Rearfacing question

U

Unregistered

Guest
I have a Truefit installed rearfacing with the head rest on, in a Pontiac Vibe. How close can the front seat be to the car seat? Can it be touching or is there a minimum clearance needed? Thanks
 
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MOM25BOYS

New member
Hi, I am not in Canada, but I think the rule is the same as the US True Fit. It can be touching with the headrest on if your vehicle allows it.;) I would check your owners manual to see since some cars with front airbags and side ones will not allow a rearfacing child restraint to touch the front seats. It is only NOT ALLOWED to touch when the headrest is removed.:)

Bumping this too so that some of our Canadian members can correct me if I am wrong.:D
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
With the headrest off, they want there to be a small amount of clearance between the top of the shell and the front seat. With the headrest on, it's ok for it to touch - you just need to make sure that when adjusting the front seat it doesn't change the positioning of the carseat in the back - if it's bumping the seat back and moving it at all, then it can't go quite that far back. :)

Double check your car manual too. A few have warnings about carseats touching the vehicle seat because of the airbag sensors. As long as the seat isn't leaning on the vehicle seat in those cases - like 1cm space between the 2 would be plenty, you're still fine. If the vehicle manual doesn't allow it, you just don't want it jammed against the seat. (I generally find an untethered seat can't be truly braced anyways because the front seat pushes it out of position, and just slight touching generally isn't a problem, but check the vehicle manual to be sure. :thumbsup: )
 

canadiangie

New member
With the headrest off, they want there to be a small amount of clearance between the top of the shell and the front seat. With the headrest on, it's ok for it to touch - you just need to make sure that when adjusting the front seat it doesn't change the positioning of the carseat in the back - if it's bumping the seat back and moving it at all, then it can't go quite that far back. :)

Double check your car manual too. A few have warnings about carseats touching the vehicle seat because of the airbag sensors. As long as the seat isn't leaning on the vehicle seat in those cases - like 1cm space between the 2 would be plenty, you're still fine. If the vehicle manual doesn't allow it, you just don't want it jammed against the seat. (I generally find an untethered seat can't be truly braced anyways because the front seat pushes it out of position, and just slight touching generally isn't a problem, but check the vehicle manual to be sure. :thumbsup: )


I think the rule about not having a CR touching the front seat is becoming more common each year.

The manuals I've read warn that Nothing be in contact whatsoever... which I've interpretted to mean not even slight touching. That said, I've never been completely sure on this issue, and have PM'd a few 'senior' techs asking their opinion. The long/short of the responses have been pretty conservative... nothing touching at all is probably best. Best to check your manual and read carefully.
 

hipmaman

Moderator - CPST Instructor
My opinion is that if it's not explicit in the manual to prohibit touching, then touching is okay if and only if it's not wedged or braced and touching so that if you grab the top of the rf carseat and try to move up and down, it can still move up and down w/o being impeded by the vehicle front seat(s). It is obviously okay for the Britax convertibles and Radian to touch, wedge and brace since they can be rf-tethered.
 

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