomas said:
OP, is the camper van in Canada or the UK? Your IPs are confusing.

Wendy

Oh geez, I thought the 2 guest posters were different people. I'm getting confused...

Boot · May 2, 2012

I'm not the OP. She hasn't responded yet.

(I think I need to go register!)

Question Baby Car seats for VW camper..... Help!!

Unregistered

Guest

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor

Adventuredad

New member

Boot

Guest

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

m2h

Member

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

Boot

Guest

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador

bubbaray

New member

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador

Boot

Guest

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics