little sprouts
New member
Hi. We bought a Saturn Outlook about a month ago. I read here in another post and in my car manual that in order to install a child restraint in the second row using LATCH that the second row must be placed in the full recline position. It goes on to say that the 3rd row must be in full upright position when installing a child restraint there. The car manual does not say anything about the 2nd row needing to be in any specific position when installing with the safety belts and top tether.
I have 2 children (almost 11 month old and a 3.5 year old) and they are both rearfacing. Currently, I have a RF Chicco Keyfit22 installed behind passenger seat using LATCH and a RF Britax Decathlon behind driver seat using seatbelt and tethered with D-ring. When we test drove, we had a lot of problems trying to install the Decathlon FF with the headrests as they are not adjustable and they were getting in the way of a good install. (We wanted to be sure we could install the DC FF for future use!) The dealer spoke with the service department and they were able to show us how to remove the headrests and then we were able to get a good install by first reclining the bench seat with the headrest removed, installing the Decathlon FF, then bringing the bench seat back into upright position. This gave a solid install.
All of this information leads me to the following questions...
1) Does this mean that the second row bench seat must be in full recline position to install carseats? I have one seat installed using LATCH and the other with the safety belts, so I am confused.
2) If the bench seat does in fact need to be in full recline position, it would appear that the car seats would be more reclined then on the seat and I thought that it was better for a FF seat to be in the most upright position to disperse forces or something in an accident? Am I missing something here? This just doesn't make sense to me.
3) Did anyone else remove headrests to get a good install in outboard positions for a FF Britax?
Any techs, please advise.
Thank you very much for any thoughts on this!
Smiles,
Jen
Thomas 9.21.04 RF Decathlon @ 29#
Kerrigan 2.19.07 RF Keyfit22 @ 13# 15oz.
I have 2 children (almost 11 month old and a 3.5 year old) and they are both rearfacing. Currently, I have a RF Chicco Keyfit22 installed behind passenger seat using LATCH and a RF Britax Decathlon behind driver seat using seatbelt and tethered with D-ring. When we test drove, we had a lot of problems trying to install the Decathlon FF with the headrests as they are not adjustable and they were getting in the way of a good install. (We wanted to be sure we could install the DC FF for future use!) The dealer spoke with the service department and they were able to show us how to remove the headrests and then we were able to get a good install by first reclining the bench seat with the headrest removed, installing the Decathlon FF, then bringing the bench seat back into upright position. This gave a solid install.
All of this information leads me to the following questions...
1) Does this mean that the second row bench seat must be in full recline position to install carseats? I have one seat installed using LATCH and the other with the safety belts, so I am confused.
2) If the bench seat does in fact need to be in full recline position, it would appear that the car seats would be more reclined then on the seat and I thought that it was better for a FF seat to be in the most upright position to disperse forces or something in an accident? Am I missing something here? This just doesn't make sense to me.
3) Did anyone else remove headrests to get a good install in outboard positions for a FF Britax?
Any techs, please advise.
Thank you very much for any thoughts on this!
Smiles,
Jen
Thomas 9.21.04 RF Decathlon @ 29#
Kerrigan 2.19.07 RF Keyfit22 @ 13# 15oz.