I have a 2002 Chevy Venture and it has one 'built in' carseat and I was wondering about the safety of it. It folds out of one of the seats in the second row and has a 5 point harness. My 5 year old sometimes rides in it when one of the big kid car seats is in the other car. Her Britax Marathon will expire in about a year, so I am going to be on the lookout for a new seat and I will buy it sooner rather than later so we can have an extra seat if the safety of the built in is not good.
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Are built in carseats safe?
- Thread starter nadia
- Start date
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It's safe provided it wasn't involved in a prior crash, and the child isn't too tall for the harness or over the restraint's weight limit. The shoulders can't be above the tallest shoulder harness slot/position, and you can double check the vehicle owner's manual for the built-in's weight limit. One con of the built-ins is that they don't provide as much in the way of side impact protection compared to a child restraint with a shell and/or protective headwings, and they also cannot be moved to another vehicle in the event of car trouble and/or car pooling in another vehicle.
wondering1
New member
I would definitely check to see if she is too tall for the Marathon and also for the built-in seat.
Her shoulder must be at or below the top shoulder harness slot. Also, I believe that her head must have at least 1" of the Marathon shell above.
Her shoulder must be at or below the top shoulder harness slot. Also, I believe that her head must have at least 1" of the Marathon shell above.
The 1" rule applies for rear facing, not forward facing. The MA is outgrown by height forward facing when the shoulders are above the top shoulder harness slots, or when the tops of the ears are even with the top of the MA's shell, whichever comes first.
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