Motorhome/RV and Car seats

We are taking a trip this summer and will be traveling with a 3 year old and 6 year old. I have been scourring the internet trying to find information on car seats and RV's. I am findig nothing. The last time we traveled (they were 1 and 4) we used the 1 year old's marathon and a graco for the 4 year old. They sat at the dinette. To give you a better idea here goes. The one year old sat facing the dinette but she was looking towards the back of the RV. In other words if you looked in the rear window you would see her face.

The 4 year old faced forward. We did not use his Husky because we could not get it to work with the seats belts at the dinette and the area is pretty tight there.

The four year old is now six and 50 pounds. We were thinking of putting him on the sofa in the husky. The sofa runs from the front of the RV to the back of the RV. I am just really stumped because I can not find any information regarding motorhomes and car seats. To tell you the truth I am not sure how much testing is done to the restraints at the dinette and sofa.

All I hear is read the owners manual and can not find anything there either.

I should note that the dinette and sofa only have lap belts, no shoulder harnesses.

We will be traveling through NJ, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA and Fl. I know some of these states do not require a seat at all for the 6 year old but I do not want to make a mistake with his restraints.

I'd appreciate any help you can give me.

Hi,
The first thing I'd do is read this thread here from another concerned parent in a similar situation:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=2881&highlight=travel

The thing is, the seatbelts on RVs are usually mounted to plywood (with metal washers around the base) and are not crash tested at all, let alone with carseats. I wish they were, I love rving. Someday, sigh....

It's a tough situation to be in.

We rented a camper that will be towed behind our truck for our family vacation next month. It would have been cheaper to rent a RV but like you there was no where to safely retain the girls. We are lucky we have a pick up truck so that isn't an add'l cost to us and we can safely ride in it.

Later this summer, my parents & I (with my 3 year old) are going on a road trip ... they wanted to get a grand & glorious RV, but after I explained how impossible it would be to install the carseat (& have it actually protect my child in a crash), they decided we'll just use their Ford F250 - we can all sit quit comfortably & safely in it with all the gear we'll need for a comfortable trip: blow up beds, pillows, blankets, suitcases, large cooler, cooking ware stuff & 10-person tent with tools in the back (covered with the extra tall hard shell); car toys, small cooler & mini plug-in fridge up front on the floor with us. Gas will be cheaper, there's no rental cost for us, & with the blow-up beds we'll be comfortable ... we'll just have to use public bathrooms